Little French Key vs. Maya Key

[mickev99]

Trying to make a decision and need advice. Tell me good and bad of both, please.

 

GO!

[Uncwrn93]

I have booked Maya Key. Not sure which is better but if you look at threads for Maya Key you'll find a link to someone who has some amazing pictures

[npro1464]

There's a user on here who's done both (mistygirl or something?) and the pics are very detailed.

 

I'm going to Maya Key next week. I've never been to either, and was torn for a while. But, I think Little French Key has gotten too expensive. Maya Key has snorkeling right off the pier, which is something to consider, and the food was included - $70 pp. LFK was $88 pp for food and 2 drinks per person + $13 of Honduran tax (total $111 or 113 pp) . If you want to snorkel, it's an extra $10 pp. LFK has had a rough year, with their animals being confiscated and now having to charge it's customers 15% tax. Hopefully things turn around for them.

[denas]

Based on port times and cost, we cancelled LFK and booked Maya Key. We are on the NCL Star and don't arrive in port until 11 and don't depart until 7. Recent cruisers on the Star said it was 12:40 by the time they got off the ship, made it to LFK, paid and were ferried to the the key. And then at 3:15 the owner began rounding everyone up for the return trip to the ship. LFK was going to cost us $113 dollars PP for roughly 2.5 hours.

 

Maya Key is right at the port, so a walk then a quick ferry ride. I am assuming we will be on the beach by 12 at the latest and can easily stay 4 or more hours since it is a quick 5 min ride on the ferry back to the port. Price through NCL was $62 pp so almost 1/2 price for over twice the amount of time. We bring our own snorkel gear so that didn't raise the price for me at all for Maya Key. We would have gotten 2 drinks at LFK, but even if I want a drink, I doubt it will cost the $50 pp difference. And we have UBP on NCL so can drink onboard - I doubt we will drink much off the ship as well!

[Guest 2000]

I have not been to either one but I would not pay the price at LFK due to the snorkeling being from a boat and an extra fee. I would also think carefully about Maya Key do to the location of the airport and plane noise, I believe the weekends are far worse that week days with planes and less in low season.

 

I would much rather go West End or West Bay to people watch and snorkle or better yet Free Radical catamaran. The food is amazing, the staff attentive and ya get to snorkel.

[mickev99]

There's a user on here who's done both (mistygirl or something?) and the pics are very detailed.

 

I'm going to Maya Key next week. I've never been to either, and was torn for a while. But, I think Little French Key has gotten too expensive. Maya Key has snorkeling right off the pier, which is something to consider, and the food was included - $70 pp. LFK was $88 pp for food and 2 drinks per person + $13 of Honduran tax (total $111 or 113 pp) . If you want to snorkel, it's an extra $10 pp. LFK has had a rough year, with their animals being confiscated and now having to charge it's customers 15% tax. Hopefully things turn around for them.

 

 

I asked Mitsugirly and she said LFK hands down without hesitation.

Edited November 10, 2015 by mickev99

[ScubaGirl725]

Trying to make a decision and need advice. Tell me good and bad of both, please.

 

GO!

 

Maya Key! Maya Key! Great place to hang out for the day! Nice boat transportation, wonderful staff, food buffet was really good, snorkeling was some of the best ever done with great snorkel guides, the animal rescue center was amazing with really well kept animals (you could tell that the care takers loved their animals), the small replica of Ruins was nice as well.

This place is private, and you will not get harassed by any vendors or staff.:D

The airplanes never bother us.

[cruisetimeforme]

Thanks for the great tips on Maya Key, with 5 of us, it sounds $$, but seems like a good day with a 3 year old

[pathubia]

Thanks for the great tips on Maya Key, with 5 of us, it sounds $$, but seems like a good day with a 3 year old

 

We have been to Maya Key twice. We LOVE it there. As far as the airplanes go, yes, they do fly right above but its not constant and after first couple of times you don't even notice.

 

I haven't been to Little French Key, but I have read mixed reviews!! Good luck with your choice.

