Re-read the above posts, but I do "get" where you're going with that comment.
West Bay is where the money is. It is remote, populated with ex-pats who have come to Roatan to fulfill their dreams of owning a home in paradise. With these dreams come an idyllic blindness to the realities of building an upscale home, loading it with electronics, and then living in it like you were in Martha's Vineyard.
These particular unfortunate folks likely appeared to the bad guys to be the owners of a local mini-mansion. Prime meat.
Weeklong visitors, if they stay on the tourist trail, will be just fine. You are free to decide what the "tourist trail" is. If you are a 18 year old blonde girl named Natalie, the tourist trail might lead you off on a dark beach, blithering drunk with a couple of nice local boys. Did that mean traveling to Bonaire is ill-advised?
Living long-term on Roatan in a wealthy ex-pat enclave is a delightful fantasy for almost anyone. Many show up in a daze, or thinking they know what's in store. Then reality quickly sets in.
Not only is there no Walmart, but the concept of security is a rude shock. It is quite common for even visitors to see vaguely uniformed men sitting around, shotguns in their laps. Do some quick math. It is cheaper to hire a guy for a few Lempiras than to keep replacing your stuff. Private homeowners hire guard services, sometimes they split the costs with their neighbors.
If you want to look at a Roatan neighborhood that is buttoned down tight by professionals, look at Lawson Rock. You, as a tourist, will likely have no trouble rolling through for a look-see. Profiling is still quite effective in Honduras.
We have a sense of security back in the US, only shattered by the occasional sensationalistic story in the newspapers... just like this.
Your Stateside sense of security is just an illusion anyway. The local cops here are not there to protect you, they are there to take reports, something for your insurance. Cops in Honduras are spread really thin.
To protect the cash cow of Roatan, the tourists, they have placed enough "Tourism Police" in the tourist zones to keep you safe. You will never meet them- they are looking for mopes that do not belong in that zone. Profiling works.
If you wander off the beaten path, or go and act like a wealthy transplant home-owner- that's when you up the ante.
Now, combine the existence of a desperate mainland Honduran populace with easy access by daily ferry to un-guarded, un-patrolled and un-occupied homes. Homes that have big screen tv's, DVD players, maybe even computers. Nice cookware. 400 count cotton sheets. Stuff, that in the US, would be overlooked- becomes prime loot in Honduras.
Go and be a tourist, act like an adult, get bitten by sand fleas, go home happy.
If you want to move to the Islands (or appear as if you are coming home to your house at 10pm), that is a different conversation, one which I am- unfortunately, very qualified to talk further about.
okay....... can we move on now?
