Little French Key vs Maya Key

[andcar]

Mitsugirly, I know you have been to both LFK and Maya Key. We leave on the Carnival Dream tomorrow and still haven't decided which one to go to. Now the weather looks like it will be raining when we are in Roatan. If it is raining would you recommend one over the other? Thanks for all your great reviews!

[mitsugirly]

Mitsugirly, I know you have been to both LFK and Maya Key. We leave on the Carnival Dream tomorrow and still haven't decided which one to go to. Now the weather looks like it will be raining when we are in Roatan. If it is raining would you recommend one over the other? Thanks for all your great reviews!

 

 

Hmm, LFK would be my choice for rain. (It rained for a little bit, not long...just the normal Caribbean quick rain, while we were there and it did not effect us at all. I still snorkeled while it was raining and got some great snorkeling pictures). :D

 

I guess the reason I would pick LFK in the rain is because it's more "open" than it is at Maya Key. (Not open as in no shelters, but you're not stuck under a bunch of trees and the darkness I guess).

[ABQrobin]

This is the Rainy Season for the entire Caribbean... just because the weather report says 80% chance of rain, doesn't mean it will rain all day. It means at some time during day it MAY rain, for 5 minutes or 2 hours. You just never know. When it isn't raining it may be sunny and clear....

[ABQrobin]

We returned for our cruise a week ago, and did the Maya Key Private Island excursion through Carnival. We were the only ship in Mahogany Bay that day. Weather was overcast and rain showers expected, as had been true every day during the week for us. Honduras had been hit hard all week by a tropical storm. We were told they received over 20" of rain in just 2 days prior to our arrival. Needless to say, we were a bit concerned about our excursion getting rained out, but opted to go ahead and see what it was like.

We are both scuba divers but opted to only snorkel this trip. Maya Key was reported to have a nice snorkeling area just off their pier.

 

 

We got off the ship at Mahogany Bay, walked up the hill to the shopping area and found dozens of tour operators holding up signs. We found the Maya Key guy, who told us we had 30 minutes to shop around before we had to be back. Once our departure time arrive, he walked our group (maybe 30-40 of us) to where a boat was waiting. A nice 10 min boat ride and we arrived at Maya Key dock.

 

A Host met us at the dock and gave us the rundown of what was available on the island. She briefed those who paid for snorkel gear rental where to go to pick it up, and the rest of us headed down to the dock.

 

The "beach" area was nice and shady, with some chairs in full sun but many under the gorgeous trees. Loved that.

 

The dock is long, out over the very shallow reef. Snorkeling staff was there on the pier to help with questions for the newbies as well as for safety if anyone needed help.

 

Once in the water, the reef is very lush and not far off the end of the pier, it drops down dramatically into the blue. My husband took our GoPro in with him and did some freediving down to the reef.

 

After snorkeling, we rinsed off (there are several outdoor showers) and walked around the island viewing all the animals. There are pens with rescued animals including two HUGE jaguars. I never realized how big they get!! Also, several cages contained all types of parrots and colorful birds.

 

Lunch was served promptly at 11am. You are only allowed one visit and they mark your wristband. We didn't think this was a problem as the food was very good and they gave you plenty. I particularly liked the chicken. Free unlimited tea and lemonaide were also available as well as sodas and adult beverages for purchase.

 

MORE....

[ABQrobin]

Lunch menu:

the eating area was next to a nice pool

 

 

Once we had finished lunch, we walked around the "shark" enclosure to see the nurse sharks. A few people had signed up to snorkel with them (an extra charge). We spoke with them afterwards and they said that it was fantastic and worth every penny. There was also a sea lion area where you could feed the sea lions (also an extra charge) but we didn't see if anyone did that one.

 

The Mayan museum is smaller than I expected but the replica ruins were interesting. I really would like to visit the real Copan on the Mainland someday.

 

Inside the main building on the island is a large bathroom area which is nice and clean, changing rooms, and a large gift shop. The stuff inside the shop was nice though I figured it was a bit higher than back at Mahogany Bay shops so I did not buy anything. Now I wish I had. I really thought some of their t-shirts were nicer than what we found later on that day back at the port.

