Here's a review since you asked! Lots of info!

[Seaislegal]

I just spent two weeks on Roatan, discovered it back on a cruise in 1999. This was our second time staying on the island and it is a beautiful and still relatively unspoiled paradise (unlike many of the other Caribbean islands these days). We just got back on Saturday so my info is recent and we are heading back next year again for two weeks and so I can get Married there!!!

 

We used Diane and Cinthia a lot the two weeks we were there based on recommendations from this board (thanks fellow posters!!). They were fantastic!!!!! They did everything from pick us up a the airport and when one guy misplaced his bag (turned out it had been put in the wrong house at our resort which was not their fault) Diane went back to the airport on her own to review the security tapes to ensure where the bag went.. above and beyond service in my book!! You can find them under RoatanCabTours.com

 

We also did the Palmetto Bay canopy tour one day with Diane and Cinthia, also going to the Iguana farm and the View Restaurant for lunch. And another day we went to the Hole in the Wall bar restaurant on the far east end of the island (the restaurant is accessible only by water taxi from Jonesville.) I posted the canopy tour info in a response under a separate canopy tour thread.

 

Diane and Cinthia also took us to a horseback riding place. We used Shirkey's, also got that recommendation from these boards!... it was really a great horse ride.

 

Diane and Cinthia are Roatan natives so give all sorts of interesting stories along the way, plus will recommend additional stops and places to visit outside of the norm. I learned a lot more about the island this time around. So in my book, that is definitely the way to go. They will treat you right versus some of the regular cabs that will rip you off and drive like maniacs (we saw one flip over!). Plus they have different sizes of transportation (we had 18 of us the first week and 9 the second and they had no problem accomodating both amounts).

 

For beach, West Bay is definitely the nicest with amenities. You could have your driver take you to one of the lesser known beaches but you may need to stop and get food / drink supplies along the way. Diane mentioned some other beaches, we just didn't manage to get there.

 

A good way to do West Bay is to go to West End and water taxi it over there, or have your driver drop you off at somewhere like Fosters and walk out and hang near Bite on the Beach. Our favorite way to go was to take a cheap $1.50 float along and just hang in the water most of the day, there is a good bar at Fosters and also Bite on the Beach (which has great food). At the other far end of the beach you can snorkel right off the beach to the reef.

 

West End is the place to hang if you want to shop, hit beach bars and restaurants and as I said, West Bay is a $1.50pp water taxi a way.. or if you hire transportation, they'll take you there as well.

 

Lots of great restaurants in West End, everything from local cuisine to Thai, Italian, Indian, Mexican, Argentinian and more.. I can't say I've ever had a bad meal on that island and that is saying something!! Some are only open at dinner, Pura Vida does lunch and does a real good brick oven Pizza. The Rotisserie chicken place has the best rotisserie chicken I've ever had, its so moist and flavorful. The Argentinian Grill is located in Half Moon Bay and is really good. Rick's above West End divers serves great grilled food and thai pastas and more. There is a pizza place below it but I liked Pura Vida's pizza better. Rudy's serves breakfast all day and its worth it. Their smoothies are enormous and better than any I've had stateside... Fresh pineapple, papaya or even coffee smoothies are a few of the flavors we tried.

 

Be sure to stop in a bar and have a Monkey La La which is Roatan's drink. Its similar to a mudslide. The bar at Sundowners makes really good and potent ones, as does Luna Beach where we stay. Some bars have happy hours from 4-7 so if your ship is docked late you might be able to make part of one. Twisted Toucan and Fosters Waterfront bar are other good stops. Fosters sits out over the water and has these hammock swing chairs you can sit in... just be sure to get in them carefully as one friend of mine fell off the dock into the water trying..lol! Then again taht was night time and she'd had a few already. Local beers are Salva Vida, Barena and Port Royal and are all worth a try! Trust me.. I had many in the last two weeks!

