Looking to get your fins wet in an exotic location? Roatan is not only a must-visit location for seasoned divers – it’s also a great place for beginners to test the waters!

1. Pristine Snorkeling

Not quite ready to strap on a tank? Get your fins wet on one of Roatan’s stunning shallow-water reefs, perfect for snorkeling. Anthony’s Key Resort has guided snorkel trips twice a day from its 51-foot flat-top snorkel boat, so you can explore at your own pace and get comfortable in the water. The resort’s seven-night snorkel package includes a dolphin swimming encounter, a reef ecology class and a handy fish identification card you can use to ID any species you spot on your excursions. Two-night snorkels are also offered per week for those looking for a little more adventure.

2. A Remarkable Reef

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second-largest barrier reef system in the world, runs just a few hundred feet off Roatan’s shoreline, making it a prime locale for easy, beautiful diving. The reef skirts the western edge of the Caribbean Sea, stretching almost 700 miles from the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula to the Bay Islands of Honduras. Its diverse array of corals and sponges and an eclectic mix of marine species create a picturesque view of the underwater world that’s hard to come by elsewhere in the Caribbean.

3. Abundant Marine Life

You never know who you’ll meet on Roatan’s reefs. From Caribbean reef sharks and loggerhead turtles to eagle rays and bottlenose dolphins, big-animal sightings are almost guaranteed on every dive. If macro critters are more your thing, keep a keen eye out for the tiny decorator crabs and christmas tree worms that call these waters home. Thanks to Roatan’s remarkable biodiversity, each dive carries the opportunity to come across something new and exciting.

4. Great Conditions

With warm, gin-clear waters year-round, Roatan is the ideal spot for completing certification dives or enjoying your first scuba-centric vacation. Water temperatures average 80 degrees, so you can ditch your thick wetsuit for a 3mm wetsuit, bathing suit or skin; gentle currents provide a taste of drift diving optimal for beginners; and Roatan’s 50- to 100-foot visibility will spoil you (in the best way possible). Once you dive this island, you’ll be hard-pressed to find Caribbean diving that measures up.

5. Dive Site Variety

Although small, Roatan truly has something for everyone. With dozens of unique sites, divers of every level can find subaquatic bliss, and staying at Anthony’s Key Resort, located near the island’s popular West End, will put you right in the middle of the action. For an intro to fantastic wall diving, check out popular Half Moon Bay. And if a one-of-a-kind encounter is what you’re after, don’t skip Mandy’s Eel Garden. Here you’ll find a sandy patch dotted with garden eels, who poke out of the sand and sway in the current like a field of sunflowers in the breeze.

6. Gear Rentals and Easy Stowage

Don’t bother stuffing suitcases or worrying about baggage weight limits. Anthony’s Key Resort has everything you’ll need to rent for your dive vacation, from brand-new ScubaPro gear to new tanks. Showers, rinse bins and storage lockers are conveniently located close to the dive boats, so if you bring any of your own gear, you can make sure everything is properly cleaned off and stowed away after your daily dives. There is also plenty of wet and dry storage on each of the resort’s 12 boats, and with small groups of divers going out at a time, you’re sure to never feel crowded.

7. Trusted Training

Thinking about getting certified or advancing your skills? Anthony’s Key Resort is a PADI 5-star Instructor Development Dive Resort that offers all levels of scuba certification, from Open Water through professional diver and instructor courses. With specialties like wreck diver, underwater navigation, enriched air, naturalist diver and search and recovery, there’s something to match every skill level. Anthony’s Key has been consistently ranked among the world’s top dive resorts for 45 years, even earning a career development center award in 2017 for outstanding performance as a PADI 5-Star Instructor Development Dive Resort. And with a hyperbaric chamber and medical clinic on premises — and emergency medical technicians on call 24/7 — you can be confident knowing you’re in good hands.

8. All-Ages Diving

The whole family can enjoy the magic of the ocean at Anthony’s Key. The resort has multiple dive options for kids ages 5 and older, as well as a Summer Scuba Dolphin Camp for kids ages 5 to 14 from June to August. Other programs include Supplied Air Snorkeling for Youths (SASY), in which children ages 5 to 7 swim using a BC-style flotation device, a compressed air tank and a regulator, allowing them to safely stay on the surface without the fear of inhaling water through their snorkel.

The PADI Bubblemakers class lets 8- and 9-year-olds dive in a controlled environment no deeper than 6 feet.

For kids ages 10 to 14, the Junior Open Water Diver course teaches the basic skills and knowledge needed to dive with a buddy. After completing the certification, kids are able to dive to 40 feet with (depending on age) a parent, guardian, PADI professional or any Open Water-certified adult.

9. Dolphin Diving

Spend an afternoon visiting playful dolphins in their natural habitat. Anthony’s Key Resort’s relaxed Dolphin Dive experience is perfect for beginner divers. After a brief topside orientation about the animals and dolphin-dive etiquette, you’ll descend to 60 feet, kneel on the white sand and wait for the show to start. Not before long, a small pod of dolphins will swoop in and start interacting with the group, allowing each diver to have a special one-on-one experience with the charismatic marine mammals.

10. Living the Island Life

When you’re not exploring the underwater splendors of Roatan, Anthony’s Key offers a completely tranquil, relaxed tropical getaway. Kick back on the white-sand beach, sway in a hammock or book a soothing spa treatment. There are no phones or TVs in the resort’s wooden bungalows, so you can completely unplug and take in everything this Caribbean paradise has to offer. Looking for non-stop adventure? Take a hike or canopy tour through the rainforest, ride horseback along the shore or stand-up paddleboard around the Key, experiencing Roatan as nature intended.

For more information on diving Roatan and to book your adventure, visit www.anthonyskey.com.

Phone: +1 954-929-0090
Email: [email protected]
Address:
31000 Sandy Bay Honduras