Anthony's Key questions ...

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Thanks for this info - I'll pack my rain jacket (it seems to insulate pretty well). We have the lemon eucalyptus but I plan to get the regular deet stuff too, just in case.

Yes, the last two posts make excellent points, which I had neglected in my post. The little swester that was all I needed was after diving whilst dry and going for dinner. A wind breaker for the boat rather have and not need, than need and not have. And, yes KathyA, I definitely agree that planes can be very cold and I have a complete different set of travel clothes, including a scarf, that I wear when traveling.
 
My wife and I went to AKR 2 years ago and loved it. We did get eaten up by insects. We found out later in the trip that we weren't helping our situation out much. In between dives they will take you back to the resort for your surface interval. My wife and I would take off our wetsuits and just stroll around or relax on the dock until the boat left again. Others immediately showered and dried off. Apparently the insects really like the saltwater on your skin. The locals said they found they were bitten much less often if they rinsed off as soon as they got back to the dock.
 
A few years back. I stayed at Barefoot key.
They took They took great precautions to minimize the bug problem.
They rake the grounds and the beach multiple times a day.
They had an in-ground sprinkler system that sprayed insecticide around the grounds.
We had no bug problems. Even in our open living area.
I recommend the place. It's also on the south side near Mary's place and other walls.
 
My wife and I went to AKR 2 years ago and loved it. We did get eaten up by insects. We found out later in the trip that we weren't helping our situation out much. In between dives they will take you back to the resort for your surface interval. My wife and I would take off our wetsuits and just stroll around or relax on the dock until the boat left again. Others immediately showered and dried off. Apparently the insects really like the saltwater on your skin. The locals said they found they were bitten much less often if they rinsed off as soon as they got back to the dock.

Good to know - thanks!
 
Couple more, last minute questions. Do they provide enough towels to rinse off and dry between dives if you're doing three dives? Should we bring our own locks for storage locker?

Thanks everyone. We have repeatedly gone back to the same places to dive over the past few years, so going to AKR feels 'new' and 'different' and it's nice to get the insider info. :)
 
Hi Kimela,

Have a great trip to AKR. You are leaving soon I can see.

Thanks for your thread. I am a mosquito magnet. I must have some sweet tasting blood or thin skin.

Cathy and I are going in June with the SB Invasion for two weeks. I will rinse the salt water off regularly and carry my Picardin bug spray everywhere.

Please draft a trip report upon your return from AKR.

cheers,
m
 
I asked AKR directly about locks and towels. They provide locks. You are expected to bring towels from the room - they are not stored by the pool or on the boats.
 
Worse than mosquitoes, AKR has noseeums. I hate them even worse than skeeters. I bring lemon grass which is a noseeum specific repellent as well as stuff for skeeters.
 
We're back from Anthony's Key and had a great time! We will go back - just have to nail down 'when'. And we enjoyed our DM so much we will request him by name (John Carter). He's the only one who takes his divers out to collect trash in the ocean - and he maintains a Facebook page showing his groups' trash collection. This was the fastest dive vacation on record for us. We did 18 dives in 6 days - skipped the night dives - and didn't have a moment to get bored!

