Good nature or cultural/historical tours ?

[Thoth]

I'm booked on the Carnival Valor for May 07 and have narrowed it down to 3 possible tours,

"Garifuna & Mangrove Tunnel" includes "Yubu: Garifuna experience", Punta Gorda, and Jonesville stilted village.

 

" Discover Roatan" Eastern Island includes Dixon Cove Harbor, a boat ride, Marble Hills Farm, gardens, and Yubu: Garifuna experience

 

"West Side" island tour. includes carabola botanical gardens, butterfly and bird sanctuary, and West End village.

 

I love nature, history, and culture. I'm not into beaches.

Has anyone done these ship tours ? Thanks

[Thoth]

The west side Island tour is probably better scenery and the butterfly garden and carambola is awesome.:)

Thanks !

[SeaPA1]

Based on your description of yourself, I would highly suggest the first one you listed (I've not done any of the tours, but have vacationed on Roatan roughly 20 times over the last 13 years).

 

The mangrove tour is very nice, typically done in either a kayak or a small motor boat. Very pretty trip in & around openings in the mangroves. Definitely the most nature oriented tour you can do on Roatan, outside of scuba diving. Punta Gorda is a village of predominantly "Black Carib" locals/natives; their people ended up on the island as part of the slave trade. Very interesting area, mud huts, nice people. Jonesville is an interesting fishing village, most all of which is built over the water. Doing this trip will also get you some spectacular views of some of the islands higher points, elevation-wise, and goes to the areas of the island that are lightly developed.

 

The botanical & butterfly gardens would be nice on the West side tour, and I personally love West End village, but from your description of yourself I think you'd prefer the other.

[Thoth]

Based on your description of yourself, I would highly suggest the first one you listed (I've not done any of the tours, but have vacationed on Roatan roughly 20 times over the last 13 years).

 

The mangrove tour is very nice, typically done in either a kayak or a small motor boat. Very pretty trip in & around openings in the mangroves. Definitely the most nature oriented tour you can do on Roatan, outside of scuba diving. Punta Gorda is a village of predominantly "Black Carib" locals/natives; their people ended up on the island as part of the slave trade. Very interesting area, mud huts, nice people. Jonesville is an interesting fishing village, most all of which is built over the water. Doing this trip will also get you some spectacular views of some of the islands higher points, elevation-wise, and goes to the areas of the island that are lightly developed.

 

The botanical & butterfly gardens would be nice on the West side tour, and I personally love West End village, but from your description of yourself I think you'd prefer the other.

Thanks for taking the time to share your input ! Sounds like all 3 are very good. Roatan must be an under-rated.

[Marie213]

We did the Discover Roatan tour and thoroughly enjoyed it! It had a little bit of everything. There was the boat ride, the Garifuna dancers with an opportunity to shop for crafts, the Jam Farm where you can sample and buy jellies - lots and lots of hummingbirds there with a beautiful garden. We rode in a van and drove through quite a bit of countryside. It was neat to see water on both sides of us at some points. We drove by beaches but did not stop.

[Thoth]

We did the Discover Roatan tour and thoroughly enjoyed it! It had a little bit of everything. There was the boat ride, the Garifuna dancers with an opportunity to shop for crafts, the Jam Farm where you can sample and buy jellies - lots and lots of hummingbirds there with a beautiful garden. We rode in a van and drove through quite a bit of countryside. It was neat to see water on both sides of us at some points. We drove by beaches but did not stop.

Again ...thanks...they all seem worthwhile.

[Divetex]

We just returned last night from the Grand Princess. Knowing that we were going to be spending a day in Roatan, and as the direct result of several recommendations on this board, I pre-booked a tour with Diana and Cinthia, requesting Lena Dixon as my guide. They accommodated my request, and all three of these nice ladies were there to welcome me when I got off the ship.

 

I didn't want to go to Tabyana with my family, and explained to Lena that I was wanting to take some "magazine cover-quality" photos of her island. Lena is a native of Roatan, and has lived there all her life. Since it was just me, she picked me up in her personal pickup truck, and off we went to see the east end of the island. Since Coxen Hole is much closer to the West End, we saw most of the island on the photo tour. Our first stop was atop the hill above the airport, where she even arranged permission for me to enter the locked airport control tower area. I climbed the tower, met the three controllers on duty, and took some great photos of our ship and the scenery from that seldom-visited location.

 

From there, we visited the Las Palmas, Coco View, and Fantasy Island resorts, stopping to photograph their White House, the home of the elected governor. We went to the new catamaran ferry terminal, where the new ferry to the mainland ports. We ended up our easterly drive at a high point overlooking the north shore, where I got some great long-distance scenic shots. On the way back to Coxen Hole, we visited the Arch Iguana Farm and French Harbour. Heavy rain preempted an afternoon of photographing the West End, but I was very happy with what I had already photographed.

 

All-in-all, I was exceedingly happy with the tour and with Lena. She is a very nice, Christian lady, and her tour exceeded my expectations. She speaks better English than many Americans, and is a professional in every respect. I highly recommend her.

[kftw]

Will you be posting any of your pictures? Or do you have a website where one might view them?

 

Thanks for posting a review. This really helps the rest of us that haven't been to Roatan yet.

[Thoth]

I just booked the following tour through Carnival's website....

" Discover Roatan" Eastern Island includes Dixon Cove Harbor, a boat ride, Marble Hills Farm, gardens, and Yubu: Garifuna experience

I'll have to post my thoughts on this tour upon my return. cheers to those who offered input.

[Divetex]

I don't normally post photos here anymore, but I'll see what I can do. It'll be a while, though.