While on our cruise, we booked the Maya Key excursion and enjoyed it more than anything else on the entire trip!!!! Although not published in the description of the excursion in our Cruise information, we were told as we docked at Maya Key that they had a "swim with the sharks" area and to sign up for it. The cost was $25. Only myself and 2 others were willing to do it. WOW!!!! There were 5 or 6 Nurse Sharks in an area. The sharks were fed only a few feet away from us and one 8 ft. swam right under me. I was expecting small sharks not these beautiful giants. Our guide told us about the sharks and made sure we understood the "do's and dont's" of being in the shark area. I'll never forget the awe of seeing these wonderful creatures swimming so close! There are numerous other animals on the island being cared for and they are all healthy. It was obvious that these employees really love the animals they care for when I tried to photograph the young wild boar hog. Each time someone would put their camera's lower into his pen he would run to it as fast as he could. He wanted to be scratched!!!! In order to get my picture, another visitor had to pet him then move their hand while I snapped the photo. lol The food was great and each and every employee was very nice. This was a wonderful way to spend the day!

Back to the Nurse sharks--while I didn't expect the sharks to be so large, I knew that this had to be safe or it simply wouldnt be offered. Many people thought I was crazy for going in this shark area and Im not a "risk taker" by any means. Nurse sharks are docile. If you miss this part of Maya Key, you're missing an experience of a lifetime.

We booked this through Royal Caribbean and it was a great choice for a relaxing yet educational day. We chose this originally for the reviews on the great snorkeling but it was the animals that made the excursion special. Not only did we get to see monkeys, ocelots, jaguars, toucans, sea lions, parrots and alligators, we got to interact with some of them. The sea lion interaction was amazing. Holding the baby monkeys and alligators was fun. The grounds were beautiful and you could tell that the animals were very well cared for. Lunch was a delicious buffet of fish, chicken, salad, rice & beans, plantains and a beverage. It was a great day on a not crowed island.

Honduras was one of the more lush and rainy stops on our Carnival Cruise, so unfortunately this was the only stop on our cruise where the weather was not nice. It was raining off and on all day, however between the tropical showers we were able to explore the island a bit. We saw all the animals which was amazing, including the cute baby monkeys, the beautiful birds and the magnificent leopards. they even have a place where for $15.00 you can interact with HUGE Patagonian Sea Lions. the snorkeling is done at the end of a pier, nor right off the beach, and from what we heard it was amazing, although we did not want to venture out in the ocean while it was raining. Our particular trip had food included, so we had plantain chips, fish, chicken, rice & beans and soft drinks. it was a buffet, but as we were going around to get food they were marking out trip bracelet, which was kind of unusual....so we did not attempt to get seconds, athough we wanted to because the food was so yummy. perhaps if we had asked they would have allowed us to.

The island is very clean and there is so much to do, or you can just relax...we could tell it would have been pure paradise if it was sunny and warm

We booked this excursion through the cruise-line on the Carnival Legend in Feb 2012. We really enjoyed our day on this private island. There were animals to see, swimming, sun-bathing, a gift shop, replica Mayan Ruins, and great food. There were monkeys, sea lions, parrots, & a jaguar. We would recommend this excursion and would definitely do it again. The airport is near and you will have low flying planes going over head, but it really didn't bother us. Our only complaint...wish we could have stayed longer!