We were supposed to leave Denver at 7:45. There was plane repairs that had to be made. We left almost an hour late. We had 1:45 hours layover in Houston on the way down so with the hour delay we were close but made it to the new gate with about 10 minutes to spare. The plane left Houston on time.
I'll use AKR as it is quicker to type than Anthony's Key Resort. As was with the last trip the folks at AKR met our group at the Airport and we were on our way quickly and efficiently. We arrived and checked in with no problems and got to our Bungalow around 6:00PM. Went back over and had a nice dinner. AKR has pretty good food, not gourmet but good.
We got in 3 dives Sunday (Overheat Reef, Green Outhouse and Melissa's Reef). Monday morning we were sent to safety, they were concerned about the possible storm surge. The owner (Samir) and the Manger (Mandy) were very proactive and very involved in making sure we were well taken care of and everyone had a room and a safe place to stay during the storm. We were taken to Infinity Bay and prepared to hunker down for the storm. Since we had kitchens in our condos, we made a trip into Coxen Hole by cab to get some groceries. That was an adventure and really, all things considered was fun. Infinity Bay fed people but since their main place for food service is open air, we decided to get our own. Ernesto made a shuffle to the North and anything major was averted, just some rain and it was kind of windy. We were returned to our Bungalows at AKR Tuesday by around noon and we were all glad to get back. They had already brought the boats back and were preparing them for diving on Wednesday. All of us felt that the people at AKR are like family.
We returned to diving on Wednesday morning and got 4 dives in on Wednesday then another 4 on Thursday. We went to Maya Key on Thursday since it was supposed to be Tuesday. We made our first dive, El Aguilla then returned and got 2 more tanks for the rest of the day dives. On the way over we had a pod of Dolphins swimming with us. The Captain shut down the boat and we all piled in with snorkeling gear and a swim with the Dophins, they did not disappoint us and spent 10 to 15 minutes swimming with us and playing. It was a great encounter with wild Dolphins. We were going to dive Mary's but we dove West Bay Wall as the divemaster was concerned about it being rough around the corner. As soon as we made the turn around the west end the ride got rough as hell, we were all glad because none of us wanted to fight getting back on the boat. It was a great dive. After a good lunch and a walk around the Zoo and museum we started back to AKR We dove Butcher's Bank on the way back Thursday night is the party on the key with crab races, limbo contest, dance contest, fire dancers, Garafino dancers and BBQ ribs and chicken with all the trimmings. It was fun last time we were there and even more fun this time.
We had a 1:00 flight out on Saturday so we managed to get 2 dives in on Friday, one was the shark dive. Again the trip around the corner was rough as hell. We got back in time for the last dive of the trip, Divemaster's Choice. Then rinse out to stuff, hang it to dry and off to West End for the afternoon of shopping and eating. Friday night was steaks and shrimp at AKR. It was good, the steak was not as tender as what we get in the US but they did their best to cook it to the right temp and it wasn't long before dinner was done. They have live music on Friday nights and it was great just hanging out and drinking a cold Salva Vida or 2 and visiting with everyone with our group and the others at the AKR.
The diving was done from the Stingray a bigger boat, plenty of room, not crowded and a smooth ride. I like the bigger boats myself. Captain Dean and Divemaster Marvin were fantastic.
I would have to say that while AKR may not be everybody's favorite spot for whatever reason. It certainly has a spot in my heart though. The people there and what they do to make you feel at home and like family make it THE spot on Roatan for me. The food is good and plenty, there is a variety of food and it is served at the table so there is no buffet lines. The bungalows are roomy with good mattresses and the decks are well appointed with chairs and hammocks. There is a desk in the room for doing dive logs and setting up cameras and other gear. There are drawers to put clothes in and a in room safe to keep your valuables in. You don't have to worry about things being stolen and can leave stuff out with no worries. There was plenty of hot water for showers with clean dry towels every day, extras if you ask. There was a limited number of outlets but enough to get by. There are no phones or televisions in the room so evenings are great on the deck watching the sunset. The bungalows are set up to be private and the festivities are over by around 9:30 so you can get nice quiet sleep. The Bar is open on the Key every night for happy hour. The pool is large enough and the area is nice. They keep the place raked and cleaned up so the no-seeums are held to a minimum. Not to say there are none so bug juice is a good idea in the evenings and mornings. The dive lockers are close and reasonably ventilated to allow for things to almost dry.