[mitsugirly]

Have been to both (LFK twice now because we love it so much). Both of my reviews are located in my signature line. There's TONS of pictures. :)

[mareed]

I've done both, and for my upcoming cruise, I'm doing neither! I second the previous recommendation to go to West End or West Bay, and that's what we're going to do using Victor Bodden tours to be our guide for the day. I went to LFK twice, and after the second visit posted one of the few negative reviews on TripAdvisor, but I now see there have been others with similar issues there due to over-crowding. Maya Key was great for snorkeling, but the beach area and buffet was pretty crummy in my opinion.

[haply]

We spent a day in Maya Key in November. Chose it for the convenience, and multiple activities for our young kids. The picture opportunities with the animals were nice. They also have a basic pool when the kids got tired of the beach. The beach area is small and dirty (stones, leaves, sticks, mud). The only bar/drink hut is a walk up away from the beach, so not very convenient. OK to do once, but will try something else next year,

[Luvmypups]

I've been to both and would choose LFK over Maya Key if you have enough time to make it worth your while. LFK is much bigger and has various beach areas that are much nicer than what was available at Maya Key. There are bars close to whatever area you choose, you can find a quiet cove or be where all of the action is.

 

You will have a nice day whichever one you go to. Maya has a lot to offer as well.

[Uncwrn93]

Just got back from Maya Key and had a wonderful time. Lunch was amazing with the best fresh fried sea bass (melt in our mouth). Only complaint is we were only there for 4.5 hours. We really could have stayed longer as our ship was in port until 6pm.

 

The snorkeling was amazing and it wasn't crowded

[denas]

We also just returned from Roatan. We ended up choosing Maya Key because of our port times and cost. The NCL Star doesn't arrive until 11 am. Even though it doesn't depart until 7 pm, it is dark around 5:30 so not much to do on a beach after dark! We had read some recent reports that by the time you get off the boat, wait for others to arrive, drive to LFK, pay, and take the boat to the key it is close to 12:30 or 1 before you sit down on the beach. The latest you can really stay is around 4 or so because of the reverse trip and the fact that it is dark by about 5:30 this time of year. Plus LFK is significantly more expensive (Maya Key was $65 vs LFK which was $115 with the additional tax.)

 

We were there last week. It POURED on the day we were there and was pretty cold. You literally get off the ship and walk about 40 feet then pick up the boat to the Key. We were on the key and checked in by 11:30. Because the weather was so awful, Carnival had cancelled their excursion to LFK and half of the people on the NCL excursion ate lunch and went back so only about a dozen of us on the island.

 

We did snorkel. If you don't have your equipment it was $18 to rent gear. We have our own so not an issue. I liked Maya Key because you didn't need to take a boat out to snorkel. We walked to the end of the dock and got in. The water was much warmer than the air and it was raining, but this was by far the best snorkelling I have ever done! There were guides there if you wanted. The other family that toughed it out with us had two children ages 7 and 9 and the guide had a floating thing they held on to and he literally pulled them out through the reefs!

 

DH wanted to snorkel with the sharks and I opted to do the sea lion encounter. The combo pack for the shark snorkel and sea lion was $55 and they let us split it with each of us doing one activity. At the scheduled time, they said it was too murky to see anything for the sharks and refunded our money. I thought that was great since they could have simply taken our money and let us leave disappointed.

 

The sea lion was awesome! It was just me and I got to spend about 15 minutes petting him and getting pictures and getting kisses. I loved it. Unlike some places, you could take pictures with your own camera.

 

The fish at lunch was REALLY good! We also had a couple of frozen drinks for $8. another couple of ladies who braved the weather had a bucket of local beers (all different varieties). I think that was like $15.

 

You could head back whenever you wanted as the ferries were every 30 minutes. The last ferry was at 4:30.

 

Since I had a hard time finding prices for anything, hope that helps.

[KruzinH20]

 

We were there last week. It POURED on the day we were there and was pretty cold. You literally get off the ship and walk about 40 feet then pick up the boat to the Key. We were on the key and checked in by 11:30. Because the weather was so awful, Carnival had cancelled their excursion to LFK and half of the people on the NCL excursion ate lunch and went back so only about a dozen of us on the island.

