I wrote this report over two years ago, but never got around to posting it anywhere. I was intending to make a fancy report with embedded photos at the other board (diver2diver), but that board was down for many months and I neglected to ever do it. I have sent this as an e-mail to a couple of people who enquired about Roatan, wanted info about snorkeling there, or were interested in our hotel (Las Rocas). They thought it was useful enough that it should get wider circulation, and encouraged me to post it, even though it is dated. Here it is:
Part 1
This report is written from a snorkelers perspective, as I dont dive. However, let me preface this by saying that I have yet to meet another person who is a more avid snorkeler than me. I have snorkeled at many places in the Caribbean (Cayman, Belize, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Coz), Baja, Florida, and Hawaii. I am also a trained biologist and dabble at underwater photography. This was my first trip to Roatan. We were there for two weeks, March 4-18, 2006.
Overall summary: I really liked Roatan and without hesitation would return.
Underwater photos are here: Roatan Honduras 2006 underwater Photo Gallery by Dave_Clausen at pbase.com
Above water photos are here: Roatan Honduras 2006 land Photo Gallery by Dave_Clausen at pbase.com
Land comments:
The island was beautifully green and lush with jungle vegetation. We stayed at Las Rocas, a small dive resort that is located on the ironshore just north of West Bay Beach. For detailed information on Las Rocas, see my reply to a previous post inquiring about Las Rocas:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=133192
As I said in the post, I liked Las Rocas and would recommend it, but if I were to go again, I would stay somewhere closer to West End where there are more restaurants and local flavor. My main reason for choosing Las Rocas was because of its proximity to West Bay Beach, which reputedly has the best snorkeling on Roatan. It turns out it would have been just as easy to stay in West End and take a $2/person water taxi to West Bay Beach during the day. Water taxis, however, do not generally run at night, so you were pretty much stuck at Las Rocas for the evening meal and drinks. One other hotel that that really impressed me was Luna Beach, and if I went again, I might look into staying there. Luna Beach was at the southernmost part of West End, so it was quiet, but it was an easy walk into the restaurants of West End. The resort was very tastefully done, and it had a nice long dock with a shade canopy on the end that was a little piece of paradise. I didnt look at any rooms, though.
Land attractions on Roatan are modest. We visited the butterfly farm (birds there, such as macaws and toucans, were a lot of fun), iguana farm, and Carambola Gardens. Each of these cost $5/person, and were enjoyable. Carambola Gardens has the only developed hiking trail on the island, a short hike that takes about 1 hour round trip to a ridgetop with a good view of Anthonys Key and the offshore reef. The Roatan Museum at Anthonys Key is free and was interesting. We took an all-day taxi tour from Victor Bodden (hes on the internet; do a Google search) that was very worthwhile and a reasonable cost (about $70 for 6-7 hours). The main road goes along ridgetops in some parts of the islands, and there are several viewpoints with sweeping vistas of the island and offshore reefs. After this tour, we didnt think we needed to rent a car, although we had originally planned to. We didnt go to Gumbalimba Park, which has a zipline. Misc. land comments:
1. It was pretty windy most of the days, so we werent bothered too much by sand fleas. Usually I didnt put on bug dope, but I did get a few bites.
2. I had no gastrointestinal distress at all, although I did not eat any salads. The friend that I traveled with had a slight problem one night (no big deal), but did eat salads.
3. You can take a collectivo taxi (small van) for about $2/person from West End to Coxen Hole, the islands main town. While Coxen Hole, as one guidebook says, is not particularly picturesque, we found it interesting to walk around one morning and experience the local culture.
4. Shopping is modest, but two tourist stores I liked were Cayuco in West End and Yaba Ding Ding in Coxen Hole. Both were relatively big and had some tasteful gifts.
5. Out of our 14 day stay, cruise ships were there 6. 5 of the days had 1 ship, the other day had 2.
Part 1
This report is written from a snorkelers perspective, as I dont dive. However, let me preface this by saying that I have yet to meet another person who is a more avid snorkeler than me. I have snorkeled at many places in the Caribbean (Cayman, Belize, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Coz), Baja, Florida, and Hawaii. I am also a trained biologist and dabble at underwater photography. This was my first trip to Roatan. We were there for two weeks, March 4-18, 2006.
Overall summary: I really liked Roatan and without hesitation would return.
Underwater photos are here: Roatan Honduras 2006 underwater Photo Gallery by Dave_Clausen at pbase.com
Above water photos are here: Roatan Honduras 2006 land Photo Gallery by Dave_Clausen at pbase.com
Land comments:
The island was beautifully green and lush with jungle vegetation. We stayed at Las Rocas, a small dive resort that is located on the ironshore just north of West Bay Beach. For detailed information on Las Rocas, see my reply to a previous post inquiring about Las Rocas:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=133192
As I said in the post, I liked Las Rocas and would recommend it, but if I were to go again, I would stay somewhere closer to West End where there are more restaurants and local flavor. My main reason for choosing Las Rocas was because of its proximity to West Bay Beach, which reputedly has the best snorkeling on Roatan. It turns out it would have been just as easy to stay in West End and take a $2/person water taxi to West Bay Beach during the day. Water taxis, however, do not generally run at night, so you were pretty much stuck at Las Rocas for the evening meal and drinks. One other hotel that that really impressed me was Luna Beach, and if I went again, I might look into staying there. Luna Beach was at the southernmost part of West End, so it was quiet, but it was an easy walk into the restaurants of West End. The resort was very tastefully done, and it had a nice long dock with a shade canopy on the end that was a little piece of paradise. I didnt look at any rooms, though.
Land attractions on Roatan are modest. We visited the butterfly farm (birds there, such as macaws and toucans, were a lot of fun), iguana farm, and Carambola Gardens. Each of these cost $5/person, and were enjoyable. Carambola Gardens has the only developed hiking trail on the island, a short hike that takes about 1 hour round trip to a ridgetop with a good view of Anthonys Key and the offshore reef. The Roatan Museum at Anthonys Key is free and was interesting. We took an all-day taxi tour from Victor Bodden (hes on the internet; do a Google search) that was very worthwhile and a reasonable cost (about $70 for 6-7 hours). The main road goes along ridgetops in some parts of the islands, and there are several viewpoints with sweeping vistas of the island and offshore reefs. After this tour, we didnt think we needed to rent a car, although we had originally planned to. We didnt go to Gumbalimba Park, which has a zipline. Misc. land comments:
1. It was pretty windy most of the days, so we werent bothered too much by sand fleas. Usually I didnt put on bug dope, but I did get a few bites.
2. I had no gastrointestinal distress at all, although I did not eat any salads. The friend that I traveled with had a slight problem one night (no big deal), but did eat salads.
3. You can take a collectivo taxi (small van) for about $2/person from West End to Coxen Hole, the islands main town. While Coxen Hole, as one guidebook says, is not particularly picturesque, we found it interesting to walk around one morning and experience the local culture.
4. Shopping is modest, but two tourist stores I liked were Cayuco in West End and Yaba Ding Ding in Coxen Hole. Both were relatively big and had some tasteful gifts.
5. Out of our 14 day stay, cruise ships were there 6. 5 of the days had 1 ship, the other day had 2.
