Anthony's Key Resort Certified Scuba

[islandwoman]

DH and I will be sailing on the Crown Princess in March. We're planning to dive in Roatan. The last two times we were there, we dove with Subway Watersports. We liked them because of small dive groups and lower cost than the cruise ship (Carnival) excursion. This time we're considering booking the Princess excursion that uses the dive op at Anthony's Key Resort. I'd like to hear from anyone who dove with them recently, especially if you can answer any of these questions:

How many divers and dive masters were on your boat?

Did you receive anything to eat or drink during the surface interval?

Was the diving interesting enough for advanced divers?

How well did Princess run the excursion?

Any chance of having the excursion canceled at the last minute because of too few divers?

[CaribKng]

DH and I will be sailing on the Crown Princess in March. We're planning to dive in Roatan. The last two times we were there, we dove with Subway Watersports. We liked them because of small dive groups and lower cost than the cruise ship (Carnival) excursion. This time we're considering booking the Princess excursion that uses the dive op at Anthony's Key Resort. I'd like to hear from anyone who dove with them recently, especially if you can answer any of these questions:

How many divers and dive masters were on your boat?

Did you receive anything to eat or drink during the surface interval?

Was the diving interesting enough for advanced divers?

How well did Princess run the excursion?

Any chance of having the excursion canceled at the last minute because of too few divers?

 

We dove with Anthony's Key Resort in February. We dove it with Carnival, as this is the guide that they used. They gave some slices of watermelon during the surface interval and there was a cooler of water on board if I'm not mistaken. There were approx. 15-16 divers but there were two divemasters, so they were able to manage the group well. The boat was plenty large enough for the group. This was our first ocean dives, so I can't really comment for the advanced divers, but it seemed good to us at the time. They were not able to go to their normal dive sites due to the bad weather and rough water. We would definitely dive with them again, as the crew was very helpful and nice. Hope this helps.

[w&k]

How many divers and dive masters were on your boat?

Did you receive anything to eat or drink during the surface interval?

Was the diving interesting enough for advanced divers?

How well did Princess run the excursion?

Any chance of having the excursion canceled at the last minute because of too few divers?

 

I went with AKR through Costa last spring - I was not planning to do any diving, as DH had just had eye surgery, and could not dive. We ended up at a dinner table with another pair of divers. They twisted my arm, and made me go diving with them in Roatan.

 

I think we had about 9 divers and 1 divemaster on the boat. I remember there was water, but I don't recall snacks (but there might have been something).

 

I would rate the diving as OK, and I was looking forward to spectacular.

 

We had a great captain and divemaster.

 

I'm a big lady, and asked for an integrated BC in either XL or 2XL, fins for size 10. After the gear runner came back a couple of times with gear that was obviously too small (and not integrated), the DM ran off down the dock and returned with what looked like a brand new, top of the line 2XL Scubapro, and some fins that were close enough (full-foot). He put my gear together, and set up the weights just as I had requested.

 

The captain then asked us to do a bouyancy check. That's fine, and personally, I wanted to check since I was in rental gear. However, they did it AT THE DOCK, and I wasn't crazy about jumping into diesel yuck. I ended up with my eyes smarting for the entire day. If I had had my own gear, I would have flat refused to jump in.

 

There is always a chance there will be a cancellation from the cruise line, and we have picked up quite a few divers at the last minute on our trips that way.

 

IMHO... if you found a good op and you like them, stay with them.

 

Have a great trip!

 

Wendy

[MPM]

My wife and I did the dolphin dive with AKR through Carnival. It was pretty pricey, but it was the highlight of our cruise. MUCH Better then what I originally expected, but that could have been because there was only one other couple on that particular dive. My wife loves dolphins, and it made learning to dive all worth while for her. We liked it so well, we just spent a full week at AKR this last August. 17 dives in five days, and a room jutting out in to the ocean. I am not quite sure how the experience could have been any better. Boats tend to have 10 or 12 people, but not bad as long as everyone knows what they are doing.

 

-Mike

[JMTtor]

I generally book with operators other than the ship operator when I cruise, precisely because of the "cattle boat" situations you tend to encounter on cruise ships -- no matter how great a dive op is, if the boat is crowded and there are divers with little to no experience who a) may cause problems for other divers by being less aware of their surroundings and b) mean that the operator will generally go to novice-level dive sites, your experience will be less satisfying than if you had gone with a small group of more experienced divers. The only times I'll go with the ship operator are when there's something special -- like the dolphin dive -- or when tendering and time constraints make diving independently chancy.

 

For Roatan, I would DEFINITELY go with any operator other than Anthony's after my recent experience with AKR's unreasonable medical liability policy. Here's what happened to me two weeks ago on the Crown:

 

I had booked the dolphin dive through the ship back in August, because I missed an opportunity to dive with dolphins back in 2005 in Cozumel on another cruise when the ship had to rearrange ports and the dive I had booked wasn't available on the day we hit Cozumel on that cruise (I ended up having a great dive experience with another operator on that trip, diving Palancar). Although I prefer private booking, Anthony's doesn't allow private bookings when it does the ship dives. Although there was the standard "you have to fill out a medical form" I've never had an issue with this before, so I wasn't concerned.

 

Anthony's has a form that is far more detailed and specific than most for medical issues, including a question on whether one has EVER had a head injury; I answered "yes" truthfully and wrote in that I had a concussion as a result of an auto accident back in 2002. I've been diving several times a year since then, have obtained two advanced certifications, and I'm currently working on my PADI divemaster cert (which requires a VERY detailed medical exam and physician clearance).

