Thinking of AKR in May 2016, need some answers please

[Juardis]

Hi all, my wife and I consider ourselves average divers. We have over 50 dives, but most have been drift dives in W. Palm Beach. Some with ripping current where you could barely hold on to a wreck, and some with no current. It's good diving, fun diving, but we're looking for something different to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We've never done wall dives, but they sound fun. We have good buoyancy control, which is always important, but maybe more important on a wall with no bottom to help gauge depth? We're not too interested in diving wrecks, although we enjoy the wrecks in WPB because of the Goliath Groupers that seem to be drawn to them, but as far as swimming inside them? No. We're not interested in deep dives (i.e., >80') simply because I'm a little bit of an air hog and I'd rather stay shallower longer and enjoy more color. So with that in mind, here are some questions I have after reading many of the threads here started in the past year or so.

1. We're OW certified but can get AOW (probably will as we meet all the requirements). But does AKR require AOW to do certain dives, like Mary's Place or any other site? Or do the DL/DMs assess everyone's skill level and determine where to go based on that and not some potentially meaningless certification?

2. We recently crossed the threshold where newbs irritate us mainly because they run into us (literally) or cut our dives short (they lose their buddy and adopt us underwater) or get in our way as we try to observe the lobster/eel/whatever, but realizing most of y'all would consider us newbs, I am also sensitized to ruining others diving experience. So the threads I've read here complaining about newb divers on AKR boats leave me wondering, do you need to stay in a group with AKR? And if I run out of air at, say 40 minutes, and have to surface everyone else can stay down longer right? Those answers didn't come through on the various trip reports. I would have thought with AKR you could make your own dive profile and stay down as long as you like, up to some pre-determined maximum like 60 minutes or so, and go where you like just so long as you make it back to the mooring line at (or before) the pre-determined maximum time.

3. My wife likes to follow/stay close to the DL. I like to stay away from the herd that follows the DL. So we compromise, we follow/stay close to the DL . As I understand it, reading the threads, if you don't look for the little critters, you're missing a lot of the experience of diving Roatan. Maybe that's more south end diving than north end diving? Regardless, I think a DL that knows what he/she is doing would be most helpful in pointing out the macro I would easily miss. What is a "typical" group size like with AKR? And I recognize this is a situation where newb divers could ruin it for others.

4. Are gloves allowed with AKR? I've read they're not at other dive resorts on Roatan, but I haven't read whether they are or not at AKR. My wife wears gloves all the time because, well, she likes them. I've worn them on wreck dives in WPB because of the current and wanting to hold on without getting blown off the wreck.

5. Of the months of April, May, June, which would be "better" for north side diving? We're thinking early/mid-May if for no other reason than it stays out of Hurricane season (June) and it should be warmer water than in April (and maybe fewer bugs too?). We went on a Carnival cruise late May 2014 and the ship couldn't dock in Roatan because of a hurricane in the Pacific. The Pacific! Can you believe it?!

Thanks in advance

 

[diversteve]

I have been to AKR twice but the only dive we did with them was the Dolphins so I can't speak to your boat/DM concerns. We had a smaller boat and it was just the 7 of us plus DM/videographer. But that's a specialty trip and priced somewhere over $125pp now - there's a discount for resort guests. I did see one of their slightly larger boats moor at the dive dock late one morning and more than a dozen resort guests got off. AKR also does the cruise excursion dives but they get their own boat.

Gloves aren't allowed in the Roatan Marine Park. Most of the dives you'll be doing from AKR are also in the park.

It's pretty much going to be around 80^o + any of the months you're thinking about. Maybe even a little hotter in June.

I was there the first week of May once and dove in a t-shirt. My colder blooded friends had 3 mils. but in most cases that's all they own. We had a few days of showers - often early morning but no dives were affected. May seemed kind of like low season also - no crowds anywhere.

AKR probably does both of the deep wrecks (Odyssey/El Aguila) since they're nearby. Also they helped put them both down IIRC. Some info: Roatan's Wrecks - Wreck Diving in the Caribbean

If you want to drift dive on Roatan ask them to take you to Texas or several of the other nearby sites. A DM and I hooked into a current there once and surfaced a long way from the boat and the other divers so we just floated till they loaded the others then got us. We also saw maybe 5-6 grouper over the week - many at sites near AKR. Spooky Channel is another dive similar to Mary's Place that's nearby also. Mary's is better. Hole in the Wall is another not to miss - just west of AKR IIRC.

