Scuba with the Roatan dolphins?

[divemedic]

Anybody done this? Certified divers though Carnival probably uses Anthony's Key Resort. Just wondering if its worth it. One description says 45 min with dolphins plus a 1 tank dive of about 60' after that.

 

Carnival only mentions the 45 min encounter in 60'. Are they the same?

 

Experiences appreciated.

 

:D

[MPM]

Divemedic,

 

Okay, here is the scoop. My wife and I did this dive a year ago through Carnival. I almost didn't sign us up for several reasons. First it was more expensive then a two tank dive. Second, it was a lot more expensive then if I could have booked it directly with Anthony's Key. They won't let you book direct if you tell them you are from a cruise ship. Third, I figured it would be boring because the dolphins were "tame".

 

At the last minute I decided to go for it for only one reason. My wife loves dolphins. She has done trainer for a day at Sea World, and has a dolphin tattoo on her back. So I said, "what the heck, I will spend the money for her". It turned out to be the highlight of our trip. You start out at Anthony's Key, and get some pre-dive training on how to interact with the dolphins. I think they have 14 dolphins there, and the dolphins take turns getting to go out in the open ocean. Generally two or three go out for the excursion. The trainer / dive master explained it like a couple of dogs getting turned loose to go out in the yard to play. Once they are out, they are free to interact with the divers as they see fit. They are not fed or directly rewarded under water.

 

We spent about 50 minutes on the actual dive at about 50' on a sandy bottom. The two dolphins we dove with swam off, played a little bit, and then started hanging around to check us out. One came up behind me, and put my arm in his mouth. It didn't hurt, and the dive master already warned us that it might happen. We spent 30 to 40 minutes in close proximity to the dolphins. You are allowed to reach out and pet them, just not grab them, ride them, etc. The real secret is to hang out as close to the trainer as possible. The dolphins will check you out, but they are obviously very comfortable with the trainer, and seem to really enjoy interacting with him. My wife smiled so hard the entire time, I swore she was going to lose her regulator. I was amazed by how large these animals were close up, yet even when surrounded by people, they could swim off at will without whacking anybody around them!

 

At the end of the day, it was not nearly as corny as I feared, and a lot more fun than I had hoped for. Anthony's Key sent a videographer with us who did an outstanding job. We had the purchase the video. I don't remember if it was $50 or $75.

 

We had such a great time there, that we went back to Anthony's Key six months later, and spent a week there. 17 dives in five days, plus you could go hang out by the dolphin pens, and the dolphins will come up to you with pieces of grass, etc. wanting to play.

 

There are lots of great videos on You Tube, most of them look like they are from Anthony's Key.

 

-Mike

[divemedic]

Divemedic,

 

Okay, here is the scoop. My wife and I did this dive a year ago through Carnival. I almost didn't sign us up for several reasons. First it was more expensive then a two tank dive. Second, it was a lot more expensive then if I could have booked it directly with Anthony's Key. They won't let you book direct if you tell them you are from a cruise ship. Third, I figured it would be boring because the dolphins were "tame".

 

At the last minute I decided to go for it for only one reason. My wife loves dolphins. She has done trainer for a day at Sea World, and has a dolphin tattoo on her back. So I said, "what the heck, I will spend the money for her". It turned out to be the highlight of our trip. You start out at Anthony's Key, and get some pre-dive training on how to interact with the dolphins. I think they have 14 dolphins there, and the dolphins take turns getting to go out in the open ocean. Generally two or three go out for the excursion. The trainer / dive master explained it like a couple of dogs getting turned loose to go out in the yard to play. Once they are out, they are free to interact with the divers as they see fit. They are not fed or directly rewarded under water.

 

We spent about 50 minutes on the actual dive at about 50' on a sandy bottom. The two dolphins we dove with swam off, played a little bit, and then started hanging around to check us out. One came up behind me, and put my arm in his mouth. It didn't hurt, and the dive master already warned us that it might happen. We spent 30 to 40 minutes in close proximity to the dolphins. You are allowed to reach out and pet them, just not grab them, ride them, etc. The real secret is to hang out as close to the trainer as possible. The dolphins will check you out, but they are obviously very comfortable with the trainer, and seem to really enjoy interacting with him. My wife smiled so hard the entire time, I swore she was going to lose her regulator. I was amazed by how large these animals were close up, yet even when surrounded by people, they could swim off at will without whacking anybody around them!

 

At the end of the day, it was not nearly as corny as I feared, and a lot more fun than I had hoped for. Anthony's Key sent a videographer with us who did an outstanding job. We had the purchase the video. I don't remember if it was $50 or $75.

 

We had such a great time there, that we went back to Anthony's Key six months later, and spent a week there. 17 dives in five days, plus you could go hang out by the dolphin pens, and the dolphins will come up to you with pieces of grass, etc. wanting to play.

 

There are lots of great videos on You Tube, most of them look like they are from Anthony's Key.

 

-Mike

 

Wow that's great info Mike! Thanks so much.. You answered all my questions. They probably added a second dive if you booked independently or stayed at the resort as described in Roatan tourist info for same excursion.