Here's my 'report'. For those who have been, you may not want to read this as it'll be rehashing what you've experienced - then again, maybe you'll notice what I left out or feel differently about my impressions?
  • Bring a water bottle with loop (so you can hook it to a bag) - they do NOT provide cups or bottles on the boat
  • Bring sandals that are quick dry and don’t hold in sand – I only had my Skechers that held sand between the fabric and the top of my foot, which rubbed and hurt – had to buy ‘cheap’ $36 flip flops (Reef brand – not really a bad price, but unnecessary)
  • Bring bug spray/wipes – we didn’t get a single bite between us, but we understand we had a really good week
  • February trip - bring enough neoprene – 81 degrees felt pretty chilly – I had a 2 mil jacket and Lavacore socks to add to my 5 mil boots and did ok. Hubby bought a 1 mil wetsuit (it was his birthday and he needed one since he’s lost weight anyway – so it’s ok)
  • Snacks – they do have a snack shop, but we packed Goldfish, Oreos and M&Ms and were able to avoid the extra expenditure
  • Be prepared to walk a lot, and climb stairs, especially if staying on the key – the restaurant is at the top of a long set of stairs. They’re in the middle of a renovation they think will be completed this year. The new restaurant and front desk will be at the main level, and NOT up the stairs.
  • Pack extra batteries / and if you haven’t had to change a battery in new gear make SURE you know the battery size. We had batteries for all our computers except my new Geo 4.0 – we assumed it would be the same as the others and it was NOT. They did have batteries in their photo shop.
  • Sunscreen and/or coverage - the sun here felt more intense to me – we were closer to the equator so that makes sense, right?
  • Bring quick dry towel for boat – but you can use your towel from your room. They do NOT provide towels or snacks on the boat.
  • Nitrox - you will be required to go through a nitrox orientation and then be responsible for analyzing your own tanks, marking them, and setting them aside for your boat – the process works well, but you need to keep ahead of your diving needs.
  • Our boat, as a group, opted to skip the Maya Key excursion because there were 5 ft seas on the way to the other side of the island - just saying you have that option. I also found out that’s where the worst of the bugs were!
  • You will be assigned a boat for the week – which is nice, as you get to know a core group of people.
  • Our boat DM, John Carter, is the only one who takes his divers out to collect trash as one of their dives. It was a great experience and after the collection of 9 bags (could have collected more but ran out of bags) we made our way to the coral nursery as part of the dive. Btw, that's the only time you can use gloves - and I was glad to have mine with me.
  • The food was good, but the portions were ‘normal’ sized. If you’re used to a lot of food you might feel hungry. We joked that there must have been a dietician involved in sizing the desserts because they were 'hospital' sized!
  • The dive operation maintains a web page to keep track of where each boat goes for their dives. The website is https://anthonyskey.com/daily-dive-sites-log/. The days are sometimes in Spanish with the dates listed with the day first and then the month – which was sometimes confusing for me. When you click on your boat you’ll see the daily dive sites. It’s not always updated right away – you might have to wait a day or two but they WILL be updated.
  • The boat we were on did not have a marine head – but it seemed a couple bigger boats might have. You come back to the dock after each dive, so it’s not a huge issue if you really need a toilet.
  • If you’re staying on the key there will be a water taxi going back and forth all day until 10 p.m. You rarely have to wait more than a couple of minutes.
  • No tv’s or phones in the rooms. If you want to watch a movie or play video games you’ll need to have it downloaded on your own device. We think kids would be bored stiff here.
  • There is a small beach on the key – where you can grab a paddle board or kayak (we didn’t because we were tired!). We didn’t do any of the excursions (horseback riding, zip lining, dolphin experience, shark dive). Nor did we visit the museum.
  • If you’re not nitrox certified, they have a class for $125 and that covers two days of nitrox too. Nitrox was $140 for the week plus 15% taxes.
  • All of our dives were 50+ minutes long.
  • You do a morning dive (8 or 8:30ish); another dive after your surface interval; and then you go to lunch, have a little nap time and meet again around 2:30 for the afternoon dive.
  • The reef was in decent shape - some places much better than others. The viz could be a bit on the poor side if we were close to the breakers.
  • My favorite dive was Wayne's Place - it felt like a Kona dive, with huge walls to the surface - hard to explain but great topography
  • You will be expected to do a weight check dive during which you do your mask clearing and reg removal and replacement skills - those are done at the dock before you do your first dive. My first vacation dive is always a little hectic - I think this would have been easier if I'd known it was going to happen. I can do these things easily - but I got nervous learning about it 'in the moment' and it caused me some anxiety. So there ya go - for those like me who like a 'heads up'. :wink:
  • <Edit to add one more thing> If you're not AOW, I'd suggest you get the certification. My deepest dive was 112 ft, and there are two wrecks, one that is in 110 feet of water. Four of my dives were 98 feet or deeper - and most of the rest were 70+.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

Back
Top Bottom