Roatán
Turquoise Bay Dive and Beach Res...
Mon Dec 13th, 7 Nights, All Inclusive
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Toronto
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Roatán
Paradise Beach Club
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Henry Morgan Resort
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Las Sirenas
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Mayan Princess Beach Resort
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Media Luna Resort
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Amidst one of the world's great coral reefs
Imagine, for a moment, a group of small Caribbean islands with fabulous diving, sandy beaches, swaying palms, lush mountain vegetation, a broad range of hotels and restaurants and, miracle of miracles, moderate prices... This is a pretty good description of Roatán and the Bay Islands (Islas de la Bahía) in Honduras!
Overview
Roatán, the biggest of the islands, offers the most variety. The town of Coxen Hole, on the south coast of the island toward the west, is where most visitors get their first glimpse of Roatán. This is the main commercial centre, the place to change money, take care of groceries, buy air or ferry tickets, renew immigration documents and look after various other practical odds and ends. The town itself offers little of real interest, although it may still be worth taking a stroll along the main street and over to the public market two blocks behind.
Several villages lie to the east, including French Harbour and Oak Ridge, the two towns that are home to most of Roatán's fishing fleet. Both are also home to tourist resorts. Oak Ridge is perhaps the most picturesque of Roatán's villages with a strong Caribbean flavour and a harbour that bustles with small fishing and passenger vessels.
Not far away, on the north side of the island, is the Garífuna village of Punta Gorda. Houses and other buildings stretch in a thin line along the beachfront in typical Garífuna fashion. East of here, the island is very sparsely populated.
The site of the most recent development is to the west of Coxen Hole. Sandy Bay is home to several of the top resort hotels, and farther west are the laid-back environs of West End, with its long sandy shore and broad choice of low-to-medium-priced accommodations.
South of West End, reached by a newly built road that swings inland behind the coastal hills is West Bay, with its especially beautiful beach and its dynamic tourism scene. The Tabayana Beach Resort in West Bay is not a hotel, regardless of what its name may suggest, but rather a beach and picnic area intended mainly for cruise ship passengers and also for guests of Anthony's Key Resort, which administers it. This expansive area of beach and forest includes a restaurant, several shops, diving facilities and several rustic buildings, although from time to time the only human presence here is its caretakers.
The Carambola Botanical Gardens are home to a wide variety of exotic trees and plants. Walkways lead visitors through areas of flowering plants, orchids, ferns, spices, fruit trees, and hardwood trees, including Honduran mahogany. The summit of Carambola Mountain can be reached in an easy 20-minute hike. Along the way are breeding grounds for iguanas and parrots. There are fine views from the top of the mountain, including an interesting perspective on the reef formations.
The Roatán Museum contains a small air-conditioned museum with a few pre-Hispanic pieces as well as artefacts and dioramas illustrating the colonial period. But most people come to see the dolphin shows at the Institute for Marine Sciences. It is possible to go swimming with the dolphins at specific hours or to go diving with them.
Attractions
Beaches
West Bay Beach, a short distance beyond West End, is a long, broad, white-sand, palm-shaded beach and justifiably one of the most popular on the islands. It can be reached by a footpath along the shore but is easier to get to by boat.
On the eastern part of the island, there is a good beach at Half Point Bay near Oak Ridge. Farther east is Port Royal, which has the remains of a fort and a beautiful, almost deserted beach with some nude bathing.
Dive sites
The Bay Islands are a paradise for divers. There is a good variety of dive sites around Roatán, with walls, drifts, caves, canyons, and both deep and shallow reefs. There are also some wrecks near French Harbour. Most dives sites are only a short boat trip away.
Some of the best diving is found off the area around Oak Ridge in the eastern part of the island. One of the more spectacular dive sites, Calvin's Crack, has a hole in the reef full of lobster, king crab, pufferfish, sharks, spotted eels and green moray eels.
Near West End, a dive site called La Punta consists of a long platform with a current strong enough for drift diving. The coral is in good shape and there is a wide variety of fish. West End Wall extends from a depth of 15 m to 45 m and features a variety of sharks which have an abundance of food and do not concern themselves with divers. Pablo's Place has beautiful coral walls and an abundance of barrel sponge at depths below 25 m.
Going Out
Evening activity on the Bay Islands centres around restaurants and bars. Cultural events are few and far between, although certain restaurants may occasionally offer video showings. If anything special is happening (particularly in West End), it will usually be signposted several days in advance. One or two discos have operated sporadically on Roatán.
Where on earth
The Bay Islands consist of three main islands and many smaller cays, all situated between 35 km and 60 km from the Honduran north coast. Roatán is by far the biggest and most varied. The island is long and narrow, more than 40 km long but only 2 to 4 km wide, and its population approaches 20,000. Roatán has the greatest choice of accommodations on the Bay Islands and some fine beaches.
