Maya Key or Tabyana Beach?

[CPandJP]

Sorry if I have posted this in the wrong place....new to this! I would like to do an excursion with Carnival while in Roatan but I'm not sure if I should do the Maya Key Island or the Tabyana Beach. I am mostly interested in spending time on the beach and maybe getting some good food. If you do the Tabyana Beach, what means of transportation does Carnival provide to the beach? Is there anything else to do there. I noticed that at Maya Key there is some other things there.

[elcuchio24]

You'll probably get more info on the ports section, but I will tell you we had a great time doing the tabanya beach break. Its a gorgeous beach, good food, really good snorkeling right off the beach too it you're into that. We'd do that excursion again in a heartbeat. If I recall, the transport was in one of those safari truck-tram things, like the ones you always see around st. t.

[Terrafreaky]

We did Tabyana Beach and thought it was VERY relaxing. Very pretty beach. I'd do that excursion again (and I don't say that often)

[jnv412]

I've only done the tabyana beach one, but we LOVED it!! Beautiful beach and absolutely wonderful snorkeling! You can rent gear and go out on your own and it was the best snorkeling I've ever done! Cheap drinks that were realllllly good also. Only bad thing was we took an old school bus to get there. But we didn't care because the ride was just so beautiful! We had to go over a mountain/big hill to get there-- great view!

[MzOhioLady]

Here's another vote for Tabyana Beach! It is the most beautiful I've ever been to. You simply cannot go wrong with this beach.

[blindrid]

We did Tabyana Beach and thought it was VERY relaxing. Very pretty beach. I'd do that excursion again (and I don't say that often)

 

I agree but the area is getting more developed. One hint is to walk down the beach and find a beer stand, it'll save you a few bucks. I'm thinking they were $2 last time I was there.

 

Typical school bus takes you and it's no big deal

[x98bjv]

I haven't been to Tabyana Beach, but I have been to Maya Key. While I absolutely LOVED it (my favorite cruise place so far), I was in it for the snorkelling. If you like snorkelling, I HIGHLY recommend it. We were in the water for 3 hours straight and would have loved to stay longer. However, if you're looking to relax on a beach, Maya Key probably isn't it. There's a small beach on the island, but the sand is not soft and you can't really swim from the beach as it's all grass/seaweed/whatever until you get out quite a ways. You'd need to go out to the little dock and climb down the ladder and swim from there. But even then, you have to be careful of the coral.

[vfb2girls]

We did the Tabyana beach excusion also and it is such a beautiful beach! I thought this was perhaps one of the most relaxing excursions we have done. We are booked on the Legend 3/11 and will probably do this excursion again.

[viajerita]

Tabyana Beach is beautiful and relaxing. We went to The Mayan Princess Resort last year with a local tour guide, Juan Carlos. Very nice. He also took us to see the monkeys and on a short tour of the island. He will do whatever you want. I think his company is called Islander Tours. You can google it. We did not go through Carnival and it was much less expensive. But now that Carnival has the new port at Mahogany Bay, you could go to the beach there if you just want to relax. We did that - rode the chairlift over - nice relaxing day. If I can figure out how, I'll post some pics. I think I may have to resize them?

[viajerita]

oops

[evandbob]

First time I went to Roatan, Maya Key was not even there! I did snorkel right offshore from a sailboat though. Second time I went there, a man made beach had been created and it was called Coral Key. I noticed the sand was coarse limestone, definitely synthetic. Just a few months ago, I returned to Roatan and saw that Carnival had bought out Coral Key and renamed it Mahogany Bay. For people who don't want to wander far from the ship, and don't care if they are on an artificial man made beach replica, it's ok.

Tabyana beach is authentically Caribbean , you can go to any part of the beach, meet locals, eat local food at reasonable prices, and go snorkeling with a local guide for $10 or $15, One trouble, now that Carnival docks at Maya Key is that it's a bit longer bus ride to get to.

[tlw440]

The three trips we have made to Roatan we went to Tabyana Beach, great beach, great snorkling. Tabyana is the reason we went western this year.

[viajerita]

[viajerita]

[viajerita]

[pjtulsa]

Skip Maya Key and head to Tabyana with a private guide like Victor Boddean. I have been to both and since Maya Key does not have a nice beach and has now been taken over by Carnival and raised their prices on EVERYTHING I wont go back..

 

With a Tour Guide you will be able to see more on your way to the beach, stop for photos if you wish and even stop for shopping or to see Victor's Monkeys. I didnt think I would like the monkeys but they were the highlight of 2 of my cruises, very fun... Best Part is you plan your day and save a few bucks over Carnivals prices and dont have to deal with the masses.

 

Have a Great Cruise!

[rzdj96]

Since Carnival got their hands into it, Maya Key doesn't answer reservation requests or emails if you state that your arriving on Carnival. :(

[CPandJP]

Thanks everyone for the great information and pictures! I think that Tabyana Beach is what I'm looking for. I have alway gone through Carnival for excursions but I may check out one of the local tours. If I would go with a local, do they include chairs on the beach or take you to an area that does? What would that cost? Mahogany Bay looks very nice also but it would be nice to see some of the area outside of the port.

