Just joined- advice on Roatan?

[becndov]

Hi- my fiance and I are looking for advice on diving at Roatan. We are looking to go during my fiance's break from grad school, 3/27 to 4/4/2010. We've pretty much decided on Roatan, and are looking at Fantasy Island Resort. Anybody have any comments/ advice for diving in Roatan and/or experience with Fantasy Island? Or, does anyone have any other resorts that they would recommend? We've been on a few dive trips in the past, but always with a group, and this will be our first venture on our own.

Brian Doverspike
Pardeeville, Wisconsin

 

[dwaters]

Welcome to the 'board!!!

Whenever I travel (or dream of traveling), I always check out their local forum for internal input and opinions..... check out this for help:

Bay Islands - ScubaBoard

You can also use our "search" (top right) and you will find soooooooooooooo much here on the resort and location you are asking about.

Dive on in and enjoy!

While you're at it, check out your local forum for local fun.

 

[ancientdiver]

Only been there once. Diving was so so (I am admitedly a spoiled and jaded diver who has been around the block). Stayed at CocoView. They lost my ex-girlfriend's dive bag after they demanded they would take all dive gear on a separate truck from the airport back to the resort. We saw the bag get loaded into their truck, but it never arrived. She had to dive in my extra swim shorts and T shirts and rented dive gear (they wouldn't even loan her gear for free after they lost hers), as her dive clothes were all in her bag. They would not replace the gear or accept responsibility for losing it. Well, they didn't charge us for my other buddy who went with us, by accident. When we got back, they started calling me in Denver, demanding I pay for the other diver, being real nasty. I firmly refused until they found the lost bag. After much back and forth, they "found" the bag and shipped it back. I think one of their lady DM's took it because the gear and bag were oh so feminine in color scheme, but that's just my opinion. After we got the bag I squared my account with them. But the way they denied responsibility for losing the bag and charged the poor girl for rental gear really turned me off to them. For what it's worth.

Have a friend that stated at Fantasy. She liked it.

There is a resort on Little Cayman that is PERFECT for a couple. Little harder to get to, but it is near Bloody Bay Wall, perhaps the only dive site in the entire Caribbean Basin that could compare to the Blue Corner in Palau, both ranked in the Top 10 Dives in the World. If you want info PM me, and I'll dig out the details. Have fun. Stay safe.

Will in Sarasota

 

[Mopar]

Hello and welcome to the board.

 

[Maximum Overdive]

I'm 6 days away from my trip to Roatan, I will be staying at Fantacy Island Resort. There are 29 of us going, of that 27 are from the lds. I haven't been tropical diving much but I did get my license in the Dominican Republic. When I get back I'll let you know how it went and what the general concensis of the other divers was as they have been to many other places!

 

[Maximum Overdive]

I'm 6 days away from my trip to Roatan, I will be staying at Fantacy Island Resort. There are 29 of us going, of that 27 are from the lds. I haven't been tropical diving much but I did get my license in the Dominican Republic. When I get back I'll let you know how it went and what the general concensis of the other divers was as they have been to many other places!

Time flies when you're having Rum!!:cool2:

 

[jmraupe]

I've stayed at both Coco View and Fantasy Island. Both have their pros and cons over the other

CocoView:
Pros:
* Rooms Nice - especially the ones that are out over the water
* Boat dives are organized to give you more free time in the day

Equivalent:
* Shore diving - the two resorts sit right across the bay from one another
* Both have equivalent access to the wreck sitting between them and the two great walls

Cons:
* Cost is a lot higher
* As I remember it the food wasn't as great either
* The owners seemed to be riding the staff pretty hard

Fantasy Island
Pros:
* these people want you to have a great experience at their resort
* The food was pretty good and they do have a free bar for local drinks
* Boat dives are organized to keep you busy.
* Rooms are air conditioned

Cons:
* The place was bought after the prior owners let it run down a bit. But they are working on it,
* The boat I was on didn't have enough experienced people so we didn't get to do the night dive and to do it on one of the other boats they wanted to charge you extra.


If I had it to do again I'd probably go back to Fantasy Island. The owners of Coco View made me really uncomfortable.

Just my thoughts.

 

[diveprof]

I like Fantasy Island. A nice shore dive, nice beach, 3+ dives a day. Seahorse of the day kind of thing. Don't expect big stuff though unless you do the shark dive.

 

[becndov]

Thanks to all who have given us advice. I'm still working on learning the ins and outs of posts on this board. We are still debating where to stay while in Roatan. Our first thought was Fantasy Island but that was just based on price. After spending some time in the Bay Islands forum we might change our mind and stay on the other end of the island maybe at Anthony's Key. We are looking for bigger critters, sharks, turtles, and rays. It seems like the south side is more smaller stuff. A dream would be to find a whale shark, but we realize the probability is very low. We are also interested in checking out a shark dive, zip lining and doing some birding while in Roatan. Scubaboard has become quickly addicting. Thanks again for all the great advice.

Brian

 

[divefamily09]

I have been to AKR with my then gf now wife and had a wonderful time even if it was during the rainy season. I thought the food was good and the rooms are nice but next time I would go for AC. They have plenty of activities in the evening. The diving was great 3+ dives a day and they go to the South side one day to do dives. If the water is rough on the north side they take their boats to the south side and operate out of their location over there. The shark dive is cool as well. Its extra but I thought worth it.
John