KC_Scubabunny
Guest
Sorry it has taken me so long to file this report since my return on the 27th. Unfortunately the KC area was covered in a blanket of ice and we were without power until yesterday evening. Enough about bad weather and back to diving!
We were in Roatan, Honduras from January 19th - 26th. We stayed at Fantasy Island resort. For the cliff notes version this is how I would rate the resort. Details in paragraphs below.
Dive Shop/Operator: A
Diving: A
Food: A-
Room/Accomodations: B-
Weather: A+
I logged 15 dives in the 5 days that we dove. My husband logged 18 so if you in for some power diving this is a good place to go. The resort has boats that leave at 9 am, 11 am and 2:30 pm each day and there were two 5:45 pm night dives while we were there. There is also unlimited shore diving off the gazebo.
The dive shop staff, boat captains and divemasters were first rate. They were helpful but not pushy. They guided but did not parade a conga line on the dive. They were flexible to the type of dives and interest of the group on the boat. Our boat had 6 couples and one solo diver most of the week. The boat was not over crowded and there was plenty of storage space. The divemaster briefed each new divesite which included passing around a laminated drawing of each site so you could visualize the site and the turns of the reef before entering.
My two favorite dive sites were Mary's Place and Carl's Place. Mary's is a beautiful swim through. Carl's was a fairly shallow dive on the west end that was full of life including three sea turtles. Overall the reefs were very healthy and the aquatic life was plentyful. We ran into some strong current on a few dives that was unusual for Roatan. Our DM said that it was some of the worst that he had seen there. January is the month when they experience the most current according to our boat captain. March is suppose to be the best for weather and calm seas.
The air temps were in the mid 80s the whole week and water temp was 78.
Food at the resort was good the first 4 days but then I got sick of the repetition and the buffet lines. I wish we had gone into French Harbor mid week for dinner instead of waiting until our last day. That might have broken up the feeling of eating the same thing meal after meal. Also only water and tea were included in the package deal and coke and other sodas were $2 a can. This might not be a big deal to some but I had a $50 soda bill at the end of the week.
Room/resort was nice and clean but not very modern. They were renovating the divers area which is closer to the dive shop and boats so we stayed in the main building. They told us that the divers rooms would be open this spring so if someone is looking at staying here in the spring or summer then you might want to ask for a divers room. They should have more modern facilities. It might be part of the island charm but we received notes on our doors two days that the power would be out for two or three hours each time. These power outage corresponded with the afternoon dive time so we didn't personally experience an inconvienence.
This was my first trip as an underwater photographer so please watch for my additional post later this week of some of my photos in the Underwater Photography forum. I will be looking for constructive feedback.
All in all an excellent trip. Please feel free to PM me or post additional questions and I will be happy to answer.
KC_Scubabunny
We were in Roatan, Honduras from January 19th - 26th. We stayed at Fantasy Island resort. For the cliff notes version this is how I would rate the resort. Details in paragraphs below.
Dive Shop/Operator: A
Diving: A
Food: A-
Room/Accomodations: B-
Weather: A+
I logged 15 dives in the 5 days that we dove. My husband logged 18 so if you in for some power diving this is a good place to go. The resort has boats that leave at 9 am, 11 am and 2:30 pm each day and there were two 5:45 pm night dives while we were there. There is also unlimited shore diving off the gazebo.
The dive shop staff, boat captains and divemasters were first rate. They were helpful but not pushy. They guided but did not parade a conga line on the dive. They were flexible to the type of dives and interest of the group on the boat. Our boat had 6 couples and one solo diver most of the week. The boat was not over crowded and there was plenty of storage space. The divemaster briefed each new divesite which included passing around a laminated drawing of each site so you could visualize the site and the turns of the reef before entering.
My two favorite dive sites were Mary's Place and Carl's Place. Mary's is a beautiful swim through. Carl's was a fairly shallow dive on the west end that was full of life including three sea turtles. Overall the reefs were very healthy and the aquatic life was plentyful. We ran into some strong current on a few dives that was unusual for Roatan. Our DM said that it was some of the worst that he had seen there. January is the month when they experience the most current according to our boat captain. March is suppose to be the best for weather and calm seas.
The air temps were in the mid 80s the whole week and water temp was 78.
Food at the resort was good the first 4 days but then I got sick of the repetition and the buffet lines. I wish we had gone into French Harbor mid week for dinner instead of waiting until our last day. That might have broken up the feeling of eating the same thing meal after meal. Also only water and tea were included in the package deal and coke and other sodas were $2 a can. This might not be a big deal to some but I had a $50 soda bill at the end of the week.
Room/resort was nice and clean but not very modern. They were renovating the divers area which is closer to the dive shop and boats so we stayed in the main building. They told us that the divers rooms would be open this spring so if someone is looking at staying here in the spring or summer then you might want to ask for a divers room. They should have more modern facilities. It might be part of the island charm but we received notes on our doors two days that the power would be out for two or three hours each time. These power outage corresponded with the afternoon dive time so we didn't personally experience an inconvienence.
This was my first trip as an underwater photographer so please watch for my additional post later this week of some of my photos in the Underwater Photography forum. I will be looking for constructive feedback.
All in all an excellent trip. Please feel free to PM me or post additional questions and I will be happy to answer.
KC_Scubabunny 
