Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Is Roatan safe for private Tours? (MERGED THREADS)

lilmizz

By lilmizz,
in Roatan

 Share

Recommended Posts

crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

Posted
Posted

Well, crime is not unusual on Roatan. So I'm not in doubt that this likely happened. Poster(s) were on another cruise earlier last year, so not spammers. The owner of the Baan Suerte Spa was murdered in late December by an acquaintance, that and American Airlines offering nonstops to Roatan from DFW and Miami look like the latest stroies. But Roatan's on line news service is a bit behind on updates and doesn't appear to report general/tourist related crimes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Island Crazed

Island Crazed

Posted
Posted
Horrible things happen all over the world.

 

Do not for a single moment believe Roatan is immune.

 

 

 

To the OP, I am truly sorry you and your family experienced this.

 

Agree - in my bed-room community we've had increased crime not too different from this. Usually by people who live in a neighboring county closer to the city. You have to always be on guard!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

Posted
Posted
There is a travel warning for Honduras/Roatan which was updated on 12/24/2013:

 

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_6236.html

 

I feel awful that the OP & family were victims --- and am relieved they are all physically well.

 

The travel warning is primarily for the mainland and the districts around the capital and hinderlands where drug trafficing is present. Roatan and the Bay islands aren't mentioned. Nevertheless, the advice to be aware and to watch activities is good general advice for any port of call.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KuffMUp

KuffMUp

Posted
Posted

Sorry this happened to the op. It has been a long time since we were on Roatan but at the time it was my favorite stop on the trip.

 

The op mentioned "almost perfect island English". When we were there, we were told by a local that everyone who is native to the island speaks English. Apparently after the switch between British and Spanish oversight, the mainland sort of forgot about the folks on the island. Up until the 1970s everything was done in English. After the mainland found out there was no Spanish being taught, they required the schools to teach both languages. If he spoke almost perfect English, I would say he was a local to the island.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nanswanner

nanswanner

Posted
Posted

Reading this has me scared to get off the ship when we dock there in Feb. so all who have been there before feel it is as safe as any other island where you stop? I don't want to miss seeing a place I may never visit again just because of one post if it is a safe place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest 2000

Guest 2000

Posted
Posted

Safe is a matter of option, behavior and luck if you ask me.

 

I have been wandering the island as a solo female traveler for up to three months off and on for 14 years. I have been east and west, I go in to Coxen Hole for supplies by way of public transport when ever the mood strikes. I stroll West End in the early evening hours. I do not drink and I do not put myself in questionable situations.

 

I have more common sense than the average person. I do not behave like prey. I do not take anything with me I am not willing to loose and do not wear any jewelry. I have never felt my person was at risk.

 

Then again, if you happen to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time... nothing is going to save you from the nasty of the world.

 

No one can tell you you will be safe, no one can predict the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
just4steven

just4steven

Posted
Posted

I do have to say a couple things since I am visiting Roatan very soon.

 

1 - very sorry for anything that may have happened, I mean that.

 

2 - the first time I googled Roatan and anything that has to do with it, the number one thing is AVOID the east side, and number 2, do NOT do it on your own.

 

These results came from a combination of on here and the state.us.gov site about Honduras, and many other travel sites.

 

I will state that anything can happen to me at anytime, I understand that.

 

This person(s) has very limited posts here on CC. Someone mentioned that they are a previous cruiser so they are cool and everything is legit. Um, did you actually cruise with them, or did you just go by their previous TWO posts? Did you look at the post count? Did you interact with this family on your cruise? Do you know them by a first name basis?

 

This person also made the same post on TripAdvisor....... they just created the account and made the long post............ seems like either no research or a completely scammer.

 

If they are not, and you actually know them, please let the world know ASAP. We already know a lot about them, such as they are from Atlanta.

 

 

Again, if this happened, I am very sorry for them and I understand anything can happen to me at any time. I understand I could go to a completely safe place and get murdered.

