Roatan vs (San Andres+) Providencia - End of year? (1st week of Jan 2014)

[Doc]

Diverjen - no worries on hijack. Great discussion!

It is the nature of any Bay Islands thread, much to the chagrin of the Mods. Tobago does have its own forum, though. PM sent, DiverJen.

 

[Scubawankenobi]

So I started to book (deposit) Cocoview earlier today, but a mix-up on rates from what one person quoted to another.
Looks like CCV will fall through & we'll book Fantasy Island special/promo.

[ Note: don't want to sound like cheapskate here, but we're on a tight budget on 4wks of travel, and doing a lot w/relatives in Colombia (various on land locations) .... so the "extra 8days" of scuba only in Roatan has to be affordable ]

Re: Roatan - lodgings
CCV wound up only have the "Coco Casa" available. Initially quoted as (off season) $1249pp for the 7nights. After the deposit they billed me $1449pp & explained it was $1249pp if we have 3/4 people (it's a 2bedroom "house" down beach from Cabanas).
Fantasy Island Resort -
Their "special dive week" package is $888. A decent savings over $1449.
Includes - 6 days of boat dives (3x per day: 2x in morning, 1x in afternoon) vs CCV's 2x boat dives ( 1x morning, 1x dropoff, 1x afternoon 1x dropoff ).
It also includes unlimited shore, & they basically share the same reef (line out to wreck).

I guess this post is more of an FYI on the rates/logistics between these 2x neighboring resorts.
The dive shop at Fantasy Island was real responsive on some questions. Indicated I'd get out to 1x more "off shore" site daily. Seemed real helpful+friendly.
Other plus with Fantasy Isl - booze included. ;-)

I was real keen on CCV, but after a std room fell through, I'm just not sure it's worth paying $1449 vs $888 & technically geting 6x more boat (offshore) dives in.

Side note:
They did pitch a $199 "upgrade" Honey Moon Room (extra is like wine+fruit on arrival, 1 dinner on beach). I might take that if it's a nicer room/view/location. Still brings it to $988pp (~50% cheaper). But being close to dive shop/boat launch is most important to me!

[ Again, don't want to sound like cheapskate...but this trip is tight budget & it's the location/diving bang-for-buck & targeting on this side-trip ]

 

[drrich2]

[ Again, don't want to sound like cheapskate...but this trip is tight budget & it's the location/diving bang-for-buck & targeting on this side-trip ]

That ain't being a cheap skate! I plan every dive trip with the same sort of analysis. What am I paying and what am I getting? What would I get if I paid this amount extra? What would I give up if I saved this much?

Look at it this way; if you spend too much on this dive trip, it might prevent you from going on the next dive trip, and that would be awful!

Richard.

 

[Scubawankenobi]

Look at it this way; if you spend too much on this dive trip, it might prevent you from going on the next dive trip, and that would be awful!

I like the way you think Richard!
It's already helped pay for our Aug jaunt to Barkley Sound (Vancouver Island, hoping to see 6-gill sharks!)... and also towards the following trip (next year) to visit family in Colombia - good chance we'll visit Providencia.
Since I don't feel there's a definitive answer on quality of diving in Providencia (vs San Andres), figure the best way to know is to dive there.

 

[Doc]

FIBR it is: Fantasy Island Roatan Photos by Doc_Adelman | Photobucket <- click link for more imges



The image above shows the area that lies between FI and CCV.

When doing the shore dive, instead of having FI haul your gear over to their "dive gazebo" and leave it there for you to arrive for your shore dive, just suit up and have them drop you in directly over the Prince Albert wreck. This will save you about a 1/5 mile walk from the dive op to the Gazebo, and additionally the transit swim from the Gazebo to the Wreck is quite murky due to their dredged beach run-off. There's no sense in making that transition twice, just closely follow the aircraft cable back on your return trip. Be aware of channel just to the E of the Gazebo, FI boats run through there at a fair clip, so figure out your buoyancy and stay submerged.

The clarity of the water will improve dramatically once you get to the Wreck itself.



A lot of people gravitate towards their newer deep-vee fiberglass boat, but I highly recommend their older wooden round bottom craft. They are better suited to this local zone's wind and wave.

Happy bubbles <'}})))><
...._[:]@

 

[robint]

With CCV, you get what you pay for. Worth every penny for several reasons.

 

[Scubawankenobi]

Wow - thanks so much for that Doc!

Sorry just saw the reply here. That's great advice (& map).
Will plan on having them drop me off & just get familiar with the path back (cable off aircraft). Like the idea of just relaxing & taking my time snapping extra pics on way back to shore. Sounds like great way to save time (hiking gear/swimming) & getting the extra shore dive in.

Will also check-out the wooden boat. Again - advice much appreciated!

---------- Post added July 21st, 2014 at 08:28 PM ----------

With CCV, you get what you pay for. Worth every penny for several reasons.

Did you have a bad experience at Fantasy Island?

