Little French Key vs Maya Key

Hello everyone. I am planning on visiting one of these two places. Mostly I want a good snorkeling experience. What are your thoughts about these two places. Both have amazing reviews, so I am having a hard time deciding.

First of all, check out the thread above entitled Little French Key. It's FULL of awesome and varied reviews. We were in LFK Oct 2013. It was AMAZING! Since then, they have contracted with Carnival and there are many negative reviews about crowded beaches, no chairs, and distracted/overworked staff. Additionally, and not necessarily a deciding factor, the owner has been VERY rude and condescending to folks on Trip Advisor (TA). He doesn't apologize for issues folks had, admit fault for even the smallest thing, or even try and explain anything, i.e., we're expanding and growing, sorry for the inconvenience. If you see (from various websites) that you're the only ship in Roatan that day, I would unequivocally say GO FOR LFK (if after reading TA, you still want to give the owner your money)! However, if there is a Carnival ship in port the same day, you might go for Maya Key and wait for another year for LFK. We have Maya Key booked for September, and I've read lots of great reviews on TA and seen some good videos on YouTube.

First of all, check out the thread above entitled Little French Key. It's FULL of awesome and varied reviews. We were in LFK Oct 2013. It was AMAZING! Since then, they have contracted with Carnival and there are many negative reviews about crowded beaches, no chairs, and distracted/overworked staff. Additionally, and not necessarily a deciding factor, the owner has been VERY rude and condescending to folks on Trip Advisor (TA). He doesn't apologize for issues folks had, admit fault for even the smallest thing, or even try and explain anything, i.e., we're expanding and growing, sorry for the inconvenience. If you see (from various websites) that you're the only ship in Roatan that day, I would unequivocally say GO FOR LFK (if after reading TA, you still want to give the owner your money)! However, if there is a Carnival ship in port the same day, you might go for Maya Key and wait for another year for LFK. We have Maya Key booked for September, and I've read lots of great reviews on TA and seen some good videos on YouTube.

Thanks so much for the information. I will take a look at that post :)

If you are looking for snorkeling, your place is definitely Maya Key!!! The snorkeling there is amazing and so easily done. You walk right out on the pier there on the island and get in and you are there! It's beautiful and loaded with all forms of sea life. You can swim along the path and it will take you to an amazing drop off with no bottom.

I did a complete review (located in my signature line) with TONS of pictures. (I also have one of LFK if you are interested). :)

I had the same question as the OP... I was wondering which is best.... I did look and Carnival Dream (I think Dream) is in port when we are.. So I'm interested in more inf on Maya Key since I know Dream is a good sized ship.

I don't know much about Maya Key. Do they offer an excursion/plan like LFK? What is cost? Transportation included? Anyone have a suggestion of what they did and what they liked? Anyone have a link they can share?

Thank you to Ilala for starting this thread! I had the same questions!

Gabrielle

Caveat on snorkeling at Maya Key. Not so good IMHO. There were 3 ships in port and it was extremely crowded. Trail through coral is very narrow. Although not so bad once you got through the trail into deep water, the coral near the pier was brown with no fish.

The reef looked like it has really suffered from all the people.

Doubt we will go again, and certainly not if more than 1 ship in port.

I had the same question as the OP... I was wondering which is best.... I did look and Carnival Dream (I think Dream) is in port when we are.. So I'm interested in more inf on Maya Key since I know Dream is a good sized ship.

 

I don't know much about Maya Key. Do they offer an excursion/plan like LFK? What is cost? Transportation included? Anyone have a suggestion of what they did and what they liked? Anyone have a link they can share?

 

Thank you to Ilala for starting this thread! I had the same questions!

Gabrielle

Maya Key is a beautiful little Island that is actually right there in front of where the NCL ship parks, so a little further away for those on Carnival, but not far.

The only way to book this place now is by booking with your cruise ship. The prices vary depending on what cruise line you book with (I know that Carnival charges a lot more than NCL does for this same excursion). So, you would have to log in to your Carnival account online and find the excursion and see how much they charge.

Yes, transportation is included (it's by boat over to the island) and so is your lunch and the free drinks with the meal (select free drinks). You can also buy other drinks and stuff on your own at the restaurant hut.

The snorkeling there is AMAZING...right from the pier on the island. There's plenty of shade there. They have a replica Mayan Ruins type structures you can tour on your own. They have a "mini" type zoo with all kinds of animals on the property (rescue animals).

It's a really neat place. I have a full review in my signature line that includes TONS of pictures and everything about the place. All the information your little heart desires is probably listed there. :D

I can only comment on Maya Key (we were there Jan 2014), but I wholeheartedly agree with Mitsugirly - Maya Key snorkeling is awesome!

