landshark94
Registered
I'm going to Fantasy Island Beach Resort in Roatan in December. Can anyone that has been there in the last few months give me their review of the resort, the diving along with any advise on other activities to do.
Fantasy Island Resort, Roatan
- Thread starter landshark94
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jbsluvsscuba
New
Welcome to FIDR.Hi there LS94...My wife and I will be at FIDR between Dec.3rd and the 17th, possibly the 24th if we aren't locked out of Utila. We were at FIDR in Dec. 2010 for two weeks and we had a great time! The hotel was under heavy room renovation at the time but that didn't affect our stay at all. 
The dive op was professional and the Dm's and Captains are all friendly and attentive. The resort is terrific. Plenty of room to spread out and relax when you aren't diving.
Food was great with plenty of choices and the dining room is air conditioned. When my wife and I weren't diving we toured the island. We made friends with one of the taxi drivers who gave us his number, we called him and he would pick us up and take us around to all the tourist spots and then some off the beaten path places. All in all I do think you'll have a great time and you won't be bored. I am aMSDT instructor and my wife Peggie and I have been to quite a few places but we feel most at home at FIDR.We'll see you then
)o
LynnB
Contributor
We were there last in June 2010. We had a great time. Food was not very good but I hear that has changed. The strange thing is all the people that used to report on here about FIBR no longer do so I am not really sure what to think.
If you are going to dive you will not have much time to do other things. It gets dark there early so by the time we did our afternoon dive and cleaned up it was time for dinner and bed.
We had stayed in West Bay before and there is not a whole lot to do. Pretty beaches and you can spend a little time in West End looking through the little shops if that is what you like.
We did the zipline and that was a lot of fun.
All the boats are in before lunch on Friday and don't go back out due to allowing enough time before flights. (or that is the way it was for us). So we used that time to go to the other end of the island.
Have fun and post a review as to how it is....
If you are going to dive you will not have much time to do other things. It gets dark there early so by the time we did our afternoon dive and cleaned up it was time for dinner and bed.
We had stayed in West Bay before and there is not a whole lot to do. Pretty beaches and you can spend a little time in West End looking through the little shops if that is what you like.
We did the zipline and that was a lot of fun.
All the boats are in before lunch on Friday and don't go back out due to allowing enough time before flights. (or that is the way it was for us). So we used that time to go to the other end of the island.
Have fun and post a review as to how it is....
OP
landshark94
Registered
JBS I will actually be there with 3 friends on December 3 to 10 too. I'm sure we will meet for a drink one night or on a dive boat one day.
How are the mosquitos and no-see-ums? What is better or what do you use, DEET vs Picaridin vs Permethrin?
How are the mosquitos and no-see-ums? What is better or what do you use, DEET vs Picaridin vs Permethrin?
PBenitez
Registered
Hi All,
I work at Fantasy and I just took this pics with my phone to show you a little bit how it looks today.
Our Diving staff is very friendly, attentive, experienced and professional. I'm sure they will take good care of you during your visit and you will enjoy your stay a lot.
About the no-see-ums and mosquitos, we fog the beach and common areas every morning to try to keep them as low as we can. An insect repellent always help! I use OFF deep woods and it works for me, but every person is different. We have this in the boutique or you can bring your favourite from home.
jbs, is good to hear that you will be visiting us soon!
If you have any question or request, you can always write me at sales@fantasyislandresort.com and I will take care of anything you need
Have a good day
I work at Fantasy and I just took this pics with my phone to show you a little bit how it looks today.
Our Diving staff is very friendly, attentive, experienced and professional. I'm sure they will take good care of you during your visit and you will enjoy your stay a lot.
About the no-see-ums and mosquitos, we fog the beach and common areas every morning to try to keep them as low as we can. An insect repellent always help! I use OFF deep woods and it works for me, but every person is different. We have this in the boutique or you can bring your favourite from home.
jbs, is good to hear that you will be visiting us soon!
If you have any question or request, you can always write me at sales@fantasyislandresort.com and I will take care of anything you need
Have a good day
We were there last December and never used any insect repellent. Diving was outstanding.
