Reccomendations for resort in Roatan

[docmartin]

sorry, forgot to mention for fairness' sake: we were at fantasy island a couple of years ago. so things may very well have changed.

 

[TropicalDiver]

Stayed at Fantasy Island in Dec 01 and am going back again this May. Had a GREAT time! Food was better than expected and plentiful. Bring DEET - bugs are a problem, but the only one we had. Divemaster's very friendly, sites varied and clear with lots of marine life, locals great. We even were asked to judge the first annual Christmas Parade floats/horses and house Christmas lights for the town of French Harbor on the island - the maitre'd at the resort asked us if we'd be interested and one of the local restaurant owners/parade coordinators picked us up three evenings in a row for quite a fun experience. Went to the annual Christmas concert for the locals and announced the winners on-stage! What a fun time! Maybe you all could judge the 03 Christmas decorations/parade if you plan it right!!! Can't wait to go back to our new friends there...

 

[Paco]

Here's my two cents:

I was at AKR this last March and loved it, but then I've not been at the other resorts for comparison. I loved the food, the diving, everything and would go back in a heartbeat.

Mike

 

[WirelessOne]

Last Thanksgiving we stopped in Roatan and I hooked up with a Dive Instructor who took me to CoCo View. The diving was incredible although he got 'bitten' by the local sand fleas (forgot what they were called). Heard that you can wear Avon's Skin so soft to combat them.

People there are great and the visibility was incredible.

Penny

 

[jray]

You might want to consider the Inn of Last resort. I have stayed there 2 times and I'm going back for my third time in 2 weeks. It is fairly small so the staff takes great care of you. The food is really good if your into eating. I have never stayed at AKR or Coco View so I cannot compare it to them. I have been to AKR for the dolphin swim and it did look nice though. There are 3 dives a day with a night dive or two. There is unlimited shore diving. I have not noticed any sand fleas in my two trip there since it's located in a bight (I think that's what they call it) and not on the beach. The rooms are really nice and air conditioned. You can drink the water too!

I highly recommend it. Let me know if you want any more information or have any questions that I missed.

 

[AggieDiver]

Was just at AKR last week, and would recommend it without hesitation. I also have heard good things about the other two and think you would be fine at any of the three. AKR is on the north side, and CCV and FI are on the south side. In general (there are always some exceptions) the winds blow from south to north off of the mountains in Honduras, making diving conditions on the south side generally a little rougher. However, the underwater topography on the south side lends itself to steeper walls and depending on who you talk to, the diving on the south side may be slightly better than the north side, although I was perfectly happy with what we saw on the north side from AKR. During the week we were there conditions were very rough on the south side of the island, to the point that for the last two days of the week, there were several people from FI diving with the operation at AKR because it was too rough at FI, and the scubadiving.com board had a story of a guy giant striding into a swell and getting thrashed against the back of the boat pretty hard. So if you are the type who gets seasick easily or doesn't do well in rough conditions, the north side may suit you better.

In regards to the time of year, I may be slightly off on the start, but as I understand it from one of the instructors at AKR, October through January is the rainy season, and it pretty much can rain non-stop at times, which seriously affects the vis underwater. If I were planning a trip in the fall, I would go earlier rather than later to give yourself as good a chance as possible of dodging the rain. Also be aware that Sept-Oct is the peak of Caribbean hurricane season, and although they are low in latitude, they have gotten some significant storms recently (Mitch in 97-8? was in october, and Lily hit southern Belize in October 2001). So trip insurance that covers weather would not be a bad idea that time of year anywhere in the Caribbean.

Hope that helps...

AggieDiver

 

[TropicalDiver]

Doc - when I went to Fantasy Island 1 1/2 years ago, was told that the previous owners got involved in something shady and that it was re-done with new owners - service/facilities - since then - maybe you went before owners changed...
Will post report in early June after I get back!

 

[phred69]

COCVIEW is the only place to stay eh. Remember the rainy season starts in September and last to December eh. You could get lucky but if you don't the vis can get bad quickly eh. Take your own lock for the room security box if you decide to stay here.

 

[scubastamp]

Hi,

We stayed at Cocoview last April and had a great time. That is if your great time happens to be dive, dive, read books in hammock, dive, dive. If your great time consists of "night life" that is the one thing that Cocoview is short of. For us it was not much short of paradise. I have also heard some good first hand feedback about AKR.

JD

 

[RicanDiver]

I will be at BIBR as of Saturday the 16th!!! yes. have had nothing but very good feelings about the place up until this moment. Cam ( Camilla ) has been nothing but gracious in getting us setup. We will be getting our AOW cert as well as our Nitrox card.

We were just about to sign up with Coco View but decided at last minute that BIBR seemed to be the better choice for us as it was closer to the"nightlife" on the island and we want to sample some restaurants and bars as well as dive our butts off

Coco View however sounds extremely enticing, with the walls and wrecks, but spooky channels is right by BIBR soooo, hopefully that will work out.

I will put together a trip report upon my return to share my experiences there.