Snorkeling at Tabyana Beach - Restricted Areas?

[Raxter54]

We really enjoyed our Tabyana Beach Break we booked thru Carnival last February. The snorkeling was fantastic, but I had a few questions that maybe someone here can answer.

 

I was under the impression from what I had researched that Tabyana Beach extended down to the Iguana Wall to the southwest. But there was a fence a couple hundred yards from the wall that kept us from going down there. And the guides in the kayaks were trying to keep people away from that area. Are there private homes past that fence, or private resorts that kept people off the beach? Or were the kayak guys just trying to keep people away from the shallow areas so they wouldn't damage the reef? Just a little confused about what was going on.

[Guest 2000]

We really enjoyed our Tabyana Beach Break we booked thru Carnival last February. The snorkeling was fantastic, but I had a few questions that maybe someone here can answer.

 

I was under the impression from what I had researched that Tabyana Beach extended down to the Iguana Wall to the southwest. But there was a fence a couple hundred yards from the wall that kept us from going down there. And the guides in the kayaks were trying to keep people away from that area. Are there private homes past that fence, or private resorts that kept people off the beach? Or were the kayak guys just trying to keep people away from the shallow areas so they wouldn't damage the reef? Just a little confused about what was going on.

 

 

Grand Roatan Resort is between Tabyana and the wall. Most of the sand and water are public, as a guess they were restricting people do to damage not because of Grand Roatan, though being a third world county with all kinds of quirky, tis hard to know.

[IslandGallery]

are you asking about when you were in the water? or on land? "tabyana" is only the property behind the beach, not the beach itself. No one owns beaches in Honduras, they are all public. They own the land behind the tree line. In between Tabyana's property and The cliff wall at the end of the beach is Grand Roatan Resort. Again, they don't own the beach either. If you were talking about on land, then yes, the resort's property would be in between.

 

If you are talking about in the water then I guess I would need more info. Where was this fence? On land? If you go out too far, you would be at the point. The point is where the current changes because you are going from one side of the island to the other. It is possible they were keeping people contained for safety reasons as going too far out can be dangerous. Also, the closer you go to the land on that side, the more intense the structure of the reeef and the more complicated it is to get around without killing the reef. Though that area has been already very badly damaged due to years of people standing on the reef.

 

If you are talking about the fenced off property that is on the actual cliff itself- with a grassy area facing the water, then yes, that is private property because it is not a beach, so back a distance from shore on the iron shore would be a privately owned piece of beach.

[Raxter54]

are you asking about when you were in the water? or on land? "tabyana" is only the property behind the beach, not the beach itself. No one owns beaches in Honduras, they are all public. They own the land behind the tree line. In between Tabyana's property and The cliff wall at the end of the beach is Grand Roatan Resort. Again, they don't own the beach either. If you were talking about on land, then yes, the resort's property would be in between.

 

If you are talking about in the water then I guess I would need more info. Where was this fence? On land? If you go out too far, you would be at the point. The point is where the current changes because you are going from one side of the island to the other. It is possible they were keeping people contained for safety reasons as going too far out can be dangerous. Also, the closer you go to the land on that side, the more intense the structure of the reeef and the more complicated it is to get around without killing the reef. Though that area has been already very badly damaged due to years of people standing on the reef.

 

If you are talking about the fenced off property that is on the actual cliff itself- with a grassy area facing the water, then yes, that is private property because it is not a beach, so back a distance from shore on the iron shore would be a privately owned piece of beach.

 

 

I guess what I was talking about was the fence that separated Tabyana Beach from the resort. It ended about 30 feet from the water, and there were a couple vendor's stands at the end of the fence. And none of the beach vendors would go past that area. I'm assuming the resort somehow was able to keep them off their beach, or maybe there wasn't enough people down that way for the vendors to go there. If what you say it true, then I should have just taken my snorkeling gear, and walked down the beach to the wall and went snorkeling there.

 

As for the guides, I think they were just warning people away from the shallow water over the reef. I downloaded a map of the beach that showed an extensive area there that was only 3 feet deep, which would be hazardous to people AND the reef.

 

Next time there, I'll either walk down the beach to the wall, or pay one of the kayakers to tow me to the outer edge of the reef and then down toward the wall.

[Guest 2000]

I guess what I was talking about was the fence that separated Tabyana Beach from the resort. It ended about 30 feet from the water, and there were a couple vendor's stands at the end of the fence. And none of the beach vendors would go past that area. I'm assuming the resort somehow was able to keep them off their beach, or maybe there wasn't enough people down that way for the vendors to go there. If what you say it true, then I should have just taken my snorkeling gear, and walked down the beach to the wall and went snorkeling there.

