re: resorts in Roatan

[Cajuncru Diver]

I was there in 99, great diving. I got you beat 23 dives in a week. Don't bother with Fantasy Island, there emphasis is not diving, mostly ecotours and just laying back. I would go there any time and I highly reccomend it. Bill Evans and his wife are the best. TACA, (Take a chance airlines), lost my dive gear and they loaned me dive gear for 2 days free of charge, they are awesome ! Good Viz, George

Don't know how you figure to be an expert on Roatan and Fantasy Island Beach Resort's dive operations having only been there one time some ten years ago. CCV is a great place to go, but speaking from personal experience over the last five years so is Fantasy Island.

 

[DivingPanda]

We had them take our passports upon arriving at Anthony's Key and returned them the day before we were leaving with our boarding passes. Still had to check bags, but other than that, it did go smoothly.

The exception was if you were traveling through San Pedro Sula. They kept their passports andhad to handle that when they got to the airport. The only problem is that their bags were left in Roatan and two weeks later, she is still waiting hopefully for her bags to make it to the US. And like was said above, calling TACA can be a real challenge to speak to a human. If you are on a cell phone, be sure its fully charged before calling.

We were at AKR in July and also did not have to provide our passports, although we did leave them in the safe deposit boxes. We flew RTB-SAP on TA and connected to SAP-MIA-LGA on AA, so I assume that's the scenario you're talking about. Fortunately, we had no problems at all.

 

[cdawg]

I just got off the phone with both AKR and CCV trying to book a mellow snorkel day for 10 year old daughter and myself. We are taking a cruise and only there for the day. Until she gets scuba certified I am stuck on the surface and freediving, ok no problem, right?. CCV was very nice and answered questions about the whole area however they don't really have much for dolphins. The girl is dolphin crazy so its sort of important and trying to be a good dad. CCV even gives me the number for AKR saying they have dolphin programs. They...um.. well, they sucked! Extremely rude. I am so peeved that I will never dive with them, ever. Coco gets my business hand down.

 

[Doc]

Your cruise ship can book the Dolphin Snorkel for you at AKR. You will likely have a great time with your daughter. It is only a snorkel in the sense that you are in 2~15' of water, but it is usually kind of murky The Dolphins will be worked by trainers and exhibit photo opportunity moments including the touchy-feely kind of stuff. (BTW- Much more interaction than on the "Dolphin Dive")

AKR uses the Cruise Ship traffic as their main stay for income. Weeklong dive guests are just gravy. I think you just had bad luck and got the grumpy main desk employee of the month. If you want her to see Dolphins, this is the only show in Roatan.

I like CCV as well, and if she wants real live snorkeling, I can't think of any better place to spend the day. The shore snorkel is well worth the trip, best on the island- plus a nice place to get Cokes and rest-up. No security issues for your possessions, either. "Their" dolphins are wild and can often be seen in deep water at First Bight, just East of CCV.

If it's Dolphins you want, a ten year old will be thrilled at AKR. Give them a second chance.

 

[cdawg]

Thank you for your comments, I was still slightly peeved when I wrote my post. Part of my issue was that daughter needed to be 13 to do the snorkel at AKR, full stop, no room for wiggle. I think coco is in and I will reserve AKR for another trip, maybe. I am more interested in showing her wild dolphins anyhow.

 

[Doc]

She looks thirteen to both me & my wife. Yep- you might have had to book this one "around" the regular cruise ship excursion channels.

Again- at AKR they're guaranteed and a done deal, my reference to First Bight is something that snorkelers at CCV for a day trip will not have access to. Just to avoid any misunderstanding.

Encounters in the wild are indeed preferable, but as with many such creatures including Sharks as well, they are quite often brief and always unpredictable.

If you are going to do CCV, here's an idea: E-Mail the Dockside Dive Center and tell them that you would like to do and Underwater Naturalist Snorkel Class, or simply have them inquire as to the cost of hiring a DM Guide~ it can't be all that much. They can show you all the nooks and crannies that the cool critters inhabit. There is so much there in The Front Yard of CCV that quite often I rarely go deeper than ten feet during an hour+ of SCUBA.

Without expert local assistance- you'll likely miss 75% of the treasures.

 

[georoc01]

I believe Anthony's Key has a Beach Encounter with Dolphins for kids under 13. You could easily do that and then snorkel afterwards. A nice area for snorkeling is just on the other side of the dolphin pens at AKR.