Favorite Spots on West Bay Beach …

[Armedaneian]

My wife and I would like to snorkel at the end of West Bay Beach, as close to the tip of the island as possible. We don’t know where to have our cab driver take us… maybe the Mayan Princess or another resort close to that end of the beach. We won’t need gear, but a bar & grill and restrooms may come in handy! If anyone has a favorite spot on the beach, we’d love to hear about it. :rolleyes:

[Armedaneian]

... that my preferred snorkeling destination, the one that looks best from the satellite pictures, is right in front of Tabyana Beach. Does this mean it's too crowded and I will find better snorkeling elsewhere? Maybe at the opposite end of the beach… does anyone with experience there have an opinion? :confused:

[HAULNTA]

My wife and I would like to snorkel at the end of West Bay Beach, as close to the tip of the island as possible. We don’t know where to have our cab driver take us… maybe the Mayan Princess or another resort close to that end of the beach. We won’t need gear, but a bar & grill and restrooms may come in handy! If anyone has a favorite spot on the beach, we’d love to hear about it. :rolleyes:

I would also like to know the same info

[joy seas]

Just got back from Roatan last week - which we all LOVED! We had a great guy named Juan Carlos Rodriquez who picked us up at the ship, and took us to west bay beach. We started out at bananarama, then walked down to the left to the end. Juan's friend rents snorkel gear, a set for $10.00. We snorkeled in the gorgeous water- lots of fish and coral...be careful though, it gets shallow out over the reef, my daughter got a few scratches. We hung out at that end, then walked back to bananrama and had a cocktail (or two:D) The beach is easily walkable. There were a few people selling crafts on the beach, but we did not find them at all agressive. There were bathrooms and changing rooms at bananarama, and very friendly owners. Juan then took us to the monkey sanctuary, where the cute little monkeys climbed all over us. This was my kids highlight! Then back to the port, where we had a little time to shop along the waterfront of coxen hole. I can't say enough about our driver. He spent the day with us, stopping for beautiful vistas and photo ops, all for $30.00 per person (there were 8 of us)which included the snorkeling gear and monkey fees. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time - the island is lovely, and the people warm. Enjoy! Looking at your original question, I see I got off course a little.....tabyana is part of wbb, and where the cruise ship took their tour, it did look a bit crowded. No problem! just walk a little further. The best snorkeling is all the way to the left. You can rent chairs at several resorts along the beach if you'd like. A friend of mine has gone to the mayan princess for the day (I think she said it was $10.00 pp) and enjoyed the nice pool and amenities. Wish I was going too! Have fun!

[enjoyinglife]

... that my preferred snorkeling destination, the one that looks best from the satellite pictures, is right in front of Tabyana Beach. Does this mean it's too crowded and I will find better snorkeling elsewhere? Maybe at the opposite end of the beach… does anyone with experience there have an opinion? :confused:

 

how are you seeing it with satelittle pictures? I wonder if Google earth will give good pictures?

[Armedaneian]

Both Google Maps and Google Earth have a satellite view that shows the reef nicely :o

[enjoyinglife]

Both Google Maps and Google Earth have a satellite view that shows the reef nicely :o

 

I will try to get a view!

[jamin jul]

where is the monkey sanctuary- and did cost money to go there?

[cherdon]

We spent a week on west bay beach last year, Have the taxi drop you at Bananarama. You can then snorkel all along the beach and out toward Tabayana. Be careful of the Coral in some areas it is very shallow, do not stand on it. Also take bug repelant as the sand flies can be bad.

Bananarama has a great bar.

 

Have fun

[joy seas]

I think the fee for the monkeys was $3 pp. Juan just included it in his total price for the day .(see above:))

[FountainCruiser]

Was wondering where you stayed for the week. My wife and I would like to spend a week at a resort in that area. Any recommendations? We have looked at a few possibilities but having a hard time trying to decide what would be best. We just want beach time and snorkel time.

 

Thanks

John and Carol

[9illi9an]

Joy-Seas, where did you find Juan-Carlos? Does he have a web site?

 

Also, was the monkey sanctuary in Gumbalimba Park? Or is it a different sanctuary?

 

Thanks very much for your review.

[newt98]

http://islandertours.com/index.html

 

mike

[ebsam]

Sounds like you had a great day. How did you find this guy Juan Carlos. He is an independent tour guide, taxi driver or does he work or one of the tour companies. we will be in Roatan in a few weeks. I've been there before but do NOT want to go on a cruise ship excursion again. Thanks

 

