Scuba in Roatan!

Posada las Orquideas is a brand new hotel located just off the main drag in the West End section of Roatan. The rooms are cute and clean, with modern facilities including a bathroom with just the perfect water pressure in the shower to relieve fatigue after a full day of diving.

The room was much bigger than I would've imagined at only $40 per night. But without a dresser, table or any chairs, that could've been an an optical illusion. Regardless, who wants to spend time indoors with the option of lounging on the hammock on a private deck is right out the back door?

By far, the deck was the best feature of this hotel and no matter what size room you choose (we chose the basic), each has an ocean view.

In all, Posada las Orquideas is a steal (a basic suite runs about $40 per night -- including AC!) for travelers who just want a place to crash between activities.

Pura Vida was a great place to learn to dive--not because of their equipment, which is typical of any dive shop in Roatan, or because of their diving destinations, which are also typical of any dive shop in Roatan. Instead, it is because of the wonderful staff, including the owners, the instructors and the dive masters.

I've never been a talented swimmer (I only got to "minnow" at the YMCA when I was little), so I was convinced scuba diving was not for me. But on an island like Roatan, where dive shops line the streets like designer shops line Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, diving is practically a required activity. So I took the plunge... literally... and quickly panicked.

"Scuba diving is not for me," I told Esteban, my instructor.

Esteban wouldn't let me give up. He talked me into giving it another shot and made sure to keep communicating with me underwater. Looking back, I forget why I even had my initial freak-out.

The lessons flew by and our knowledgeable and understanding instructor as well as our helpful and fun dive master, Ivan, were guiding us down the coral walls toward the bottom of the sea. I, the formerly incompetent swimmer, felt like an expert.

I left with a new hobby, a group of incredible memories, and a few new friends.