Snorkeling in West Bay and an afternoon at the Carambola Botanical Gardens

West End, Roatán is a place where it would be easy to spend a week not doing anything besides wandering around the small town and relaxing on the beach, and for the most part, that’s what we did with our three and half days there. But the highlight of our trip was the few hours we spent snorkeling in West Bay. It was the best snorkeling we have ever done in the clearest water we have ever seen. 

Roatan Marine Park store

We rented the snorkel gear from Roatan Marine Park. They charge a very reasonable 5 US Dollars for 24 hours of gear rental and the money helps support the efforts being done to protect the coral reef. We snorkeled right off of the beach in West Bay, and there were hundreds of fish surrounding us before we even put our masks on. The coral can be really shallow; it practically makes a maze that you have to carefully navigate. It was impressive. There were so many different types of fish, different colors and shapes. We saw a sting ray not more than two feet away from us. Every time we said it was our last loop around, we went out again. This did result in a mild sunburn despite many applications of reef safe sunscreen, but it was worth it. 

Our view before snorkeling in West Bay, Roatan

Roatán is known for its amazing scuba diving. Almost every other building has a sign out front offering diving lessons. We had discussed it before we left and decided that if we wanted to learn to dive, we would do it at home first, but it’s easy to see why it’s such a popular activity there. The snorkeling was awesome. I can’t imagine how great the view is just a little deeper. 

This section of the West Bay beach is where we started our snorkeling adventure.

We also had a fun afternoon the following day exploring the Carambola Botanical Gardens in Sandy Bay (about a 10 minute cab ride from West End). The entrance fee is $10 and beyond worth it. There are walkways and bridges that wind through a large area of exotic plants, gorgeous flowers, hummingbirds and lizards. The pictures do not do it justice. It is also very quiet and peaceful, and we had a really wonderful time wandering around. We finished the afternoon with a hike to the summit for a beautiful view. The hike was steep and dark due to the thick forest, but easy enough and took about thirty minutes. Next time we would leave ourselves more time to just hang out at the top and enjoy the island from this amazing vantage point. 

A fun, exotic plant in the botanical gardens

There were so many interesting plants!

The view that was waiting for us at the end of the hike

We really enjoyed our time in Roatan and hope that the conservation efforts underway to slow/stop damage to the reef, the island, and the wildlife are successful. I would encourage all visitors to Roatan to educate themselves about some of the problems facing the island, especially those related to increased tourism, in order to make informed decisions and support businesses with environmentally sustainable practices.