Trip Report: Parrot Tree Plantation (and Fantasy Island diving)

My wife and I left the kids with grandparents and spent the week before Easter in Roatan, staying at Parrot Tree Planation. I thought I’d post a trip report since there is not much on Parrot Tree here. This was our first trip to Roatan.

We found Parrot Tree a very nice property. The rooms are quite comfortable, and feature nearly full kitchens with a full size refrigerator, stove top burners (no oven), coffee machine, microwave, and even clothes washer / dryer. Comfy beds, nice little porch (we were on first floor) two-sink bathroom with shower but no tub, all in stone / marble / slate. The room also had a small couch / seating area, and a flat panel TV (not HD) with a variety of channels. In room wifi available for $5 per day (but only one device at a time) with free wifi in a number of common areas.

The resort has a large pool with a short water-slide for kids (or adults!) with numerous loungers and beds. It also has a large, shallow saltwater lagoon off the nearby coastline (not truly much of “beach” right off the resort – more of a coastline) – beachside for most if not all is at the lagoon, with the actual ocean and waves just over the short seawall beyond.

The available restaurant / bar was comfortable, pretty reasonably priced, and offered almost universally good food – we didn't have a bad meal or experience. The one drawback is that the menu is somewhat limited, and if you were eating all your meals there, you’d quickly run out of things to try. Like most restaurants we visited in Roatan, I was surprised at how much menu space is taken up with beef / chicken / pork (i.e., not seafood) – I’d like to see more seafood options myself, but that’s obviously a personal preference. While we were there, WC qualifying matches (soccer) were being played on two different nights, and we enjoyed the opportunity to cheer Honduras at the bar (for the Costa Rica-Honduras match, the bar set up a projector and drop cloth for the match).

Breakfast was available at a nearby coffee shop / restaurant that serves both the resort and the residences within the resort – maybe 5 min walk from the hotel portion of the resort. We had breakfast included in our package and it was basically eggs, toast, beans, fresh fruit and juice and coffee. They did apparently have other menu options but we never looked around, content with the simple buffet included in our package (we did not have a meal plan or all-inclusive package – they definitely offer a meal plan because some menu items at the hotel restaurant were excluded; no idea if they offer an all-inclusive option).

FWIW, the resort just hired a new chef, and changes to the menu are coming. We heard that the coffee shop was to be turned into an Italian restaurant, with breakfast presumably moving back to the hotel grounds proper.

One thing to be keenly aware of is that Parrot Tree is actually quite isolated. You’re not anywhere close to a West End-like experience of trying out a dozen different places within a few minutes’ walk – you’re either eating at the resort, you’ve rented a car, or you’ve made arrangements with a local cabbie for getting around the island.

A second thing to be keenly aware of: Parrot Tree is not a dive resort. They do not have any sort of a dive operation, and when we arrived we discovered that they weren’t really expert at helping active divers get a series of dives organized – they were prepared to call nearby CoCo View or Fantasy Island on our behalf, but they don’t seem to have a dedicated commercial relationship with anyone nor a sort of routine approach to helping get organized.

We weren’t really terribly organized and hadn’t done a ton of research on Roatan or Parrot Tree, and sort of went into it thinking it likely we could just show up, and wander to one or more close dive ops by foot to arrange dives, or easily facilitate getting picked up at a jetty or dock close by (similar to our past experiences in Belize at Ambergris and then Caye Caulker). We quickly understood that this was not the case. We ended up catching a ride back to the airport the morning after we arrived to pick up a rental car – an unexpected expense, but one we went with as we did want to explore the island a bit and figured it gave us more freedom and certainty around diving by not having to rely on cabbies which may or may not choose to work on island time when we needed to get to a boat on time.

