Roatan Advice Needed

[WicketsMom]

What's the best way to get to Utila? We're planning on flying into Roatan via Delta, but can go into San Pedro Sula instead if the connections are easier/cheaper.

 

[CODMAN]

Thanks for your reviews, oppinions and input everybody! I was just a bit worried that Fantassy Island, having very low rates, might have been low quality. I'm on a tight budget, but don't want to sacrifice the quality of the diving I'll be doing. So your reviews were very helpfull in this regard!

Luego!

 

[Doc]

I'm on a tight budget, but don't want to sacrifice the quality of the diving I'll be doing.

That raised my curiosity to look on the internet at some of the better known AI Resorts (Fanatsy, CoCoView, Anthony's Key, Bay Islands Beach Resort, Inn of the Last Resort).

I know it's a little like apples and pears, but for July, looking at their websites (a few AI's), here's what I found for 7 Nights/Meals/Diving...

FIBR $950 single, $800 double
CCV $899 per person (if you demand single, add $350, or get a room mate, maybe)
AKR $1160-1500 double, $1335-1675 single (on the low end rooms)
BIBR $990-1100 dbl, 1190-1300 single
IoLR $995 single, $795 dbl

Just some data. I'd call any resort you are interested in and ask for the best rates. You never know!

 

[MGW1979]

I had a bit or a hard time getting to Utila...I flew into Roatan, but all the flights to Utila were full, so I flew to La Cieba and took the ferry over. The only good part about that was I got to see some of mainland Honduras. To catch my flight back I paid someone to take me over in a boat. If you can't get a flight to Utila from Roatan, try to find someone to take you over in a boat. It only took about 45 minutes.

There was supposed to be a ferry that was going to start operating between roatan and utila but I don't know if its operating yet. A good website is www.aboututila.com.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[CODMAN]

Thanks Doc, I was looking more towards low season, and there seemed to be more of a difference in prices at that time...

Luego!

 

[keyshunter]

Codman,

Fantasy Island Dive operations are top notch. They took us to alot of good dive sites (Mary's Place for one) and the dive sites were no more than a 20 min ride away. On the dives (6-8 divers plus DM) we averaged 55-65 min. Viz was 80-100. The deepest we went was around 90 fsw. Fresh fruit, water and towles were always available. More fish in some places than others, but we always found something new on each dive. The only thing we didn't see alot of were turtles. After the first dive you back to the dock where you can chill out for about a hal hour then off to another dive. Get back around noon, eat lunch, back on the boat around 1:00. Off to another dive site. Back at the dock around 3:30. If that's not enough for you, you can shore dive (day and night) off the gazebo and check out the wreck of the Prince Albert, or head over to the Front Yard at CoCo View.

They also have Nitox for those wanting it. And they have the best showers at the dock. All in all, we have been there twice and plan on going back again. I'm not knocking Coco View, but Fantasy Island just has more room/beach and it feels like you are on a tropical island.

Hope this helps,

Dave (aka "Squirt")

Dave,
When were you at Fantasy Island?
I just returned from there, and the dive operation was an absolute zoo. According to Robert, the head of dive operations, they had 165 divers last week, and 160 this week. They were running 8 boats, including 2 they rented from Laguna Beach on Utila.
The boats averaged about 20 divers. To their credit, the staff worked very hard, but they were really overloaded. Even though they staggered the departure times, we often sat around between morning dives waiting for tanks to be filled. They were running 4 compressors with 24 fill whips and still had trouble keeping up.

Fortunately, we had great weather, calm seas, and none of the boats broke down.

 

[Dave Zimmerly]

Keyshunter,

We were there May 13-20. Our boat had 10 divers max plus DM. They were only 3 boats running. The other two boats had 10-12 divers. Even last year, there weren't that many divers on our boat (6-8 plus DM).

Wow, I didn't know that they could handle so many and sorry you had to put up with it. I guess we lucked out on both occasions.

Dave (aka "Squirt")

 

[shurford]

Only a short hop from Roatan to Utila....

Stayed at Colibri Hill resort: www.colibri-resort.com - Excellent!

Dived with DeepBlue: www.deepblueutila.com - Superb, wouldn't dive with any other operation on the island....and they have the best whale shark captain on the Island -respect to Gringo!!

Social life? Dived four times a day, ate then slept - that's what I was there for ;o)

If you wanna see what the diving is like, check out my vid on www.myspace.com/shurford

PS - bring some kick-*** sand fly repellant - but really!!

 

[tiburon72157]

1st off, thanks to those who contributed the great info...and bug advice. will put it all to great use. secondly, thanks to those who hijacked MY thread. i believe there is a board etiquette thread in archives. check it out.

 

[tiburon72157]

divnlite - very cool. will be looking forward to your post. we are leaning towards coco right now as well, so we are very interested to find out about your experience. dive show in long beach is next saturday, so we're going there as well to gather some additional info and grind the reps for killer deals.