We made the trip to Fantasy Island last fall mainly because of a killer all-inclusive price for lodging, food, and diving. They probably will run the same deal in the future, and it's worth it. I don't recall ever seeing a lower price for what was offered.

I'll get to the diving and hotel-related specifics in a sec, but I want to mention up front that my wife had her snorkel gear taken off the Fantasy Island dock and a friend had his backpack stolen off the beach with a very expensive laptop inside. The snorkeling gear theft was not surprising because my wife left the stuff overnight in plain sight at the end of the dock. It would have still been there in the morning at some dive locales, but Fantasy Island is not one of them. The backpack/laptop theft was more disturbing. A large group of us were on the beach at night, about 30 yards from the resort, and my friend left the backpack containing his laptop under a table. When he returned 30 minutes later, the backpack was gone. It's unlikely someone took it who just happened to be passing by and saw a black backpack on the ground under a table in the dark. It's more likely someone was watching us and as soon as we left, they checked to see if anything was left behind. So, always keep a close eye on your stuff anywhere you stay, but Fantasy Island in particular. Also, access to the island is restricted, so only guests and staff normally are around the resort, especially at night. Draw your own conclusions.

The newer rooms are nice, with A/C and TVs, and are comfortable. Can't speak for the older rooms, but looking at them from the outside made me glad we requested lodging in the newer section. The TV generally went out when it rained. Do not leave any small, valuable items on the second-story balconies because the monkeys probably will take them or at least knock them to the ground. They are not big enough to make off with a BC or a reg, however.

The food was much better than my expectations in quantity and quality. All meals are buffet style, and staff will generally refill water glasses or bring additional other beverages on request. There was only one minor incident with an upset stomach in our group, and it serves him right for eating a Grouper. Other than that, the smorgasbord was great. The resort recommends that you do not drink water from the tap. They will refill water bottles at the bar from the purified water container for free. This will save you a lot of dough compared to buying many fresh bottles at the gift shop.

If you could gain access to one of the three computers in the lobby when the children of staff members were not using them, you might be able to get online in English. Success in this area was rare.

The diving was typical of Roatan around Fantasy Island, with Mary's Place and Calvin's Crack being the highlights and other sites offering average diving. The boat crews were good, the boats themselves were not overly crowded, the diving-related service was fine, and the dive op overall was OK, but the initial briefing on the first day was annoying. The guy giving the briefing said we would be limited to 50 minutes bottom time. When pressed about this, he conceded he had to say that because it was resort policy. "Maybe your divemaster will let you stay down longer," he added. Now, I don't know about you, but that kind of thing bothers me. If you dive at Fantasy Island, be prepared for the "maybe you have a strict bottom time limit and maybe you don't" talk.

As it turned out, we generally stayed down an hour to 70 minutes. Our DM, Mark, who was very mellow, did not chew anyone out for staying down beyond the "50-minute limit." One big plus is their large indoor area with storage for gear. This room seemed to be watched carefully by staff and was locked at night. There were no reported thefts from this area when we were at the resort.

I enjoyed the stay but not to the extent that I would return to Fantasy Island.