TLDR - Good dives with established operator, but questionable safety on dive. Would not dive with them again on a cruise excursion.
I took an official Royal Caribbean shore excursion dive with Anthony’s Key resort on April 10, 2024. When booking the dive, it was advertised as being with Anthony’s Key, as opposed to some other dive excursions where they don’t mention beforehand what dive op they use. AKR says they only allow diving with them if you’re not staying at the resort if they have space based on their occupancy at the time.
Getting there: After meeting on ship, the entire group exited the ship, then walked about 5 minutes to the AKR shuttle, along with other divers from a different Royal Caribbean ship. It was a 25 minute drive to the resort
Once at AKR, the 8 divers from our ship were taken to the boat and the other 15 from the other ship went to a different boat. I brought my own gear, but everyone else was using gear provided by AKR (this was included in the excursion). The gear was ScubaPro jacket BCDs and regs. They appeared to be in good condition and I didin’t notice anyone having any gear problems. Nitrox was available for an additional fee.
Dive Boat: The Isomar, a 28’ dive boat with rack space for about 20 divers. Boat had shade, rinse buckets for cameras/computers and separate one for mask, life vests, oxygen, and first aid kit. No head.
Dive briefing: Mentioned location of safety equipment and dive plan. There was no attempt to establish dive buddies. Since I was by myself, the DM just asked me to stay with him. The DM mentioned that the cruise ship policies limited the depth on each dive to 60’. This wasn’t mentioned in the booking information from Royal Caribbean. There was 1 DM for the group of 8 divers, which is the maximum allowed by marine park rules. He mentioned that the reef rose near the end which would serve as a natural safety stop.
Dive 1: 3 minute boat ride from dock to Over Heat reef. It was a group dive with everyone supposed to be staying with the DM. There was a photographer from AKR diving with the group, taking photos and video. Simple out and back along the reef. The reef seemed healthy with good life. There were a few points where you could have gone deeper than 60’ but the DM seemed to follow the shallower part of the reef. The contour naturally rose for the last 10 minutes of the dive. There wasn’t an official safety stop, but I was at 15’ for the last 5 minutes of the dive, my SurfGF was 35%, and my NDL was 99.. Everyone ascended together then back into the boat. Total dive time was 45 minutes.
Surface interval: Back at AKR docks. Nothing was provided except for water; they have a gift shop where you can buy snacks. The photos and video from the 1st dive were displayed about 5 minutes after we got back to the dive. I didn’t check to see how much they were to purchase.
Dive 2: Peter’s Place, a 3 minute ride from the dock. Again, a simple out and back, staying along the reef. There were a few more spots that would have been good to go below 60’, but the DM kept people away from those areas.
Near the end of the dive, the DM led everyone through a natural rock swimthrough, about 40’ long, 5’ high, 6’ wide, with the exit visible from the entrance. There was no mention of this swimthrough on the boat during the dive briefing before the dive. I followed in behind the DM since he was my buddy. Once I exited I gave him the okay sign, and turned to make sure the person behind me was coming out. The DM ascended to about 10’ above the exit waited until the 3rd person exited, then started to swim off and never checked to make sure everyone else exited. The exit was at 45’, then the contour of the reef rose quickly and the DM was waiting at about 50’ away at 15’ depth (but he was far enough away that he couldn't see the swimthrough exit). There was no offical safety stop signalled by the DM but everyone was pretty shallow at this point and my SurfGF was 40% and my NDL was 99. Everyone ascended and got back into the boat. Total dive time was 45 minutes. Once back at AKR, there were restrooms and showers available but I didn't see any dunk tanks. There might have been farther away but I didn't have time to look as the shuttle arrived 10 minutes later.
During both dives, I only saw the DM look back at the group once every 5-10 minutes to make sure everyone was still there. That, combined with how he handled the swimthrough, was concerning to me from a safety perspective.
Overall, I enjoyed the dives and knew that I was getting a generic group dive since I booked with the ship. I did appreciate that they didn't combine all 23 of us cruise ship divers into one boat. If I come back to Roatan on a cruise, I’ll use a different dive op. AKR looked nice and from reading reviews on SB, I would strongly consider staying there if coming to Roatan for multiple days.