 

This is just a friendly reminder, PLEASE only believe people with credibility on the Internet. These people have ZERO credibility right now with lack of posts and communication with others and where they are "spamming" their message.

 

And again, I am just going by research, my research says do NOT GO near the east side, especially on your own............ um, these people(s) have like 3 total post combined on here and on TripAdvisor. It may be legit, and I am so sorry if it is, but not saying they are a "fake", perhaps they do not research or anything and just think they can drive through wherever they want at anytime without looking things up??? If that is the case, you get what you ask for. They have knowledge of these forums, if they want to read them or not is their decision.

 

Then again, to rent a car........... sorry bro, you had to do some research and know better to rent a car in Roatan! Where did you learn about the car rentals? How did you make your decision? You had to have learned somewhere! If not............. again, sorry, but I would not take my family to part of Honduras without doing research.

 

So either way, the OP is kind of out of luck or credibility. A simple search would show to NOT go driving on the east end of Roatan! If they researched and just did it on their own...... again, very sorry man, and I mean that.

 

Long story short, you should have known better :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jollycruise

jollycruise

Posted
Posted (edited)

When we visited Roatan we rented a car and drove all over the island. There was one incident when we went down the wrong road by mistake and it was a dead end. We were met by a small group of men. My Husband started to reverse and one of the guys came up to the car and nicely told us we were in the wrong area and it would be best to leave. My husband thanked him and we reversed and were out of there. It was an honest mistake and we were ok, but we've also run into similar situations in downtown Denver. It can happen anywhere, I would go back to Roatan in a heartbeat and rent a car again. There are people with weapons on every corner of the earth, it can happen in our neighborhood or it can happen while traveling. None of that will ever take the travel bug away from me.

Edited by jollycruise
Link to comment
Share on other sites
pamawi

pamawi

Posted
Posted (edited)

Who would be motivated to get people to stop gong to Roatan? Perhaps people from Jamaica since they are on the competing western itinerary? Nevertheless, I appreciate the warning even though I would never rent a car there and usually do ship excursions and feel safe. I could magine a pilot and flight attendant might feel much more wordly and bolder than the majority of us cruisers and feel comfortable striking out on their own in a foreign country.

 

I would be highly offended if ai tried to share my experience with people and got accused of being a liar just because I haven't been active on on-line before. Maybe I'm just gullible but ai like to think the best of people. I was looking on cruise bruise and they don't seem to be up to date anymore with incidents in port. I would like to think if it was true that Cruise Critic news would have it. Perhaps the OP can respond to this discussion and share a police report with us or get the story more exposure.

 

Even though ai tend to believe it, it doesn't make me want to not go to Roatan. it is my favorite port to dive in and I wantto go there and stayma week, but in the relative safety-net of an all-inclusive resort. I've been debating between a group dive trip to Turqoise Bay and a dive trip with just a couple of friends to Cocview for a week in a Roatan and this makes me lean towards the group trip for safety in numbers although I like that Cocoview seems more isolated on it's own island and the owner of Turquoise Bay was murdered last year.

Edited by pamawi
Link to comment
Share on other sites
pamawi

pamawi

Posted
Posted
Who would be motivated to get people to stop gong to Roatan? Perhaps people from Jamaica since they are on the competing western itinerary? Nevertheless, I appreciate the warning even though I would never rent a car there and usually do ship excursions and feel safe. I could magine a pilot and flight attendant might feel much more wordly and bolder than the majority of us cruisers and feel comfortable striking out on their own in a foreign country.

 

I would be highly offended if ai tried to share my experience with people and got accused of being a liar just because I haven't been active on on-line before. Maybe I'm just gullible but ai like to think the best of people. I was looking on cruise bruise and they don't seem to be up to date anymore with incidents in port. I would like to think if it was true that Cruise Critic news would have it. Perhaps the OP can respond to this discussion and share a police report with us or get the story more exposure.

