VBlueV
Contributor
Fantasy Island Trip Report 2014-10.
Inbound:
Departed home at dawn Saturday. Passport was only checked at departure airport. Changed planes in Dallas mid-morning. Completed Customs forms on approach. Arrived Roatan mid-afternoon, 3pm. Several different Resort-hosts were waiting in arrival area displaying Resort-signs and also helped sort checked-luggage. Seated in middle of jet, only took 15 minutes to get all the way through Customs with 6 stations/agents. Finger-printed. Retrieved checked-luggage from carousel. Rolled all luggage to large scanner. Fed luggage into scanner and gave Declarations Form to another agent. No beeping from scanner, so, rolled luggage out to airport lobby. Met by FIBR Host, who then led us outside for curb pickup by large 30 passenger FIBR Bus in good condition with decent A/C. Bus driver loaded luggage onto front seats and did good job avoiding head-on collisions on narrow road with no center-stripe. Host pointed out different landmarks enroute, including standard jest of pointing to posh Governor's Mansion and saying that it was "her" house.
Arrival Day:
Arrived FIBR greeted by bartender and the fabled Welcome-drink/Mai-tai. Signed check-in form, given tri-fold listing meal schedule, and room-key. No bell-hop, no elevator, so, lugged luggage up to Second Floor. Second Floor rooms have tile-floors and 15 foot-high vaulted-ceilings with ceiling-fan. (In contrast, First Floor rooms have Pergo floor and only 8 foot-high flat ceilings.) Rooms had: Mini-fridge with pitcher of drinking-water poured from 5 gallon water-cooler bottle. Small 32 inch flat-screen TV with 100 satellite channels (including the 4 main US Networks broadcast from NY, NY as evidenced by local news); Split A/C which kept the room cool during the day and cold at night. (We tried adjusting the thermostat, but just one-degree warmer made it too warm, so, we didn't mess with the controls any further). The bathroom appeared nice (glass-sliding door for shower, built-in hair-dryer, large oval commode), with hotel towels, shampoo, and soap plentiful, but the running tap/shower water flowed intermittently at best and we only experienced hot-water on Wednesday/Cruise Day [because they're VIPs?]. And yes, their de-salinator is on the fritz and the tap water tasted saltier at times too, which probably wasn't good for their pipes (As evidenced by initial rusty flow when water pressure would finally return after being off for a while.) Seemed there was finite amount of water and/or water-pressure, so, recommend shower at least an hour prior to meals, because the rest of the guests seem to all shower 15 minutes before eating.
Meals:
Buffet Meals were promptly served at 7am, 12:30pm, and 6:30pm. They served fried fish and sautéed chicken at every meal, though, the chicken was fillet'd thin and seasoned to look and taste like fish. The desserts were good too especially the Chocolate/Chocolate cake. The Servers were very attentive and by the second-day, had our preferred drink requests memorized and would have them on our usual table before we were thru the Buffet. Lunch was served in the Beach Pavilion. Breakfast and Dinner were served in the Second Floor Banquet Room with seating out on the open Terrace. After dinner there was always some form of entertainment (folk-dancers, jugglers, and salsa dance-lessons).
Grounds:
Around the grounds the Wild-kingdom abound: Monkeys, Iguanas, Ducks, Roosters, and Capybara. Really could've done without the Zoo though. All the animals seemed to invite more insects too, which weren't as bad as I thought, but yes, there were the man-eating mosquitos and sand-fleas. Just apply DEET if you're going to be hanging out on the beach after dusk. To re-state, the rooms are nice (somewhat updated relative to previous descriptions), cool, and roomy. Just the lack of running water at times took some adaptation.
Dive-Op:
Sunday 8am, Slogged Dive-gear 200 yds. from room to Dive-shop. (Our rooms overlooked the Gazebo cove.) Completed and signed the PADI Disclaimer-Release Form and presented our C-Cards. Then, we set up our gear onto the tank on the boat. After-which, we went into one of the super-cooled class-rooms (the best A/C on the island) and received thorough Dive and Safety-briefing covering the whole week. After the brief, we visited with the other 4 divers until our standard scheduled push-off at 9am. Dive boat was white-washed and clean with two tanks on-board for each of us. The boat was stocked with fresh fruit, plenty of clean beach towels, and large orange water-jug, with spare 5 gallon water-cooler bottles stored under the console. Plus, there's a Marine-head in the forward-hold. We only had 8 divers in our group, so, very roomy. (The boat could accommodate 20 divers. e.g. there were 40 tank slots.) The subsequent days, most showed up just before 9am, enough time to set-up tank/gear. Recommend check pressure-gauge few minutes after you turn on tank to ensure Tank O-ring not leaking. (That's the only area for improvement I had for this top-notch Dive Shop with outstanding service: "Maybe use Dentists' tool to remove O-rings, instead of broad knife-blade-point which gouges metal groove where O-ring seats.")