Most of the dives we did along the wall were actually around 80' or shallower. Generally the reef seemed to get deeper quicker in that range - not a true wall but it sort of rolled over and became more vertical. There's very few places where the next level of the wall is much over 140-150' but they won't go that deep anyway. No shop does except the tech shops. At some sites there's also a lot of coral cover near the mooring in 25'. Enough that there's something interesting while you're doing your safety stop. More than once Turtles surfaced nearby.

If you want to do some non-dive stuff one day the West End is about 10mins (under $10) by cab. Some shops, restaurants etc. 2 miles farther west is West Bay where the good beaches are. No real shore diving from either location though - the reef is too far out. AKR is pretty safe also, it's fenced/gated and if you stay on Key in the overwater bungalows - the only access is via their water taxi generally.

My best advice - do not forget the Deet-based spray. Especially after diving. The Sand Flies are terrible around dusk. Anywhere in the Bay Islands.

 

[dmoore19]

AKR is a great resort. Having been there 3 times I can say I would go again.

As diversteve has answered your questions I don't have much to add.

The cruise ship people are not a problem. They keep them separated. The boats are roomy and you will have plenty of room. You will need to stay with the group and the DM. They send divers up in pairs depending on their air consumption.

There are groupers on a lot of the dives. The El Aguila is one of the wrecks and it is <5 minute boat ride from the dock, there are lots of groupers that call it home. There is also a large green moray that I have seen every time I have done that dive. I believe it is 103' to the sand but there is plenty to see above that depth.

During the trips I have made they start out the week on the easier dives and as the week progresses they take you to the deeper dives.

They take you to the south side of the Island and Mary's place one day during the week. You do not have to go that deep to appreciate the dive. The wall dives are beautiful. Watch your depth, you will be just fine. There can be some drift dives but they are quite enjoyable and easy.

As a guest you can always catch the water taxi over to the key where the dolphins are just to watch. You can do a dolphin snorkel or a dolphin dive. We chose the snorkel and it was a fun experience. This is at an extra charge but IMO worth it.

They also offer a shark dive. I have done that dive as well. I enjoyed it but once is enough for me, it was however worth the extra price.

They do 2 night dives during the week and one evening includes a BBQ on the key where the bungalows are located. It includes a crab race and limbo contest some local fire dancers and some good food.

I would suggest going for the Key Superior room. Superior means AC, for me in June it is a must. The bungalows on the key are roomy and comfortable most have a private deck. No phones or TVs in the rooms it is a chance to unplug. The WIFI is good for keeping in touch with folks back home.

The dive op is a well run operation. 3 dives a day plus the night dives.

A trip to West End is worth the effort. Maybe the mainstreet is paved by now? Great time to take a break and walk main street and pick up a few gifts for the folks back home.

I do not believe they require AOW but you can always email them and ask ahead of time.

You will enjoy the trip. AKR is a well run resort.

 

[ReefHound]

I was there with my gf last March and will be back early May 2016. We are very experienced divers as were most on our boat so I do not know if our experience applies to boats with newer divers or not but here it is.

1. We showed C-cards and filled out a waiver form at the shop on the first day. They assigned you to a boat for the week. The DM did not ask for certs or ask about our experience. IMO none of the dives are beyond the level of OW except maybe the wreck dives simply because they are around 100'.

2. When you get to be very experienced newbies are not a problem because it's so easy to work around them. We were not required to stay in a group. We were asked to limit our dives to 60 minutes because they operate on a tight schedule. Typically, we moored in about 25-40' over the reef, splashed, headed a bit deeper to wall (which usually bottomed at 100'), went one direction for awhile, returned, puttered around til 60 minutes, then got back on boat. Usually most others were already on the boat. You can return to the boat at any time in your dive.

3. The DM will be able to show you stuff you would miss. Many critters are territorial and the DMs have learned where they are. In our boat of 12 divers there were maybe 4-6 that would hang close to the DM. We were usually aways off and if we saw a crowd gathering around the DM we would mosey over there after the crowd left to see what the fuss was about. When I say "hanging close" to the DM I mean within 20-3-' not rubbing elbows.