 

By 1pm we were ready to go back. We were scheduled to stay until 2pm but we asked when the first boat went back. The host told us 1:30pm so we opted to take that one. I think many of those who came over with us felt the same way. It was NOT that the excursion was bad or boring.... it was more than it was overcast weather. If it had been sunny, everyone would have gone back to the the beach and snorkeling after lunch. Just my opinion.

 

 

It is a beautiful little island. We have been to Roatan twice before, on land-based weeklong trips. This island looks just like the rest of the island... very lush and tropical.

 

It was a quick trip back to Mahogany Bay where we went back on the ship, dropped off our snorkeling gear, then went back off to the shopping area to buy stuff.

[ABQrobin]

a few more photos:

 

 

the beach area:

 

the reef underwater:

 

 

 

everyone getting out of the water from snorkeling RAVED about the reef here. Several said they thought it was the prettiest reef they had ever snorkeled.

Since we have dived Roatan before, we thought it looked very much like it does when diving, only when diving you go deeper and can just hang out down there and watch the fish. Snorkeling has its limits in that regard.

 

 

[CatgirlNC]

On our Nov. cruise we booked the Maya Key excursion in Roatan, but didn’t go due to the weather (it rained all day). We’re getting a do-over, though, another cruise stopping in Roatan in February. Originally the thought was just to re-book Maya Key, but now I am learning about Little French Key, and wondering which to do.

 

This thread has been around for a few months, so it was started back when Carnival was still contracting with Little French Key, which I understand it no longer does (and has replaced with its own version, Big French Key). So has the fact that LFK is no longer available as a Carnival excursion changed anything there? Is it less crowded? Better service?

 

We really like animals, and I know they have animals at both Maya Key and LFK. And I’m really interested in “swim with the jaguar” at LFK, but I’m aware they don’t always have him available for visitors to interact with, so I don’t want to base my decision entirely on the jaguar, in case we go there and aren’t able to do that part.

 

If it helps, I’ll be on the Carnival Pride and there will be 2 other ships in Roatan that day- Carnival Splendor and Norwegian Dawn.

Edited December 18, 2014 by CatgirlNC

[mitsugirly]

On our Nov. cruise we booked the Maya Key excursion in Roatan, but didn’t go due to the weather (it rained all day). We’re getting a do-over, though, another cruise stopping in Roatan in February. Originally the thought was just to re-book Maya Key, but now I am learning about Little French Key, and wondering which to do.

 

This thread has been around for a few months, so it was started back when Carnival was still contracting with Little French Key, which I understand it no longer does (and has replaced with its own version, Big French Key). So has the fact that LFK is no longer available as a Carnival excursion changed anything there? Is it less crowded? Better service?

 

We really like animals, and I know they have animals at both Maya Key and LFK. And I’m really interested in “swim with the jaguar” at LFK, but I’m aware they don’t always have him available for visitors to interact with, so I don’t want to base my decision entirely on the jaguar, in case we go there and aren’t able to do that part.

 

If it helps, I’ll be on the Carnival Pride and there will be 2 other ships in Roatan that day- Carnival Splendor and Norwegian Dawn.

 

LFK is a beautiful place to go. It's my favorite in Roatan and well worth a visit. Have you read my 2 reviews on LFK yet? I just finished my second review from our cruise that ended last month. The place has improved even more than the year before...which I didn't think was impossible.

 

The difference between the animals and LFK and Maya Key, at Maya Key, they only bring out 1 monkey to hold and it's only at a certain time at a certain location (in front of the animal habitat island on the beach close to the pier). At LFK, they have several animals you can hold and all during the day.

 

If you were going for the snorkeling at Maya Key, just know that LFK has an AWESOME reef...like simply amazing, there. You can do the snorkeling tour with them for the extra $10. The boat takes you out to the reef. Or you can grab a canoe and paddle out that was and it will simply amaze you. The coral is so huge and comes all the way up to right under the canoe. You will be amazed.

 

You can find my review from last year located in my signature line. My second review I just completed is located HERE. Tons of pictures to help you decided. It starts around post 295 :)