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.

First stop: Roatán, Honduras

Our most recent trip took us to Honduras and Guatemala in late January/early February 2013. The plan had been to go to Thailand since we had almost two weeks for the trip, but along with the flights filling up, my husband and I were both suffering from some back problems, so we decided a shorter flight and a slightly shorter trip would be better. 

Our excitement at the thought of traveling to the islands in Thailand led us to search other islands/beaches for our destination. We also wanted to see and do more than just beaches and we started to feel that our parameters were excluding most plausible ideas. We were almost ready to give up on the beach portion of the trip when we ran across the flight from Houston to Roatán, Honduras. After doing a little more research, we decided we would spend a few days in Roatán and then travel through Honduras to Copán, and then to Antigua, Guatemala before flying out of Guatemala City. We decided on a Thursday morning that this is where we would travel, and we left on that Saturday. Although we had just 48 hours to plan this trip, I don’t think we could have done a better job if we’d had more time; it was perfect. 

We stayed in West End on Roatán Island at Posada Las Orquideas. The hotel was basic, but large and very clean and had a deck that overlooked the water. It also had a kitchenette. It is a 5-10 minute walk from West End which can be extremely muddy. A flashlight was necessary to traverse the road at night, but we enjoyed staying there and would recommend it.

Walking up to the hotel

Walking through West End

West End is a great small town that sits right on the water (Half Moon Bay). The town has a relaxed feel to it, and it’s easy to see why so many people vacation there and decide never to go home. Many of the restaurants appeared to be owned by ex-pats, not locals and the price for food at restaurants there was about what you would expect to pay in the States (140-260 Lempira, equivalent of about $7-13 for dinners, less for lunch). There was a great deal of variety. We had some amazing fish tacos and some decent Thai food during our stay.

But the best food we had was at Cindy’s, a small hut serving mostly local Honduran food right in West End. It was run by a very friendly Honduran woman named Cindy, unsurprisingly. Our favorite thing there was the baleada, which is a popular Honduran food. It is a thick flour tortilla folded in half with fried beans, cheese and a variety of toppings. We tried the chicken and avocado baleadas there and loved them both. Cindy’s wasn’t open for dinner, but we did go there for lunch three times during our four day. Sadly, Cindy’s is one of the only places we didn’t get a picture of in West End. I assume this is because we were so focused on our hunger and eating the food as we walked up and full and happily distracted as we left. 

Sundowners Bar on the beach in West End

The sunsets over Half Moon Bay were amazing, and there were a few great bars from which to watch them. The beers were pretty cheap almost everywhere, about $2 each for local beers, cheaper during happy hour. The three most abundant local beers are Port Royal, Imperial and Salva Vida. We preferred Port Royal, but Salva Vida was also good. 

 

Sunset over Half Moon Bay in West End