We had trouble hooking up with CCV’s dive op for one reason or another, and used the rental car to visit Fantasy Island. FI’s dive operation was happy to see us – the resort was booked full for the week but they only had seven confirmed divers and were pleased to have us wanting to do morning 2 tank boat dives (or more). We had several other ops we would look at near us on the south side, but went with FI for the first day and it turned out we were quite happy with FI – nice boats, friendly and knowledgeable crew and DM, seemingly secure facilities to store our gear (and no issues), and very reasonable pricing. We ended up diving exclusively with FI for five days and had a great time. I think we ended up paying $20 a dive based on the number of boat dives we did over the week. We paid extra for Nitrox (which probably really wasn’t necessary given the profiles and amount of diving we were doing, but might have been more desirable if we were also going out in the afternoon or doing some shore diving). The dives were enjoyable (plenty of other reports so I won’t be repetitive here) and they were perfectly fine with us staying down after others had concluded so long as we stayed pretty close to the boat – we didn’t want to inconvenience or delay others, but we did generally get out of the water last and enjoyed a few dives of ~65 minutes before reluctantly coming back on board. Surface intervals tended to be in nearby inlets to get out of the (very mild) swells, and on a few occasions went back to the resort for an SI. Our dive sites never exceeded more than 15 – 20 minutes from FI.

Having the rental car allowed us to visit West End, and a few restaurants out near Parrot Tree, and would have allowed us to do more, but frankly we were pretty fat and happy with a daily schedule of morning boat dives, lazy late lunch and beer, and lounging in the afternoon. Having the rental car and a full kitchen / frig also allowed us to buy beer in bulk from a local distributor (on the road from the airport) at less than half the cost of any restaurant / bar, and to stock up on snacks and other sundries from local markets. Interestingly, given the resort’s relative isolation and the presence of full kitchens in the rooms, there was no on-site market. I would have thought that having an on-site market to stock up one’s full kitchen would have made sense (even at inflated prices) – seemed strange to provide a full kitchen to guests – potentially compromising on restaurant spending – but then not to try and make a little more margin on available goods for those guests who would do some shopping for themselves regardless but might pay a bit more to avoid a 10 – 15 minute drive each way for a shopping trip.

To bring a long report to a merciful end, we very much enjoyed Parrot Tree as a resort and Fantasy Island as a dive op. We just peeked at FI rooms and checked out the buffet after one dive, and I’d say Parrot Tree was a decent step up in terms of accommodations and food, but that may be unfair to FI. We befriended a couple on our dives that regularly visited FI and their view was the management hasn’t been putting much money back into the resort and it is starting to feel a bit run down. From what little we saw, I’d probably agree, but the beach access and shore swimming / snorkeling / diving opportunities were clearly more attractive than Parrot Tree’s more artificial setting. We’d strongly recommend a rental car if staying at Parrot Tree though one might make due with taxis as needed. We like a little variety and might not do it all the same if / when we visit Roatan again, but that would primarily be out of a desire to try something new – I would happily do the same trip again if nothing new caught our eye.

Enjoyed your well-rounded report about a place we don't see posted about much here.

You're obviously aware of some of the more known resorts (here, anyway). Out of curiosity, what led you guys to choose Parrot Tree Plantation instead of a 'dive resort' like CocoView, Reef House Resort, Fantasy Island, etc...?

Richard.

drrich2:

Enjoyed your well-rounded report about a place we don't see posted about much here.

You're obviously aware of some of the more known resorts (here, anyway). Out of curiosity, what led you guys to choose Parrot Tree Plantation instead of a 'dive resort' like CocoView, Reef House Resort, Fantasy Island, etc...?

Richard.

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I'd have to ask my wife to be sure - we've reached a comfortable detante around vacation planning -- she does everything and I make sure we have the passports at the airport. We agreed on a kid-free Roatan vacation and I left it in her capable hands.

My research consisted of spending an hour on scubaboard and a half hour on trip advisor searching for Parrot Tree in the 24 hours preceding our departure from California -- there was not a lot on Parrot Tree here at ScubaBoard so I resolved that after our return I'd at least post a trip report if others here were considering the option.

I think, though I've never done it, that I could do 4 or 5 dives a day and enjoy myself. My wife knows, as do I, that she won't enjoy that schedule. She's comfortable doing 2 morning dives and then being done. She took one day off on this trip -- so I did 2-tank dives for 5 days running and suggested a shore dive or two and a possible night dive might be enjoyable. She took a day off after 3 days of morning diving and I went without her before she was back again on the last diving day. I flirted with diving in shorts (water temps around 79F - 81F) and she enjoyed her 5-4-3 wetsuit and still felt a little chilly by day 3. We never did any shore dives or nor ever really considered hiring a DM for a night dive or going out on our own one evening.

