Renting a Car in Roatan

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H2Andy

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ok... our trip to Roatan is back on. looks like we'll be staying at the Fantasy Island
Hotel.

but one thing my wife and i love to do is to drive around places we go, explore,
go to the various towns/settlements and hang out, etc... which means a car

so...

is it a good idea to rent a car in Roatan?

i've heard that Honduran liability for car drivers is kind of extreme
 
Before we moved the boat down here from Mexico the owners flew down, rented a pickup and explored the whole island during a long weekend without incident. Friends of ours were staying at Parrot Tree for 7 weeks recently and rented a pickup for the duration. They had no problems at all. We drive around in a jeep and have had several very close calls. Most recently we were run off the road by a school bus that was passing on a blind corner.
The problem with sightseeing in a car is that the views are amazing and the driver must be paying 100% attention to the road. There are hardly any shoulders wide enough to safely pull off to the side and the local drivers are insane. The only scarier thing than sightseeing while driving a car is sightseeing while driving a scooter.
I don't know what the deal is on liability. I don't know anybody who has wrecked a rental here.
 
Bad idea.

First and foremost: It is cheaper and more fun to simply hire a driver for the day or a taxi for a dinner-out trip.

The roads suck. At night, they are horrific. At night when it rains (and what's the chances of that?), the are terrifying. Have you ever driven in such a situation? Until you do, there is no imagining what little effect the high beams will have, supposing that they work or are aimed correctly in the first place.

There are no reflectors anywhere, and it is a target rich environment. The "invisible pedestrian" is apparently the national costume of Honduras.

Trauma center? Be serious. No ambulance of any real life support style that you take for granted, and the hospitals are set up to take care of what they can. This isn't Houston.

If you injure a Honduran, you will support them forever. If they hop into or onto your vehicle uninvited, you still are liable. Chickens, much less island dogs that no-one before laid claim to, can gain immeasurable value if you flatten one of them.

Transito, the vehicle police (Honduran law enforcemnt is like a salad, it has seven layers), will flag you down in a rental vehicle just as assuredly as a local. Your paperwork (for any vehicle) simply can never be in proper order. It is a fact of life.

There is very little to see or do on Roatan that can not be accomplished in 1 day, usualy the day before you fly, anyway. Get on the arranged tour and go over to see Flipper interact with you and the cruise ship types at AKR. Do the Jungle Canopy slide-for-life Tour, some meager shopping (mostly Guatemalan imports) in West End and Coxen Hole.

The true adventurers might hire a driver to go to Oak Ridge and do the Water Taxi tour through the mangroves. This is good if you like beer!

Other possibilities include the Iguana Farm, Boanical Gardens, Horseback Riding and... I foget what else.

There are three restaurants of note on Roatan that I am aware of. Two are in West End (Garden of Eatin & The Argentine Grille), about 25 mins by cab, and just East of FIBR (a quick cab ride) to The View. Other than that, you have Gio's and Remeros as well as the Yacht Club (no big deal the three of them put together).

Hire an english speaking driver for the day. Make this abundantly clear tothe front desk help- even then it might be a stretch to call your driver English speaking. For a cab, ask the front desk "how much to pay" at the end of the booking process.

From CCV, the place across the channel from your location, FIBR, we can hire a van driver and take 8-10 people back and forth to The View for $20 and still be back for the night dive!

Hire a driver, enjoy your vacation.
 
We always rent a car in Roatan. It is usually one of the biggest expenses of our trips, and all the places carge about the same. We really like Caribbean Rent a Car. Joesph and his family are great. Driving in Roatan can be very tricky- many blind corners and the taxis all drive like they own the road.
In March we got to find out (the hard way- but luckily no one was hurt) exactly what getting into an accident is like on the island. The Gringo rule is always in effect- which basically means that no matter what happened, the gringo will pay for everything! In our case a fender bender ended up costing about $800-1000. The insurance deductable is about $2500 so that didn't help. If you have insurance through your credit card keep in mind they will not cover a truck (many rentals are trucks), and will only cover the damage to the car you rent. As bad as that all sounds, it was still much cheaper than getting into an accident at home- that covered all the body work, paint and parts including a couple lights and a cracked windshield on two vehicles. We also don't have to worry about getting sued for whiplash (we are from California- the lawsuit state) or having our insurance go up.
If you just want to see the island for a day or two, it is probably cheaper and easier to hire a guide (most rentals will run between $45-75 a day, even the scooters!). Or you can go out with a real estate agent- you'll probably get a good tour, but it could end up really expensive!
 
dang... my wife and i are on the adventurous side... and i am a certified pilot, so
i laugh at danger while flying rented C152's ... so....

i hate to be tied down to a hotel for any length of time. i need mobility, and that
means a car

i need to mull all this stuff over

thanks guys
 
After seeing how people drive, the condition of the roads, and the ubiquitous "vehicle police", I wouldn't consider renting a car in Roatan.

In fact, if I had it to do over I'd skip the "Island Tour" altogether ... the time would be better spent on Newman's Wall (right in front of Fantasy Island).

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
If you are an adventurer then go for it. I always feel safer in the sky than on the ground. I've done over 400 skydives and the only scary part was driving from Melbourne Beach down to Sebastian or Pahokee every weekend. We'd both love to get our private pilot's license but we're never in the states long enough anymore. We have to stay out for 330 days a year or pay the evil IRS.
Honestly, I don't think driving here is that much scarier than I95.
 
freefall2:
I've done over 400 skydives

:11:

i said i liked adventure, not that i have a death wish!

hehehehe... kidding... skydiving is on my list of things to do

but

i am married, and melinda (my wife) has drawn the line (motorcycles, diving, and flying
are ok... skydiving.... not ok)
 
Check out the stuff on the US State Department web site on Honduras, Roatan, and renting vehicles. We've rented vehicles in many developing nations we've visited, but Mexico and Jamaica are two I'd never consider getting behind the wheel while in either country. Our recent visit to Roatan in early April 2005 has caused me to add Honduras to that list - I was pretty sure it would be after checking the stuff on the state department site. Better to check out beforehand and make an educated decision in my opinion.

www.travel.state.gov

We have a MasterCard that's kind of oriented towards travelers on world spanning trips, and the only 3 countries in the world they will NOT provide insurance via the credit card by waiving the rental companies' insurance are Mexico, Jamaica, and South Africa. We haven't been to South Africa, but we'd add Honduras if we were running that credit card operation.

Is the cat still wrigglin' about, 'owlin?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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