Sounds like we should do this. I was actually looking to see if we could do the same...stay a week there but we will be in Florida and there are no easy (or cheap) ways of getting from Canada to Florida to Roatan and home.. Have to make that another trip I guess. But one day........

 

Again ...many thanks! :)

 

(Just noticed you're from Texas...lucky you! Most of the flights to Roatan connect out of Houston).

 

Phil

[TexCruise371]

We did this off the Celebrity Eclipse last week. MPM did a great job of telling it like it is. This was my wife's b-day present and she loved it. I agree also that I was a little hesitant myself but, ended up enjoying it very much. The divemaster Chris was outstanding in his briefings and our...meet the dolphins session.

 

It was $185 through Celebrity. I think I saw that it is $110 if you stay at the resort.

 

The video was $50.

 

ENJOY!:D

[divemedic]

We did this off the Celebrity Eclipse last week. MPM did a great job of telling it like it is. This was my wife's b-day present and she loved it. I agree also that I was a little hesitant myself but, ended up enjoying it very much. The divemaster Chris was outstanding in his briefings and our...meet the dolphins session.

 

It was $185 through Celebrity. I think I saw that it is $110 if you stay at the resort.

 

The video was $50.

 

ENJOY!:D

 

Thanks also...I'm sold!

[CaribKng]

Divemedic,

 

Okay, here is the scoop. My wife and I did this dive a year ago through Carnival. I almost didn't sign us up for several reasons. First it was more expensive then a two tank dive. Second, it was a lot more expensive then if I could have booked it directly with Anthony's Key. They won't let you book direct if you tell them you are from a cruise ship. Third, I figured it would be boring because the dolphins were "tame".

 

At the last minute I decided to go for it for only one reason. My wife loves dolphins. She has done trainer for a day at Sea World, and has a dolphin tattoo on her back. So I said, "what the heck, I will spend the money for her". It turned out to be the highlight of our trip. You start out at Anthony's Key, and get some pre-dive training on how to interact with the dolphins. I think they have 14 dolphins there, and the dolphins take turns getting to go out in the open ocean. Generally two or three go out for the excursion. The trainer / dive master explained it like a couple of dogs getting turned loose to go out in the yard to play. Once they are out, they are free to interact with the divers as they see fit. They are not fed or directly rewarded under water.

 

We spent about 50 minutes on the actual dive at about 50' on a sandy bottom. The two dolphins we dove with swam off, played a little bit, and then started hanging around to check us out. One came up behind me, and put my arm in his mouth. It didn't hurt, and the dive master already warned us that it might happen. We spent 30 to 40 minutes in close proximity to the dolphins. You are allowed to reach out and pet them, just not grab them, ride them, etc. The real secret is to hang out as close to the trainer as possible. The dolphins will check you out, but they are obviously very comfortable with the trainer, and seem to really enjoy interacting with him. My wife smiled so hard the entire time, I swore she was going to lose her regulator. I was amazed by how large these animals were close up, yet even when surrounded by people, they could swim off at will without whacking anybody around them!

 

At the end of the day, it was not nearly as corny as I feared, and a lot more fun than I had hoped for. Anthony's Key sent a videographer with us who did an outstanding job. We had the purchase the video. I don't remember if it was $50 or $75.

 

We had such a great time there, that we went back to Anthony's Key six months later, and spent a week there. 17 dives in five days, plus you could go hang out by the dolphin pens, and the dolphins will come up to you with pieces of grass, etc. wanting to play.

 

There are lots of great videos on You Tube, most of them look like they are from Anthony's Key.

 

-Mike

 

This is great info..thanks for sharing. If we go back to Roatan, I know what we are doing :D

 

My wife is a huge animal lover and would absolutely love this experience.

[Sailfish]

Roatan is not the only place where you can dive with dolphins. We did so in Freeport Bahamas about 12 years ago with UNEXSO. We spent the week there diving (which was excellent by the way). I did the dolphin dive, my husband did the shark dive. The process was similar to what they do at AKR.

 

We have been back to Roatan many times - if your a diver, its definitely worth returning for a week or more. AKR is a great dive operation, especially if you have older kids or teens.

Enjoy!

[Lefty Writer]

Scuba and dolphins? At the same time?? That is so going to be on my list now!

Thanks!

:D

[georoc01]

Having stayed at Anthony's Key and done the dive from there, remember, these are wild animals and your experience can really vary. My gf and I did this dive, and the dolphins didn't show up till the last 10 minutes of the dive. There were some people who's air consumption wasn't that great who missed them all together (its a flat profile at 50+ feet).

 

I think the dolphin encounter at AKR is much better on the shoreline. We had a much better interaction with them there.

 

Now the shark dive in Roatan is something special. Only one I have done where you can actually swim with the sharks, and there were lots of them, not just 1 or 2.

 

Might want to check with Barefoot Key Divers on the south side of the island, relatively close to the cruise port. They could probably put one together with a dive over at Mary's place for a nice package.

