Dec 2, 2024
Great trip with the... - Great trip with the family and easy pick up at cruise port. Our drive Daniel was great and shared bits of history as we drove to the boat. Crew was knowledgeable and gave us enough time at each site to enjoy the experience. We loved the snorkel around the ship wreck!! Thanks for a great time!
Review provided by Viator
Nov 28, 2024
A tour company that really cares! - This was such a well-organized experience. It was so easy to get off the Sun Princess cruise ship and walk to meet our driver. Daniel was waiting for us with a sign and was super friendly and courteous. During the drive to the boat he shared history of the island and pointed out landmarks, Even though we've been to Roatan many times, we still learned something new. He was super friendly, as were the boat crew.
There were plenty of fish, beautiful reefs, a mini shipwreck, tons of starfish, and lots of extras. The crew passed out watermelon, water and banana bread (I'm celiac and couldn't eat it, but that was a nice touch). All supplies were included and while we had our own snorkel gear, it was nice to borrow their fins, which fortunately were NOT the cheap crappy ones that you often see on tours. The group was small, the guides friendly and good at explaining what to expect each time. My husband and I are seasoned divers and they recognized quickly we didn't need help and let us wander around ourselves as we desired, and kept us informed when it was time to head back to the boat.
My only complaint is how fast time flew- I wish we could have spent more time snorkeling!
Don't let the cruise scare you- it's in the tour company's best interest to get you back with plenty of time, so they absolutely make it a priority to get us to and from with plenty of time to spare. Daniel even offered to take us wherever we wanted to keep the day going; the nature park, zip lining, etc. at no extra charge.
You won't get a more attentive, caring tour group than this!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 26, 2024
Roatan Five Stars - Excellent tour company, Fantastic tour & wonderful staff - Like so many others we saw the you tube video another family posted months ago and decided to bite the bullet and book a tour with Roatan Fives Stars (stepping out of the safety of a direct ship tour booking). We were docking in Roatan as part of a Norwegian Joy cruise.
All email contact with Roatan Fives Stars was fast and they answered all of our questions. Cost of tour was great. We added in a stop at Archies Iguana Park.
So we did the 3 snorkel sites plus animal park visit.
We had concerns about how to find our guide, as you are getting off the ship with hundreds of people. We didn't need to worry, our guide Daniel was waiting for us at the pre-advised spot. We thought we'd booked some kind of small group tour, so when Daniel said it was just us we thought wow this is great. Daniel was an excellent guide, he answered all of the questions we had and he was such a happy friendly person to be around. He even took us to a pharmacy so I could get some medication I needed.
Daniel also mentioned several times what a great boss and company Roatan Five Stars was to work for, so that's always nice to know that employees are valued.
Anyway, our first stop was to do the snorkelling sites. We arrived at the departure point and assumed we would be waiting for others to arrive, but no, to our delight it was again just us. We couldn't believe they would take a boat out just for two people. We were met by Captain Will and he was also such a lovely friendly guy.
We stopped first at the "Starfish Alley" and it didn't disappoint, so many starfish and we got to hold one. The visibility in the water was perfect.
The second stop was at a reef that had this beautiful drop off. We saw again more starfish, loads of different fish species and gorgeous colourful coral. (We are from Australia - so everything gets compared to the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef, and Roatan snorkelling was amazing).
The third spot was based around a shipwreck. Again it did not disappoint. We saw an array of fish, coral etc. The water temperature was also perfect.
We were given fins, water, fruit, cake and juice onboard. I also used a vest to assist with floating! We had a snorkel guide with us the whole time as well, showing us where to go etc.
After that we went to the Iguana Park. Again just fantastic. The guide there was lovely and so informative. There were so many iguanas all over the place, we got to feed them and touch them. So much fun.
Then we went to AJ's Monkey & Sloth Park, apparently the animal park they choose can change based on where you are snorkelling from. Anyway the park did not disappoint, it was only small and again we must have been so lucky that day. As we were pretty well the only people there. One tip is, we got offered for $20 USD to have a person follow us around and take photos of us. We've never done that before but we said yes, and OMG, he took 300 odd pictures of us with the animals and sent them through as promised. It was such a great deal and we could focus on our time with the animals rather than trying to get photos!
Of course the Sloth hold was a life long dream of mine and it didn't disappoint. I expected I'd be handed the sloth, we'd get a photo and then have to hand it back. (That's what happens with Koala holds in Australia - they are short and sweet). But no, my husband and I both got to hold this beautiful male sloth for so long. I mean at one point I thought, should I hand him back now? I wish I'd timed it, honestly it was the most amazing experience, I'll treasure it forever. The guide answered all of our questions and he was a lovely guy as well. We even got to see one sloth walking on the ground (so slow) and one in the tree in that typical hang you see in documentaries.
So our tour finished there, but Daniel our driver, stopped at the Chocolate place on the way back to the cruise port. He had us back on time, no problem at all. The traffic was bad but he knew all the short cuts. As a driver he was wonderful.
So, sorry for the long review.
