Roatan resort for snorkelers?

[tkscuba]

I will add a few details about AKR. We were in Roatan in February with a group through our LDS and stayed at AKR. We had about 28 people with maybe 6-8 being snorkelers. This was our first dive trip after being certified, so we only snorkeled from shore a few times after the day's dives.

We actually saw a lot while snorkeling off the back of the key, including a night snorkel. We saw so many great things. The snorkelers went out on their own boat every day and had a great time. They saw most of the stuff we saw.

The other nice thing was they had a lot of other activities to do during the day like horseback riding, the dolphin encounter and animal/bird watching. They have another key they take everybody to once a week. They have a kind of zoo there with many interesting animals and a knowledgeable staff. Even saw a seahorse in the netting right by the dock there. They have a barbeque on the key one night and have some local music and dancers two other nights during the week. They also have a fish identification class and a bouyancy class free to the guests and they have a medical clinic right on site.

The service was great. We could get wi-fi from our room and in the common areas by the restaurant. They also provide island tours and you can schedule almost any island activity through the front desk.

We looked at some other dive ops while we were there (planning our next trip) and really didn't see anything we would like better than AKR.

IMHO, I think AKR would be a great choice for snorkelers/divers!

 

[lucwise]

I would recommend staying at Half Moon Resort in the West End... the snorkeling from right there is really fantastic, plus you could always go out on the dive boat with Atlantic Sea Divers and snorkel whenever they go out. I was just there diving this past week and we had many tag along snorkelers who really enjoyed it.

 

[xyz99]

DiverSteve, I read about the rainy season sometime extending through Feb, so we will probably go in March (although Jan-Feb is so cold in NY, and a warm place just so inviting). Seeing a whale shark would be FANTASTIC! Maybe we’ll get lucky.
TK, thanks for the additional info on AKR, that’s really helpful.
Lucwise, Half Moon looks very nice, gets great reviews and I heard snorkeling at West End is very good.
I think our top choices are now CCV and Laguna Beach, with a ton of close followers that I need to evaluate….thank you all, this was very instructive and helpful.

 

[diversteve]

DiverSteve, I read about the rainy season sometime extending through Feb, so we will probably go in March (although Jan-Feb is so cold in NY, and a warm place just so inviting). Seeing a whale shark would be FANTASTIC! Maybe we’ll get lucky.

March increases your likelihood. We saw six the last week of March 2009. Deep Blue's March Whaleshark research weeks are the last 2 weeks of the March this year. The boat captains talk on the VHF when they spot one so others nearby have a chance to see it. IIRC there's some limit on how many times they can drop snorkelers off their boat.

If you do see one and can get a photograph of the left side behind the gills - submit it for inclusion in the ECOCEAN database - ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-identification Library Details/online submission form here: Utila Whale Shark Research

My buddy did and now gets updates when it's seen. I also "adopted" a 21' Whaleshark last seen off Tanzania named Zahir - if he's seen again, I get an e-mail.

 

[Scubagolf]

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