Fantasy Island -Roatan - Big Problems!

[nyscubagirl]

OK, I just got back from Fantasy Island on Roatan this Sunday, May 7th,and I DO NOT recomend that anyone go there!!! The resort itself is great, the people are wonderful, the accomadations and food more than adequate....BUT....the reef on the south side of the island is not protected and there very, very few fish!!!!! The coral is brown because they JUST stopped emptying there septic directly into the water and they have no real laws protecting the reef from overfishing. (They just implemented a lobster season...but that's it.)

Everywhere we went...we looked for fish but didn't find them. On the last couple of dives they took us to places where they feed them, so we saw stuff....but that was it.

Caveat Emptor!!!

 

[fda483]

Does not add up with other reports or people I have spoke with, but will see for my self next week. Going into it with an open mind!!

By the way NYSCUBAGIRL I grew up in Brooklyn, been north of the city for the past 20 years but roots are still in good old Brooklyn (Marine Park)!

Joe

 

[Doc]

OK, I just got back from Fantasy Island on Roatan this Sunday
Caveat Emptor!!!

I appreciate your opinion, but didn't the Dive Masters show you....

The bazillions of cool microscopic creatures that Roatan is really best known for?

Roatan rewards those divers with superb buoyancy skills and advanced observational abilities.

If you go there only knowing how to find "big fish" and are not coached by a qualified and attentive Divemaster, your experience is quite common.

I often go to the smaller AI resort that lies just accross the channel from FIBR, but it's a world apart in many ways. The DM is the key. With a good local guide, you should see a SeaHorse on every dive. It's all in the picking.

Here's an interesting thread http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/ccv/vpost?id=997991

 

[fda483]

I hear you - got my 105mm macro lens packed and ready to go!!!

 

[H2Andy]

nyscubagirl, did you just do shore dives close to Fantasy Island?

i'll agree that the wall there, as well as the one over by Coco View, is not
in great shape. night dives, however, can be very rewarding.

did you do any boat dives? there is some superb diving on the south side,
close by both FI and CCV. i was there just last year, and enjoyed it very much.

 

[Doc]

Take a look at what has been seen there in the last few days:

http://www.docksidedivecenter.com/WeeklyLog.html (be sure to page backwards through "previous weeks")

or some reports and pix... http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/ccv?forum=25278

A reef wall in excellent shape is within easy shore dive of CoCoView. It may be a bit further of a hike thru Fantasy Island's run-off from their artifical beach, but even the Channel (which is no longer what it used to be) is still a great place to find new nich creatures.

How many shore divers visit the Prince Albert Wreck, a 120' tanker lying upright in 35-65fsw and never notice the Garden Eels on the bottom? Most I would reckon, do not. And they're the easily seen little guys. The truly camoflaged critters are amazing!

Those are just the shore dives, and true, people that dive at CCV are by actual count, more likely by a factor of 80:1 to shore dive than a FIBR guest (This was tabulated by "Shore Dive Cam" [and others] at http://www.cocoviewresort.com/cam.html )

The entire South Side reef system is a spectacular "nursery" for juvenile fish and hidey hole for miriad micro critters that most never see.

From a CoCoView Guest who snorkeled

Just for the record, here's a list of the fish and creatures we identified during our two week stay. We used Paul Humann's guides to identify what we saw. All of these were seen in the "front yard" and immediately to the East and West of the CoCoView entrance along the wall inwards towards shore:

Spaghetti Shrimp, Common Octopus (at night), Reef Squid, Batwing Coral Crab, Hermit Crab, Caribbean Spiny Lobster, Banded Butterfly, Four Eyed Butterfly, Spotfin Butterfly, Queen Angelfish, French Angelfish, Grey Angelfish, French Angelfish juvenile, Bar jack, African Pompano, Ballyhoo, Great Barracuda, Chub, French Grunt, Blue Stripe Grunt, Porkfish, Mahogany Snapper, School Master, Yellowfin Snapper, Threespot Damselfish (adult and juvenile), Cocoa Damselfish, Yellowtail Damselfish, Sergeant Major (adult and guarding eggs), Blue Chromis, Barred Hamlet, Indigo Hamlet, Nassau Grouper, Grayby, Fairy Basslet, Blue Parrotfish, Spotlight Parrotfish (adult, juvenile), Greenblotch Parrotfish, Spanish Hogfish, Puddingwife (juvenile), Yellowhead Wrasse, Bluehead, Squirrelfish (all kinds), Redlip Blenny (many others), Peacock Flounder, Bandtail Sea Robin, Flying Gurnard, Trumpetfish (many colors), Porcupine Fish, Smooth Trunkfish, Ocean Triggerfish, Black Durgeon, Scrawled Filefish (many colors), Orangespotted Filefish, Spotted Goatfish, Yellow Goatfish, Spotted Drum (juvenile), Green Moray, Nurse Shark (lying under a ledge), Spotted Eagle Ray (tail intact), Rock Beauty.

The coral was too varied and numerous to list and I'm positive we missed naming many other varieties of fish and creatures. Missing from the list is a Seahorse. They are typically deeper than we can see but we see about everything else.

Once again, that was from a snorkeler!

 

[Dave Zimmerly]

I was there last year at this time and found marine life in abundance. I don't know where nyscubagirl went diving. I'll give a full report when I return from FIBR next week.

45 hours and counting.

Dave (aka "Squirt")

 

[saholz]

I visited Fantasy Island in 2004 and had a pretty good time there. I have a trip report here: http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=2918

I found the resort to be okay, with adequate food and clean rooms. The infamous no-see-ums did get to me though, and I came home with welts that itched for many days. The dive op was good and took us to a variety of sites around the island. The diving, while not spectacular, was generally good with lots of neat swim throughs. I did notice the lack of large numers of fish, certainly when compared to Bonaire or Cozumel, but there were tons of juveniles and free swimming morays on most dives. All in all, I found the diving to be good, just not the best I've experienced.

I probably won't return to Roatan, but I certainly wouldn't warn people away from what I found to be an overall decent resort and good dive destination.

 

[Diver_Jan]

NYScubagirl, maybe you need to open your eyes a little wider next time you go diving. There is alot more to see than big fish. I'm sure that the DM was pointing out lots of stuff to see. I'm heading to FIBR and can hardly wait. My friends and I planning on doing boat dives every day we are there (I hear that Mary's is AWESOME!) as well as beach dive off the resort itself. I have also been told that we can do a quick surface swim to CocoView to dive off their walls as well.

I'm the Eel Queen here in California. I ****LOVE**** Eels!!! I also love Nudibranchs. I would rather see these than fish, anyday. Turtles too. Although, I hope to see a Manta and a Spotted Ray while I am there. I have been researching dive sites too, so I can chat with the DM before heading out.

That would be my suggestion for anyone going to a dive destination. Do your homework. Be familiar with the dive sites. Talk to people, read reviews, ect. Be informed and ask questions. Tell the DM what you expect or what you would like to see. For example: Sea Horses. They generally live in a 5 foot radius. They do not venture any further. If a known Sea Horse is in a general local, then the DM will usually be able to find it the next dive, and so on.

It's like with me diving here in California, I can usually find Morays in the more common dive spots. Octos too.

Did you have a Marine ID book? That is also essential to what you are seeing. I love to look at all the sponges and flora too. It's absolutely amazing! If you look carefully, especially on the Gorgonians, you can often spot Peacock Cowries.

 

[miesemer]

I was there with a group in Oct 2004. It was my first time out with my video camera but managed to find plenty of subjects (fish). Fantasy Island was a great value and served it's purpose quite well as a place to eat and sleep between dives.


Here's a link to a couple QuickTime movie clips from the trip.
http://www.diversdescent.com/pages/roatan04movies.html