[Pamela W]

We have also been on this dive, it is great--I rate it a ten! We swam with the dolphins once in Mexico and that was a two. We have also found that dive excursions can be booked a lot cheaper on your own. I don't remember what we paid. We have also found that the cruise ship dives are usually to the closest site to the ship. These are usually not the best sites. We look on the Padi website, ask our friends, or ask a dive master we know. Then we deal with the dive shop ourselves. They are familiar with cruise passengers and most offer pickup and delivery to the ship.

[iMaverick]

Great tips!

 

We're planning our first cruise on the Norwegian Spirit this September (Western Caribbean) and this excursion at the top of our list.

 

The ship will be in Roatan from 8am - 5 PM. I was wondering if there would be time for a second dive after or before the dolphin dive?

[divemedic]

We have also been on this dive, it is great--I rate it a ten! We swam with the dolphins once in Mexico and that was a two. We have also found that dive excursions can be booked a lot cheaper on your own. I don't remember what we paid. We have also found that the cruise ship dives are usually to the closest site to the ship. These are usually not the best sites. We look on the Padi website, ask our friends, or ask a dive master we know. Then we deal with the dive shop ourselves. They are familiar with cruise passengers and most offer pickup and delivery to the ship.

 

 

Now I was told that you can't book with Anthony Keys Resort directly. They state that if your on a cruise ship that you must book through them (cruise line). Anyone know anything more about this?

[Lefty Writer]

Hey DiveMedic, I think you and I keep hitting the same topics in both this board and scubaboard...

:D

[divemedic]

Hey DiveMedic, I think you and I keep hitting the same topics in both this board and scubaboard...

 

:D

 

Yes, it would seem we have similar interests. Right now my son and I are battling bilateral ear infections from diving last weekend in 46F water and I have to fly for work Monday...can you say ouch!! Anyway I'm sure we'll cross paths again.

 

Divemedic ;)

[Weirdsnow]

Now I was told that you can't book with Anthony Keys Resort directly. They state that if your on a cruise ship that you must book through them (cruise line). Anyone know anything more about this?

 

As I understand it, Carnival Cruise Line require exclusivity contracts with the tour providers that they use. The tour operate is not allowed to book you for an excursion independently, or they will lose the contract. This also goes along with their infamous hill to get out of Mahogany Bay in Roatan. Carnival intentionally created a 400 yard incline that you have to walk to get out of the cruise port to the independent tour operators and taxis. Anyone inside the port has been 'aproved' by Carnival and usually cost more then going to the outside of the port.

[divemedic]

Still wondering whether we should look at a shark dive or stay with the dolphins...decisions ...decisions! :D

[CanadaWoody]

Divemedic,

 

Okay, here is the scoop. My wife and I did this dive a year ago through Carnival. I almost didn't sign us up for several reasons. First it was more expensive then a two tank dive. Second, it was a lot more expensive then if I could have booked it directly with Anthony's Key. They won't let you book direct if you tell them you are from a cruise ship. Third, I figured it would be boring because the dolphins were "tame".

 

At the last minute I decided to go for it for only one reason. My wife loves dolphins. She has done trainer for a day at Sea World, and has a dolphin tattoo on her back. So I said, "what the heck, I will spend the money for her". It turned out to be the highlight of our trip. You start out at Anthony's Key, and get some pre-dive training on how to interact with the dolphins. I think they have 14 dolphins there, and the dolphins take turns getting to go out in the open ocean. Generally two or three go out for the excursion. The trainer / dive master explained it like a couple of dogs getting turned loose to go out in the yard to play. Once they are out, they are free to interact with the divers as they see fit. They are not fed or directly rewarded under water.

 

We spent about 50 minutes on the actual dive at about 50' on a sandy bottom. The two dolphins we dove with swam off, played a little bit, and then started hanging around to check us out. One came up behind me, and put my arm in his mouth. It didn't hurt, and the dive master already warned us that it might happen. We spent 30 to 40 minutes in close proximity to the dolphins. You are allowed to reach out and pet them, just not grab them, ride them, etc. The real secret is to hang out as close to the trainer as possible. The dolphins will check you out, but they are obviously very comfortable with the trainer, and seem to really enjoy interacting with him. My wife smiled so hard the entire time, I swore she was going to lose her regulator. I was amazed by how large these animals were close up, yet even when surrounded by people, they could swim off at will without whacking anybody around them!

 

At the end of the day, it was not nearly as corny as I feared, and a lot more fun than I had hoped for. Anthony's Key sent a videographer with us who did an outstanding job. We had the purchase the video. I don't remember if it was $50 or $75.

 

We had such a great time there, that we went back to Anthony's Key six months later, and spent a week there. 17 dives in five days, plus you could go hang out by the dolphin pens, and the dolphins will come up to you with pieces of grass, etc. wanting to play.

 

There are lots of great videos on You Tube, most of them look like they are from Anthony's Key.

 

-Mike

 

Thanks for the great info. We are on a family cruise over Christmas and Newyears and I have booked the dolphin dive for myself my wife and our three sons. Sounds like a dive you will never forget.