 

As for the guides, I think they were just warning people away from the shallow water over the reef. I downloaded a map of the beach that showed an extensive area there that was only 3 feet deep, which would be hazardous to people AND the reef.

 

Next time there, I'll either walk down the beach to the wall, or pay one of the kayakers to tow me to the outer edge of the reef and then down toward the wall.

 

The better bet is to swim through the channel in front of Infinity Bay. This thread has heaps of info about snorkeling West Bay including maps and pics. The space near the wall is a bit to shallow to be able to get out of the water there.

[IslandGallery]

Okay, I understand you now. Yes, that is just the fence between the properties. No- Grand Roatan cannot keep you off the beach. That is public. The Vendors may just be there because they are NOT allowed to be in front of either property so they stay at the property line.

 

You can absolutely just walk down to the rock wall and go in the water. The issue is that the snorkeling there is pretty advanced. Unfortunately, most people that snorkel there are NOT so the area is VERY damaged. There are many small areas of reef, heads that stick up that you have to swim around and through. It's kind of tough if you don't knw what you're doing. There are places that you literally cannot turn around, there isn't room and so people DO turn around and stand up and kill tons of coral.

 

That whole area has some good spots so feel free to go anywhere in that range.

[cruisingrobinsons]

I found out there is an eel garden in the shallow area. I was snorkeling on my own and saw a few eels. Had no idea that this was an eel garden. I was told not to go there by kayak people after I had already wandered in there. This was about two years ago. It has been a year since we snorkeled there. Researching eels they do prefer shallow rockier areas. Makes since to me to Keep people like me who are just following the fish out.:D

Edited March 16, 2016 by cruisingrobinsons

[Raxter54]

Okay, I understand you now. Yes, that is just the fence between the properties. No- Grand Roatan cannot keep you off the beach. That is public. The Vendors may just be there because they are NOT allowed to be in front of either property so they stay at the property line.

 

You can absolutely just walk down to the rock wall and go in the water. The issue is that the snorkeling there is pretty advanced. Unfortunately, most people that snorkel there are NOT so the area is VERY damaged. There are many small areas of reef, heads that stick up that you have to swim around and through. It's kind of tough if you don't knw what you're doing. There are places that you literally cannot turn around, there isn't room and so people DO turn around and stand up and kill tons of coral.

 

That whole area has some good spots so feel free to go anywhere in that range.

 

I figure if I can have one of the guides take me to the outer edge of the reef, I should be able to explore without getting into anyplace shallow that might damage the reef.

[beckyjohns]

The better bet is to swim through the channel in front of Infinity Bay. This thread has heaps of info about snorkeling West Bay including maps and pics. The space near the wall is a bit to shallow to be able to get out of the water there.

 

We've been here a few times and agree that this is the best shore snorkeling we've ever seen. The last 2 times we were there, we followed these directions and went out to edge of the "wall" where the water drops off to who-know-how-deep. However, we agreed we probably wouldn't do it again. The guys on the kayaks literally yelled at us the entire time we were swimming out. They wanted us to stay closer to shore. I'm sure that they are trying to keep people from damaging the reef, since it gets VERY shallow and you have to find a path to get you out to the deep water, but we were being extremely careful and not kicking anything. It was incredibly frustrating (and nerve-wracking) to have people following you on kayaks telling you you can't be out here, you have to go back.

[Guest 2000]

We've been here a few times and agree that this is the best shore snorkeling we've ever seen. The last 2 times we were there, we followed these directions and went out to edge of the "wall" where the water drops off to who-know-how-deep. However, we agreed we probably wouldn't do it again. The guys on the kayaks literally yelled at us the entire time we were swimming out. They wanted us to stay closer to shore. I'm sure that they are trying to keep people from damaging the reef, since it gets VERY shallow and you have to find a path to get you out to the deep water, but we were being extremely careful and not kicking anything. It was incredibly frustrating (and nerve-wracking) to have people following you on kayaks telling you you can't be out here, you have to go back.

 

 

Apologies, I am not clear on where the kayak guys were warning you. If you swim thorough the channel in front on Infinity there should be now worry.

 

Some of my confusion comes from there being two reefs in the area, an inner one and one a bit father out. The inner one is safe enough, I follow it down to the wall, some times I swim back by way of the outter reef but the water is much deeper and if you get on the other side of the huge black rock it is possible to be swept around the tip pf the island, the current is sometime a challenge over there.

 

So, I go out through the channel and come back that way. I don't get out of the water down near the wall because the reef is to shallow there.