Re: Price
CCV was ~50% more & the other advantages with FIBR were: 1. all-inclusive alcohol 2. longer hours dining 3. 3x boat dives daily (vs 2x)
The extra boat dives, coupled with big $ savings ( the free alcohol was 'perk' ) got me to decide to talk to the dive shop mgr at FIBR.
The dive shop mgr was really great - talked about the dives, said would arrange extra (special) trips, including other side of island (as weather permits), some extended day-trips might incld xtra charge (no obligation, just if I wanted). Said he'd 'upgrade' my room to where I wanted it located (i.e. close to shop/close to shore dive/etc).
Anyhow...he really was helpful & seemed genuine. I've read other reports about their dive shop, so decided to try it out.
Will report back on the experience.

Do appreciate the feedback on what you didn't like about FIBR & I'll report back on if my experience is similar, things have improved, etc.
Love scubaboard for sharing info & all the great feedback!

 

[Doc]

(to RobinT) Did you have a bad experience at Fantasy Island?

You have signed-on, you paid, you're going. That is now past the point of discussion.

So, on a Holiday Week....
FI had any and all rooms open and available for $850,
and CCV was down to the very last one available at the Resort or Beach Houses for $1400...
But, CCV never offers discounts.


Seems like an easy choice.

(and stop the presses! Anthony Key AKR has just announced a BOGOHO sale! That's where the SCUBABoard Invasion crew played Jenga!)

 

[Scubawankenobi]

You have signed-on, you paid, you're going. That is now past the point of discussion.
FI had any and all rooms open and available for $850,
and CCV was down to the very last one available at the Resort or Beach Houses for $1400...
But, CCV never offers discounts.


Seems like an easy choice.

Doc,
Good point. The pricing/availability is what helped me with the decision. This trip is 1 of 3 wks we're vacationing, so budget really mattered.

Re: Why not FI
Only reason I'm asking is I've seen a lot of "CCV is best!" comments, here/elsewhere, and wanted to understand what, if any, reasons people didn't prefer/like FI.
Hope to understand so that I can look out for previously posted concerns, see if rectified (example: confirmation says, "newly renoovated rooms" - saw old reviews online complaing about rooms). If things have changed/improved, would like to report back on what we find.

Re: FI v CCV
Cursory review the package at FI seems better - 3x boat vs 2x boat, alcohol included vs not, slightly longer mealtime hours, etc. ( airport transport incld ).
Otherwise, share same house reef/location. Have read great reviews of the FI dive shop ( complaints might be about resort/food? really unknown to me ).

Would like to help evaluate how FI fares as a scuba destination resort, following our trip. Just don't know what past complaints are/what to compare to.
[ Note: if/when we return, provided we fall in love with the diving as others have, we might try CCV...depends on our experience with FI ]

Doc - thanks again so much for all the info/advice (maps!). Also saw some great pics of yours from Roatan. Really excited about the trip.

 

[drrich2]

Scubawankenobi:

I haven't yet got to dive Roatan. Hope to someday. Like you, I'm curious about which resort would be best for me. I love shore diving and am not concerned with wandering around civilization or the bar scene, so I'd be looking at CCV, Reef House Resort and Fantasy Island on my 'short list.' Here's the impression I've gotten from others' reports and how it would guide my decision making.

1.) CCV - seems to have a long history of high dive customer satisfaction rate & reliable shore diving; does a lot of return business. You can run up a high dive count there. House reef has a nice wreck. My concern is that it might be booked up when I wanted to go.

2.) Reef House Resort - got the impression it's kind of like a budget answer to CCV. Cheaper, also good shore diving but less reliable due to weather, but probably the place I'd look at 1st if CCV were booked up when I wanted to go. Someone mentioned it changed owners not too long ago, so would seek recent reviews to confirm still good.

3.) Fantasy Island Beach Resort - has gotten mixed reviews, to put it kindly.

It seems to me you are taking a chance going to FIBR, as you forfeit the near guarantee of a great trip CCV offers, but you are saving a lot of money and getting some benefits, so it's quite reasonable to try it out.

I am interested to see you make a trip report after you get back. But with FIBR's history of reviews, it's going to take more than one to make it an A list choice, I suspect. And given this piece from Doc's post, #2 in the thread:

FIBR has had ten+ "down" years and continues to get marginal and excusitory, less than glowing reviews. The dive staff rescues the rest of the place, the DMs far excel while the actual FI resort is consistently inconsistent in any semblance of quality. It is amazing what these DMs pull off with their rickety dive operation and choking budget. The resort managers try to be everything to everybody, doing nothing very well. A waste of geography because it shares a zone of diving with CCV that I rank the most interesting in the Caribbean. This is unlikely to change or improve any time soon, hidden agendas in accounting maneuvers make this model very workable for their corporate needs. There are always reservation openings, except during Semana Santa (Easter) when the place is packed with Central American "high rollers", friends of ownership.

I think it's going to take them some doing to change pubic perception.

I hope they do turn it around. CCV can't handle the entire scuba tourism load for Roatan!

Richard.