Diving in Roatan, Honduras

Honduras Hurricane: What to Do When It Rains in Roatan

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After Costa Rica, following a day cruising through the Panama Canal, our Semester at Sea voyage made one final stop before docking for good in Fort Lauderdale. Originally, we were slated to visit Havana, Cuba, but when our travel license didn’t come through in time, that changed to Santa Tomas de Castillo, Guatemala. Well, one week before we arrived there, the state department deemed it unsafe for Americans to go to Guat due to gang activity, so we changed courses again, and that’s how we wound up on vacation in Roatan. Under water.

Roatan is an island off the Caribbean side of Honduras—most known for its all-inclusive vacations and chill beachfront backpacker resorts—but it’s much more Caribbean than Central American (in my opinion). These days, it serves as a major cruise hub, so as you can imagine, much of the island panders to mass amounts of tourists. If you recall, SVV and I had been to Roatan three years prior for vacation. We didn’t have the best of luck with things, as out of our 16 days in Honduras and Guatemala, we only had one without violent downpours (the last, naturally). I can’t say this time was any different. I’m beginning to think Roatan has just one weather setting, and that’s “hurricane-like rains and winds.” (I can’t really complain, though, given that up until China, we had zero rain on the first two months of our voyage.)

Still, we knew the ship would migrate toward the central party hub at West End, so we decided to go anywhere but there. An extensive TripAdvisor search told us that Barefoot Cay was the best place for what we were seeking—quiet, great diving, nice accommodations—so we grabbed our pals Layne and Brian, hailed a cab from the port, and made our way toward French Harbour.

Once there, we headed straight to the bar—it’s one of those “complimentary (and strong) cocktails upon arrival” kind of resorts (aka my kind of place)—and lounged by the pool while our room was prepared. The rain had abated for awhile, but you could tell it wasn’t holding back for long.

Our accommodation was a two-bedroom bungalow with kitchen and living room, part of “the Lofts” complex above the dive shop. We wound up going to the local supermarket and cooking pizza that night in an effort to save money, before watching a movie on my laptop and all falling asleep just after 8pm. (I’m sorry, y’all, but working on a ship is exhausting.)

The dive shop and Lofts are on a separate island—a private four-acre cay, accessible by free water taxi that goes back and forth all day—as the pool, restaurant and other little cottages.

Also on that island is a palapa from which you can swim, snorkel or kayak. Kayak and snorkel gear rentals are free for all guests; unfortunately, we didn’t get to do either of these activities! (Gee, thanks, rain.)

When it was clear we wouldn’t be catching any rays that first afternoon, we headed out to the end of the palapa, and despite the constant drizzle, the guys attempted to jump in. There’s a wreck just off shore that you can snorkel, but alas, visibility that day wasn’t great. They quickly gave up.

Luckily, the one thing Roatan is really known for is the one thing you can do under torrential downpours: dive. So dive we did. (Or dove we did? I always get confused on that one.)

On our second day, SVV and I headed out on the first dive of the morning to find only one other person from the resort would be diving with us. (We were there during the shoulder season.) He looked vaguely familiar, and once we got to talking, we figured out why: It was Ben, saxist for the jazz-funk band Galactic. I had seen them play when I was still a student up at Sewanee, SVV had attended a half dozen or so shows of theirs in San Francisco, and we’d seen them together at Bonnaroo some years ago. Ben couldn’t have been a friendlier, nicer guy, and he was down with his fiance getting his open water certification. She came along with us on the second dive.

The diving was phenomenal despite the conditions on top, and I promise to post more pictures in an upcoming Photo Friday. Unfortunately for us, we only had two brief days at Barefoot—and one all-too-short evening—before it was time to taxi back to the port, reload the ship, and set sail for the final stop of our four-month adventure.

COMMENTS
  • January 30, 2012

    I’ve been dying to visit Roatan! I love that first shot.

    • January 30, 2012
      Kristin

      To be honest, it’s not my favorite of Caribbean destination in terms of above-water activities, but man, the diving is awesome.

  • January 30, 2012

    I really need to spend an hour with you (well more than that) asking you about some of your amazing photography. Gorgeous photos, as always! I missed going to Honduras when I went through the Panama Canal, it wasn’t one of the stops, I have been there before but I was a child with my family (when we were living in Panama) and I only have a few memories. This looks like a ton of fun!

    • January 30, 2012
      Kristin

      I don’t think I realized you’d done the Panama Canal, too! Sort of anticlimactic, eh? (Though going through the locks was really cool to watch.) So when are we making that hour/afternoon happen??