Dive Schedule:
The 9am departure services two different off-shore dive sites. The 2:30 pm departure provides one off-shore dive site and an optional boat-to-shore 4th dive (if you notify them before you leave the dock so they can throw second tanks on-board for each of you). For the 4th dive, they'll drop you off directly above the local Wreck-dive. After exploring the wreck, you follow an underwater guide-rope to the Airplane-wreck, eventually leading to the Gazebo Exit. At the Gazebo, you'll leave your empty tanks and slog 200 yds. along the beach back to the Dive-shop to stow your gear in the Dive-lockers. Therefore, it's possible to get 4 dives per day for the first 5 days (which included one planned night-dive on Wednesday). Then, on Friday, you only do the two morning dives in-order-to provide the 24 hour surface-interval before your departure flights which are normally just after noon Saturday. My group completed 22 dives. You are also given the option for unlimited shore-dives, but we were tired after the 4th dive. Besides, after the boat-to-shore 4th dive, it's already dusk and the free beer/Well-drinks were calling. Overall, the diving was excellent with good visibility underwater (normally over 100 ft.), warm water temperature (85°F), and vast reefs of live, mostly soft, coral. (One of the DMs mentioned, the length of this reef was only second to Australia's Great Barrier Reef.)
Departure:
Departed FIBR Saturday mid-morning on the 30 passenger bus to the Roatan Airport. If you're thirsty right when you get to the airport, there's a Starbuck's look-alike with glass-case of pastries in the far corner of the lobby and a Tropical Bar with subs/snacks along the opposite wall. Between checking-in our luggage with the Airline, paying the Departure-tax, and processing through Customs (again providing finger-prints), we were all in the secure Departure waiting-area within an hour and ordering sandwiches and beer from the Snack-shop in the back corner. We also purchased several Roatan Dive T-shirts from the Vendor positioned along the wall to the Snack-shop. Then we nursed the beers until our flights were called.
Summary:
Overall, the Dive-trip was a success. The only things I missed were the larger animals. While, we were given the option, we had opted not to sign-up for the single Shark-dive with a Dive-op on the other side of the Island (because last year in the Bahamas, we saw numerous sharks on most every dive.) Also, the DM had promised us Hammer-heads at one of the last dive-sites of the week, but no-joy. In summary: great Dive-op, good viz, warm-temps, Sunny weather (after forecast Tropical-storm never materialized), plentiful wild-life (Sea-horses, Toad-fish, Bat-fish, Morays, Eagle-rays, Takos, Turtles, and of course Lions), and multitudes of live-coral (Anemone, Fire-coral, and Titan Barrels).
Thanks for reading.
Inbound:
Departed home at dawn Saturday. Passport was only checked at departure airport. Changed planes in Dallas mid-morning. Completed Customs forms on approach. Arrived Roatan mid-afternoon, 3pm. Several different Resort-hosts were waiting in arrival area displaying Resort-signs and also helped sort checked-luggage. Seated in middle of jet, only took 15 minutes to get all the way through Customs with 6 stations/agents. Finger-printed. Retrieved checked-luggage from carousel. Rolled all luggage to large scanner. Fed luggage into scanner and gave Declarations Form to another agent. No beeping from scanner, so, rolled luggage out to airport lobby. Met by FIBR Host, who then led us outside for curb pickup by large 30 passenger FIBR Bus in good condition with decent A/C. Bus driver loaded luggage onto front seats and did good job avoiding head-on collisions on narrow road with no center-stripe. Host pointed out different landmarks enroute, including standard jest of pointing to posh Governor's Mansion and saying that it was "her" house.
Arrival Day:
Arrived FIBR greeted by bartender and the fabled Welcome-drink/Mai-tai. Signed check-in form, given tri-fold listing meal schedule, and room-key. No bell-hop, no elevator, so, lugged luggage up to Second Floor. Second Floor rooms have tile-floors and 15 foot-high vaulted-ceilings with ceiling-fan. (In contrast, First Floor rooms have Pergo floor and only 8 foot-high flat ceilings.) Rooms had: Mini-fridge with pitcher of drinking-water poured from 5 gallon water-cooler bottle. Small 32 inch flat-screen TV with 100 satellite channels (including the 4 main US Networks broadcast from NY, NY as evidenced by local news); Split A/C which kept the room cool during the day and cold at night. (We tried adjusting the thermostat, but just one-degree warmer made it too warm, so, we didn't mess with the controls any further). The bathroom appeared nice (glass-sliding door for shower, built-in hair-dryer, large oval commode), with hotel towels, shampoo, and soap plentiful, but the running tap/shower water flowed intermittently at best and we only experienced hot-water on Wednesday/Cruise Day [because they're VIPs?]. And yes, their de-salinator is on the fritz and the tap water tasted saltier at times too, which probably wasn't good for their pipes (As evidenced by initial rusty flow when water pressure would finally return after being off for a while.) Seemed there was finite amount of water and/or water-pressure, so, recommend shower at least an hour prior to meals, because the rest of the guests seem to all shower 15 minutes before eating.