On our dives we saw turtles, eels, dolphins, we saw a grouper eat a parrot fish right in front of us, slipper lobster, lobsters, crabs and all the usual suspects. On the night dives we stopped, turned out the lights and waving our hands through the water set off what looked like hundreds of fireflies. The coral were spawning and it is amazing. We saw some lion fish but there weren't as many as we had seen in the Caymans. The shark dive is a must do at least once in a lifetime. The Dolphin snorkel we did on the last trip and it was well worth the effort. This year they had 4 new baby Dolphins, you can ride over on the boat free of charge and see the babies if you are a guest. The Nitrox there is a steady 32% and I never had a problem getting it. The dive shop is well run, the boats are well maintained and have all the safety equipment. The internet service is available all over the resort with a good signal everywhere I went. It is $25 for the week but keeping in touch with family before and after the storm was important. Cell phones work well there if you have the chip and the international plan but it is expensive to use the phone for voice communications. They do have TV in the bar by the food service area. They had the Olympics on and it was nice to catch up in the evenings. I got my news from the internet.
I should add that the Key Superior Bungalows are the best. "Superior" means they have air conditioning and a small refrigerator in the room. In the summer AC is a must at least for us. They are also building some new bungalows on the Key and adding a couple more to the Hillside as well. The bungalows on the Key are accessed by a small boat that runs from the key back to the island, it is about a 30 second ride. I should also add that there are stairs (42 if I remember correctly) from the dock up to the lobby and kitchen area. I haven't stayed on the Hill so I can't speak to those rooms.
Not only did we experience our first Tropical storm/Hurricane, we also had a 4.2 earthquake, we never felt it, we were underwater at the time. A couple of people said they thought they heard it but I didn't. Other than that, I lost the glass out of my mask on a night dive, my dive watch died on me and my Nova Seawings started to crack (old style), one of the straps on my Dive caddy came unstitched and I broke the zipper on it. Everything was returned to the dive shop for repairs and replacements today.
Our flight back was smooth and on time. All things considered it was a great trip and I will gladly return to Roatan and AKR as soon as I can.
I don't have the pics sorted but I have attached one of my favorites, all I did was crop it a little, haven't had time to work it over. The other is some of the zany fun we had on storm night. OHHH NOOO.
I'll use AKR as it is quicker to type than Anthony's Key Resort. As was with the last trip the folks at AKR met our group at the Airport and we were on our way quickly and efficiently. We arrived and checked in with no problems and got to our Bungalow around 6:00PM. Went back over and had a nice dinner. AKR has pretty good food, not gourmet but good.
We got in 3 dives Sunday (Overheat Reef, Green Outhouse and Melissa's Reef). Monday morning we were sent to safety, they were concerned about the possible storm surge. The owner (Samir) and the Manger (Mandy) were very proactive and very involved in making sure we were well taken care of and everyone had a room and a safe place to stay during the storm. We were taken to Infinity Bay and prepared to hunker down for the storm. Since we had kitchens in our condos, we made a trip into Coxen Hole by cab to get some groceries. That was an adventure and really, all things considered was fun. Infinity Bay fed people but since their main place for food service is open air, we decided to get our own. Ernesto made a shuffle to the North and anything major was averted, just some rain and it was kind of windy. We were returned to our Bungalows at AKR Tuesday by around noon and we were all glad to get back. They had already brought the boats back and were preparing them for diving on Wednesday. All of us felt that the people at AKR are like family.
We returned to diving on Wednesday morning and got 4 dives in on Wednesday then another 4 on Thursday. We went to Maya Key on Thursday since it was supposed to be Tuesday. We made our first dive, El Aguilla then returned and got 2 more tanks for the rest of the day dives. On the way over we had a pod of Dolphins swimming with us. The Captain shut down the boat and we all piled in with snorkeling gear and a swim with the Dophins, they did not disappoint us and spent 10 to 15 minutes swimming with us and playing. It was a great encounter with wild Dolphins. We were going to dive Mary's but we dove West Bay Wall as the divemaster was concerned about it being rough around the corner. As soon as we made the turn around the west end the ride got rough as hell, we were all glad because none of us wanted to fight getting back on the boat. It was a great dive. After a good lunch and a walk around the Zoo and museum we started back to AKR We dove Butcher's Bank on the way back Thursday night is the party on the key with crab races, limbo contest, dance contest, fire dancers, Garafino dancers and BBQ ribs and chicken with all the trimmings. It was fun last time we were there and even more fun this time.
