Relaxing on Roatan

Roatan is the biggest of the three main islands (the others being smaller Utila and tiny Guanaja) and is the most developed of the three, both in terms of tourist facilities and general infrastructure. The islands' economy is apparently based mostly on fishing, but tourism—mainly in the form of its terrific snorkeling and diving—must be coming up fast.

It’s not particularly cheap and you can expect to pay twice or three times the costs you’ll find on the mainland (even in touristy areas such as Copan). The one thing that is a bargain though is SCUBA–much cheaper than neighbouring Belize–about per one-tank dive, or even less for a block-booking of 10, or about for a PADI open-water course.

There’s more to Roatan than the coast though, and the Carambola gardens merit a special mention to get away from the sun and sand and climb up amongst birdlife and the local crested iguanas to be rewarded by a magnificent view.

Most visitors to Roatan will stay in West Bay or West End, where there’s a good choice of hotels and restaurants and life revolves around trips out onto the crystal waters. Compared to other areas of Honduras, the island feels very safe indeed, and you wouldn’t think twice about wandering around after dark.

Note also that, whereas US are only sometimes taken on the mainland, you can virtually exist without Lempira on the islands because of the prevalence of foreign visitors and American expats.

Quick Tips:

Top spots to stay and dive/snorkel/swim/just laze around are West End/Bay; visit Carambola Botanical Gardens to stretch your legs by hauling yourself up Monte Carambola (the highest part of the island, giving a fantastic view as well as being a lovely climb).

In West End itself, a new boulangerie has opened that is run by "the Frenchman" on the main street before the road to Sandy Bay. It has free Internet connection (as do many of the hotels and dive-schools once you commit to them) and the most fantastic views while you eat authentic baguettes: try the chicken or BLT (50L) and the island's best, cheapest mugs of good coffee (10L). Don’t buy small bottles of water for a high price—the best supermarket is southwards past the Sandy bay turnoff (not as far as Twisted Toucan) which sells 5-litre casks to decant (decent hotels provide a ‘fridge). Alcohol isn’t cheap–there are some happy hours but most supermarkets sell bottled rum for about , if you’re happy to sit on your veranda (you’ll get bitten by tiny, unavoidable sandflies either way–don’t believe what people tell you about baby oil stopping them).

Best Way To Get Around:

There are taxis from the airport via Coxen Hole (the dusty, uninspiring capital) to West Bay/West End for about 190 to 200Lempira (). There's also a bus from outside the airport compound, or from the dock if you take the twice-daily boat from Ceiba.

As for getting around, I wouldn't say it's necessary to hire a car unless you plan to travel north beyond Oak Ridge (i.e. towards the dirt track to Port Royal) as the road all but peters out and is not recommended on a moped! Otherwise, you'll only need a moped to nip around for a day, if you can drag yourself from the sand. Expect to pay about for a 24-hour hire (plus to fill-up with petrol) from a small place in West End, though it pays to shop around as prices do seem to vary. Best reason to hire a moped is to see the small towns and "countryside," and the views down to the coast on each side as you drive along the one good road (while it lasts!) along the backbone of the island.

This was a great place, run by a friendly Honduran couple. The place is on the main drag along the beach–our room was approximately a 15-second dash to the sea, and we could watch the sun going down into the Caribbean from the hammock slung across our veranda. Bliss.

It’s about as far along West End and Half Moon Bay (so-called for a good, beautiful reason) as you can get, right next to Woody’s supermarket (handy for picnic lunches on the beach if you’re not too hungry). Attached to it and apparently run by the same couple is the "Argentinian Grill," a pretty good but relatively (i.e. by comparison to what you’d pay on the mainland for the same fare) pricey place at $20 a head for dinner–more if you have lobster, surf’n’turf, and crab.

The hotel is nicely furnished with colourful local tapestries and bedspreads; a decent bathroom, and a good shower; nice towels, which are changed every day without complaint if you’ve taken them onto the beach/out diving with you; two double beds with a well-powered fan over each.

We paid $20 per night. There was no breakfast but that meant we could sample various different places, including the Frenchman’s baguettes and coffee (see above), and each room has a fridge to keep water and any provisions cold.

Another tip in fact is that between about 11am and 2pm a wagon goes up and down the main road selling fruit and vegetables–mainly for the restaurants, but also handy and tasty for beach-snacks and picnics; tomatoes, avocados, bananas, improbably huge papayas, pineapples, and water melons. You can keep them all in your fridge until you want to enjoy them. Alternatively, the Posada has rooms for $25 with a kitchen so you could cook-up your purchases and save a spot of cash.

The Posada reception is open 8am to 8pm, and there’s one free terminal for guests’ internet access during that time (it gets quite busy, but people are pretty good about not hogging it).

The botanical gardens are situated about a 10-minute moped ride outside West End on the right-hand side along the route towards Sandy Bay. They're well-known on the island for their lush jungle and wide-range of flowers and trees, and the rather elusive crested lizards. The highlight is the 30-minute climb—along well-laid tracks at the bottom but with increasingly steep slopes where you are aided by ropes along the way, which are particularly helpful when it's wet and slippery underfoot—up Monte Carambola for the top-point of the island and the marvellous view across the forest greenery, and down to the coast from which you can see how very clear the Caribbean truly is.

There's a little shaded car park and reception, which is only sporadically manned, for you to pay your $5 per person entry fee, so you may have to holler or wait. Once inside, you can wander around at will, seeing exotic butterflies and colourful birds, spiders and insects. There are many Honduran specimens, including fine examples of the "tourist tree" (locals will explain that its perpetually-peeling, reddish, wafer-thin bark reminds them of sun-burnt visitors!).

As you arrive and leave, you'll pass through a nice little shop, selling calendars, pictures, postcards if you want a memorial and the lizards don't oblige you with a sighting.

Your alternatives to Roatan are Utila (c29 km) or Guanaja (c70 km) from the Honduras mainland port of La Ceiba.

Both are of course also surrounded by vast coral reefs with prolific undersea life and diving/snorkeling is their mainstay for visitors. Utila is known the smallest of the major islands in the group and claims to the least expensive. They were "discovered" by Columbus in the early 1500s and later settled by Cayman Islanders (which is partly why both Spanish and English are spoken there). Guanaja has no roads and locals travel by boat, including a channel which islanders call, "the cut", allowing access from the south side to the north without having to go all the way around.

Utila claims to have over 60 different scuba diving sites, including caves and numerous wrecks (such as the famous "Halliburton"), and is also famous for divers encountering whale sharks when they migrate past the islands (the whale shark is the world's largest fish at 12-18m, a slow-moving and harmless zooplankton, snapper egg, and shrimp eating fish which grows up to which is quite majestic to behold close up.

At the SW end of Utila are a small collection of tiny islands, some just 100 feet across and 1-2 feet above sea level. The 2 main Cays, Suc-Suc (Pigeon) and Jewel Cay, are inhabited by local fisherman and the descendants of the Cayman original settlers who arrived here from in 1836.

There’s a regular passenger ferry running twice a day from La Ceiba or you can fly on one of several daily flights (not all of which are direct).

Both islands are far less developed than Roatan and don’t have the same numbers of chain outlets or large-scale hotels (though there are some luxury resorts and their number is increasing quite fast). You’re much more likely to hook up with a local than a new-ish arrival as most are run by local families or people living here.