4. We were asked not to wear gloves except on the wreck dives.

5. I've only been in late March so I can't say which is the best month but we had great weather and calm seas all week. I expect May will be a bit warmer and dry but there isn't a great variance in "seasons" there.

 

[Doc]

Any of the months of April May or June will be a good bet, the later the better. Those months present fairly flat conditions on the North side. Good springtime uptick in creatures in the water column, my favorite time of year over there. I would start concerning myself with Tropical Storms by August, not much earlier.

Bugs? When there's no breeze of wind (as above)? You do the math. The land form on the North/West is darker, denser, more fallen vegetation, more moisture... more bugs. This is a year-round phenomenon.

As inferred above, and as I'll tell you now, unless you follow your DM you won't likely see the interesting stuff. Yes, South is better for this Macro/Micro as the walls are vertical, Sunlit and shallow. North is more likely to give you larger Pellagics like Cuda, Parrots, etc.

There is absolutely no reason to wear gloves in water temps that will predictably be 82°. There is a general prohibition against this in the Caribbean. People with gloves touch the reef, whether they know it or not. If you want to wear them to ascend a down line, that's what the BC pocket is best used for.

The North will present deeper dive profiles than the South Side, the North reef structure you will see is generally "sloping" in nature.

You say you don't want wrecks- but Bravo! for your knowing their best use: fish- they like structure. Most divers can only discern (and therefor love) the metallic outline of a wreck- they have no vision of what lies in plain sight.

Almost every dive done on Roatan is a moored dive, so if you wish to break-off early and ascend the mooring line, not a big deal. Tell your DM in advance that you will be sure to "wave goodbye". This is not only the polite thing to do, but it will cause him no more grey hairs. You might not think they know where you are, but they can count.

You would likely do well with a Peak Performance Buoyancy class, whether you believe it could improve your diving or not- they will teach you a number of things that will improve your rate of breathing. If nothing else, maybe hire your own private DM (not a lot of money) and have him critique and improve your style, maybe even your rigging.

You asked about "Mary's Place". Unlike so many other operations, AKR follows the "rules" and won't take a diver there on the first day. It's good to get your sea-legs back, and yes, they do want to watch you a bit and make sure that you're not going to pose a danger to the DMs. I think with your described experience level, you will NOT be on their radar screen. You have to be TARFU to make the list. Where you may indeed have a problem is with your SAC rate. Due to the nature of this dive: Moor in 35fsw; traverse sometimes against mild current 75' to wall edge; descend to 75fsw and hover; wait your turn to go through chasm; traverse at depth for 5 minutes; go thru a doughnut hole mini-overhead while banging tank on rock; ascend slowly to wall on right; follow the DM back to the mooring pin.

The DMs will by then understand your SAC Rate and have specific tips for you. The dive is actually quite quick (not by intention), as most guests can predictably be seen swimming through the slot at an accelerated pace. Upon ascent... There is ample time for most divers to dawdle under boat at the end atop the reef at 35fsw. I have never seen anyone who was not a pre-identified basket case have to bail out upward through the chasm aborting the dive.

I appreciate your plan, I spend most dives with gilled fish-people, often military, most are distressingly young and in-shape. Like I tell my DM, when I ask, "Just point at the boat, will'ya?"

 

[Juardis]

Wow! Great info everyone, I really appreciate the feedback. Just to be clear though, we're not "looking" for drift dives, we've done enough of them and want something different. Anyway, I think it's time to book. Gotta love the 2fer1 deal they have. Thanks again.

---------- Post added September 11th, 2015 at 12:46 PM ----------

Doc and Reefhound, I found an older thread (pg. 2 of this forum) where you two were discussing shore/night diving at AKR. The relevant post from Doc is....

Just outside of the dive lockers, where they moor the boats. Flop in and prowl under the pier for starters.

Muck diving isn't so much a comment about viz, it's more the description and character of the bottom... and the very interesting critters that enjoy that niche environment. Lots of what they refer to as "odd shaped bottom dwellers". (not me, the animals and such!)