 

Even though ai tend to believe it, it doesn't make me want to not go to Roatan. it is my favorite port to dive in and I wantto go there and stayma week, but in the relative safety-net of an all-inclusive resort. I've been debating between a group dive trip to Turqoise Bay and a dive trip with just a couple of friends to Cocview for a week in a Roatan and this makes me lean towards the group trip for safety in numbers although I like that Cocoview seems more isolated on it's own island and the owner of Turquoise Bay was murdered last year.

 

Please excuse all the spelling errors in the above post. My iPad seems to throw in the letter a in front of I so there are a lot of ai where I meant I. I tried to edit to correct but time to edit had expired. I have reported the original post to CC to look into and perhaps run story on CC news and messages poster for more details.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
doggy59

doggy59

Posted
Posted
Really sounds odd for Roatan ? Looks like this would make some kind of news ?:confused:

you obviously know little of Roatan. Honduras is the murder capital of the world and Roatan is not much safer than the rest of Honduras. cruisers be very aware of where u are. violent crime has increased tenfold in the last 10 yrs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vsantos54

vsantos54

Posted
Posted

My husband posted the incident. I am his wife. My three daughters and I were a part of this nightmare. It did happen. It did not make the news because Roatan does not want this to get a lot of publicity as tourism is their main source of income.

We were lucky that we were not hurt. I feel that if we had not had any valuables to give this thug we would have been killed.

So please use caution when traveling there.

Carnival is taking this very serious and is taking measures to warn its customers.

There is a suspect who has been arrested. He was found lurking around west side with a gun that matched the description of the gun fired on us. My husband was emailed a photo to see if he could identify him. He could not 100 percent since the thug that robbed us had most of his face covered.

 

Our only purpose for putting this information out is to warn people. Please be careful.

 

We have photos of our car stuck on this road as well as photos of the place where one of the bullets fired left an imprint on the hood of the car. Had that bullet been a little higher it could have hit my eight-year-old daughter that was sitting in the center of back seat.

 

Email me at vsantos54@comcast.net and I will be glad to share.

 

Again, please be careful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
overthehillcruiser

overthehillcruiser

Posted
Posted

Sorry, but you are very incorrect about the island of Roatan. I do agree with you about the mainland. Curious how you know so much about my personal knowledge..I am not saying I know everything, but I have traveled to numerous countries in my 65 years, and am not exactly a dummy. Might be best if you stuck to the topic here and lighten up on the personal digs..

you obviously know little of Roatan. Honduras is the murder capital of the world and Roatan is not much safer than the rest of Honduras. cruisers be very aware of where u are. violent crime has increased tenfold in the last 10 yrs.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

Posted
Posted
My husband posted the incident. I am his wife. My three daughters and I were a part of this nightmare. It did happen. It did not make the news because Roatan does not want this to get a lot of publicity as tourism is their main source of income.

We were lucky that we were not hurt. I feel that if we had not had any valuables to give this thug we would have been killed.

So please use caution when traveling there.

Carnival is taking this very serious and is taking measures to warn its customers.

There is a suspect who has been arrested. He was found lurking around west side with a gun that matched the description of the gun fired on us. My husband was emailed a photo to see if he could identify him. He could not 100 percent since the thug that robbed us had most of his face covered.

 

Our only purpose for putting this information out is to warn people. Please be careful.

 

We have photos of our car stuck on this road as well as photos of the place where one of the bullets fired left an imprint on the hood of the car. Had that bullet been a little higher it could have hit my eight-year-old daughter that was sitting in the center of back seat.

 

Email me at vsantos54@comcast.net and I will be glad to share.

 

Again, please be careful.

 

Thank you and your husband for posting and againi reminding all of us that while not going paranoid on fear of danger, we still need to be alert and aware whereever we are. Glad you and your family were unharmed. I'm sure it was a terrifying experience for all of you. I do hope this doesn't affect any future plans for cruises or family vacations. Best you you in 2014.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...