Roatan Dive Excursion: Anthony's Key Resort

[timetraveler]

Has anyone had any experience recently diving on a ship's excursion with Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan? My buddy and I will be in Roatan on the Crown Princess in March, 2011 and are considering this trip. Among other things, I'd like to know:
How many divers on a boat and how big are the dive groups?
Are the dives of interest to advanced divers?
Are drinks or food offered during the surface interval?
How well does Princess run this excursion?

 

[diversteve]

We dove Overheat Reef - one of the cruise dives - a few years ago. Personally I thought it was a little tired. Maybe we hit about 60'+ there. All the dives are near AKR and most likely were selected for closeness rather than the best in that area since they have to shuttle you back and forth within the cruise timeframe - 1/2 hour each way for that. IDK the other sites to comment on them. Don't get me wrong, everything on Roatan's north side was pretty good, it's just that there are better dives there like Texas or the Aguila wreck - which are farther away...

I had this "discussion" with someone else here recently. One thing we determined that's pretty much untrue is the comment about Mary's Place in the Crown Princess cruise description. It's true if you base it on going from AKR - on the north side - back to Mary's Place on the south side. AKR can't do it because they'd be shuttling you 1/2 hr. to the boats on the north side only to take you around Roatan by boat to within 5 mins. of where you boarded their shuttle - the cruise port at Mahogany Bay.

A better option might be the cruise program through Barefoot Divers. Barefoot Cay is 5mins. from Mahogany Bay and Mary's Place is 10mins. by boat from there. We dove Mary's Place and followed it with the Prince Albert wreck off Cocoview - about a 20min ride. All b4 noon. They have a great outdoor restaurant also...

Mary's Place:

* One of Roatan’s most spectacular dive sites, famous for its deep crack that was formed by volcanic activity and extends down 95 feet
* Abundant fish life, beautiful coral overhangs throughout the crack, schools of glassfish, chubs and creole wrasse, spotted drums, and our favorite friend, the seahorse
* Advanced level; good buoyancy control needed. Beginner divers can follow along the top of the crack
* Depth range of 20’ to beyond recreational dive limits
* Right on Barefoot Divers' doorstep, just a few minutes away by boat

Cruise Ship Shore Excursions, Roatan 5 Star PADI Dive Shop

 

[timetraveler]

A better option might be the cruis program through Barefoot Divers. Barefoot Cay is 5mins. from Mahogany Bay and Mary's Place is 10mins. by boat from there. We dove Mary's Place and followed it with the Prince Albert wreck off Cocoview - about a 20min ride. All b4 noon. They have a great outdoor restaurant also...

Thanks for the information about Barefoot Divers. I wasn't aware of them. Can you please tell me some more: Did you use the Cruise Ship Shore Excursion Package from Barefoot Divers when you arrived in Roatan by cruise ship? Did they pick up at the cruise ship dock or did you have to take a taxi? Do you recall the cost of the taxi? How many divers were on their boat? How large were their dive groups? I see that Barefoot Divers charges more than the Princess Dive Excursion. That's a surprise.

 

[diversteve]

I don't cruise, we were there for a week and dove with them one morning.

Taxi. That should be less than $20 r/t although the rate goes up when your ship docks... (negotiate in advance) I rode from the West End to Coxen Hole, a much farther trip for $15.

On our boat there were 6 of us. My group only. They only take 8. Barefoot Cay is a small resort, we only saw two other people there all morning except for their staff. So it might be just you two - IDK. Not everyone staying at Barefoot is a diver either - it's also a small marina and has nice villas on the beach. We were there the 1st week of May - low season.

Comfortable Boats - Your Limousine Awaits!

* All 4 boats have sun covers, fresh fruit, water, camera rinse tanks, and dry towels
* Equipped with emergency first aid, oxygen, and floater lines
* Groups are small: maximum 8 divers plus boat captain and instructor

It's your call, you can either do two average dives with a 1/2 hr. shuttle ride each way or spend a little more $$ to do a dive that's among the best on Roatan - I know what I'd do. Were Barefoot to take you to Calvin's Crack or Insidious Reef <- not likely - also, you'd likely have done two of the best dives on Roatan. Prince Albert (that we did) is one of the more known dives also.

I doubt that all of the other divers on the AKR boat off your ship are at your experience level either - the dives will reflect that. There can be 20 divers on any of AKR's eleven boats - the four bigger Pro48's they'll mention 30.

The only way you'd get a private boat is to do the Dolphin Dive since the site is 60' and a flat sand bottom, they don't take regular divers there. Also you go to the cay first to meet "your" dolphins. Someone here mentioned that the Dolphin Dive is $200 through their cruise excursion. Which seems like a cruiseline ripoff since we paid $122.

If you're looking for the cheapest thing, neither of these are it. Take a cab to the West End and dive with someone there. But you won't save much, have a longer ride, and probably can't get there in time for the deeper morning dives - it will depend on when you arrive, get through Mahogany Bay customs/immigration and get a cab. I have no idea how long that takes but it's generally almost an hour at the airport - we've done it twice recently - two planeloads - not 3000 cruisers.

We dove with Coconut Tree Divers in the West End all week, they're $35/dive ($30 if you're bringing your gear). We had a couple of different cruise divers on our 1PM boat twice during the week, but they did one (shallower) dive then had to leave to make their sailing.

 

[hypertech]

We dove Anthony Key on an excursion through NCL. Very professional, nice boat, and at least on our trip - not at all crowded. I'd do it again without hesitation.

 

[diverdoug69]

Hi there Timetraverler,

I operate the dive operation and can answer any questions you have. Max divers per boat is 8, we charge $100 for 2 dives with the formentioned fruit and towels and we include the equipment and lunch. So our price may look higher but you have to compare apples to apples to get the truth. We don't do pick ups or drop offs at the cruise ship dock but if you book in advance with our reservations we can arrange this for you. If you would like more info please contact us through our web page. We don't go through the cruise lines because we have limited space and want people who really into diving and also want a great experience. Hope this helped and hope you will choose us on your excursion.

 

[timetraveler]

We weren't able to work out the logistics to dive with Barefoot Divers :sad: So now we're back to the ship's excursion to Anthony Key Resort. Does anyone have any other ideas? (Except, Subway Water Sports. We dove with them previously, and would rather dive a different area this time)

 

[petsin]

timetraveler, can you explain what logistics did not work out? I just came back from a cruise last December and dove with Barefoot Divers in Roatan, having a fantastic experience. You can check my trip report here. I would be glad to answer any questions that may help you get back in track with Barefoot divers.

BTW, I did see a dive boat from AKR while diving with Barefoot divers on the south side (Mary's Place) and it was a huge boat with at least 16 divers on board. My boat only had 4 and we went to the best site of Roatan, a site that would not be done with more than 6 divers I guess (it is easy to get separated there).

Peter

 

[timetraveler]

Peter, Thanks for sharing your experience. Barefoot Divers has changed the departure time of their second dive to 10:30 AM. We'd miss the boat.

 

[petsin]

Well, their second dive was always at 10:30am. In my report I mixed up the cruise ship time with Roatan time (ship time was on GMT-5 and Roatan was GMT-6), so the 10am arrival was actually 9am Roatan time, and we managed to get to Barefoot divers at around 10:15, and then they delayed a bit the boat so we departed at around 10:40. I don't know at what time your ship will arrive, but if does at around 9am Roatan time, you are Ok for the 10:30 dive.