 

When I handed in the form (supplied in the cabin on arrival with the excursion ticket) at the excursion desk the second day of the cruise, the woman at the desk said "I don't know if you'll be allowed to dive; you have a lot of things checked on here" (the other item checked was "Have you ever had sinus problems?" -- and how many of us can answer "no" to that?). I was amazed, and asked her whether people should be expected to lie if that's how they wanted to handle diving.

 

In the afternoon of the day before we hit Roatan, we were told that because of weather the dolphin dive was cancelled but we would be booked on the regular reef dive boat if we wished. By that time I tried to e-mail other dive ops on the island (but of course didn't get a response until after any dive would have been expected to depart). Gordon, the shore excursion manager, called me in my cabin after 5 p.m. to tell me that my nine-year-old head injury meant that if I did not produce a letter from my doctor clearing me to dive before the next morning I would not be able to dive. I told him that I had a dive physical this year for my divemaster training; he didn't care.

 

I also told him that I am an attorney (I practice primarily business law) and that I would be willing to sign a blanket medical waiver with a complete release of liability for both AKR and the cruise line covering anything health-related (in addition to signing the standard liability waiver for the resort). He said he didn't see that as an option but he would check with the operator, and that he had "no choice" but to "side" with the operator on this. He also gave me some complete BS about how this was not only a legal issue but a moral issue, and that he would feel horrible if I were to die because of a medical issue arising from this old injury.

 

Seriously.

 

I should also mention that I did a ship dive excursion that same day in Grand Cayman, and no one had any "moral" issues with that. When I mentioned that to Gordon, he had no answer as to why diving that day was just fine but diving the next would be a problem. He then started to get a bit concerned about whether I would submit any negative comments about this since he was just a middle man and not responsible for the resort's policies (hmm...what happened to that moral imperative?). I told him that I understood he was a middle man but that he already told me he would "side" with AKR and I didn't see any effort for him to intervene with AKR on my behalf.

 

Bottom line: since it was already after the office closed, I could not, despite making an effort, get a faxed letter from my doctor before the next morning; I did not have enough time to contact another operator on Roatan to book; and when I wended my way through the Disneyfied Mahogany Bay, hauling my gear all the way to the taxis on the extreme end of the area from the ship, a cab driver told me that getting a cab to the West End (where the dive shops are located) would be $60 round trip. I had no desire to pay $60 when I had no idea whether I'd be able to find a dive boat that morning.

 

Back on the ship, I ran into another diver on the elevator who told me that he was also barred from diving that day by Anthony's because he answered truthfully that he had heart issues, again with no prior indication that this would require anything further.

 

VERY disappointing. AKR's policies are totally out of line with reality. At the very least, if they're going to require a physician's letter for certain medical conditions, they should SPECIFY THIS UP FRONT. I booked in late summer; why couldn't there have been a simple sentence at the end of the dive excursion description saying, "If you have one of the following conditions or incidents in your medical history, you must provide a letter from your physician clearing you for SCUBA diving" -- then list the issues that trigger their red flag??

 

I also note that I was unable to find ANYTHING on the AKR website about this medical policy. Can you imagine taking a week's dive vacation to go there and finding out ON ARRIVAL that you need a letter to dive??

 

So bottom line: either go with a physician's letter regardless of how silly it seems -- or, if you have no problem with lying, don't admit you have any of the medical issues they name on the form. I'm an inherently truthful person, but I'd bet the cost of the dive trip that there were several people on the dive boat from the ship with AKR who just checked "no" in answer to the questions. Being penalized for being truthful sucks -- especially when there's no good reason to take such an extreme position.

 

End of rant. But EVERYONE who wants to do this excursion should be aware up front of this ludicrous position from AKR.

 

[islandwoman]

Thank you all for your very helpful responses. We're currently booked on the Crown Princess dive excursion with Anthony Key Resort. But we're actively looking for an alternative. We weren't able to work out the logistics with Barefoot Divers and have dived with Subway Watersports before. Does anyone have any recommendations of other private dive ops that we might be able to book for a couple of dives during the time we're in port (10 AM - 5 PM) and who are reasonably close to Mahogany Bay. (no long $60 taxi rides :eek: )

 

[JMTtor]

Regarding a possible other operator, if your previous op isn't able to accommodate you -- I e-mailed Sueno Del Mar (http://www.suenodelmar.com/cruise_packages.htm) in my last-ditch attempt to get a dive booked; unfortunately they didn't get to my e-mail until after we were in port and they were too late for me to dive that day, but I did get a response later with the following message:

 

"Sorry for the late response but our email has been having problems these last few days. Sorry we missed you. We hope you will consider us next time you come our way."

 

Apparently they do shore excursion packages for $80 including round trip transportation from the ship, two dives, and all taxes (gear rental if you don't have your own is $15).

 

One of the guys from my ship who dived with me in Cozumel (with Papa Hogs, whom I'd highly recommend) did an independent dive in Roatan with another operator; I can e-mail him and find out who he used as well. Wish I had known about his independent booking, because I probably could have signed on with him for the Roatan trip.

 

Enjoy the itinerary -- it's great for divers!

 

[MPM]

You might also try http://www.bananaramadive.com/ They provide transportation to and from the ship, and have received good reviews, both here and on Tripadvisor. We have not used them before, but are considering using them in May. We really liked Anthony's Key, but would like to get a chance to dive a different part of the island.

 

- Mike

[islandwoman]

I went to the websites for Sueno del Mara and Bananarama. Both sound like good places for cruise ship passengers looking for a beach party. But what about the diving? Does anyone have any experience diving with their ops?