Anthony's Key - Must Do Dives!

[marisa-t]

I haven't posted anything since 2005! Scubaboard has beome huge since then! The last place I dove was Belize - Ambergris Caye 2006! Just had a baby in March and we are so ready for a vacation! We are heading to Anthony's Key in July 2009! I know - seem so far away but with a 5 month old and other things this is the earliest I can plan!

My husband and I want to know what to must do dive are? Day dives and night ones too! Would love to hear what all of your thoughts are!

Thank you in advance!

Marisa-T-C

 

[diversteve]

Spooky Channel - it's nearby. My friends thought it was one of the best of 20+ dives we did that week. After they exited the channel, they saw barracuda, turtles and grouper all hanging around.

Also liked Texas, Moonlight and El Aquario on that side of the island. Melissa's Reef not so much...

There's also the Dolphin dive at AKR, we did it but didn't see any dolphins for 30 mins., the trainer later told us the "dolphin in charge" refused to leave the pen and the other two took that as an excuse to go play for 1/2 hr. first. It happens...

It was pretty cool when they did show up, one allowed everyone to pet him and the other came up to me while I was on the surface, put his head out for a scratch and then kissed me on the chin before joining his buddy. Highlight of that dive for me...

 

[Doc]

The awful truth:

All dive ops are pretty set in their patterns and ways- and for good reason. They know the local conditions and understand what is in your best interests.

If you were thinking of sitting some dives out in deference to others, maybe this thread has value, but if you planned on getting on the boat most of the time, just go with what they post.

They're not really going to change their progression on simple request. The first day they're going to take you out and let you sort out your weights and buoyancy. They are not going to take you anyplace other than where they always take people on their first day.

Also, during the week, you will have to partake in a Mary's Place Dive briefing (45 minutes, on shore with a film- if it is being done to the letter of the law) and on the following day you will likely be off for Mary's Place- again, you will have very little choice in the matter. If you want to skip Mary's Place, they will have another boat dive with a posted location.

AKR will do a once a week boat night dive if there are enough paying divers. The shore dive is really a non-starter. A small number of people have enjoyed night dives right under their dive op pier. Not for everyone, kind of creepy, but the rewards are good if your buddies don't stir up the bottom.

Just go, have a good time at this first quality resort, do a lot of dives.

 

[sand diver]

AKR will do a once a week boat night dive if there are enough paying divers.

This summer AKR have been running 2 night dives a week- Tuesday and Thursday and every scheduled night dive goes out (weather dependent), regardless of number of people.

AKR is a great dive resort. I hope you have fun!

 

[mchiapetto]

I just returned last night from a week at AKR. As Sand Diver pointed out, they are currently doing two night dives each week on Tuesday and Thursday. Sometimes they do consolidate people from different boats if there is not a big turnout. But they do send boats out for every scheduled dive.

The three dives we enjoyed the most were:

El Aguila - This is a wreck dive. The best part of the dive is the very large groupers that interact with the divers. The DM carried down something to feed them with and they scampered around us all like puppies. They seemed to like to be rubbed and it made for a very enjoyable experience.

Dolphin dive - I highly recommend it. The brought three dolphins out and let them free swim in the ocean. You could watch them exploring and looking for food. At one time, one of them was playing with a piece of coral like it was a ball. At the end of the dive they come in close to the trainer and allow you to touch them. It was great.

West End - On Thursday the boats head to the other side of Roatan to Fins and Flippers. Weather permitting, on the way they stop for a dive on the west end. The coral was absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful fans and very large barrel sponges were everywhere. It did not show the same effects of bleaching as around AKR and was the healthiest looking coral of all the areas we dove. I would have liked to have spent the entire week there.

We hear the shark dive was great too but we had decided to skip it. I am not a big shark fan.

The diving at AKR is extremely structured and regimented. You are assigned to a boat for the week and you dive every dive with that boat. Each boat does a rotation to the various dive sites and eventually every boat hits every dive site so you go the same places as everyone else. It is possible to move to a different boat but it would mean you would be repeating some sites.

The boats all leave at the same time and they all come back at the same time. The dives averaged 46 minutes per dive for the entire week. We never ended a dive because we were out of air or out of bottom time. Every dive ended because the DM said it was time to get back on the boat. We enjoyed the diving but it was not the same as other places where you can dive your computer.

There is adequate time on the surface for relaxing and exploring the area. My recommendation would be to show up for every dive time (8:30, 10:30 and 2:30) and then again at 6:30 on Tue and Thu for the night dives. That way you get to see all the dive sites. Forget the shore diving (too far to carry your gear and not a worthwhile enough dive location). Sign up for the dolphin dive as soon as you arrive as they fill up quick.

 

[georoc01]

I was also there last week. Of the local dives Spooky Channel, Deep Eel Garden and El Aquila were all very good.

Our favorite dive of the week was the shark dive. We had done one before in Australia, but here you can actually swim with the sharks. Just watch out for the feeding frenzy at the end as there is a big scramble to find shark teeth at the bottom.

I also had the 30 minutes of the dolphins off doing their own thing, then sweeping in for the last 10 minutes. After three healthy swims into current, watching my air at the end made enjoyment of the dive difficult. So it really depends on the mood of the dolphins whether this dive is worth it.

We did not dive Mary's Place last week. I think the Fins and Flippers day when we dove West End Wall and the Keyhole dive took its place.

In addition to the Tuesday & Thursday night dives, they do a night channel dive too where on Wednesday night they drop you off on top of a DC3 that is sunk there and you swim back to the dock. We did this dive earlier that day, and saw lobsters, a decent size eel and some other creatures out which makes this a fairly easy night dive too other than the potential silting of the bottom.