Make the time your first day to do a shore dive from the gazebo so you are familiar with the layout of the guide ropes to and from the walls and wreck. Then on subsequent days take an extra tank on the afternoon dive boat and have them drop you over the shore diving sites and save the swim out. This makes it easy to get that fourth dive in before dinner.
Enjoy
Make the time your first day to do a shore dive from the gazebo so you are familiar with the layout of the guide ropes to and from the walls and wreck. Then on subsequent days take an extra tank on the afternoon dive boat and have them drop you over the shore diving sites and save the swim out. This makes it easy to get that fourth dive in before dinner.
Enjoy
miketrance84
Guest
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I would look at trip advisor for recent postings. I have glanced through a few reviews that were posted and they talk about no hot water, horrible food, unsanitary bathrooms and things like that. I personally don't care for the place but that's a dead issue that isn't worth bringing up again. Also what I find funny is there is two kinds of reviews, either scathing on there or the greatest place on earth. I'm not accusing the resort of planting reviews but, it just strikes me as odd to have some terrible (worst place ever) reviews then some this place is the greatest reviews.
At the very least it's a polorizing place it seems.
At the very least it's a polorizing place it seems.
averagediver
Registered
Over the years we have been to FIBR 5 or 6 times and have always had a great time and meet wonderful people. I sure wish the insane airfare would stop. I really like to go again around Christmas, but with the airfare - looks like Cozumel for us this Christmas.
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Upon your return, please leave a complete report.
I can't recall anyone on SCUBABoard having been there (or leaving a report) since the complete management turnover 6 months ago.
I stayed at Fantasy Island 8/13/11 - 8/20/11.
Based on the more recent reviews on Tripadviser I was not expecting a lot.
My room was clean and nicer than I expected from the reviews. Large selection of channels on the TV (but apparently no remote control). They left a pitcher of drinking water in the room every day. I did not have hot water until the last couple days so my showers tended to be pretty quick. The view from the room was excellent I and did see them fogging for insects along the beach. My group was assigned to the 200 series rooms which were as far from the dive shop as possible. I think the 300-400 rooms are much closer. No wi-fi signal in the room at all. They were having problems with the internet connection to the wi-fi in the lobby. They did allow us to use the computer behind the front desk to check flights, weather, etc. They apparently installed new electronic locks on the doors to the rooms and had a small problem that we had to have our keys reset each day.
They had a new manager that started there a few days before we arrived. She was on-site from around 7 AM and I usually saw her there until 8 or 9 at night. She was always asking us how everything was and what we thought of the food. I think she is trying to upgrade the place. They had a lot of people tending to the grounds around the facilities. There was a funky smell just outside the lobby as you started walking toward the room. Not sure what that was about.
We enjoyed watching all the animal life on the property (the monkeys are really fun to watch).
The food was ok. Nothing to write home about but we could always find something that was decent and filling. If it were a stand alone restaurant I would never drive there for a meal, but as part of the resort it was satisfactory. They did seem to have problems with the A/C in the dining room the first couple days but that seemed to be corrected towards the end of our stay. The all-inclusive package included beer (Sala Vida and Imperial), red or white wine, rum, taquila, Gin, creme de menthe and Vodka. They also had a couple "umbrella" drinks on the all-inclusive menu. I really like the beer. Both local Honduran made. The bar was open until about 10 PM.
The dive operation was good. They had 2 new large boats that had room for 40 tanks (so 20 diver capacity). They also had several medium sized older boats that they were not running due to the small number of divers. The resort was almost empty so there were usually 5 divers on the boat and a max of 8. They have a locker room that is locked up every night so you can leave your gear. Inside the locker room are several open shelving units with room to hang your wet suit and store your gear, but no individual locks. We paid for a nitrox upgrade and we usually got a 30% mix. They had 3 or 4 O2 testers available before the boat leaves the dock so you could check your mix.
The dive sites are close so our longest boat ride was 20 minutes. They run a single tank dive at 9 am. The boat comes back to the dock and you have time to use the restroom and grab a snack. The boat leaves again at 11 for another single tank dive. It gets back in time for you to grab lunch and take a quick nap. It goes out again at 2:30. For the night dive it leaves at 6 pm. They always had fresh fruit on the boat that was sliced and ready to go when you come up from your first dive.