We were on Carnival Magic, and met the group in the port, walked to a little ferry boat & took a short 10 minute or so ride over to the island. (Carnival Excursion). They gave us a short little speech about all available to us on the island, where it was, etc. We headed to the beach first and snorkeled. You walk down a long dock to a gazebo & there you can sit & put on your equipment (we had our own). You climb a short ladder in to water about 4' and swim out. There are bottles attached to ropes under the water to guide you through the reef to the best spot. It was like being in an amazining aquarium! We had never, ever seen such beautiful snorkeling. I have no idea what the person above was talking about who said the snorkeling wasn't good! It was absolutely the best we've seen anywhere. It was 100% beautiful reef, with 100's of fish that we had never seen before. Gorgeous!

They serve a very tasty fish & bbq chicken lunch - its buffet style, and you can only go through line once.

My husband did the shark snorkel (nurse sharks), for $30. They are in a large penned area near where they bring you in by the ferry. He loved it, and got some good underwater pictures of them. They have all the other animals and the faux Mayan ruins on the island also. There was plenty to do, and it was a beautiful little island.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day.

I have pictures and a review in my signature line also of Maya Key.

Side note: We loved the snorkeling at Roatan SO MUCH, that we have a trip planned in September to fly to Roatan and stay for a week, just so we can do some more awesome snorkeling. It was the prettiest we have ever seen, and we just didn't get enough in the 2 hrs we got to do at Maya Key!

Thanks... BUT I am coming in on Princess...... So is there a way to get to Maya Key without booking a ship's excursion? I didn't notice one on Princess.... I was sort of hoping to go on my own.

Sorry Ilala.. didn't mean to hijack the thread- hope the information is useful for you too!?

Gabrielle

Thanks... BUT I am coming in on Princess...... So is there a way to get to Maya Key without booking a ship's excursion? I didn't notice one on Princess.... I was sort of hoping to go on my own.

 

Sorry Ilala.. didn't mean to hijack the thread- hope the information is useful for you too!?

Gabrielle

When the place use to be called fins and flippers you could book directly with them. Then once they changed their name (maybe bought out?) they made it only possible to book using the cruise line. They are owned by Anthony key so if your ship doesn't have an excursion to it, I would try emailing Anthony key at their other roatan resort and inquire about it and let them know your ship doesn't offer an excursion there. It can't hurt to try. Good luck

When the place use to be called fins and flippers you could book directly with them. Then once they changed their name (maybe bought out?) they made it only possible to book using the cruise line. They are owned by Anthony key so if your ship doesn't have an excursion to it, I would try emailing Anthony key at their other roatan resort and inquire about it and let them know your ship doesn't offer an excursion there. It can't hurt to try. Good luck

baaaah! I just finished reading your review from your stop at Maya Key and was pretty satisfied with the idea of going there on our next trip. But like the other poster, my ship (Carnival Dream) isn't offering any such excursion at the moment. I suppose if Carnival doesn't offer something in the next couple months I'll get in touch with Anthony to see what our options are.

baaaah! I just finished reading your review from your stop at Maya Key and was pretty satisfied with the idea of going there on our next trip. But like the other poster, my ship (Carnival Dream) isn't offering any such excursion at the moment. I suppose if Carnival doesn't offer something in the next couple months I'll get in touch with Anthony to see what our options are.

Really? They use to have it offered with carnival (at least when we sailed with carnival last year they did.)

Well the available exursions have changed a bit here and there since I've booked with them. I imagine they'll change a couple more times as my sail date approaches. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

They are owned by Anthony key so if your ship doesn't have an excursion to it, I would try emailing Anthony key at their other roatan resort and inquire about it and let them know your ship doesn't offer an excursion there. It can't hurt to try. Good luck

Unfortunately, from the info I've seen on CC, TA, and YouTube, May Key is ONLY available through cruise excursions now. Another cruiser contacted them directly, it took forever to talk to someone, then was politely told they don't book privately any more. In some interviews with staff on YouTube, it appears so much of their business comes from cruise ships that they decided just to market there.

If Maya Key was not available through my ship, and there was just ONE other ship in port with mine that was a Carnival ship, I would seriously consider LFK. I think it's very equivalent in what they offer. With all the other excursions offered and considering some folks just stay on the ship, it's not like the population of both ships will be at LFK! :p. If there's more than one ship in port that day, I'd not even consider LFK.

If your ship doesn't offer Maya Key, check out TA for more recent reviews of LFK. They had some construction and growing pains earlier, but I think they're through that now. If so, it should be better. JMO.

And yes, it was mitsugirly's review on Maya Key that sold us!! I really appreciate your awesome reviews!

