Thinking of going to Fantasy Island

[Joe diver]

Our group just returned from the same trip Saturday Feb 27. FIDR is still a 3 star resort but that is what we expected. It was a great value and awesome diving. The viz was a only 70 ft. at times but who can complain with all the rain they had the week before. The food was good and typical with a all inclusive resort. Our dive master and captain were awesome. That is what matters.
The animals were entertaining. The monkeys like beads in your hair and take anything you set down. We were so happy the animal zoo was disbanded! It was so sad to see the animals in cages the first time we went.
I would stay at FIBR again in a second. I'm more of a hard core diver and live to dive and a 3 star resort is home to me.
The staff there was awesome too!! Henry the bar tender did so much for us. We liked the CD he was playing and asked who it was and he gave it to us. Could go on and on.

 

[roguetrixie]

Henry I would pay money to see you spooning your Dad!

I was on the same trip as Sloeber, Adjuster, Diver68, etc...

I was in the main building, room was nice, great view off the balcony. Yes girls you can flush the toilets and not throw the paper in the trash! However that's only at the resort.

Visibility wasn't as clear as what I expected but apparently that was because of all the rain. Derry was our DM and did a great job. If I remember right I believe he found 6 sea horses. Pedro was our captain by request. Did an excellent job and even brought tanks on board for us.

I had some sinus problems the first day so only did 1 shallow dive, couldn't go below 17 ft. so I hung around the resort. The cabanas are a great place to take a nap. Massage girl is pretty good and there's a new mall not too far away with a casino. Taxis are a bit pricey though.

For that price I'd go again in a heartbeat!

 

[roguetrixie]

or 6 minutes

now you're just showing off!

 

[BigHarryDiver]

I'm currently here.

$600? Good price... not sure I'd pay that having lived FIBR for the last 48 hours.

The diving is good. The resort is crap. Where to start? Our room was suppose to be 2 double beds. Its 1 double bed. I guess I'm spooning my father. No lights in the room work besides the bathroom. At night we use our dive lights to see. Our window is shattered out (will post pics of all this once I'm home). Oh plus the broken glassd is still in the frame. Wonder how many bug bites I'll leave with. I've showered 5 times in two days. Twice I almost had warm water. "Almost" is the keyword. The other 3 times it was very, very cold water. The "oceanview" room we paid for isn't. We don't see the ocean until we exit the room and walk to the beach. Yes I've complained about the room. I'm told "check back tomorrow." The food reminds me of the cafeteria from college, but not as good. No security box for my valuables are available (although they are present on the property. I'm told to "check back tomorrow."


$600? Consider it the cost of diving 5 times per day and be happy or don't come to FIBR. If I was still married and had my wife here she would make us leave the resort for somewhere else.

HTH

"S - sorry to hear of your bad experience. We were there last year from April 18-25th. When we checked in, our room was crappola with a capital C and located in what must be the older section over near the dive shop. The room had bugs, holes in the walls, a very small light in the bathroom, the entry door frame was broken and probably a lot more wrong that we didn't see in our very short stay in that room.

We complained to management and were moved (no problem) to the newer section that appeared to have had recently been renovated. The room was great, hot water, fridge, lock box etc.. No more complaints from me or the wifey.

 

[sdiver68]

now you're just showing off!

I wasn't the leader on the sprint dive and neither was Ken. We just felt an obligation to keep up.

 

[adjuster-jd]

I had to hustle to bring along the air supply on that night dive as I thought it might be needed (and it was)....

 

[DandyDon]

That may be the best deal you'll ever get for an AI scuba trip! I hope you've made your reservations. You could solve your evening snack problem like one of my diving buddies does. He makes a few sandwiches from the lunch buffet & stores them in a cooler for a midnight snack. Note: Food left out in your room could attract little unwanted visitors.

3 meals a day isn't enough? Must be teenagers...!

Not at Fantasy Island Each room has its own refrigerator

Yep. The food did suck last week, worse than previous trips, but it was enough to get by on. All local beef and pork needs to ground into hamburger and sausage, but I didn't suffer. Just did not look forward to meals.

I'm currently here.

$600? Good price... not sure I'd pay that having lived FIBR for the last 48 hours.

The diving is good. The resort is crap. Where to start? Our room was suppose to be 2 double beds. Its 1 double bed. I guess I'm spooning my father. No lights in the room work besides the bathroom. At night we use our dive lights to see. Our window is shattered out (will post pics of all this once I'm home). Oh plus the broken glassd is still in the frame. Wonder how many bug bites I'll leave with. I've showered 5 times in two days. Twice I almost had warm water. "Almost" is the keyword. The other 3 times it was very, very cold water. The "oceanview" room we paid for isn't. We don't see the ocean until we exit the room and walk to the beach. Yes I've complained about the room. I'm told "check back tomorrow." The food reminds me of the cafeteria from college, but not as good. No security box for my valuables are available (although they are present on the property. I'm told to "check back tomorrow."

$600? Consider it the cost of diving 5 times per day and be happy or don't come to FIBR. If I was still married and had my wife here she would make us leave the resort for somewhere else.

HTH

I missed that story. They couldn't get you two rooms at no extra charge? You were too easy on them I suspect. They screwed up my room reservation the first night in 2003, tried to put 3 guys in our group who'd paid for private rooms in the same room for one night; I found the manager and got in his face, threatening to sleep in the conference room or lobby. He did offer to take me to a nearby resort, but I didn't want to chance it - so he found me an empty cabin, that was remote then but is now next to the end building. He did comp us a free excursion dive each, sharks, dolphins, whatever.

I had to take the end room furthermost from the dive shop but I got us in one of the new rooms ok. Pretty nice for Honduran work, altho the floor may have been level before the earthquake.

I was on the same trip as Sloeber (Henry) above and had a great experience. No doubt Sloeber and a couple of others got screwed in rooms the 1st couple of days, and not all the food was great. However, I always found something good to eat, the diving is great, and everyone was very pleasant.

Ask for one of the new rooms, and if you are picky on food then either spend a lot more to stay and dive somewhere else or just plan on heading out for dinner each night because you still won't beat the diving for the price. And when you do go out you'll realize how nice FIBR is for Roatan in comparison to other places.

Detailed trip report to follow.

It was iffy getting a warm shower at times, but when everyone in a building wants one at the same time - caca happens.

Back to the original question: 3 boat dives a day were plenty for me. Great trip in spite of the food and one cold day when I should have taken my heavier suit.