 

RoatanNet.com has a lot of good information and links as well. We didn't do one of the sailing trips but I hear Captain Dusty is well recommended if you have a small group (around 6). I think the ships monopolize most of the catamarans.

 

FYI, if you do go and stay on Roatan I highly recommend Luna Beach Resort. That's where we stayed for the second time. Its located in between West End and West Bay. I think some cruise ship tours stop through there as we saw the Kayak tour come through to look a the bird cages. Plus Shirkeys horse ride goes right by too. We rented houses on the hillside but they also have beach cabanas. Its in walking distance of West End's bars and restaurants, but still very private.

 

Be sure to bring bug spray (high deet stuff, not skintastic) and remember to respray as SOON as you get out of the water. The only folks that got real bit in our group were the ones who forgot to do that!

 

Hope this helps and you come to love Roatan as much as I do... and I'll be saying "I DO" down there next year !!!

Andrea in Atlanta :)

[dgack1]

thanks for the review:p

[wibeachbum]

Thanks for the review. We would love to spend some time in Roatan. Which airline did you use and how much did you pay? I bet the airfare is high.

[Seaislegal]

Actually we cheated and used SkyMiles to fly for free on Delta since they started flying in March direct to Roatan on Saturdays. Continental flies direct from Houston on weekends too, as does Taca from Miami and Houston. You can also fly on several airlines to the mainland, San Pedro Sula (SAP) or Tecguplipa (TGU) ok I think I spelled that one wrong. And then there are several small local airlines that you can take to get to Roatan from there.

 

Flight prices I've seen vary, usually from around $500 to $800... same as getting to most Caribbean islands. One difference being it is a LOT cheaper to stay, eat and play on Roatan than most islands. My diver friends said it was half the cost or more of other places. You can get an hour massage for $35, go horseback riding for a couple of hours for around $40, get beers for $1 to $1.50.

 

On Cayman I recall paying nearly $7 for a beer one time and $10 for a burger, same with in Nassau.. $5 a beer and such. We felt so broke every day. I budgeted $100 a day spending in Roatan and bought home a few hundred dollars!

 

Andrea in Atlanta

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

Did Diania and Cynthia take you to The Mayan Princess Resort in West Bay? That is where they are taking us and was wondring how the beach is? She is also taking 2 of my friends to a canopy tour but I'm not sure which one. Do you know if we can walk to Fosters from Mayan Princess?

[Seaislegal]

Nope we didn't have them take us there, but thats because we could hop a water taxi from our resort any time over to West Bay if we wanted to go to Mayan Princess.

 

The beach there is beautiful, and yep you can walk to Fosters from there. Better bet for food though is Bite on the Beach which is at the one end of the beach (if facing the water, head right and down to the end of the beach, its just past Fosters and juts slightly out over the water). Just past Bite on the Beach around the bend is Los Rocas, also has a real nice bar.

 

If you are looking for a cool beach bar, there is a new one if you head left on the beach, by one of the water taxi piers. There is a fence in front of it and its just a small beach bar with wooden seats you can hop up on to. Better drink prices than at Fosters.

 

Hope this helps!

Andrea

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

You have been a great help! Thanks so much! :D

[tahitisweetie]

looking to go in june, 2007; sounds like you are familiar with the island; I can't figure out if it is heavy rain season in june or slightly, mildly rainy; would you happen to know? we want to do a lot of snorkeling; pluas we have to fly from san pedro sula--don't know of any ferries-

thanks,

tahitisweetie

[Seaislegal]

We went in May before and the only rain we got was a short downpour around 10am some days.

 

From San Pedro Sula you can hop flights on Islena (a Taca regional), Atlantic or Sosa airlines. You can book Islena online. For the others I gather you can just walk up to the counter in San Pedro Sula to book on the next flight. They usually stop in La Cieba on the way to Roatan. For the Ferry, I think that goes out of La Cieba.

 

Andrea in Atlanta