Roatan Gateway Tours

[poocher]

Reviews? Thoughts?  Monkeys/sloths/snorkeling?

[mapgirl34]

lol, I came online for the same reason.  I just found the sloth tour on TripAdvisor with Roatan Getaway Tours.  So I'll be following to see what people have to say.

 

[biff09]

Me too

[biff09]

Aaand I’m an idiot for not clicking “follow topic” so replying again.  Sorry for the noise.

[jbrinkm]

Roatan Getaway Tours, right? I'm assuming that was just an autocorrect or typo?

 

We used them (booked through Viator) and absolutely loved them. So much so that we are doing a cruise with the same ports this year and booked them direct for an entire day of activities. They are very responsive to questions.

 

The sanctuary was AJs and the snorkeling took place right near there at the Southeast part of the island. I don't know Roatan well enough to tell you where. The snorkeling was very easy for beginners: very warm, clear, shallow water. We saw mostly spiny lobsters and conch, not as many colorful fish. It was wonderful to just float along in that water, though - SO relaxing, even if we didn't see as many interesting things. We're doing the 3 reef snorkel as part of our upcoming excursion so I'm hopeful we'll have a chance to see more this time (we did great snorkeling in Cozumel last year, so it didn't matter so much then). 

 

I've been recommending them all over the boards. Great experience. Feel free to ask more questions!

[poocher]

Yes I did mean Getaway!  I’ve booked the sloth/snorkeling trip.  I have tried to snorkel on every cruise we’ve ever been on & every one has been canceled due to bad weather.  I keep hoping!  Would you recommend a different tour option with them?

Edited January 11, 2023 by poocher

[jbrinkm]

3 hours ago, poocher said:

Yes I did mean Getaway!  I’ve booked the sloth/snorkeling trip.  I have tried to snorkel on every cruise we’ve ever been on & every one has been canceled due to bad weather.  I keep hoping!  Would you recommend a different tour option with them?

 

We just thought everything about the trip was good. Including the snorkeling gear! I wrote to them afterwards and asked what brand it was, I enjoyed it so much. For our upcoming April day that we booked with them, we'll do Zipline, Sloths again, 3 reef snorkel and chocolate factory. I can let you know when we return how all of those went. The only thing that I felt any hesitation about was leaving the port and where we had to meet them, but that is true for any non-cruise trip in Roatan. Nothing happened, it was just really crowded and busy and it is a very poor country, so there weren't great facilities where to meet them. They also get really good reviews everywhere I've searched for the company, including Viator where we booked last year.

[jbrinkm]

We had an absolutely fabulous experience with them again on our second visit! We did the custom tour and had Monique as our driver. We were just in her car, rather than the van that they use for the Viator excursion. She had parked at Jungle Top where we did our first activity, so we were able to throw our daypacks into her car and do the zipline tour (so much fun!!). Then she drove us to AJs but there were a ton of groups there, busses and vans in the parking lot. So she shifted us to snorkeling instead.

 

We joined the Viator group on the first of our three snorkels and saw many more fish this time. Water was a bit colder, so maybe that was why. Still very shallow and clear water. Then they dropped everyone else off at the dock and took us to the other two sites, near the French Key islands. The water was rough, but we were ok. The second stop was fantastic and the third was a little silty and we couldn't see as much there.

 

Then back to AJs, where we found the gate locked. But the business is owned and run by all family, and they know everyone on that part of the island, so she called and within a few minutes, we were getting a private tour of the animal sanctuary. After that, we made a quick stop by the chocolate factory on the way back to the ship. Back a little over an hour before all aboard. Their policy is 2 hours, but with a private tour we had a little more flexibility and we wanted the chocolate stop. 

 

Stellar service all around. I love Roatan. 

[jean87510]

We have them booked in December for 3 reef snorkeling.  I did it through their website.