I wanted to address what a previous poster said about the coral being brown and dead.............right off the steps from the gazebo that gets a lot of traffic is does look that way, but if you follow the trail all the way out and to the drop off, you see the most beautiful coral and fish! We noticed when we were there, a lot of the people were first time snorkelers and didn't venture out very far. I hope that clears up some of the confusion on the condition of the reef.........we have snorkeled many places and this was the most beautiful coral and fish we have seen!

Princess DOES offer Maya Key for an excursion! :D About $59 a person.... What do you guys think? Good deal?

Hope the Carnival cruisers get lucky too!!!!

Princess DOES offer Maya Key for an excursion! :D About $59 a person.... What do you guys think? Good deal?

 

Hope the Carnival cruisers get lucky too!!!!

I think that's a very good deal. That's what NCL charges too. :)

Carnival was more like $89, I think, when I looked on our last Carnival cruise (or something comparable to that price range) and I was shocked they charged so much more.

My husband and I spent over $130 to go to Maya Key Private Island. It was horrible!

1. The loungers had bird poop on them,

2. The water was not a "Caribbean beach", and was barely swimmable.

3. There was a huge parrot cage next to the sunbathers resulting in ridiculously loud screeching from the parrots.

4. There is an AIRPORT next to it, with planes landing and taking off over the sunbathers' heads.

5. It was not relaxing at all and definitely not worth the money.

Good luck.

Taking two boys ready to snorkel!

Well, we just returned last week from our cruise and did Maya Key. The 5 minute tender over to the island was VERY nice. It came a down pour of rain the night before AND the day of our excursion. It progressed to just cloudy while we were there, but those who were in the water at the beach exited pretty quickly and said the water smelled like sewage!! :eek: One couple walked out to the pier to snorkel, smelled it, and turned right back around. Not sure if it's because of the location near the town/port or what it was. We had a nice day at the pool, but I was really looking forward to snorkeling!! We walked around the animal cages and up to the ruins. It's a beautiful place. I will also say the beach was pretty, chairs appeared fine, and the airport nearby didn't bother us at all. Just wish we'd had a sunny day with non-smelly water. :(

My husband and I spent over $130 to go to Maya Key Private Island. It was horrible!

1. The loungers had bird poop on them,

2. The water was not a "Caribbean beach", and was barely swimmable.

3. There was a huge parrot cage next to the sunbathers resulting in ridiculously loud screeching from the parrots.

4. There is an AIRPORT next to it, with planes landing and taking off over the sunbathers' heads.

5. It was not relaxing at all and definitely not worth the money.

 

Good luck.

Hi and welcome to cruise critic. I see this was your first (and what appears to be your last) post on here (since joining in August when you made your post).

Just a few comments (and I'm not being negative or argumentative because that's so not me)...

You said that there was bird poop on the chairs. Just a thought/comment-any time you are anywhere and they have loungers under the trees, there's potential to have bird droppings. I mean they are wild animals living in the trees or flying by and there's absolutely no way to prevent "nature" from happening. It just catches me off guard for some reason when this is someones complaint about a place. There's water right there and it's easily wiped off. There's also workers everywhere that I'm sure would have been happy to wipe if off as well. (If only I had workers at my home to get the poo-poo off my loungers from when all the geese fly over).

What made the water "not swimmable"? No, it's not your typical Caribbean beach with miles of white fluffy sand extending into the clear blue ocean water. Did you research the place and find pictures prior to going? If so, you would see that most of the loungers are in the sand and under trees prior to going in the water. There's an area that's not "too" big for swimming, but the real draw to this place is the snorkeling.

If there's a parrot cage next to the sunbathers, that must be new since I was there. All of the animals there were on the other side. Where is this newly located parrot cage? It would be nice for others wanting to visit there to know where not to sit.

Once again, a little research prior to going would have shown that there's a small airport next to the island. It makes for some very interesting photo opportunities of planes flying low over the island and while others might have not enjoyed it, I found it pretty neat. There were a lot of people that would hear the little planes (no people, these are not big planes you find at an airport coming in) they would all come out running into the water and attempt to get a picture of them. For those of you that don't like the planes, I suggest you never head to Maho Beach in St Maarten. :p Just saying...:D

Of course this is not your typical Caribbean beach and setting, some may like it and some may not. But the reason most people go here is for the snorkeling, which is amazing! The animals, pool, mayan ruins and animal swims are just an added bonus to the place. Most of you on here are here to research the place and find out all about it. If you want a real good look at it, I suggest you have a look at my review in my signature line and check out the pictures. :)

Everyone have a great time cruising and I hope people enjoy every moment of what they do and where they go and not let the little things get your down or spoil your time where ever you end up. Your vacation is what you make of it.

