Anthony's Key Resort for 10th anniversary?

[jgoodstein]

I am a diver and my wife is not. I just got an email from Anthony's Key resort that If I book then her trip is free. This to me seems like a slam dunk deal for our 10th anniversary.

I can dive, she can sleep in.
I can dive she can go swim with dolphins.
We can take excursions and what not.

Food is included and we have on hold the deluxe oceanside style rooms. It seems to me to be the perfect way to get down there on the cheap and still have a 4-5 star resort and experience.

Any feedback as to if this place is good, great, or indifferent? Is it Divers only... or can you have a great time there if you don't dive? I hope it's as great as it sounds and looks. Your advice is greatly appreciated since I only have 72 hours to hold my room.

 

[Doc]

Non-divers can have a "fair" time on Roatan, and this depends upon their sense of self-entertainment.

AKR has a notably better dive op, but she might like the beach, atmosphere and entertainment better at FIBR. I prefer the local diving near FIBR, as well. FIBR also seems to be spraying for the no-see-ums (with what, that is yet to be determined), but overall due to the prevailing breezes, they have less of them to deal with to start with. Something to consider if she's a "beach bunny":gorgeous: Check this forum, they are also having sales due to the airline reductions.

Understand that your desire to swim with dolphins can be sated from any resort, as AKR takes frequent "walk ins" from any other resort. It is not an ongoing thing, you sign-up for it and you go do it. She might really enjoy the "dolphin encounter" which doesn't even require a snorkel- most who have done this and the "dive" wind-up recommending the "encounter". Another caveat about AKR, it is in no way handicapped accessible with 70+ steps to the dining facility.

That said, AKR is a nice property, the room you reserved would be the best option. Roatan overall is not the prime place to bring a non-diver, but she is a cab-ride away from West Bay, the shopping (such as it is) the majority of island restaurants, bars and diversions. It is enough to entertain the Cruise Ship visitors for the day. You are also reasonably close to other island diversions such a horseback riding, the jungle canopy tours, the Iguana Farm and Botanical Gardens.

 

[jgoodstein]

FIBR?

She can sleep till 3 in the afternoon most days if i let her . I Live in Florida and am looking for a tropical vacation on the cheap for our anniversary. Cozumel, mexico, Bahamas, Jamaica, virgin islands, St. Lucia, Aruba are all out as we've frequented those places before. I was also contemplating Costa Rica and Tahiti, but Tahiti seems to be a bit cost prohibitive. I figured the Bay islands (Roatan) offered a unique place we have not been and activities for me and her to fully enjoy. The only thing anthony's doesn't seem to have for me is a spa for her. If it had a spa I'd never see her :depressed:

 

[Doc]

.... a spa for her. If it had a spa I'd never see her :depressed:

A few Roatan properties do have Spa Centers, none of which are really "dive" resorts, per-se.

 

[diversteve]

Fantasy Island Beach Resort

Fantasy Island Resort | Fantasy Island Accommodations | Privilege Hotels

Try the zipline also. http://www.roatanonline.com/roatan_jungle_zip_line_canopy_tour.htm

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

We've taken a couple of large groups to Anthony's Key. Several non divers were on each trip. Those people had a blast, so much so that a few divers took days off to do other activities with them. She'll have a blast at AKR

 

[RTBDiver]

The only thing anthony's doesn't seem to have for me is a spa for her. If it had a spa I'd never see her :depressed:

Heck, why even bring her? Oh thats right, this is an anniversary

But seriously, Anthony's Key is a nice place, I have been there yet never stayed there but do be aware that if your using a star rating as you may find in Souyt Florida or eslwhere you may be a little surprised. 4-5 stars

 

[CODMAN]

If your wife is the spa enjoying "I like to be pampered" kind of person, I seriously doubt Roatan is a good choice for you. I've only been once (stayed at Fantassy island Beach resort and visited AKR), and AKR is definetly the nicer place to stay (with more non-diving activities). But IN NO WAY ARE THESE PLACES THE TYPICAL 4-5 STAR RESORTS we think about! Roatan is (at least when I went) much less developped than other areas in the caribean and their standards are much lower than typical North American standards. This is great for some who don't look for luxury on their trips, but rather originality and uniqueness (is that a word??) and great diving. Anybody looking for classy resorts with nice (or very nice) accomodations by North american standards should look elsewhere...

Roatan is cheap... It has very good diving... By no means is it a lucury oriented destination by our standards... I like it... But if I had to bring a woman who was more into being pampered on vacation, I would look elsewhere... It's a tad rustic in my oppinion...

