Roatan

1,375 Views | 7 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by Esteban du Plantier
Ragoo
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AG
Anyone been?

Suggestions?
Tips?
Places to stay?
Things to do?
How to explore the island?
ETC

two adults, early 30s.
Tom Hagen
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AG
I had a friend who went scuba diving off of Roatan, and the boat left him. He had to swim 2 miles back to shore.
KW02
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AG
We went several years ago. Stayed at Infinity Bay on West Bay and booked on VRBO. Picked up drinks and snacks for the beach on the way to the condos. Nice trip and relaxing. We did not do any excursions.
The Chicken Ranch
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AG
I went ten years ago and haven't been back. We will probably go within the next 5 years.

I stayed at Fantasy Island. The diving was great, but the island is very poor. I had no problem with the Resort or the dive operation. However, like many "all-inclusive" resorts the food choices got old by the end of the week. I've also heard good things about Coco View.

The next time we go we will stay at Anthony's Key because they have a kid's program for kids age 5 and up, so the parents can dive.

Of all the places I've been diving, Roatan is the poorest. But their reefs are amazing.
Bruce Almighty
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AG
Amazing diving, not much else. Also the biggest mosquitos I've ever seen.
Scott Sterlings Face
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AG
We went two years ago for my 30th and are going back in a month. We absolutely loved our trip, but we stayed in the less touristy West End and not West Bay. We rented a condo for a week on the beach with its own pool through VRBO for $1,500 total and split that with another couple. On our way in from the airport, we stopped at a grocery store and picked up food, booze and water, which made the trip much more affordable.

Here are a few recommendations for West End:

Dive Shop: Sun Divers Roatan - we did our PADI certification through them and they were great.

Fishing: Roatan Anglers (Lonny is the captain and it's easiest to Facebook message them)

Restaurants: Tong's Thai Island Cuisine was the best we had, hands down. Cannibal Cafe had good Mexican food too. We followed along with the TripAdvisor recommendations and they didn't let us down.

Gumbalina Park - zipline throughout the park and hang out with the monkeys.

email me at sterling @ ppabv dot com and I will send you some more recs if you want.
ags1995
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AG
Been 3 times.
Fantastic diving! We stay at tranquilseas... love that place.
Found it on tripadvisor and love it.
Not a beach sort of place but you can get that at west bay. Nice palapa with hammocks at the resort.
People are very nice at that location. You can snorkel all the way to Anthony's key if desired. So much marine life to see. 2 hours snorkel time will be an amazing experience and, oddly, very easy.
Everywhere you stay, the food gets boring. A cheap taxi ride anywhere will take you to other locales. You do have to negotiate rates but our tranquilseas "family" taught me that art.
Warning: sand flies, as with much of the Caribbean, can be bad. Roatan is tough in that regard.
Bottom line is if I had any guts, I would live there... minimally developed and the reef is incredible.
Took my family to maui this year and they all agree to go back to roatan from here on out.
Just my 2 cents. Can get more specific if you need me to.
Edit: if you want 5 star luxury, roatan is not your place but we love the peace and small resorts. If diving is you thing, like it is mine, being on a boat with 4-6 people vs 25 (like anthoneys key), is the difference
austintiger
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Spent a week diving at Anthony's Key late last summer and it was great. Short boat rides, great diving, and good food with almost daily Honduran options. Accommodations were pretty basic but the waterfront room was huge, air conditioned, safe, and mini fridge with a covered terrace with hammocks. Took many a nap in the hammock during the post-lunch afternoon surface interval and sunsets were awesome.

Stayed an extra couple of days in an oceanfront VRBO with a private pool for like ~$99 a night (2 bedrooms with AC, full kitchen) which was a 10 minute drive to West End and West Bay.

Spent a couple of days on the beach at Bananarama in West Bay. Don't miss the banana doughnuts sold by Milton on the beach.

For West End food, I'd recommend Creole's Rotisserie Chicken, the baleadas place close to Creole's (the name escapes me), and Cafe Escondido. Sundowners is a fun casual bar in West End.

A drive out to La Sirena in Camp Bay for rum punch and conch ceviche is well worth it. Just make sure you don't try it in a janky rental car sedan with low ground clearance! Make sure you have some time to spend on Camp Bay Beach. After surviving 14 miles round trip on a very rutted road, we stopped at Temporary Cal's Cantina for a drink and snack on the way home. It doesn't look like much from the outside but the view is incredible.




Esteban du Plantier
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AG
Pretty much what everyone else said. Stayed at Fantasy Island, which was blah, but the diving was fantastic.

We didn't leave the resort much, but did go zipline through the jungle from the top of a mountain, that was pretty cool.
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