We had such as good time at FI last week!
We spent a week backpacking the mainland before we came, and after one week in Guatemala and Honduras, we were SO happy to finally reach the resort (ya know, have electricity, internet, bedding...the works!)
The Diving- You couldn't ask for more. The system is set up great. You are assigned a boat for the week and you can go on 1-4 dives a day, depending on your "dive energy." The coral is beautiful, and the dive masters are always finding all kinds of cool stuff on every dive. I spent most of my time with Darren, but also a day with Nelson, and they found everything we wanted to see, and more! It's like they're King Triton with the ocean at their beck and call! Or maybe they're just that good! You also get to lay back like a princess while they swap out all your tanks on each dive! I could get used to this kind of service, though I shouldn't, it won't happen back here at the quarry
The Dive Shop- From the moment you show up for your first dive, you are really taken care of. The girl who seems to "run" things (lighter hair in a bun) really has it together. And she's nice. And calm. And will solve any and every problem put in front of her in a...nice, calm, logical way. She's exactly the person they need to be in charge of a crazy dive shop full of divers every day. Bravo FI, don't change a thing here, she's great. And so are the staff filling tanks and maintaining the boats, though they probably go unnoticed because they dont interact with the guests as much. The rental gear is just fine, all Oceanic and SeaQuest BCDs, honestly the best rental gear Ive seen in awhile. However, I always go to budget dive resorts, as Im a student, so I dont know the standard.
The Food- I was NEVER hungry! Nor was I disappointed with the food. However, the person I was traveling with was not crazy about the food b/c she was vegetarian and a picky eater. So it depends on you. I thought it was great. Every night there was a pasta, 2-3 meats, fish, veggies, soup, salad, someone grilling something, carbs galore, great desserts, ice cream, etc. In my honest opinion, if you can't find something delicious, that's your problem!
The Rooms- Our room was spacious, clean, and comfortable. Two queen beds, a pergo floor, turquoise wood hutch/drawers, a TV w/many channels, mini fridge, and a small table and 2 chairs. The AC worked great, our patio faced the beach and the bathroom was really nice! Only thing conceivably wrong was that the shower head didn't stay up on its holder. I had come to the resort expecting some of these issues since I read on this board about the management swap. However, I'm crafty and I had a Goody headband in my bag that I used to make a figure 8 around the nozzle holder, and it held up just fine. Until they can work every little detail out, I figured w/ the "special" rate we got, one little thing cant get us down...just bring a Goody headband! I'll take a discounted price for a slightly faulty shower head any day!
The Wildlife- This was honestly the best part about the resort! There was a beautiful peacock, deer, wausau (they looked like a cross btwn a bunny and rat!) iguana, monkeys, and....all kinds of sea life! They monkeys came out to play in the evenings on the patio, they were so much fun, crawling all over us and looking in our purses for god-knows-what. The peacock was majestic, and would come and eat out of your hand if you stole some bar peanuts. The Iguanas were more elusive, but maybe we'll see more next time, apparently they only come out at a certain time of day. If you feed the fish off the gazebo at night, tarpon, stingray, and others will show up! If you like wildlife, you'll never be bored here.
The Connection- The hotel has free wireless internet in the lobby and one desktop computer in the lobby. It's no high-speed internet, but w/ us coming from the mainland, it was the best computer Central America might have to offer. Not too shabby, imo. Most divers brought laptops to upload their pics and videos, if we weren't traveling beforehand, I'd probably go this route too. Though there was never a long wait for the lobby desktop.
I mean, if I had to look back and attempt to pick out little flaws in this resort, the only thing that irritated me was the evening front desk girls. When you asked them a question, they stared at you like you were an alien for 10 full seconds, then basically "didn't" answer your question in the most round-about way. Patience was a virtue, and of course there was a language barrier. However, after doing a decent amount of traveling, I've realized that speedy, accurate answers are a rare type of American customer service that shouldn't be expected elsewhere. I don't know why, it's just so.
The entire time we were at Fantasy Island Resort, renovations were ongoing. One entire wing of the resort was shut down for renovations. They were installing new windows, painting, and who knows what else.
FI was a magical place, not in a "perfect" or "fantasy" way, but in a Honduran way. It felt real. Don't come here if you expect the spa treatment. It is a resort for divers, and is designed around eating, sleeping, diving and relaxing. This is what the resort is intended for, and it does it well. If you come here for any other reason, you'll be disappointed. And it'll be your own fault for not researching your vacation properly. If you want to eat, sleep and dive non-stop with fun wildlife running amuck, this is the perfect place!