This is just my oppinion of it. Take it for what it is worth... I've been there once... Have been elsewhere in the caribean and the world... And have read most posts here about the place since 2006... It's honnestly what I think of it whith that knowledge... Others have much more hands on experience than I do... And some may disagree (I'm sure they'll let me know... ). I'll gladly learn more if they want to share their knowledge...

To be honnest, If I was taking your wife on a trip (please don't hun't me down, it's just a figure of speach ) for an anniversary, I would look in to Turks and Caicos... Much better geared towards pampering women, and great diving...

Just my 0.02$

FIBR?

She can sleep till 3 in the afternoon most days if i let her . I Live in Florida and am looking for a tropical vacation on the cheap for our anniversary. Cozumel, mexico, Bahamas, Jamaica, virgin islands, St. Lucia, Aruba are all out as we've frequented those places before. I was also contemplating Costa Rica and Tahiti, but Tahiti seems to be a bit cost prohibitive. I figured the Bay islands (Roatan) offered a unique place we have not been and activities for me and her to fully enjoy. The only thing anthony's doesn't seem to have for me is a spa for her. If it had a spa I'd never see her :depressed:

 

[jgoodstein]

Thanks everyone. She's not into 5 star luxury cause we could never afford something like that. To be honest I'm trying to stick her in a spa so she's not bored while I Dive. Yes she knows I'm writing this. We're normal suburban folks who work hard and play hard. We are looking for something that isn't the same. I am tired of the same looking hotels at the same looking beaches. We want something where we can spend time together away from the " big city". I want somewhere to dive and to not be worried that she is bored waiting for me to come back.. If she's going to be bored then I am not going diving. Her happiness is more important then a few dives. Turks and Caicos sounds interesting, but i have great fears that it's just another Caribbean island.

 

[dmoore19]

We went to AKR in January. My wife is a non-diver. She had no problems occupying her time. She too enjoys sleeping in. #27 is a great room, we liked it a lot. It is about a 5-10 minute cab ride to West End. If you are there a week they will take you to the other side of the island to Maya Key, it is a fun trip and there is a animal sanctuary there where they have saved injured animals. They have an ant eater that was hacked with a machette that they saved. The monkeys are fun to watch. The giftshop on Maya key has a lot of stuff too.

The food at AKR is good. It is served at your table, you sit down, order from 2 choices for lunch and dinner and they serve you there. It is not a buffet. While it is not gourmet it is good and there is plenty. Breakfast is cooked to order eggs/meat or there are fruit and rolls. They also have a cook out on they key one night during the week. There are crab races, limbo contest, fire dancers. When we were there one night the Garufino dancers were there and there was live music. Most people are pretty quiet fairly early as diving starts fairly early.

There is horseback riding and kayaking available all day right at the resort (I think horseback riding is included). Your wife will also have access to the dolphins if she wants, she can take the boat over to Bailey's key where the Dolphins are I think anytime. You on the other hand (as a diver) will probably have to pay for the encounter and the snorkel with the Dolphins. The pool area is nice. The only thing that gets tiring is the stairs to the restaraunt. Other than that I don't know of anything negative that I can think of.

The diving is spectacular. I did 19 dives during our stay. I missed 1 night dive and an afternoon dive because we went into Westbay for the afternoon. There is a place there where we had a great lunch, lobster, and for both of us it was less than $30. AKR has a wreck <5 min boatride from the dock. Lots of Big Groupers and a couple of green morays that are easily seen. On the night dive we saw lots of big lobsters and crabs and a bunch of squid. I think my favorite dive was Fish Den because there were 5 or six turtles a seahorse and lots of other fish. The corals are beautiful where ever you go. AKR takes you to the south side to dive if the north side gets blown out. They will bus you over. They day we left the wind was coming up and they were moving the boats over before the storm came in Mary's place is a nice dive too, it is on the south side but I still liked Fish Den better.

You can get an island tour if you want. Check with the front desk they can arrange it for you. The staff there is very friendly and if you like hot sauce there is a guy there, Selase is his name and he sells some of the best hot sauce around. You will want to bring home 2 or 3 bottles as 1 is not enough. The whole operation is run very well and is a true pleasure to around. The dive shop and boats are well equipped and the boat captain Dean and DM Alson were full of fun, safety and really enjoy showing off what Roatan diving is all about.

Sorry this is so long but our trip was so fantastic I could talk about it for hours. If you go there, and I hope you do you will enjoy it. Don't expect a 4 or 5 star resort and you won't be disappointed. Going to Roatan was an adventure for us and we loved it. Wish we were there now. Good luck.


EDIT. If your wife likes to snorkel or just wants to go for a boat ride, if you ask first they will let her come along. My wife truly enjoyed herself and wasn't ever bored.

Happy Anniversary. It is our 10th this year too.