The dive master and boat captain were very friendly and knowledgeable. We had the same 2 guys every day. My only complaint was that we may have spent a little too much time lion fish hunting (although there were a couple guys on the boat that really enjoyed it wanted to hunt every dive).
The shore diving is really a boat dive because the dive site is on the opposite side of the resort. They take you by boat, drop you off over the wreck that is just between the resort and cocoview. You can either swim back to shore and leave your tanks or they will pick you up at a prearranged time. The diving is great. All wall dives with a ton of animal life. Some of the best reef structure that I've seen. We were able to do 19 dives in 6 days.
Would I go back. Yes and no. There are other places on the Island to try but if the price was right I would not have any problems staying there again.
Based on the more recent reviews on Tripadviser I was not expecting a lot.
My room was clean and nicer than I expected from the reviews. Large selection of channels on the TV (but apparently no remote control). They left a pitcher of drinking water in the room every day. I did not have hot water until the last couple days so my showers tended to be pretty quick. The view from the room was excellent I and did see them fogging for insects along the beach. My group was assigned to the 200 series rooms which were as far from the dive shop as possible. I think the 300-400 rooms are much closer. No wi-fi signal in the room at all. They were having problems with the internet connection to the wi-fi in the lobby. They did allow us to use the computer behind the front desk to check flights, weather, etc. They apparently installed new electronic locks on the doors to the rooms and had a small problem that we had to have our keys reset each day.
They had a new manager that started there a few days before we arrived. She was on-site from around 7 AM and I usually saw her there until 8 or 9 at night. She was always asking us how everything was and what we thought of the food. I think she is trying to upgrade the place. They had a lot of people tending to the grounds around the facilities. There was a funky smell just outside the lobby as you started walking toward the room. Not sure what that was about.
We enjoyed watching all the animal life on the property (the monkeys are really fun to watch).
The food was ok. Nothing to write home about but we could always find something that was decent and filling. If it were a stand alone restaurant I would never drive there for a meal, but as part of the resort it was satisfactory. They did seem to have problems with the A/C in the dining room the first couple days but that seemed to be corrected towards the end of our stay. The all-inclusive package included beer (Sala Vida and Imperial), red or white wine, rum, taquila, Gin, creme de menthe and Vodka. They also had a couple "umbrella" drinks on the all-inclusive menu. I really like the beer. Both local Honduran made. The bar was open until about 10 PM.
The dive operation was good. They had 2 new large boats that had room for 40 tanks (so 20 diver capacity). They also had several medium sized older boats that they were not running due to the small number of divers. The resort was almost empty so there were usually 5 divers on the boat and a max of 8. They have a locker room that is locked up every night so you can leave your gear. Inside the locker room are several open shelving units with room to hang your wet suit and store your gear, but no individual locks. We paid for a nitrox upgrade and we usually got a 30% mix. They had 3 or 4 O2 testers available before the boat leaves the dock so you could check your mix.
The dive sites are close so our longest boat ride was 20 minutes. They run a single tank dive at 9 am. The boat comes back to the dock and you have time to use the restroom and grab a snack. The boat leaves again at 11 for another single tank dive. It gets back in time for you to grab lunch and take a quick nap. It goes out again at 2:30. For the night dive it leaves at 6 pm. They always had fresh fruit on the boat that was sliced and ready to go when you come up from your first dive.
The dive master and boat captain were very friendly and knowledgeable. We had the same 2 guys every day. My only complaint was that we may have spent a little too much time lion fish hunting (although there were a couple guys on the boat that really enjoyed it wanted to hunt every dive).
The shore diving is really a boat dive because the dive site is on the opposite side of the resort. They take you by boat, drop you off over the wreck that is just between the resort and cocoview. You can either swim back to shore and leave your tanks or they will pick you up at a prearranged time. The diving is great. All wall dives with a ton of animal life. Some of the best reef structure that I've seen. We were able to do 19 dives in 6 days.
Would I go back. Yes and no. There are other places on the Island to try but if the price was right I would not have any problems staying there again.
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