Looing for a good all inclusive in Roatan

[OldNSalty]

I dive, wife doesn't-2 kids, 9 and 4. I need a place that will let me do some good diving while giving the rest of the family a good vacation. I saw Anthony's Key Resort and that looked good but I was wondering if anyone else has tried it.

Thanks for the info

 

[Doc]

Sure- tons of people have tried AKR, but it is poorly represented by those who post on :sblogo:

AKR will likely suit your stated needs well if you want an all inclusive.

It is close enough to West End that the non-diving portion of your family will have easy access to other diversions, and it has the Dolphin thing if your kids want to do that all week.

It is the bast AI resort for diving that has such geographical access to the other stuff. There are likely better AI's for the hard-core diver, but they put out a fine, all-round product. Something for (almost) everybody.

 

[craracer]

I've stayed at AKR, and agree with Doc's statement.

 

[philmayer]

CoCoView is the best all inclusive, but there's nothing to do if you're not a diver.

 

[dmoore19]

I stayed at AK for a week. I am a diver, my wife is not. The diving was excellent, 3/day. There is kayaking, horseback riding available. The food is good and plentiful. The food is not served buffet. You have a choice of entres and you sit at a table and your food is served to you. My wife enjoyed it, she relaxed in a hammock and read while I was out diving.

If you go spend the extra for the superior room. Superior has air conditioning. I would suggest #27 on the key but it is only for 2. The diving is excellent. It is nothing fancy but it was clean and everything there worked. There is not TV or phone in the rooms.

The dive op is very well run and the boats are in good shape. 3 1 tank dives per day plus there was a night dive. There is a bbq on the key one night with crab races and fire dances. One afternoon for lunch there is a trip to another key they own. The diving is excellent.

West End is a short cab ride away. There are good places to eat if you want to sneak away from the all inclusive for a lunch or dinner. There are many little shops with all kinds of things. We went there for the afternoon and had a great time wandering up and down the street. The folks there are friendly. And the diving is excellent.

AK is on the north side of the island. If there is a storm it will blow in from the north. If the wind comes up AK can and sometime does, move the boats to the south side of the island and bus you over for diving those days. The diving is excellent.

There is a Dolphin research center there. The dolphin snorkel is fun with interaction with the dolphins. There is also a shark dive. I didn't get to do the shark dive while I was there but other threads on scuba board.

I liked AKR and will return again. I don't know if the kids would be happy if they didn't dive. My wife relaxed and read while we were there and really liked it.

 

[mcgosler]

There are several good dive AI's on Roatan, but travelling with a non-diving wife and children, I suspect you're looking for that typical Caribbean AI with buffets, beach bars, pools, and animation staff. You will not find that anywhere in Roatan. With young kids like you have, something in West Bay would be your best option, just don't get hung up on the AI part.

 

[SEVADiver]

We went to AKR last year. I agree with all the positive things said above. Recommend a key superior room. There were plenty of families with children and there seemed to be plenty for them to do. Based on my experience I'd say AKR is your best bet on Roatan.

 

[OldNSalty]

Thanks everyone.
We just back from a cruise (Not good for diver or snorkler IMO). We were accessing what we liked/didn't like and really it came down to this-kids loved the pool, the snorkling and the playing on the beach. Hoenstly, they could have spendt the entire vacation in the salt water pool.

My wife enjoyed the food, the not-having-to-do-anything and the spa. She also liked the snorkling.

Me? I like being on a boat, and my nightly martini and the duty free scotch but hated being so close to the water and not able to dive.

So I thought a resort with diving might be best for us and AKR looked like it had enough to entertain the family.

What about bugs and such? They don't really bother me but I swear my wife and baby can attrack a mosquito in the dead of winter where as my older son and I can walk through a jungle with hardley a bite.

 

[RickyF]

Let me also recommend Barefoot Cay. Nice accomodations, pool, snorkeling and not too far from the west end. you can book it AI or al a carte. 3 dives per day. The food is very good IMO. Just another place to consider. This will be my fouth year going there and i would not go anywhere else. TV and cable are included and they provide a cell phone for your use. You pay for the minutes.

 

[Doc]

What about bugs and such? They don't really bother me but I swear my wife and baby can attrack a mosquito in the dead of winter where as my older son and I can walk through a jungle with hardley a bite.

Your thread began with a fairly unusual question. Now you have slammed on the brakes before crashing into the dreaded

This topic is very well discussed on SCUBABoard, right here in this Bay Islands Forum.

The caveat to the North/West portion of Roatan is it's geography- something that was caused by eons of weather working a certain way.

In short, the terrain on the North/West is steeper, closer to the Ocean. It is darker (more moist). It is less windy overall (except for the storms), it is un-farmed as compared to the South. What does this mean? More standing water, more breeding areas with wet decaying wood, more bugs.

On the South side, I constantly remind people to avoid wet, moist, decaying vegetable matter including dirt, leaves, and wood including moist floors. On the North side- these sand flea havens are everywhere because of the highly localized geographic/meteorological niche.

Look for information here on Sand Flies (Sand Fleas, no-see-ums), etc.

The North side would also bear some research on Mosquitos and deciding what your take is on the CDC advisories. You can, once again, search here on SB over the volumes of opinions as to whether you should take Malarial preventatives, or you can just wait for that discussion to start anew here.

As to the Sand Flies, there are preventatives that run the gamut from Deep Woods Off (DEET works for me) to Flea Collars, electronic devices, no longer available voodoo emollients called Cactus Juice, Picardin, and the perennial scientifically indefensible favorite of Avon Skin-so-Soft.

Whatever you use, use it often.

The best advice I can give: When you get bit: A dab of the active ingredient from Nasonex (a powerful steroid) will make the insane itching of a sand flea bite stop instantly. It can be dabbed on with a q-tip or you can get a scrip for the goo-in-a-tube version, Mometasone Furoate cream.

You'll owe me a beer on that one.