We (she) just wouldn't consider diving as much as we could in any given time span an attractive option. And I am perfectly happy to get in some enjoyable dives but also enjoy the luxury of doing nothing and/or reading a bunch of junk novels and/or eating good food and drinking my share of beer and/or goofing off generally while on a precious vacation without kids that if we're bound for a locale that offers entertaining dives I'll jump at the chance regardless of how much diving we're doing.

So, we like to dive, but we are extremely unlikely to schedule a vacation solely around diving. With diving as an option, the vacation is that much better - but we're unlikely to book a vacation solely around diving (our kids are getting to the age and maturity that a family diving vacation is more realistic!). As I confirmed on our maiden trip to Roatan, give me a decent ceviche, a cold beer, a nice climate, and a junky novel / story and I'm pretty comfortable. I can enjoy a couple of dives per day and occupy myself otherwise and my wife can do so better than I can (with repect to the relative lack of diving). Many of the reports about CCV / AKR / RHR / West End options are tantilizing for an intensive diving vacation but wouldn't make for the more generic vacation experience that we'd look for.

Hey Catt99,

Thank you for the review, I am very interested in your perspective as we just returned from a week in Ambergris Caye and I am now starting to research a potential Roatan trip for next Spring Break and have seen some nice homes at Parrot Tree on VRBO. Can I ask you some specific questions:
How do you compare the two islands? We liked the feel of the Tres Cocos area of Ambergris and the house we rented there.
How would you compare the diving?
Did you do any snorkeling at Parrot Tree?
The private homes look to be on the open ocean side around the corner from the resort and swimming lagoon. Did you see this area? We have a 9 year old son that enjoys being in the water, wondering if the area in front of the homes is usable and you can enter the water there.

Thank you!!

---Wes

Hi Wes,

First off, we visited Ambergris in 2005 (and Caye Caulker in 2008) -- I am sure a lot has changed since then.

We stayed on Ambergris in a rented quasi-condo (small kitchen facilites) on the beach south of San Pedro, somewhere south of Ramon's Village but maybe a bit north of Banyan Bay. We were about 10 - 15 mins walk (IIRC) to San Pedro proper. I don't recall much about the area north of San Pedro, where Tres Cocos is though we must have passed that way at some point on a day we rented a golf cart to explore. Because of the lack of cars and the much smaller size of Ambergris, there is defintiely a different feel to the islands, with Ambergris feeling more a remote, sandy, barefooted vacation destination (although when we went back to Belize in 2008, we looked at Caulker both for a change, and to get a little more remote than the sometimes bustle - ha! - of San Pedro). Roatan is of course a much, much larger island proper, with pockets of resort areas and pockets of ordinary built-up areas. When we went out for drinks and dinner in Ambergris, it was a walk down the beach or down the road to any number of mostly open air bar/restaurants with lots of fresh seafood. We're not really big partiers, so didn't exactly work the nightlife in Ambergris. Roatan was more of a drive-to-an-indoor-restaurant place - although West End, more concentrated than I remember Ambergris, had a somewhat similar feel without the never-ending beach. We contented ourself with hanging around Parrot Tree or driving out for drinks / dinner on the south side near Parrot Tree (not much farther than French Harbor). We did also take a drive further north / east one afternoon, and also spent our first day exploring West End. But for spur of the moment interests, we couldn't just amble down a road or beach - as I noted in the trip report, the area around Parrot Tree is fairly isolated, certainly in terms of foot traffic (it is a 3 - 5 minute drive from the main road down to the resort area and no real opportunity to walk the shoreline to nearby locations).

The diving was similar in many respects - which is to say awesome. In both cases the typical dives tended to be around 40' - 80', with very warm water and great visiblity, and the reefs are impressive. My memories of Ambergris are that the finger-like reefs, full of channels and interesting structures, were vibrant with a good deal of sea life. Nurse sharks were common, as were many species of small to medium fish. Our dives in Roatan were typically wall dives (swim the wall at depth, and return above / atop the wall) and the sites tended to more macro life -- seahorses, shrimp, and the like, with a great deal of different types of corals, fans, etc. Keep in mind we only dove the south side of Roatan. Both experiences were really enjoyable and relaxed and we'd like to go back to both Ambergris and Roatan at some point.

I'm afraid we didn't do any snorkeling around Parrot Tree. And though my wife wandered in the residential area one afternoon looking for good photos, she didn't make her way down to the water, so I have no idea what the water entries are like, what the conditions are, or what there is to see.

