Mary's Place

[cruzbound]

Hi,

We will be going to Roatan via cruise ship in early May and I have always heard about Mary's Place. I wanted to get others opinion about the dive site - is this one we should definitely try and do? I talked to the dive shop and it appears to be manageable coming in on the cruise ship. Or is it not worth the 30 minute and extra money for the taxi ride (one way) to the dive shop?

Thanks!

 

[KatieMac]

Which dive shop? Mary's Place is on the south side of the island relatively close to the cruise ship ports.

I love Mary's Place ... but it can be very busy. Lots of people, lots of boats.

 

[cruzbound]

I spoke with Barefoot Divers - it seemed they are the main ones in which we would have a pretty guarantee to go there. Our cruise ship is coming into Coxen Hole so I think that is the furthest away from Barefoot/Mary's Place. But I don't know the logistics of Roatan so any additional help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[noj3333]

Dive with Barefoot Divers... They're right there on Mary's Place. Their dive shop is nice, very nice rental equipment (if needed), they keep cruise guests on a different boat from hotel guests (so you may get a nice small group, my wife and I had a private boat/ DM when we dove with them).

All that and you can talk to them and squeeze in a 3rd dive (they do an 8:30am/ 10:30am/ and 2pm dive)... I did that, and it made the small additional hassle (and cost) TOTALLY worth it...

As a side note, I've also stayed at AKR for 2 weeks, and they have a top notch operation... but I'd dive with barefoot again if I did a cruise stop in Roatan...

PS
Carnival Cruise Lines Charges $110 for two dives with AKR
Barefoot charges $40/ tank... so about the same with the taxi fare... but keep in mind, you'll likely be on a smaller boat (with less divers) and there's that option for a 3rd dive... plus Mary's Place (although all the diving in Roatan is really nice when compared to the greater Caribbean... so I'd enjoy diving ANYWHERE down there)...

 

[lionfish-eater]

+1 for barefoot regardless of the chosen site.

 

[KatieMac]

I spoke with Barefoot Divers - it seemed they are the main ones in which we would have a pretty guarantee to go there. Our cruise ship is coming into Coxen Hole so I think that is the furthest away from Barefoot/Mary's Place. But I don't know the logistics of Roatan so any additional help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Barefoot is right there so good shop to choose for Mary's Place. We always dive with a shop in West End but when going to the south side, we dive out of Barefoot. It is worth the cab ride to go to Barefoot rather than another place.

Now back to the original question, is it worth the 1/2 hour ride? If you want to dive anywhere on the island, Barefoot is as good as any and worth the cab ride. But you may be able to book a package directly with Barefoot and have them take care of the transport. You should check with them.

Mary's Place would be the first dive of the day - 116 feet was my depth the last time I was there. The second dive is then open for discussion. I like Mr Bud's Wreck and I love Anka's Place. I haven't dove Prince Albert Wreck yet but will when I got there this year - max depth is 60 feet.

 

[DeputyDan]

Saw a toad fish on two of the three times I have dove at that site.

 

[seeker242]

Our cruise ship is coming into Coxen Hole so I think that is the furthest away from Barefoot/Mary's Place.

Not really. It's about the same distance to West End as it is to Barefoot. The cruise port is essentially right in the middle of both. Barefoot is a good operation.

 

[cruzbound]

Awesome - thanks for all the information. This is really helpful. We will probably go with Barefoot. Just need to verify if the ship time on our itinerary is US eastern time bc if it is then we should be able to get there by 8:30 for their first five as they told me they usually go to Mary’s Place on the first dive of the day and since that is what I really want to dive I want to make sure we can make it in time. I will check out the other two places KatieMac recommended for a second dive. Any other site recommendations for me to read about is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[noj3333]

@cruzbound... with some digging you can find out if you're the only cruise ship in port. If you are they'll be EXTRA flexible with the 8:30am dive time (seeing how any delay will affect all their cruise clients, and the fact that Mary's Place is a 5-10 minute boat ride once you head out).

Wise to confirm this... buts it's my opinion... YMMV...