You aren't going to get a lot of company from fellow guests, likely none. From the pier, looking West into the actual "lagoon" between mainside AKR and the Key- that itself is a great night dive- it's shallow and there's quite a lot of debris, which many creepy critters thrive upon. It's so shallow I have done some 2 hr BTs and came up only because I wore out my batteries on the camera strobe.

Not good for first time night divers. No, not so much.

So Reefhound - did you follow through with Doc's suggestion? If so, how'd it go, I didn't see a follow up from you.

Doc, are you saying a good night dive was under the pier or out "West into the actual 'lagoon' between mainside AKR and the Key"? Regardless, what did you have to do to arrange a night dive under the pier or out in the "lagoon"? From another trip report I read, the 2 night dives included aren't really night dives as they dive too early, and you can't do the advertised shore dive as a night dive because they close at sunset (per another trip report), so I'd be interested if one could do a "true" night dive (i.e., starting around 8pm) in the areas you mentioned and if so, how could that be arranged.

And finally, why is this not good for first time night divers? We're night certified and have been on a couple, but this sounds like easy night diving to me.

 

[Lorenzoid]

My wife and I have made one trip to AKR. You can find our review here if you look for it. If I had to give just one piece of advice it would be to make your expectations and wishes known to the dive shop. We found ourselves assigned to a boat along with a large family of divers who claimed to be experienced but were some of the worst divers I have ever witnessed (things like bragging about sucking their tank dry, diving without a computer, touching the coral, sculling with their hands, swimming so fast that our choice was either to lose the group or keep up, etc.). We were never taken to Mary's Place--though I had been there on a previous trip with another dive operation out of West End--and I can see why the DM decided it wasn't for our group. I don't blame our fellow divers as much as I blame my wife and myself for not speaking up about our expectations/desires. The thing is, it hadn't even occurred to us in advance to speak to the dive shop about our expectations/desires as experienced divers because up until the point that we saw just how bad a diver could be, we didn't think of ourselves as "experienced" divers. We had just been lucky on our previous trips, I guess.

 

[dmoore19]

Sorry you had the bad experience Lorenzoid.

During my trips there I never experienced this problem. I would probably have asked to be placed on a different boat after the first day since you are assigned a boat for the entire week. The trip to Mary's place is usually mid-later in the week in my experience. The resort manager (Mandy) was very accommodating to requests when we were there.







One more addition of information for the OP. If a storm is moving in AKR will move their boats and will bus you to the other side of the island if necessary.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Sorry you had the bad experience Lorenzoid.

During my trips there I never experienced this problem. I would probably have asked to be placed on a different boat after the first day since you are assigned a boat for the entire week. The trip to Mary's place is usually mid-later in the week in my experience. The resort manager (Mandy) was very accommodating to requests when we were there.

I suspect AKR would have been accommodating and maybe even put us on a different boat. We just didn't know any better, as we had never encountered the situation before. So we never asked. It's also not something you tend to realize until it's later in the week. It wasn't a "bad experience"--overall, we had a good time, and I will echo others' comments that AKR is a first-rate operation--but for us it was a learning experience.

 

[Juardis]

My wife and I have made one trip to AKR. You can find our review here if you look for it. If I had to give just one piece of advice it would be to make your expectations and wishes known to the dive shop. We found ourselves assigned to a boat along with a large family of divers who claimed to be experienced but were some of the worst divers I have ever witnessed (things like bragging about sucking their tank dry, diving without a computer, touching the coral, sculling with their hands, swimming so fast that our choice was either to lose the group or keep up, etc.). We were never taken to Mary's Place--though I had been there on a previous trip with another dive operation out of West End--and I can see why the DM decided it wasn't for our group. I don't blame our fellow divers as much as I blame my wife and myself for not speaking up about our expectations/desires. The thing is, it hadn't even occurred to us in advance to speak to the dive shop about our expectations/desires as experienced divers because up until the point that we saw just how bad a diver could be, we didn't think of ourselves as "experienced" divers. We had just been lucky on our previous trips, I guess.

Thanks Lorenzoid, I had read your trip report and it was one of the ones that got me to wondering about whether I'm a newb that would ruin it for others or not. We're NOWHERE near as bad as those you described, so I'm guessing not, but eh, everyone's tolerance level is different. But good advice on speaking up. Thanks.