Well, we just returned last week from our cruise and did Maya Key. The 5 minute tender over to the island was VERY nice. It came a down pour of rain the night before AND the day of our excursion. It progressed to just cloudy while we were there, but those who were in the water at the beach exited pretty quickly and said the water smelled like sewage!! One couple walked out to the pier to snorkel, smelled it, and turned right back around. Not sure if it's because of the location near the town/port or what it was. We had a nice day at the pool, but I was really looking forward to snorkeling!! We walked around the animal cages and up to the ruins. It's a beautiful place. I will also say the beach was pretty, chairs appeared fine, and the airport nearby didn't bother us at all. Just wish we'd had a sunny day with non-smelly water.

Just wondering...you said "those that were in the water" and "one couple" that had walked out to the pier all said that it smelled like sewage...but you didn't find out for yourself? :confused:

I'm just wondering...there is the monkey habitat that is located right beside the pier you walk down for snorkeling. This is a little island chunk right off Maya Key that the monkeys stay on without being caged up. I wonder if it's possible that their "droppings", which of course would probably run off into the water surrounding them when it rained, was the reason for the smell that day? I mean it has to go somewhere and there's no way to control it.

Here's part of the monkey island and you can see the pier in the background:

Only a few feet off the main island of Maya Key.

I just know that if I went to a place, especially for the snorkeling like they have here, there wouldn't have been anyone that stopped me from at least walking all the way out there to find out for myself if there was actually a smell out there. This place was just too good to pass up on someone else's word. :)

First of all, check out the thread above entitled Little French Key. It's FULL of awesome and varied reviews. We were in LFK Oct 2013. It was AMAZING! Since then, they have contracted with Carnival and there are many negative reviews about crowded beaches, no chairs, and distracted/overworked staff. Additionally, and not necessarily a deciding factor, the owner has been VERY rude and condescending to folks on Trip Advisor (TA). He doesn't apologize for issues folks had, admit fault for even the smallest thing, or even try and explain anything, i.e., we're expanding and growing, sorry for the inconvenience. If you see (from various websites) that you're the only ship in Roatan that day, I would unequivocally say GO FOR LFK (if after reading TA, you still want to give the owner your money)! However, if there is a Carnival ship in port the same day, you might go for Maya Key and wait for another year for LFK. We have Maya Key booked for September, and I've read lots of great reviews on TA and seen some good videos on YouTube.

We were planning on doing LFK and then read your comment. Also found out the port load for that day.(We are on the Dawn)

Roatan. 04-Dec-14. Port Load, 7897. Norwegian Dawn, Carnival Pride, Carnival Splendor.

:(

was on the NCL dawn in feb 2014 and went to little French key. My wife myself and our 2 older friends who are in their 70's. My wife was very leary of booking without using the cruise line but I talk her into it. We had no problem finding the driver just out the gate and in 10 minutes we were headed to LFK.

We arrived at the dock and headed on a little cool boat across to the Island.

The day was relaxing the food was A+. Drinks were strong and you could do a lot of water sports etc swimming and diving also. I have never been to the other Island but for $90 roughly pp it was well worth it. I do believe it included lunch and 2 drinks each. You can purchase more drinks if that is your thing and the prices weren't crazy. here is the website if anyone wants read it. we did the FULL ISLAND PACKAGE.

http://www.littlefrenchkey.com/

I would say the website is very accurate in its description etc. I do not believe you pay anything till you get to the island. Pay cash.

Well, we just returned last week from our cruise and did Maya Key. The 5 minute tender over to the island was VERY nice. It came a down pour of rain the night before AND the day of our excursion. It progressed to just cloudy while we were there, but those who were in the water at the beach exited pretty quickly and said the water smelled like sewage!! :eek: One couple walked out to the pier to snorkel, smelled it, and turned right back around. Not sure if it's because of the location near the town/port or what it was. We had a nice day at the pool, but I was really looking forward to snorkeling!! We walked around the animal cages and up to the ruins. It's a beautiful place. I will also say the beach was pretty, chairs appeared fine, and the airport nearby didn't bother us at all. Just wish we'd had a sunny day with non-smelly water. :(

Hi Blondie, Jim and I went to Tabayana/West Bay beach that day and the snorkeling there was awesome - best snorkeling we've ever done. The beach was great too and we didn't get any rain. Sorry to hear your day wasn't the best:(

When we were trying to decide (prior to the cruise) where to go for snorkeling I looked at Maya Key and Little French Key on google maps and one of my concerns was the close proximity to towns and docks and what might be in the water.:confused: