I am a new member, and since I stayed at Anthony's Key for a week last summer I wanted to give you my thoughts and tips.
Anthony's Key is wonderful. The grounds are nice and clean and the Key itself is a joy to stay at. One thing to note, you have to take a small boat from the key to the mainland (15 sec ride) and climb up a decent flight of steps for food. This was not a problem at all, but I did stay with someone who had knee issues and this became a struggle for him. Otherwise, I have nothing bad to say at all about AK as it is a beautiful site. A few tips:
-We did the dolphin encounter, which was the first time for me so it was great. They offer two things: a dolphin dive in the ocean where you dive and interact with 1-2 dolphins or a dolphin encounter on their key where you get up close and personal with a dolphin, and then you are allowed about a half hour to swim/snorkel in the dolphin area with 4-5 dolphins. We did the dolphin encounter and it was great. Although the visibility was low in the key area, the dolphins swam and played close to me and it was an awesome experience.
-They offer a shark dive, which I highly recommend if you have not done it. They take you out on the other side of the island (roughly 30 min boat ride) and out to the dive site. The only issue is the rough water (conditions may vary), so getting back on the boat was definitely an experience (be mindful of the ladder as it hit numerous divers who were not paying attention). But the dive was wonderful and a crazy experience. We dove with 8-12 reef sharks and being that close to them was amazing.
-The dive staff is fun and courteous. Definitely make sure you do "spooky channel" as it was a really fun and beautiful dive.
-The only downside I found (and this is being picky and very situational) was that I had an ear injury (blood vessel burst outside of my ear drum). The hospital on site for AK was small and only one doctor spoke broken english, so it was a huge hassle for me to get treatment. But stay safe and this wont be an issue!
My final recommendation is the most important. If you are an animal lover, PLEASE get in touch with Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth hangout. I am a huge animal person, and this was an awesome time for me. Daniel (the owner) provided transportation to and from AK to his establishment. He has a small sanctuary on his property with multiple animals (sloths, parrots, capuchin monkeys etc). This is the only place I have ever seen that you can hold and interact with sloths. Daniel is an awesome person and took very good care of us. If you find some free time from diving, do make the effort to see his sanctuary.
Hope everyone has fun!
Anthony's Key is wonderful. The grounds are nice and clean and the Key itself is a joy to stay at. One thing to note, you have to take a small boat from the key to the mainland (15 sec ride) and climb up a decent flight of steps for food. This was not a problem at all, but I did stay with someone who had knee issues and this became a struggle for him. Otherwise, I have nothing bad to say at all about AK as it is a beautiful site. A few tips:
-We did the dolphin encounter, which was the first time for me so it was great. They offer two things: a dolphin dive in the ocean where you dive and interact with 1-2 dolphins or a dolphin encounter on their key where you get up close and personal with a dolphin, and then you are allowed about a half hour to swim/snorkel in the dolphin area with 4-5 dolphins. We did the dolphin encounter and it was great. Although the visibility was low in the key area, the dolphins swam and played close to me and it was an awesome experience.
-They offer a shark dive, which I highly recommend if you have not done it. They take you out on the other side of the island (roughly 30 min boat ride) and out to the dive site. The only issue is the rough water (conditions may vary), so getting back on the boat was definitely an experience (be mindful of the ladder as it hit numerous divers who were not paying attention). But the dive was wonderful and a crazy experience. We dove with 8-12 reef sharks and being that close to them was amazing.
-The dive staff is fun and courteous. Definitely make sure you do "spooky channel" as it was a really fun and beautiful dive.
-The only downside I found (and this is being picky and very situational) was that I had an ear injury (blood vessel burst outside of my ear drum). The hospital on site for AK was small and only one doctor spoke broken english, so it was a huge hassle for me to get treatment. But stay safe and this wont be an issue!
My final recommendation is the most important. If you are an animal lover, PLEASE get in touch with Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth hangout. I am a huge animal person, and this was an awesome time for me. Daniel (the owner) provided transportation to and from AK to his establishment. He has a small sanctuary on his property with multiple animals (sloths, parrots, capuchin monkeys etc). This is the only place I have ever seen that you can hold and interact with sloths. Daniel is an awesome person and took very good care of us. If you find some free time from diving, do make the effort to see his sanctuary.
Hope everyone has fun!
