Roatan/FIBR Trip Report - Dec. 19-26, 2009

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Martha

Contributor
Messages
799
Reaction score
1
Location
Dripping Springs, TX
# of dives
200 - 499
We had a direct flight out of Houston. The airport was a complete zoo… the worst part about holiday travel. Good thing we got there with plenty of time to spare. The flight was smooth and getting through immigration once we arrived in Roatan wasn’t too bad this time. It was MUCH faster than when we went in June during the H1N1 chaos. Then it was off to Fantasy Island Beach Resort. Check in was quick… not too many people staying at FIBR from our flight. Thanks to the helpful suggestions from my ScubaBoard friend, Cajuncru Diver, our room was in the main building this time and was much bigger than the room we stayed in last time. Thanks so much Cajuncru Diver, your help & information has been invaluable! We met up with our friends, Will & Becky, later that afternoon. It was great to see them again!

Diving:
Our captain for the trip was Moses and the DM was Derry. We really enjoyed diving with Derry. He is superb at finding seahorses. We went to the following dive sites:
Too Tall, Too Small – pipe fish & very healthy corals. Nice first dive!
Inside, Outside – a very relaxing dive.
Pirate’s Point – two seahorses & a turtle, along with a very strong current.
John’s Spot – three seahorses and a free-swimming green moray. Wow, I really loved this dive site. We didn’t go here last time, but it’ll be on my request list from now on.
Valley of the Kings – a lot of really big groupers.
Doc’s Dive – juvenile smooth trunkfish (so cute), nudibranch, whip coral shrimp, chimney & tunnel swim throughs.
Mary’s Place – stayed shallow & didn’t do the swim through this time. I enjoyed puttering around looking for little critters. Came across a very cool jellyfish.
Drift Dive from Missing Link to Forty Foot Point – awesome dive! Two seahorses, many large schools of fish, and moray eels.
Carib Point – a coral that appeared to be blooming. Current was pretty strong, but it was a very nice dive nonetheless.
Prince Albert – We had Moses drop us off at the wreck. I always enjoy just puttering around and watching things.
French Cay Cut – my least favorite dive of the trip.
Forty Foot Point – my other favorite place. Three seahorses, a squid, and eels.

Miscellaneous:
We had quite a bit of rain from the time we arrived on Saturday until the sun made its appearance on Wednesday. It was a little chilly with the rain & wind, but I had a sweatshirt with me that got quite a bit of use. What a difference the sunshine made!
We splurged and took a seaplane ride. It was truly amazing! I highly recommend Bay Island Airways. I’m going to save my money up, so the next time we’re in Roatan we can do the Pigeon Keys Escape Tour. Bob, the owner, and his son-in-law, Clay, were wonderful tour guides/pilots. We also did the Pirates of the Caribbean extreme zip line. That was a lot of fun too, but it’s probably not something I’d do again, although both kids said they would in a minute. The guys from the zip line tour took us on a free tour/shopping excursion to Coxen Hole. Glad I didn’t pay for it (although we did tip them generously). I’d definitely skip that the next time. On Christmas Eve, we had a special sit-down dinner. They had a seafood soup that was delicious, as was the first course of ceviche with a side of plantains. Mmmm mmmm good!!! The monkeys were quite entertaining, as always. I just love those monkeys! We had a wonderful time and we met some very nice people. We’ll definitely be back.
 
French Cay Cut – my least favorite dive of the trip.

French Cay Cut can be a real "day-saver" when the wind and wave pipes up.

They moor the boat in the calm inside the reef wall, and if you swim through the shallow cut, you have a great, protected reef structure to explore to the left with an amazing canyon swim-through/overhead area. To the right is the Mr Bud Wreck.

Picture1-6.png

Courtesy of the Close-a-damn-nough Map Company
Always follow the DM or listen to the dive briefing with care. I watched a fairly experienced diver miss "the cut" out to sea twice in two days and wound up lost on the inside of the reef. It's all cloudy and crudded up with makeshift weight anchors.
 
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Thanks for the trip report. I'm planning a trip in February and still deciding
on which resort. I'll make note of a few of the better dives in the report and
see if they are on the scheduled dives the days I'm there. I hope to do a few
wall dives as well and still researching the better areas for these dives. Happy
New Year and safe diving to all in 2010 !
 
Great trip report Martha. That area on RoatanMan's map above the red "mooring X" is an excellent snorkel...the best in the French Cay/French Harbour area. Actually its my 2nd favorite spot on the southside. I go there often and tie up to the buoy. Its got too many shallow spots for a dive, but the sea life and colorful coral clusters throughout that area are amazing. Saw a shark and several groupers there last week. You can snorkel it from the Mr. Bud wreck site.
 
Thnx for the report
 
Thanks Martha for the informative trip report. It's so great when people come back and take a minute to share their experiences with us :kiss2:

Glad Cajuncru Diver's advice was good for you - he can be pretty helpful at times :D

I would agree with you about Fench Cay Cut except that last year we dove that site and I was entertained for a very long time at a unique "cleaning station" set up inside a corkscrew anemone...it was absolutely fascinating! I guess that's what's so amazing about scuba diving - you never know what you might come across. Even what seems like a boring dive site can hold many hidden treasures :cool2:

Glad to hear you enjoyed your room this trip. The newer wing is definitely the place to be. Aren't the monkies a hoot??? I love those little guys. Last trip one of them came to visit on our balcony and drank coffee with us...hilarious!
 
Hi Martha, glad you enjoyed the trip and glad I could be of some help. We are headed back on Jan. 21st and can't wait........this 32 degree weather in South Louisiana is a bummer.
 
Martha - where do they serve lunch now? Do they use the outbuilding or are they still serving lunch upstairs in the dining room?

Thanks.
 

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