Meals:
Buffet Meals were promptly served at 7am, 12:30pm, and 6:30pm. They served fried fish and sautéed chicken at every meal, though, the chicken was fillet'd thin and seasoned to look and taste like fish. The desserts were good too especially the Chocolate/Chocolate cake. The Servers were very attentive and by the second-day, had our preferred drink requests memorized and would have them on our usual table before we were thru the Buffet. Lunch was served in the Beach Pavilion. Breakfast and Dinner were served in the Second Floor Banquet Room with seating out on the open Terrace. After dinner there was always some form of entertainment (folk-dancers, jugglers, and salsa dance-lessons).
Grounds:
Around the grounds the Wild-kingdom abound: Monkeys, Iguanas, Ducks, Roosters, and Capybara. Really could've done without the Zoo though. All the animals seemed to invite more insects too, which weren't as bad as I thought, but yes, there were the man-eating mosquitos and sand-fleas. Just apply DEET if you're going to be hanging out on the beach after dusk. To re-state, the rooms are nice (somewhat updated relative to previous descriptions), cool, and roomy. Just the lack of running water at times took some adaptation.
Dive-Op:
Sunday 8am, Slogged Dive-gear 200 yds. from room to Dive-shop. (Our rooms overlooked the Gazebo cove.) Completed and signed the PADI Disclaimer-Release Form and presented our C-Cards. Then, we set up our gear onto the tank on the boat. After-which, we went into one of the super-cooled class-rooms (the best A/C on the island) and received thorough Dive and Safety-briefing covering the whole week. After the brief, we visited with the other 4 divers until our standard scheduled push-off at 9am. Dive boat was white-washed and clean with two tanks on-board for each of us. The boat was stocked with fresh fruit, plenty of clean beach towels, and large orange water-jug, with spare 5 gallon water-cooler bottles stored under the console. Plus, there's a Marine-head in the forward-hold. We only had 8 divers in our group, so, very roomy. (The boat could accommodate 20 divers. e.g. there were 40 tank slots.) The subsequent days, most showed up just before 9am, enough time to set-up tank/gear. Recommend check pressure-gauge few minutes after you turn on tank to ensure Tank O-ring not leaking. (That's the only area for improvement I had for this top-notch Dive Shop with outstanding service: "Maybe use Dentists' tool to remove O-rings, instead of broad knife-blade-point which gouges metal groove where O-ring seats.")
Dive Schedule:
The 9am departure services two different off-shore dive sites. The 2:30 pm departure provides one off-shore dive site and an optional boat-to-shore 4th dive (if you notify them before you leave the dock so they can throw second tanks on-board for each of you). For the 4th dive, they'll drop you off directly above the local Wreck-dive. After exploring the wreck, you follow an underwater guide-rope to the Airplane-wreck, eventually leading to the Gazebo Exit. At the Gazebo, you'll leave your empty tanks and slog 200 yds. along the beach back to the Dive-shop to stow your gear in the Dive-lockers. Therefore, it's possible to get 4 dives per day for the first 5 days (which included one planned night-dive on Wednesday). Then, on Friday, you only do the two morning dives in-order-to provide the 24 hour surface-interval before your departure flights which are normally just after noon Saturday. My group completed 22 dives. You are also given the option for unlimited shore-dives, but we were tired after the 4th dive. Besides, after the boat-to-shore 4th dive, it's already dusk and the free beer/Well-drinks were calling. Overall, the diving was excellent with good visibility underwater (normally over 100 ft.), warm water temperature (85°F), and vast reefs of live, mostly soft, coral. (One of the DMs mentioned, the length of this reef was only second to Australia's Great Barrier Reef.)
Departure:
Departed FIBR Saturday mid-morning on the 30 passenger bus to the Roatan Airport. If you're thirsty right when you get to the airport, there's a Starbuck's look-alike with glass-case of pastries in the far corner of the lobby and a Tropical Bar with subs/snacks along the opposite wall. Between checking-in our luggage with the Airline, paying the Departure-tax, and processing through Customs (again providing finger-prints), we were all in the secure Departure waiting-area within an hour and ordering sandwiches and beer from the Snack-shop in the back corner. We also purchased several Roatan Dive T-shirts from the Vendor positioned along the wall to the Snack-shop. Then we nursed the beers until our flights were called.
Summary:
Overall, the Dive-trip was a success. The only things I missed were the larger animals. While, we were given the option, we had opted not to sign-up for the single Shark-dive with a Dive-op on the other side of the Island (because last year in the Bahamas, we saw numerous sharks on most every dive.) Also, the DM had promised us Hammer-heads at one of the last dive-sites of the week, but no-joy. In summary: great Dive-op, good viz, warm-temps, Sunny weather (after forecast Tropical-storm never materialized), plentiful wild-life (Sea-horses, Toad-fish, Bat-fish, Morays, Eagle-rays, Takos, Turtles, and of course Lions), and multitudes of live-coral (Anemone, Fire-coral, and Titan Barrels).
Thanks for reading.
)---circa 1995, nite dive I'm thinking.......Also----my avatar is from the shark dive, Cara a Cara in 2002,or '03 (I think that was the last time I dove it)--good little shark dive.......
