Back on the Hook

Monday Sept 19 2011 ...1:50 PM

Fantasy Island Resort and Marina

Co Co View
Marina


The owner of Fantasy Island has been sprucing up the Resort since he took over last spring. He is from Spain. His priorities seem to be a little mixed up. There is 109 rooms ...all inclusive including booze. They have a dive operation with 5 dive boats which is extra. We hear the food sucks at best. The Marina is fair at best......only the docks where we are have decent power...the boats in the back cannot run their A/C due to undersize wiring, the water is not drinkable, until recently we tied our dock lines to trees. But the rates are great...$340 a month plus power and water. We have use of the pool and other amenities at the resort. When we came back in January, all the rooms have been redone with new a/c. The pool is now salt water, they have built new docks...but no power or water. During the cruising season there are 20-30 boats in the anchorage with lots of social functions here at the Marina. Seem this new guy must have met obama. He has decided as of Nov 1st to raise the rates. With power and water we pay about $470 total a month....the new rates will go to $1,120 a month. Our friends Jim and Norma, the dockmaster expects almost all the boats here now to leave. On top of this he is going to charge those at anchor that want to come ashore, $5 a day per person to come ashore to use the Resorts amenities, dump garbage or purchase water. Cruisers will not pay these prices.... So say goodbye to the nightly happy hours and the Saturday night potlucks.....damn
Joyce and I went diving off the Co Co View Wall yesterday (Co Co View Dive Resort is at the top of the above picture}. They have about 30 rooms and 4 boats which are always full. It's very rare that they have more than 1 boat out of here...usually 4-8 divers aboard. The beach at the resort had 2 people on it. Place is deserted. Was supposed to be full last weekend....was a holiday weekend ...but with Hondurans from the mainland....no divers. Now deserted again.....
So another piece of Paradise is screwed up by the greedy. We will go back out on the hook at the end of October.... will be a shock to the cruisers coming out of the Rio in November. Will miss Fox News and my A/C. More hours on the genset.....