Wish my memory was better and my powers of obervation and communication were better, but hopes this helps a little bit!

If you are going to Roatan for a couples vacation with diving as an option, I would recommend any resort on West Bay Beach. If you're going mainly for the diving, I would recommend Las Rocas, Blue Bahia or Anthony's Key Resort...but there are dozens more to choose from.

scubamon:

....How do you compare the two islands? We liked the feel of the Tres Cocos area of Ambergris and the house we rented there.
How would you compare the diving?...

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The long thin island of Roatan, the geography in and of itself, causes several micro environments of dramatically different underwater structure and water exchange.



Diving out of FIBR (and CCV, RHR, BFK) puts you along the small geographic South shore area that makes up the diving that is absolutely unique in the Caribbean. Very few visitors to Roatan have ever dived in more than one such zone, so it harks back to the parable of the 7 blind men and the elephant....

The Blind Men and the Elephant A good tale, and on-point describing most limited perspectives.



This is also very apparent in terms of terrestrial diversions and services. As abundant and unusual the u/w life is in this zone, the on-shore surroundings are not commercialized at all (yet).

The other areas on the island may be considered to be West End and West Bay (the Cruise ship spot) with numerous guest houses, bars and restaurants; North side (West end) like AKR; and North side (Central/East) such as Paya Bay (PBR) or Turquoise Bay (TBR). This diving is deeper and lies in shadow. The u/w geography is decidedly shaped by millenia of the battering of storms (Northers) which have caused interesting and diverse reef structures. The reef structure is quite a distance off shore.

The South side has reef structure very close to shore, quite shallow, the best protected and most interesting shore dive is the one between FIBR and CCV.



The shore entries near Parrot Tree look inviting, but are quite a hump to the far South tip of the property. They have made their own lagoon by extensive dredging and earthwork, so decimating the localized reef structure. It is on a point, protruding into the extant current so the damage is highly localized (so far), not dissimilar to that caused by FIBR's need to create a beach. Altho both resorts have destroyed their own reefs, they both have created great night diving environments. Octopus and things that go bump-in-the-night love moonscapes.

An interesting description of the differences North/West vs South from and internationally known expert:

Diving from any given dive-op off Ambergris will expose you to the same dive sites and similar variety of structures.

So, the point is this: the differentiation between Roatan diving environments is an impossibility without selecting a specific dive zone... and no~ the distances are so large on this 17x5 mile island, that you are simply bound to one zone on any week long visit. An again: No, being taken to Mary's Place of the South side is not representative of the area. A few North/West side resorts that have the wherewithal to take you to the cover of the South when a Norther shows up- that too, is not much of a look at the very unique South side.

It's just a long, thin elephant.

"West Bay (the Cruise ship spot)". Huh?. I've spent most of my dive trips on West Bay, a gorgeous cresent shaped bay with a fringing reef, too shallow for cruise ships. Cruise ships come into Coxen Hole, south side, unless I'm complete bonkers today.

lthomas132:

"West Bay (the Cruise ship spot)". Huh?. I've spent most of my dive trips on West Bay, a gorgeous cresent shaped bay with a fringing reef, too shallow for cruise ships. Cruise ships come into Coxen Hole, south side, unless I'm complete bonkers today.

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Okay, I'll try to be more specific. The actual cruise ship pier is a made-up port known as "Mahogany Bay", East of Coxen Hole and the Airport. Some ships (I don't know) probably use the old dock, West of town. Mahogany Bay is a nice sanitized paver block 6 Flags type environment. It has a chair lift to move pod people back and forth to the beach.



and the improbable:



Here's the relatively unknown dive site that has lain hidden just offshore. It is in process of being destroyed by siltation from the port:

These ships disgorge their passengers. The real risk takers leave Mahogany Bay, which was built to assuage the fears of the readers of the internet who have read and misinterpreted the dire safety warnings of this lucrative port. They head off (by instantly escalated fares) in local cabs to other pre-designed tourist delights such as zip line tours, the iguana farm, drinking and drinking along West Bay drinking establishments, and the real devil-may-care... they go diving with one of the many day dive ops along West Bay. Barefoot Key is getting some of that gravy, but the big dog is Anthony's Key.

AKR makes most of its money off of the Dolphins, Diving and the Cruise Ship guests. Compared to this, their week-long visitors are peanuts.