I took an official Royal Caribbean shore excursion dive with Anthony’s Key resort on April 10, 2024. When booking the dive, it was advertised as being with Anthony’s Key, as opposed to some other dive excursions where they don’t mention beforehand what dive op they use. AKR says they only allow diving with them if you’re not staying at the resort if they have space based on their occupancy at the time.
Getting there: After meeting on ship, the entire group exited the ship, then walked about 5 minutes to the AKR shuttle, along with other divers from a different Royal Caribbean ship. It was a 25 minute drive to the resort
Once at AKR, the 8 divers from our ship were taken to the boat and the other 15 from the other ship went to a different boat. I brought my own gear, but everyone else was using gear provided by AKR (this was included in the excursion). The gear was ScubaPro jacket BCDs and regs. They appeared to be in good condition and I didin’t notice anyone having any gear problems. Nitrox was available for an additional fee.
Dive Boat: The Isomar, a 28’ dive boat with rack space for about 20 divers. Boat had shade, rinse buckets for cameras/computers and separate one for mask, life vests, oxygen, and first aid kit. No head.
Dive briefing: Mentioned location of safety equipment and dive plan. There was no attempt to establish dive buddies. Since I was by myself, the DM just asked me to stay with him. The DM mentioned that the cruise ship policies limited the depth on each dive to 60’. This wasn’t mentioned in the booking information from Royal Caribbean. There was 1 DM for the group of 8 divers, which is the maximum allowed by marine park rules. He mentioned that the reef rose near the end which would serve as a natural safety stop.
Dive 1: 3 minute boat ride from dock to Over Heat reef. It was a group dive with everyone supposed to be staying with the DM. There was a photographer from AKR diving with the group, taking photos and video. Simple out and back along the reef. The reef seemed healthy with good life. There were a few points where you could have gone deeper than 60’ but the DM seemed to follow the shallower part of the reef. The contour naturally rose for the last 10 minutes of the dive. There wasn’t an official safety stop, but I was at 15’ for the last 5 minutes of the dive, my SurfGF was 35%, and my NDL was 99.. Everyone ascended together then back into the boat. Total dive time was 45 minutes.
Surface interval: Back at AKR docks. Nothing was provided except for water; they have a gift shop where you can buy snacks. The photos and video from the 1st dive were displayed about 5 minutes after we got back to the dive. I didn’t check to see how much they were to purchase.
Dive 2: Peter’s Place, a 3 minute ride from the dock. Again, a simple out and back, staying along the reef. There were a few more spots that would have been good to go below 60’, but the DM kept people away from those areas.
Near the end of the dive, the DM led everyone through a natural rock swimthrough, about 40’ long, 5’ high, 6’ wide, with the exit visible from the entrance. There was no mention of this swimthrough on the boat during the dive briefing before the dive. I followed in behind the DM since he was my buddy. Once I exited I gave him the okay sign, and turned to make sure the person behind me was coming out. The DM ascended to about 10’ above the exit waited until the 3rd person exited, then started to swim off and never checked to make sure everyone else exited. The exit was at 45’, then the contour of the reef rose quickly and the DM was waiting at about 50’ away at 15’ depth (but he was far enough away that he couldn't see the swimthrough exit). There was no offical safety stop signalled by the DM but everyone was pretty shallow at this point and my SurfGF was 40% and my NDL was 99. Everyone ascended and got back into the boat. Total dive time was 45 minutes. Once back at AKR, there were restrooms and showers available but I didn't see any dunk tanks. There might have been farther away but I didn't have time to look as the shuttle arrived 10 minutes later.
During both dives, I only saw the DM look back at the group once every 5-10 minutes to make sure everyone was still there. That, combined with how he handled the swimthrough, was concerning to me from a safety perspective.
Overall, I enjoyed the dives and knew that I was getting a generic group dive since I booked with the ship. I did appreciate that they didn't combine all 23 of us cruise ship divers into one boat. If I come back to Roatan on a cruise, I’ll use a different dive op. AKR looked nice and from reading reviews on SB, I would strongly consider staying there if coming to Roatan for multiple days.
