I just returned from a week at AKR. My husband and I went with a group of 17 divers from our LDS. We had a fantastic time, and are already planning our return trip.
We flew Taca from New Orleans to San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba to Roatan. No one received any luggage. Pack a swimsuit, change of clothes, and toothbrush/paste in your carry-on. If you can, pack regs and mask in carry-on as well. If they ask you for the carry-on once you get to the plane, tell them no thank you and keep walking. If you give it to them, you there is a good chance you will not see it until the next day. We were all prepared for not receiving the luggage, so it wasn't a big deal. It all arrived the next day, much of it before the a.m. dive. When you get dressed every morning, apply deet. Reapply throughout the day, especially if going to the key. We used deet and cactus juice (they have it there) and never really had any problems. We saw many people who appeared to have chicken pox, though. Apply early and often.
We had a hill superior room - we were definitely glad for the A/C, as there wasn't much of a breeze on the hill. Many in our group had standard rooms, and were uncomfortable some nights. The rooms were very clean, and the beds were comfortable; however, my husband and I are used to a king sized bed. We can't sleep right next to one another, so we pushed the beds together after the first 2 nights and slept beautifully. We found the food to be good to very good, though with our large group the service tended to be slow. We probably should've had our own waiter. If slow dining room service is the only problem at a dive resort, you don't have a problem!
The dive operation seemed very well organized, and everyone was helpful and friendly at the resort. We used nitrox the whole week, and had no complaints with the tank analysis procedure. We did 3 dives/day plus one night dive, which we, collectively, did not enjoy. It is possible that our dive master wasn't into it, as he didn't really point out any marine life. We didn't see much, with the notable exception of the largest barracuda I have ever seen. At any rate, visibility was good-great for all dives except one, where it got down to about 15 feet in a curve of the reef where there was a pretty stiff current. RoatanMan is right - get your bouyancy under control, go SLOW and look for the small stuff. You will see some big stuff, too, but you're apt to miss something cool if you're always staring out into the deep or looking for sharks. I actually stumbled upon a longlure frogfish, sitting still on a coral ledge. I always am shining my light into nooks and crannies, and I just happened to catch the "lure" move and see his eyeball, or I never would've spotted him. We found the best reef-life between 20-50 feet. After that it declines sharply. We had some close encounters with a green moray at the Eagle - swam into someone's mask and almost up someone's shorts. I thought it was hilarious because it wasn't me. We saw many large grouper, several turtles, a few nurse sharks, one seahorse, spotted drum, many juveniles of many specie, some barracuda that hung with us for entire dives . . . Smooth seas and good visibility make me a happy diver, so I enjoyed all of my dives.
Hands down, the best experience of the week was on the way in from the first a.m. dive on Wednesday. Our boat captain saw what he thought were tuna jumping out of the water, so he went to see if there was a whale shark. It turned out to be a large pod of either spinner or bottlenose dolphins (maybe both). At least a hundred of them. We all flipped out, so he raced to get in front of them as we donned snorkel gear. I promise you have never seen people bail out of a boat so fast! Once they were past, we boarded and caught up to them again. It was AMAZING. They were as far down and as far out as you could see - adults and calves, playing, jumping, feeding. They were beautiful. And the sounds! I knew what dolphins sounded like. I didn't know what that many dolphins sounded like. I feel at this point as if I watched that on TV. It was surreal being in the water with that many of them. They were everywhere we looked! Hopefully someone got a few good shots I can post for y'all. 2 DMs and boat captains told us it was the largest pod they had ever seen. Unbelieveable. I was hoping for a whale shark, but that turned out to be better!
We did both the dolphin dive and dolphin swim. I enjoyed both, but my husband was bored. He is not as enthralled with animals as I am, in general, so I wan't surprised at that. I don't know that I would do them again, but I thought it was worth it once.
Our last day on the island we rented mopeds and an AKR employee took us around. That was interesting - not for the faint of heart. There were a couple of times I thought some in our group were goners, but we all made it back safe and sound. I had a great time. It was a great way to see the island, but I wouldn't do it without a guide. Not that I thought we would get lost - it just made me feel better.
Our flight home was delayed in La Ceiba for 45 minutes or so. Taca held the flight in SPS so we all made it home nearly on time, AND - we all received our luggage!
In summary, I can see why people make multiple trips to Roatan. I have never been the kind of person to do the same vacation repeatedly, but we will be going back. I was heartbroken to leave. Happy to answer questions about AKR.