We had a 1:00 flight out on Saturday so we managed to get 2 dives in on Friday, one was the shark dive. Again the trip around the corner was rough as hell. We got back in time for the last dive of the trip, Divemaster's Choice. Then rinse out to stuff, hang it to dry and off to West End for the afternoon of shopping and eating. Friday night was steaks and shrimp at AKR. It was good, the steak was not as tender as what we get in the US but they did their best to cook it to the right temp and it wasn't long before dinner was done. They have live music on Friday nights and it was great just hanging out and drinking a cold Salva Vida or 2 and visiting with everyone with our group and the others at the AKR.
The diving was done from the Stingray a bigger boat, plenty of room, not crowded and a smooth ride. I like the bigger boats myself. Captain Dean and Divemaster Marvin were fantastic.
I would have to say that while AKR may not be everybody's favorite spot for whatever reason. It certainly has a spot in my heart though. The people there and what they do to make you feel at home and like family make it THE spot on Roatan for me. The food is good and plenty, there is a variety of food and it is served at the table so there is no buffet lines. The bungalows are roomy with good mattresses and the decks are well appointed with chairs and hammocks. There is a desk in the room for doing dive logs and setting up cameras and other gear. There are drawers to put clothes in and a in room safe to keep your valuables in. You don't have to worry about things being stolen and can leave stuff out with no worries. There was plenty of hot water for showers with clean dry towels every day, extras if you ask. There was a limited number of outlets but enough to get by. There are no phones or televisions in the room so evenings are great on the deck watching the sunset. The bungalows are set up to be private and the festivities are over by around 9:30 so you can get nice quiet sleep. The Bar is open on the Key every night for happy hour. The pool is large enough and the area is nice. They keep the place raked and cleaned up so the no-seeums are held to a minimum. Not to say there are none so bug juice is a good idea in the evenings and mornings. The dive lockers are close and reasonably ventilated to allow for things to almost dry.
On our dives we saw turtles, eels, dolphins, we saw a grouper eat a parrot fish right in front of us, slipper lobster, lobsters, crabs and all the usual suspects. On the night dives we stopped, turned out the lights and waving our hands through the water set off what looked like hundreds of fireflies. The coral were spawning and it is amazing. We saw some lion fish but there weren't as many as we had seen in the Caymans. The shark dive is a must do at least once in a lifetime. The Dolphin snorkel we did on the last trip and it was well worth the effort. This year they had 4 new baby Dolphins, you can ride over on the boat free of charge and see the babies if you are a guest. The Nitrox there is a steady 32% and I never had a problem getting it. The dive shop is well run, the boats are well maintained and have all the safety equipment. The internet service is available all over the resort with a good signal everywhere I went. It is $25 for the week but keeping in touch with family before and after the storm was important. Cell phones work well there if you have the chip and the international plan but it is expensive to use the phone for voice communications. They do have TV in the bar by the food service area. They had the Olympics on and it was nice to catch up in the evenings. I got my news from the internet.
I should add that the Key Superior Bungalows are the best. "Superior" means they have air conditioning and a small refrigerator in the room. In the summer AC is a must at least for us. They are also building some new bungalows on the Key and adding a couple more to the Hillside as well. The bungalows on the Key are accessed by a small boat that runs from the key back to the island, it is about a 30 second ride. I should also add that there are stairs (42 if I remember correctly) from the dock up to the lobby and kitchen area. I haven't stayed on the Hill so I can't speak to those rooms.
Not only did we experience our first Tropical storm/Hurricane, we also had a 4.2 earthquake, we never felt it, we were underwater at the time. A couple of people said they thought they heard it but I didn't. Other than that, I lost the glass out of my mask on a night dive, my dive watch died on me and my Nova Seawings started to crack (old style), one of the straps on my Dive caddy came unstitched and I broke the zipper on it. Everything was returned to the dive shop for repairs and replacements today.
Our flight back was smooth and on time. All things considered it was a great trip and I will gladly return to Roatan and AKR as soon as I can.
I don't have the pics sorted but I have attached one of my favorites, all I did was crop it a little, haven't had time to work it over. The other is some of the zany fun we had on storm night. OHHH NOOO.
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