Paya Bay Resort

[bonnie voyage]

Has anyone been to the Paya Bay Resort recently? If so, I am interested in knowing how your day was. Thanks.

[BeagleMommy]

Hi Bonnie,

DH and I were in Roatan *fairly* recently (on NCL Sea, docked there on 12/1 or so), and we spent our day at Paya Bay. We were AMAZED by the resort. It is just SO beautiful, and so *intimate*... we just loved it. It is WAY off the beaten path - clear on the opposite side of the island actually - owned by locals, very small. We were the only guests that day, so we had the whole place to ourselves. We were treated just magnificently. They gave us a little room - overlooking the ocean of course - to change, relax, whatever in... then they were all ready to serve us lunch, but we weren't hungry yet so we had them take us snorkeling first instead.

The snorkeling was MIND BOGGLINGLY AMAZING there. I heard some other people back on the ship later that night saying they were disappointed in the diving at Roatan. I can only guess that they were down on the busy end of the island, where all the ships dock. Because where we were was some of the lushest, richest coral I've ever seen. And it was shallow where they took us - 5-10 feet deep ! - so the colors were SUPER vibrant. I just can't say enough about that snorkel experience, it was so fantastic.

But we did eventually have to stop, and came back to the resort, got showered (always so nice to have a shower available after being out in the saltwater) and changed, and were treated to a scrumpuous lunch of sauteed lobster tails and shrimp. Very yummy. And then we just lounged around the place like we owned the joint... Oh, it was fabulous.

And then before we knew it it was time to go back to the ship. The bummer of visiting on the NCL Sea is that, since she doesn't dock till noon, you really only get half a day there. And since it takes 45-60 minutes to get to Paya Bay, you really don't get all that much time at the resort itself. But I wouldn't have done any other excursion for anything. Even the short time we had was the best I could possibly imagine. And, the drive to and from is VERY interesting.

So there you go, there are my thoughts. FABULOUS place if you like doing your own thing in abject paradise far far away from the ship crowds. We loved it so much we really really want to go back and spend a week just at Paya Bay.

:cool:

[Zeno]

Did you snorkel directly from shore or did you have to go out in a boat ? I am looking for a place in Roatan with EASY shore entry for snorkeling.

thx

[debsite]

Hi,

Did you book the shore excursion through the cruise ship. We are on the Sun in March, and I don't see this excursion offered. Does it go by another name?

Thanks.

[bonnie voyage]

Debsite....nope, not a shore excursion. I booked directly with Paya Bay, $59.00 per person which includes transportation to and from along with your lunch. I think snorkeling may be extra. We will be there in a couple of weeks. I have only heard great things about Paya Bay. Will post a short review when we get back. You can do a google search and they're website should show up.

[Fran0521]

Has anyone been to the Paya Bay Resort recently? If so, I am interested in knowing how your day was. Thanks.

 

 

Part of my husbands review on Paya Bay, we were on the Sun the week of 11/13/04. He has a complete review under NCL it would be the Sun Review week of 11/13/04, by The Celler Dweller, if you would like to read up on it, too long to copy here. I might add that traveling thru Roatan to Paya Bay you see much poverty, which really made our granddaughter age 16 very emotional at seeing how they live, and the little children selling sea shells for "just $1" as they say. Its an eyeopener, but we are glad she saw how other people live, she was really move by seeing this, not sorry she did.

 

I have some if you are interested in seeing Paya Bay, if you would like to leave your email or they are on http://www.cruiseclues.com under the Norwegian Sun

 

Tuesday – Roatan - No Tender service. Ship is able to dock at the pier. However, this day another ship The Sea also arrived. We were able to dock and discharge passengers. At the end of the pier there is a gate you pass through, like a security gate. Top of the gate had barbwire and razor wire. You got the impression there has been trouble or problems in the past. Then the Sun moved from the pier to allow the Sea to do the same. The Sun tendered the rest of the day. Very short only took ten minutes to get to the ship. We spent our day on an off ship excursion to Paya Bay Resort. We found this out through a Cruise Critic. Payment had to be paid in advance. We wired the money a few weeks prior to embarkment. They met us at the pier with a van and had a 50 minute ride east to the Resort. The road was paved for the most part but the last 20 minutes unpaved through the jungle. This resort is private with 2 sandy beached. Has 7 cottages and a community room used for dinners etc. Unfortunately the weather was not the best raining and very windy. Later that day we were able to get out in the boat and my granddaughter and I did some snorkeling. The coral was the best I’ve seen in some time. Roatan is a very high in poverty. It’s sad to see children begging for money. It’s very sad to see the animals with bone protruding from their sides and backs. Enough of that. Look for separate review of Paya Bay.