But in a nutshell, don't hesitate to book Roatan Five Stars, they deliver everything as advertised. I'd give them 10 Stars!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 25, 2024
Roatan 5 stars lives up to the hype! - This was an absolutely perfect day in Roatan, Honduras. I’m so glad we researched and chose Roatan 5 stars because the gauntlet of people all beckoning you for a taxi/tour is a hodge podge and you never know what quality you are going to get. Our guide Wilson (no castaway jokes please) was great. He was very personable as he shared information with us about the island and culture. I thought we were actually going to drive to three separate places for snorkeling, but it’s one boat with three dive locations (better in my opinion). The guides were incredibly patient with my daughter as they helped her get comfortable with the water using a life ring for a little while. The snorkeling in the largest reef in the Americas was some of the best snorkeling that we have done in the world!! So many starfish! Sloths and monkeys were a HIT! So cute and cuddly and the monkeys were jumping on our heads, stealing my hat and other hilarious antics! It always makes me a tiny bit nervous booking outside the cruise but they aim to have you back 3 hrs prior to board time which is all right by me. We would do this again in a heartbeat.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 23, 2024
Fantastic! - This is 2nd time in 2024 that I’ve been to this stop. Bruno did a great job of putting us in places to a see amazing variety and huge number of ocean life. The team took such good care of the overweight people who struggled getting on/off the boat. This is a great get away from the glitz of tourism and into the beauty of God’s creation. Five Star driver Ken C. was wonderful! He made our day from start to finish the best… comfortable, interesting, informative! Only disappointment, I did miss Luigi. 🙁
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 22, 2024
Highly recommend this... - Highly recommend this experience! It was easy to find the sign for 5 star tours right outside the Roatan port. Blake was a great driver, which I particularly appreciated as someone who can get car sick. The drive was maybe 20-30 minutes from our port, which was the further port of the two.
The dock isn't anything special, but there are a couple small stalls to go to the bathroom and change if needed. We waited here for about 20-30 minutes because there were a few couples from other cruises. I believe we had ~5 couples total, so a nice small group. They provided basic equipment (goggles, tube, flippers), which was all we needed.
We went on a snorkeling tour through the cruise line the next day and we were so thankful that we had this smaller adventure beforehand. We brought a waterproof phone case and were able to get a lot of cool videos of the coral and fish. The current was particularly strong, so the guides thought through bringing us to the shipwreck location first, since that would take the most energy. We then got back on the boat and traveled to the coral reef location and jumped back off the boat. We floated with the current from the coral reef to the third location, which was where all of the starfish were. I really appreciated that they thought through how to get us to all three locations safely during a day with a strong current.
There was probably an hour of snorkeling, then they got us back on the boat and managed to dock just in time before a storm hit. Again, really appreciated that they were tracking the storm so we could make the most of our time.
Throughout the trip, they provided water, watermelon, fruit, and homemade banana bread made by one of guide's moms (the best!)
Review provided by Viator
Nov 22, 2024
The best snorkel experience - Highly recommend Roatan Five Stars tours, very nice people owner was amazing as well they definitely make you feel at home from the communication to the day of the tour all went very smooth, we also learned about the reef and marine life that the island offers, we also enjoyed of fresh local bread, juice, water and fresh watermelon, the snorkel guides was also very happy and friendly, we will be back to Roatan island and will book again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 19, 2024
Safe, Fun, Beautiful Roatan Adventure and 3-stop Snorkeling - Rennie was our driver and guide and since another couple was coming from another cruise line a bit later took us on a driving tour of Roatan and told us about various things past and present including the history of the island which was very interesting to us. He also took us to a hilltop in town which served as a place for locals to sell goods to tourists - but not the Americanized version you see at the Cruise Port which we appreciated.
Rennie was very capable of driving and took us safely to the snorkeling part of our adventure which was super fun. Even though it was a rainy day due to a nearby tropical storm, the shipwreck was really cool and the dropoff (600' deep) and starfish area was loaded full of fish. Our total group snorkeling was 6 people which was super fun and there were two guides for us to keep everyone safe. Then Rennie drove us back to the port and dropped us off just outside the gates.
Review provided by Viator
Nov 16, 2024
3 stop snorkel and island tour - Took this tour off ship based on previous excellent reviews. I can attest they were accurate! Eddie our tour guide was so friendly and informative, his pride in the island very evident. We throughly enjoyed spending time with him. Roatan is doing an admirable job promoting reef regeneration and protection and it showed in the vibrancy of the coral and masses of fish at each stop.
This was a small group tour, only 8 on the boat and plenty of time in the water. The boat crew was great. We got fresh watermelon and banana bread! In between stops. A completely enjoyable day and we highly recommend this company!
Don’t let cruise ships scare you into booking excursions only through the ship! The local operators offer so much more and will get you back to ship on time. Their business is dependent on reliability and they greatly appreciate your patronage
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 14, 2024
Great excursion!! - It started with the best driver ever (Kelsey) He was waiting for us at the port when we disembarked, immediately welcomed us, and got us safely to the dock where we would start our excursion. He waited for us the entire time and got us back in plenty of time. He was super kind and went out of his way to help us with an issue that came up with our family. He is a great asset to this excursion.
The excursion itself was awesome. Beautiful water, great guides, saw lots of colorful fish and got in some good exercise. The banana bread at the end was an added plus. Thanks for some great memories. We will definitely be back.
Review provided by Viator