I told you it was all over. This is the proof.....

[Doc]

This ski lift now services Mt. Roatan, with a vertical rise of 3 feet and a run-out of 1/3 mile. It is a • Bunny Run to move the Pod People from cruise ship to the beach.

I kid you not. The Beverly Hillbillies Effect continues on the island with frightening effect.

In that even plastic rusts on Roatan, I think the typical Roatan native appreciation of mechanical maintenance will likely cause this foolish enterprise to be short lived. Yet it will be leaving an all-but permanent blemish on the land. After many years of aerial lift (ie: ski charlift) accident investigations, I can hardly wait for the next big Cruise Ship thread describing the horrors of a "death in paradise" to arise. Let's face it, the Pod People love an adventure! Living life on the edge is what will draw them to this all-but un-pronounceable Island of Rah-ahh-taahn. Who needs Flipper... much less a Shark Dive?

Say goodbye to "Lita's Hole", one of the most highly prized and newly discovered dive sites on Roatan.

Roatan (one of the Bay Islands of Utila and Guanaja) is still arguably the best diving to be had in the Mar Caribe off of an island that is relatively easy to travel to for a one week stay. Go now, it's changing as you sit at home undecided as to where to go next.

See it now.

 

[RTBDiver]

In that even plastic rusts on Roatan, I think the typical Roatan native appreciation of mechanical maintenance will likely cause this foolish enterprise to be short lived. .

I have to agree, As someone who imports many marine supplies to repair normal home issues I have little faith in the longevity of such a venture. Heck, all hardware i use around the house is stainless and it still rusts, of course thats why it is called stain-less and not stain proof. Just takes a bit longer.

 

[castaways01]

I kid you not. [FONT="Comic Sans MS"][B]The Beverly Hillbillies Effect[/B][/FONT] continues on the island with frightening effect.......


Say goodbye to "[B]Lita's Hole[/B]", one of the most highly prized and newly discovered dive sites on Roatan.[/QUOTE]

I knew this beautiful island was doomed when the first cruise ship docked at a too small pier in Coxen Hole years ago. Next was the massive disappearance of mangroves by greedy developers, then condo complexes arrived - - silt, run-off turning the blue seas brown, no cisterns, digging multiple wells on one site . . . [I]get the picture?[/I]

Recently they were talking about putting in Chukka Dune Buggy tours for the cruisers. Of course, there are no dunes here. But who cares? "Build it and they will come." Its all about the $ $ $.

BTW, in the last few weeks, they went back and "re-dredged" the channel because a ship got stuck. Shhhhh. Don't tell anyone.

 

[DeepBlueResort]

Hi All

I am so sorry to see this but agree with you all about the lasting effect this will have, It will come here to Utila eventually

 

[itsjustme0770]

Hi All

I am so sorry to see this but agree with you all about the lasting effect this will have, It will come here to Utila eventually

Lol. My wife and I were jst sayin that this would be the perfect solution for moving across the lower lagoon cut to the south shore.

Before anyone gets upset, I am totally kidding. Glad all of the "development" is happening on roatan. I'll take our adventure oriented travelers.

 

[Doc]

Glad all of the "development" is happening on roatan. I'll take our adventure oriented travelers.

Keep kidding yourself.

 

[scubafanatic]

....WOW ! ....that's one of the craziest things I've seen yet....ski lifts on a tropical island ! Mankind's assault on planet Earth intensifies daily....I spent a week summer of '05 at CoCo View, and while I liked the resort itself...the diving pretty much competely sucked (aside from the extra charge shark dive done a couple miles offshore well away from the resort)....and the vis all week sucked too......and this was back in '05, hate to imagine the place now!

 

[DiveMaven]

Glad we're heading to Roatan in a few months....before people completely destroy the island. We feel the same way about Bonaire and all of their development + the cruise ship effect...we're glad to have gone for the past 2 years and wonder if we'll ever enjoy it the same way in the future.

 

[robint]

OMG........... that makes me sick. Why oh why do they need to ruin every island on the planet? I fear Roatan is heading in the direction of Cozumel. That island used to be a divers paradise, quiet and authentic culturally. Not any more. It is nothing but a cruise ship port now. Ten years ago, the first time we went there, we only saw 2 cruise ships all week and it was bothersome. This year we saw 3-5 per day there! Downtown now looks like a modern glass and chrome shopping mall rather than the quaint little locally-owned shops we loved. Very sad....

 

[itsjustme0770]

Keep kidding yourself.

RM-

Not sure of your point here. Utila is 95% undeveloped. Utila doesn't have mountains in the interior of the island (aside from Pumpkin hill) like Roatan does, but rather swampland. There are no roads on more than 95% of the island. While there will undoubtedly be development of some sort in the coming years, Utila is light years behind Roatan on that front. Certainly you won't be seeing any megaresort development on Utila in the near future.

JM