We flew Taca from New Orleans to San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba to Roatan. No one received any luggage. Pack a swimsuit, change of clothes, and toothbrush/paste in your carry-on. If you can, pack regs and mask in carry-on as well. If they ask you for the carry-on once you get to the plane, tell them no thank you and keep walking. If you give it to them, you there is a good chance you will not see it until the next day. We were all prepared for not receiving the luggage, so it wasn't a big deal. It all arrived the next day, much of it before the a.m. dive. When you get dressed every morning, apply deet. Reapply throughout the day, especially if going to the key. We used deet and cactus juice (they have it there) and never really had any problems. We saw many people who appeared to have chicken pox, though. Apply early and often.
We had a hill superior room - we were definitely glad for the A/C, as there wasn't much of a breeze on the hill. Many in our group had standard rooms, and were uncomfortable some nights. The rooms were very clean, and the beds were comfortable; however, my husband and I are used to a king sized bed. We can't sleep right next to one another, so we pushed the beds together after the first 2 nights and slept beautifully. We found the food to be good to very good, though with our large group the service tended to be slow. We probably should've had our own waiter. If slow dining room service is the only problem at a dive resort, you don't have a problem!
The dive operation seemed very well organized, and everyone was helpful and friendly at the resort. We used nitrox the whole week, and had no complaints with the tank analysis procedure. We did 3 dives/day plus one night dive, which we, collectively, did not enjoy. It is possible that our dive master wasn't into it, as he didn't really point out any marine life. We didn't see much, with the notable exception of the largest barracuda I have ever seen. At any rate, visibility was good-great for all dives except one, where it got down to about 15 feet in a curve of the reef where there was a pretty stiff current. RoatanMan is right - get your bouyancy under control, go SLOW and look for the small stuff. You will see some big stuff, too, but you're apt to miss something cool if you're always staring out into the deep or looking for sharks. I actually stumbled upon a longlure frogfish, sitting still on a coral ledge. I always am shining my light into nooks and crannies, and I just happened to catch the "lure" move and see his eyeball, or I never would've spotted him. We found the best reef-life between 20-50 feet. After that it declines sharply. We had some close encounters with a green moray at the Eagle - swam into someone's mask and almost up someone's shorts. I thought it was hilarious because it wasn't me. We saw many large grouper, several turtles, a few nurse sharks, one seahorse, spotted drum, many juveniles of many specie, some barracuda that hung with us for entire dives . . . Smooth seas and good visibility make me a happy diver, so I enjoyed all of my dives.
Hands down, the best experience of the week was on the way in from the first a.m. dive on Wednesday. Our boat captain saw what he thought were tuna jumping out of the water, so he went to see if there was a whale shark. It turned out to be a large pod of either spinner or bottlenose dolphins (maybe both). At least a hundred of them. We all flipped out, so he raced to get in front of them as we donned snorkel gear. I promise you have never seen people bail out of a boat so fast! Once they were past, we boarded and caught up to them again. It was AMAZING. They were as far down and as far out as you could see - adults and calves, playing, jumping, feeding. They were beautiful. And the sounds! I knew what dolphins sounded like. I didn't know what that many dolphins sounded like. I feel at this point as if I watched that on TV. It was surreal being in the water with that many of them. They were everywhere we looked! Hopefully someone got a few good shots I can post for y'all. 2 DMs and boat captains told us it was the largest pod they had ever seen. Unbelieveable. I was hoping for a whale shark, but that turned out to be better!
We did both the dolphin dive and dolphin swim. I enjoyed both, but my husband was bored. He is not as enthralled with animals as I am, in general, so I wan't surprised at that. I don't know that I would do them again, but I thought it was worth it once.
Our last day on the island we rented mopeds and an AKR employee took us around. That was interesting - not for the faint of heart. There were a couple of times I thought some in our group were goners, but we all made it back safe and sound. I had a great time. It was a great way to see the island, but I wouldn't do it without a guide. Not that I thought we would get lost - it just made me feel better.
Our flight home was delayed in La Ceiba for 45 minutes or so. Taca held the flight in SPS so we all made it home nearly on time, AND - we all received our luggage!
In summary, I can see why people make multiple trips to Roatan. I have never been the kind of person to do the same vacation repeatedly, but we will be going back. I was heartbroken to leave. Happy to answer questions about AKR.
