Wayfairers Posted May 5, 2014 #1 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Our cruise stope in Grand Cayman (still investigating), Belize (snorkeling), Cozumel (day at the beach probably) and Roatan. It is our first trip to Roatan and I'm having trouble deciding what to do. We are active, adventurous and like to try new things. We've snorkeled worldwide (Australia, Phillipines, South Pacific, Hawaii, US Keys, east coast, gulf coast, Mexico, throughout the Caribbean) and have hiked and done island/land tours in those places among others. Not sure if the monkeys in Roatan are going to be any different than when we hand fed monkeys in the Phillipines or those we saw face to face in Gibraltar. Also not sure if snorkeling in Roatan is going to be interesting. So, I'm asking for a description of your favorite excursion and hoping something will be the perfect thing for us to do. Thanks for your input! Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare crewsweeper Posted May 5, 2014 #2 Share Posted May 5, 2014 If you are not snorkeled/beached out, then an excursion to West Bay could fit your bill. You can either do the ship's excursion to Tabayana beach, or contact Bananarama and do their day pass, which includes transportation and is a decent deal. Or you could head a bit east on th south shore to Little French Key and do their AI. Alternatively, book a tour with Rony and ask him to show you his neighborhood or more local things on the island and take you to Gumbalinda Park or one of the zip lines or both, or even the mangroves up around Jonestown and skip the beaches. I say Rony here versus Victor, because Victor's drivers will take you to see his monkeys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2000 Posted May 5, 2014 #3 Share Posted May 5, 2014 I have heard more than one person say the snorkeling in Belize has nothing on Roatan's Marine Park. There are several zip lines on the island... fit as many in as you can..then tell us which one is best. I am a bit fan of Free Radical. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inishmore Posted May 7, 2014 #4 Share Posted May 7, 2014 If you are looking for a relaxing beach day at a lovely spot, I second Bananarama. We loved it there. A driver picked us up at the pier, and delivered us back when we said we were ready to go home. The beach was gorgeous and not overcrowded. Beers were ice cold and very inexpensive at their beachside bar. One our most memorable days. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wantocruisemore Posted May 9, 2014 #5 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Either do private with Rony or Victor and go to beach at west bay and snorkel from shore, or take ships excursion to Maya Key for snorkeling at the 70 foot wall drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endoellen Posted May 13, 2014 #6 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Rather than a ship excursion, we chose to book with Victor Bodden tours. It was fun and a great day for the money spent. We took the Zip N Dip group tour. The cost was $65 per person. The van picked up 10 of us at the cruise port and after about a 15 minute ride we arrived at the Mayan Jungle Canopy. We paid for our tour & were on our way to the zip lines. It does require climbing quite a few steps & inclines along with a cable & rope bridge crossing. There were a total of 12 zips thru the jungle from tree to tree platforms. Although I'm not very brave it was an experience I'm glad I did. My husband loved it. From there we took a short tour of the little zoo/monkey business. You can go in the pen with a couple of the monkeys and they love to dig in pockets and can open zippers on back packs in a few seconds! After this we left in the van for Bananarama on West Bay Beach. Beautiful beach, great water and delicious drinks there. Of course the drinks were not included. They did have lounge chairs for our use while there. The driver gave us the option of about how long we wanted to stay before returning to the ship. The group decided on about 1 1/2 hrs. It actually went by way too fast & we could have stayed longer. All in all it was a great day for our first time to visit Roatan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karlie1 Posted May 13, 2014 #7 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Check out Roatan Ocean Adventure if you want to see tons of lobsters, ask for Herbert. We booked with him in April. GREAT! Check Tripadvisor ratings, all 10's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archergal918 Posted May 22, 2014 #8 Share Posted May 22, 2014 The last time I was there (10 years ago) I booked a beach/lunch package with a guy who claimed to be Robert Plant's brother. He was a friendly Brit and the beach we could use, facilities and lunch were all better than expected. Make sure to bring insect repellent to any beach on Roatan - the sand fleas are famous. The bites don't hurt at all, but within 10 minutes you will look like you have measles on your legs if you don't spray down first. The water is warm and crystal clear on the beaches in West End. I think it has built up a bit in the past 10 years. I had such good luck in St. Martin taking a cab to the beach area of my choice and just walking until I found a good spot - might just do that again. I don't SCUBA, but there are many dive shops on that side to set you up and I saw people kayaking as well. Water is pretty calm, or was when I was there - and we saw the most exquisite red star fish all over the bottom - huge ones. Hope you enjoy Roatan as much as I did in 2004 and plan to again in 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayfairers Posted May 25, 2014 Author #9 Share Posted May 25, 2014 We ended up just walking around the shopping area and down to the beach. Was disappointed that it is so manufactured. We had heard that it was but thought it wouldn't be as false as it is. Next time may take a taxi into town where the better cruise terminal is for the day Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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