We spent a week backpacking the mainland before we came, and after one week in Guatemala and Honduras, we were SO happy to finally reach the resort (ya know, have electricity, internet, bedding...the works!)
The Diving- You couldn't ask for more. The system is set up great. You are assigned a boat for the week and you can go on 1-4 dives a day, depending on your "dive energy." The coral is beautiful, and the dive masters are always finding all kinds of cool stuff on every dive. I spent most of my time with Darren, but also a day with Nelson, and they found everything we wanted to see, and more! It's like they're King Triton with the ocean at their beck and call! Or maybe they're just that good! You also get to lay back like a princess while they swap out all your tanks on each dive! I could get used to this kind of service, though I shouldn't, it won't happen back here at the quarry
The Dive Shop- From the moment you show up for your first dive, you are really taken care of. The girl who seems to "run" things (lighter hair in a bun) really has it together. And she's nice. And calm. And will solve any and every problem put in front of her in a...nice, calm, logical way. She's exactly the person they need to be in charge of a crazy dive shop full of divers every day. Bravo FI, don't change a thing here, she's great. And so are the staff filling tanks and maintaining the boats, though they probably go unnoticed because they dont interact with the guests as much. The rental gear is just fine, all Oceanic and SeaQuest BCDs, honestly the best rental gear Ive seen in awhile. However, I always go to budget dive resorts, as Im a student, so I dont know the standard.
The Food- I was NEVER hungry! Nor was I disappointed with the food. However, the person I was traveling with was not crazy about the food b/c she was vegetarian and a picky eater. So it depends on you. I thought it was great. Every night there was a pasta, 2-3 meats, fish, veggies, soup, salad, someone grilling something, carbs galore, great desserts, ice cream, etc. In my honest opinion, if you can't find something delicious, that's your problem!
The Rooms- Our room was spacious, clean, and comfortable. Two queen beds, a pergo floor, turquoise wood hutch/drawers, a TV w/many channels, mini fridge, and a small table and 2 chairs. The AC worked great, our patio faced the beach and the bathroom was really nice! Only thing conceivably wrong was that the shower head didn't stay up on its holder. I had come to the resort expecting some of these issues since I read on this board about the management swap. However, I'm crafty and I had a Goody headband in my bag that I used to make a figure 8 around the nozzle holder, and it held up just fine. Until they can work every little detail out, I figured w/ the "special" rate we got, one little thing cant get us down...just bring a Goody headband! I'll take a discounted price for a slightly faulty shower head any day!
The Wildlife- This was honestly the best part about the resort! There was a beautiful peacock, deer, wausau (they looked like a cross btwn a bunny and rat!) iguana, monkeys, and....all kinds of sea life! They monkeys came out to play in the evenings on the patio, they were so much fun, crawling all over us and looking in our purses for god-knows-what. The peacock was majestic, and would come and eat out of your hand if you stole some bar peanuts. The Iguanas were more elusive, but maybe we'll see more next time, apparently they only come out at a certain time of day. If you feed the fish off the gazebo at night, tarpon, stingray, and others will show up! If you like wildlife, you'll never be bored here.
The Connection- The hotel has free wireless internet in the lobby and one desktop computer in the lobby. It's no high-speed internet, but w/ us coming from the mainland, it was the best computer Central America might have to offer. Not too shabby, imo. Most divers brought laptops to upload their pics and videos, if we weren't traveling beforehand, I'd probably go this route too. Though there was never a long wait for the lobby desktop.
I mean, if I had to look back and attempt to pick out little flaws in this resort, the only thing that irritated me was the evening front desk girls. When you asked them a question, they stared at you like you were an alien for 10 full seconds, then basically "didn't" answer your question in the most round-about way. Patience was a virtue, and of course there was a language barrier. However, after doing a decent amount of traveling, I've realized that speedy, accurate answers are a rare type of American customer service that shouldn't be expected elsewhere. I don't know why, it's just so.
The entire time we were at Fantasy Island Resort, renovations were ongoing. One entire wing of the resort was shut down for renovations. They were installing new windows, painting, and who knows what else.
FI was a magical place, not in a "perfect" or "fantasy" way, but in a Honduran way. It felt real. Don't come here if you expect the spa treatment. It is a resort for divers, and is designed around eating, sleeping, diving and relaxing. This is what the resort is intended for, and it does it well. If you come here for any other reason, you'll be disappointed. And it'll be your own fault for not researching your vacation properly. If you want to eat, sleep and dive non-stop with fun wildlife running amuck, this is the perfect place!
