leadweight:
Believe me, I have the math right. The example I gave was not the worst one that I have seen. Last year when I returned from fantasy Island I saw the same trip priced for $1595..
To Roatan, figure the flight from IAH Houston to RTB (Roatan) at around $650 or so. Figure it, obviously, from your home base. Continental, American, TACA, whatever. I would deduct that out of any package price that includes air from gateway MIA or IAH... just for comparison sake.
Fantasy Island pricing might be the confusion. They sell any given week (no air) for prices between $450 and $1600 with no apparent rhyme or reason. Their website shows ranges of 850-1100 but that is simply not the case, just like you found out. I believe they sold it to the PADI Singles Trip for $450.
What follows are "
apples" as best I could provide. (Xfrs, diving and meals, no taxes, etc) They should be for the roughly the same serices and details. Obviously, the character and quality of the resorts are all over the map....
$1300- $1900 will get you into Anthony's Key (they just had a little increase)
$799- $899 will get you CoCoView.
$785- $1100 does Bay Islands Beach Resort
$995- $1095 for Inn of the Last Resort
$1000 for Paya Bay
(Kind of a) Disclaimer: There are other options on Roatan. You could sleep in a hammock and buy your dives from Paulo's Dive Shack and Taxi Repair. AI resorts were the ones I showed as you get the maximum bottom time with the least hassle. It's always up to the indvividual.