Daniel Johnson monkey and sloth hangout

[musik07]

I am traveling to the island and was wondering if anyone has ever gone to the sanctuary and back on their own in a taxi without reservations? I will be traveling as a volunteer with Autism on the Seas and since we don't know our schedule or if we are accompanying a family on a tour until the day of or before, we cannot usually book excursions in advance.  How possible would this be, especially the availability of a taxi to get back to the ship! I may only have 2-3 hours but holding a sloth is on my bucket list! 

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, musik07 said:

I am traveling to the island and was wondering if anyone has ever gone to the sanctuary and back on their own in a taxi without reservations? I will be traveling as a volunteer with Autism on the Seas and since we don't know our schedule or if we are accompanying a family on a tour until the day of or before, we cannot usually book excursions in advance.  How possible would this be, especially the availability of a taxi to get back to the ship! I may only have 2-3 hours but holding a sloth is on my bucket list! 

 

I would get a private driver for the day.  I've used Let's Go Roatan Tours probably a dozen times, very reliable, safe drivers in safe vehicles. Contact them at https://letsgoroatantours.com/ to set it up. The driver will stay at the sanctuary the whole time you're there.

You can pay cash at the sanctuary (make sure you bring bills with absolutely NO tears/rips in them, as the bank won't accept them so the sanctuary can't take them) with no reservations needed.  

[Mum2Mercury]

On 10/25/2023 at 3:32 PM, musik07 said:

I am traveling to the island and was wondering if anyone has ever gone to the sanctuary and back on their own in a taxi without reservations?

Daniel Johnson's offer transportation for $30/person -- and that means you already have a van waiting for you.  Yes, taxis are readily available (you'll have to run the gauntlet of tour operators, and they are aggressive).  

 

You don't have to pay until you arrive, so no down side to going ahead and reserving -- just call them if you can't make it.  

On 10/25/2023 at 5:59 PM, brillohead said:

You can pay cash at the sanctuary (make sure you bring bills with absolutely NO tears/rips in them, as the bank won't accept them so the sanctuary can't take them) with no reservations needed.  

Yes, I experienced this in Cozumel about a month ago.  I tried to pay with a bill that wouldn't have attracted a bit of attention in the US -- looked like someone'd used it for a coaster, and it had a coffee stain.  The cashier politely asked me if I had another bill.  

[chloes_mom]

I was wondering if the monkey and sloth place felt like a sanctuary or more like a zoo. My daughter is concerned about the welfare of the animals. 

[brillohead]

16 hours ago, chloes_mom said:

I was wondering if the monkey and sloth place felt like a sanctuary or more like a zoo. My daughter is concerned about the welfare of the animals. 

 

I've been there a couple times, and I feel like the animals are well cared for.  All of the animals are "rescues" or owner-surrenders (or naturally occurred from breeding there) -- they do not purchase animals at all.  And while the cages might look small for the monkeys, they get time out of the enclosures when there aren't customers there. 

 

One time when I was there, a monkey and her baby got out of the enclosure when a guest wasn't paying attention when they entered, and many of the guests were kinda freaking out that the animal was going to run away, but the staff didn't even blink an eye and went about their ordinary business.  That's when I found out that the monkeys get lots of playtime outside of the enclosures when people aren't around, so the staff weren't worried about the momma/baby duo on the loose, b/c they knew they'd just go back into the enclosure voluntarily later in the day when things quieted down.   

 

In fact, the sloths aren't caged at all -- they are just loose in the trees on the property along the water's edge.  And the staff are very careful to make sure the guests holding the sloths know how to hold them securely and not to make any quick motions that might scare the sloths, etc.

 

To me, an animal that is mistreated or unhappy is unlikely to breed and carry a pregnancy to term, and also is unlikely to voluntarily return to a cage.  (They don't intentionally breed the animals, but they do allow nature to take its course.)

[Mommaguti]

On 4/11/2022 at 12:22 PM, brillohead said:

I've been to Daniel Johnson's a couple times now, always booked directly with Daniel's website.  

I've also snorkeled with them each time.  Highly recommend!

Can you tell me more about the snorkeling please?  Where did you go and what did you see?

[brillohead]

On 1/24/2024 at 6:25 PM, Mommaguti said:

Can you tell me more about the snorkeling please?  Where did you go and what did you see?

 

It depends on the waves and water clarity as to where exactly you go, but they have a reef directly off shore from their location. If the waves are rough, they stay on the inner side of the reef where the water is calmer/protected.  

The snorkel boat docks right there at Daniel's location, and they take you out to various parts of the reef.  It takes longer to get everyone loaded onto the boat than it does to actually motor out to the reef.  

You see various fish, maybe a lobster, kinda depends on what's around at that time, just like pretty much any other snorkeling excursion.  Usually go to two different spots, maybe three -- again, it's tailored to the water conditions and visibility at the time. 

One time, they took us to "the drop off" and it was literally like the scene from Finding Nemo... swimming along in maybe 10 feet of water, everything on the floor of the ocean completely visible, and then all of a sudden, it's just a complete black void underneath you.  I've seen underwater depth changes before where it was like a super steep downhill slope, but this was literally like a complete cliff edge, like something Wile E. Coyote would fall off in a Road Runner cartoon.  It was pretty cool.