 

quote=joy seas;17933927]Just got back from Roatan last week - which we all LOVED! We had a great guy named Juan Carlos Rodriquez who picked us up at the ship, and took us to west bay beach. We started out at bananarama, then walked down to the left to the end. Juan's friend rents snorkel gear, a set for $10.00. We snorkeled in the gorgeous water- lots of fish and coral...be careful though, it gets shallow out over the reef, my daughter got a few scratches. We hung out at that end, then walked back to bananrama and had a cocktail (or two:D) The beach is easily walkable. There were a few people selling crafts on the beach, but we did not find them at all agressive. There were bathrooms and changing rooms at bananarama, and very friendly owners. Juan then took us to the monkey sanctuary, where the cute little monkeys climbed all over us. This was my kids highlight! Then back to the port, where we had a little time to shop along the waterfront of coxen hole. I can't say enough about our driver. He spent the day with us, stopping for beautiful vistas and photo ops, all for $30.00 per person (there were 8 of us)which included the snorkeling gear and monkey fees. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time - the island is lovely, and the people warm. Enjoy! Looking at your original question, I see I got off course a little.....tabyana is part of wbb, and where the cruise ship took their tour, it did look a bit crowded. No problem! just walk a little further. The best snorkeling is all the way to the left. You can rent chairs at several resorts along the beach if you'd like. A friend of mine has gone to the mayan princess for the day (I think she said it was $10.00 pp) and enjoyed the nice pool and amenities. Wish I was going too! Have fun!

[cherdon]

Was wondering where you stayed for the week. My wife and I would like to spend a week at a resort in that area. Any recommendations? We have looked at a few possibilities but having a hard time trying to decide what would be best. We just want beach time and snorkel time.

 

Thanks

John and Carol

 

We rented a house on west bay beach right up the hill from bananarama.

I think it was called ENCANTO DEL MAR we rented thru http://www.vrbo.com

Nice house great veiw maybe 1/4 from beach.

 

Don

[FountainCruiser]

We rented a house on west bay beach right up the hill from bananarama.

I think it was called ENCANTO DEL MAR we rented thru www.vrbo.com

Nice house great veiw maybe 1/4 from beach.

 

Don

 

Cherdon,

Thanks for the reply, we will check it out.

 

Regards

John and Carol

[Carib210]

Just off the Carnival Legend last week and went to West Bay Beach- LOVED IT. Used Juan Carlos' driver and got a tour of island, then off to the Mayan Princess. Although we did not set a specific time to meet him, we got off the ship between 9- 9:30, and the driver was waiting for us just where he said we would find him. Liked that we did not have to get up at the crack of dawn for a ship's excursion and that we could go on our schedule and find that the driver was waiting for us. The Mayan Princess is a beautiful resort and the beach is a fine powder. Cost $10 p/p for resort and $25 p/p (just husband & myself) for the day with Juan Carlos (driver stayed with us vs. coming back at a set time).

[enjoyinglife]

Just off the Carnival Legend last week and went to West Bay Beach- LOVED IT. Used Juan Carlos' driver and got a tour of island, then off to the Mayan Princess. Although we did not set a specific time to meet him, we got off the ship between 9- 9:30, and the driver was waiting for us just where he said we would find him. Liked that we did not have to get up at the crack of dawn for a ship's excursion and that we could go on our schedule and find that the driver was waiting for us. The Mayan Princess is a beautiful resort and the beach is a fine powder. Cost $10 p/p for resort and $25 p/p (just husband & myself) for the day with Juan Carlos (driver stayed with us vs. coming back at a set time).

 

Do you think if youwanted to make a stop, he would have?

[fdny8950]

What did you get from the Mayan princess for $10pp. Was this just entry fee? Was the food good and if yes, was it reasonably priced.Also what about cocktails.Will be cruising to roatan 1st of March. thanks for all your help.

[Carib210]

Yes, the driver would stop anywhere we wanted him to. Offered to take us to the monkeys, but we declined. We wanted to spend time at the beach. In essence, he was assigned to us while we were in port and would have taken us anywhere we wanted. Also liked that for $25 p/p, we wouldn't have to wait on others. It was an early departure from Roatan and we could leave early if we wanted.

 

For the $10 at the Mayan Princess it was basically an entrance fee and for the lounge chairs. The driver takes you in to the front desk, then he escorts you down to the beach. My husband just bought a beer for himself and a pina colada for me ($3-beer, $6-colada), no food. BTW, we weren't bothered by anyone on the beach. A woman did offer massages right there, and approached me a few times, but that is because I initially expressed interest in getting a massage. I didn't bring all that much extra cash with me, and I knew I wanted to get my husband and myself t-shirts, so to be on the safe side, I passed on the massage. At the end of the day, the driver took us to a souvenier store for the t-shirts.

 

We could have also used the pool. The pool was absolutely beautiful, but when you have a beach like that, we didn't want to waste time in a pool!

[joy seas]

Juan carlos Rodriquez was such a nice guy - found him at http://www.islandertours.com. He was waiting for us as we got off the boat. Walked us right over to his clean van, and we were off! He spoke excellent english, and had multiple suggestions of things to do on his beautiful island. The monkey sanctuary that we visited was not in gumbalina park. This was a small private place outside someones home. This meant we had the place to ourselves, and had plenty of time to interact with monkeys. We probably spent 1/2 and hour there, which was plenty. The place was small, but one of the highlights of the trip for my teens!

[dst]

This is a great thread and I think we may have to use Juan Carlos for our trip in January

 

We are wanting to get a small tour of the Island, a snorkel trip (we have our gear) for about an hour and then some time relaxing on a beach (with some food and drinks)- do you think this is a possibility or are we trying to do too much in a day?

 

Can anyone tell me if the beach area was very crowded - Mayan Princess looks like it may be the best bet