[beachbum6264]

We went to Maya Key (it was Fins and Flippers then) and loved it, but I was there for the snorkeling, not a beach day. This is pretty much all the beach that was there:

 

As someone else said, there is lots of sea grass. We loved it, and would go back in a heartbeat, but if you're looking for a beach, this is not it. (Unless they've done a lot of changing in the past year). I could spend the entire day snorkeling there, tho. amazing.

and very relaxing

 

This is how busy it was the day we were there... about 12 people on the entire island. Several stayed at the pool - close to the bar! Great food, tho

[TakeMeAway1001]

Skip Maya Key and head to Tabyana with a private guide like Victor Boddean. I have been to both and since Maya Key does not have a nice beach and has now been taken over by Carnival and raised their prices on EVERYTHING I wont go back..

 

With a Tour Guide you will be able to see more on your way to the beach, stop for photos if you wish and even stop for shopping or to see Victor's Monkeys. I didnt think I would like the monkeys but they were the highlight of 2 of my cruises, very fun... Best Part is you plan your day and save a few bucks over Carnivals prices and dont have to deal with the masses.

 

Have a Great Cruise!

 

I agree with this reply 100%, we used Victor and requested Tex after reading some great reviews. We did a short tour and ended up at Tabyana directly next to the Carnival excursion which was packed. Tex set us up with snorkel equipment for $5 per person and sat with our stuff while we snorkeled. They can also make a great suggestion for a place to eat lunch, for the price it cannot be beat :)

[Chief Cruiser]

My experience with Tabyana Beach was anything but idea. I will agree with other posters that it is a beautiful beach and the waters are in describeable.

 

Having said that, we took the Carnival shore excursioon and the "bus" that took me and wife to the beach was actually a 15 passenger van that old, ragged, and chugged, spit, and coughed when trying to negotiate the hills between port and the beach. The A/C was broken so I had to let down the window (the one with the bullet hole) to get any air flowing.

 

The bar and bartender at the beach was anything but sanitary so no drinks ( (I don't even think the alcohol could have killed the germs) due to unsanitary conditions and price.

 

We were there less than 3 hours due to the flies, bugs, and other creatures that were hovering and scouring around the nasty bar set up. We moved a couple of times, but just couldn't seem to get away from them, so we just left.

 

I will not do the Tabyana Beach tour again. I know others may have had great experiences, but I didn't. I was not impressed with Roatan anyway and would not take a cruise specifically for that port of call.

 

I am, however, interested in the Mohogany Bay Cruise Center, which has a beach and I would be game to give that a try if a cruise had Roatan as a port of call.

 

JMHO. :)

[rzdj96]

Whats' with Maya Key now since Carnival got their fingers into it? I mean, they don't seem to answer any reservation requests or emails if they know your on a Carnival Cruise. You'd believe that they'd at least say so on their WEB sight, instead of ignoring you.

[dane225]

Roatan is one of my very favorite ports and we just loved our tour of Tabyana Beach. The beach was beautiful and the water was perfect for snorkeling. Roatan is a very beautiful place.

[KruznKel]

Whats' with Maya Key now since Carnival got their fingers into it? I mean, they don't seem to answer any reservation requests or emails if they know your on a Carnival Cruise. You'd believe that they'd at least say so on their WEB sight, instead of ignoring you.

 

I must agree with you on this one.. I have been there when it was fNf's.. and Cindy is still there.. I sent one request about the cost of a taxi from the new Carnival pier.. and got a response that Carnival now does it as an excursion.. I sent an email back to her stating that we were not interested in the Carnival excursion as we wanted to do other things as well and no response.. I have sent 3 emails.. another travel companion sent a request and no response.. I am really DISGUSTED that Carnival took over this place and is now charging DOUBLE the price.. GLUTONY is all it is.. and Carnival is really getting on my last nerve doing this to small places that offered awesome deals to cruiser's..:mad:

[rzdj96]

I must agree with you on this one.. I have been there when it was fNf's.. and Cindy is still there.. I sent one request about the cost of a taxi from the new Carnival pier.. and got a response that Carnival now does it as an excursion.. I sent an email back to her stating that we were not interested in the Carnival excursion as we wanted to do other things as well and no response.. I have sent 3 emails.. another travel companion sent a request and no response.. I am really DISGUSTED that Carnival took over this place and is now charging DOUBLE the price.. GLUTONY is all it is.. and Carnival is really getting on my last nerve doing this to small places that offered awesome deals to cruiser's..:mad:

 

It looks like Tabyanna beach for us then. One would believe that Maya Key would at least have the maturity to kindly reply (even if it is in the negative). I guess they don't care about repeat customers. I wouldn't blame Carnival persay, I blame Cindy for not correcting their WEB sight explaining that they don't reply if your a Carnival patron. :(