 

Carnival does not have a excursion to LFK but they do go to Big French Key. Many people book this thinking they are going to LFK and are sadly mistaken.

[ceejay_San Angelo]

Just got back from LFK, so here's the good and bad from my perspective.

The bad: It took a long time to get there. After getting off the ship, we waited for the van driver for at least 30 minutes. Then waited at the restaurant to pay and for the ferry to get full enough to run over to the island.

We paid the extra $10 for snorkeling and had to go at certain times, since it's from a boat. The guide only kept us out there for 30 minutes.

The good: The animals are back. The food and drinks were good. The reef we snorkeled was AMAZING.

[denas]

Carnival does not have a excursion to LFK but they do go to Big French Key. Many people book this thinking they are going to LFK and are sadly mistaken.

 

Sorry, I meant Carnival had cancelled their excursion to Maya Key. That is the one we went to.

[ranchette]

Just got back from LFK, so here's the good and bad from my perspective.

The bad: It took a long time to get there. After getting off the ship, we waited for the van driver for at least 30 minutes. Then waited at the restaurant to pay and for the ferry to get full enough to run over to the island.

We paid the extra $10 for snorkeling and had to go at certain times, since it's from a boat. The guide only kept us out there for 30 minutes.

The good: The animals are back. The food and drinks were good. The reef we snorkeled was AMAZING.

How long were you actually on the island and are you able to go back to the ship when ever you want to?

[mitsugirly]

The good: The animals are back. The food and drinks were good. The reef we snorkeled was AMAZING.

 

This is not correct information. The animals are NOT back. They are still fighting to get them back. The animals still at LFK are ones that were never taken. ;)

[ceejay_San Angelo]

@ Ranchette ---

We were on island from about 11 - 3:30. I saw some people leaving earlier, and there were still quite a few there as we were leaving.

[ranchette]

@ Ranchette ---

We were on island from about 11 - 3:30. I saw some people leaving earlier, and there were still quite a few there as we were leaving.

 

What time did you get off the ship and what time did you have to be back on board?

We are on the island from 8-4 so we have to be back on the ship by 3:30.

How long did it take you to get back to the ship?

I am wondering if it is worthwhile for us to go.

[KNITWITS]

We will be in Roantan on Feb 18 off NCL Star, but I can't find any excursions for Maya Keys or any way to book that isn't through the cruiseline. Does anyone have any suggestions as we would really like to go to this resort.

[mitsugirly]

We will be in Roantan on Feb 18 off NCL Star, but I can't find any excursions for Maya Keys or any way to book that isn't through the cruiseline. Does anyone have any suggestions as we would really like to go to this resort.

 

The only way to book Maya Key is by cruise ship. If it is not showing as a listing for NCL it's probably booked full :confused: or not being offered at this time for some reason.

[KruzinH20]

Just got back from Little French Key again. It is still beautiful!!!! There are less animals but if you are going just to see animals you are going to the wrong place. There are two 6 month old lion cubs,the adult lion, monkeys, deer, birds, etc.

The tax that everyone was worried about them adding to the package price was nothing but a bunch of panic and rumor. The tax is added into the package price and you pay nothing extra than the listed package price. (we paid in cash and received a 10% discount for being return visitors)

The trip to LFK from the Mahogany Bay port took about 15 to 20 minutes. It is not required to reserve on the LFK site as we met some people on the ship that wanted to go with us to LFK and we emailed LFK while on the ship and they said we could just show up with as many people we wanted to reservations required. If you want to just show up all you have to do is walk to the top of the hill outside the Mahogany Bay port and look for or ask for the LFK shuttle. The shuttle guys will be wearing a polo shirt with Frenchy's on the front and Little French Key on the back.

The staff asks right from the beginning what time we needed to be back to the port and also told us that we could leave at anytime we liked.

LFK is a amazing place that everyone should try atlas once!