  • January 30, 2012

    You made me miss my diving in Utila. I want to go SO BADLY. It is one of my favorite things in the world. It is weird though. Roatan and Utila are 2 completely different worlds.

    • January 30, 2012
      Kristin

      So I hear. I’d love to dive Utila–unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to leave the island while there this time (though I doubt we even had enough time to make the trip there and back!). Someday.

  • January 30, 2012
    Briel K.

    Love the pics, especially the second one! It looks so cozy with the lights and dark atmosphere and the hammock.

    • January 31, 2012
      Kristin

      Hammocks instantly make all scenes and situations better–wouldn’t you say?!

  • January 30, 2012

    You guys stay in the nicest places!

    • January 30, 2012
      Kristin

      Our dirty little secret is using Trip Advisor for finding where we stay–I still think it’s the best!

  • January 30, 2012

    I think that first shot belongs in some kind of contest!

  • January 30, 2012

    I can’t wait to see more of your diving photos! I admit, I loved Roatan, but every trip is circumstantial, right? We had great weather, and we were there on holiday from a summer in Grand Cayman so we were all ZOMG BACKPACKERZ AND AFFORDABLE BEERZ. We loved Utila too 🙂

    • January 31, 2012
      Kristin

      True dat. The diving at our resort was awesome, too–I cannot complain there–and the place was really nice, too, I just wish we’d had some sun! It’s been so long that I’ve gone diving and actually been able to see the colors underwater, as it seems all my recent dive trips have been in undesirable weather.

  • January 30, 2012

    I’m sure the diving was great but I’d just like to spend the day in that hammock!

  • January 30, 2012

    Kristin, I have to say that one of the things I love about reading your blog is how easy and joyous you make all your travels sound. I would be a positive WRECK trying to figure out docking in a port, hopping off the ship and heading to another resort or hotel or exploring time. Then again, you have about a gabillion times more travel experience than I do, so, duh! But reading about your adventures always reminds me when planning my own trips to just relax and not to freak out. So thank you for that!

    • January 31, 2012
      Kristin

      You are so sweet to say that. Honestly, my favorite part of what I do for work is the planning itineraries for others through writing. (It’s the uber-Type A in me.) I think I would love that aspect of having a travel/tour operator company. But I was just having this conversation over Skype with two blog friends on how what makes one comfortable (for me, that’s travel or meeting people) is another person’s weakness or fear to overcome (and for me, that is public speaking, as you and I have discussed before!).

  • January 30, 2012

    And also, of course, the awesome photos. I simply love oohing and ahhing over the photos you post. 🙂

  • January 30, 2012

    All these photos are beautiful but that first photo is OFF THE CHAIN!

    • January 31, 2012
      Kristin

      Coming from the master herself, that means a lot! =)

  • January 30, 2012

    Bummer about not going to Cuba, a place that’s on my list. But at least you got away from the ship and to dive.

    • January 31, 2012
      Kristin

      I’ve been before, so I actually wasn’t as bummed as, say, 99% of the ship, ha. But it would have been cool to return nevertheless!

  • January 31, 2012
    Kendra Moore

    Another place on my list now (I think every place is on my list)…and I, too, LOVE planning. For me, I think half of the fun is the actually planning and lead-up to trip. My friends and family might think I over-plan but they have to admit I have organized some awesome trips that almost always end up flawless. I have used tripadvisor for a long time, great source of information, and of course, your blog!

  • January 31, 2012

    I love Roatan. My son and I just visited it there. The sand bugs ate me alive, but other than that it was amazing!!!!

    • January 31, 2012
      Kristin

      That was the nice thing about the rain, I suppose–no sand flies anywhere! Last time we were on Roatan, in the brief periods when the rain stopped, we would get eaten alive!

  • February 1, 2012

    No way! My dad really likes Galactic, that’s neat. That place looks beautiful.

    • February 4, 2012
      Kristin

      Scott was super fan boy-y when we met Ben =) I’m sure it was a nice change for Ben, who probably isn’t often recognized in public, as Galactic is definitely more of a niche band.

  • February 2, 2012
    Haidang

    your camera / shooting abilities are so amazing. i cant believe you made a ‘drink look beyond WOW

    anyway in bangkok right now and thinking about you today (randomly! LOL). have you been? i feel your name is written all over here… (even though theres no camels!)

  • February 2, 2012

    You should do a full post of SVV selfie shots from around the world. That face straining away from camera look is so consistent. 🙂

    • February 4, 2012
      Kristin

      That is an excellent idea! Actually, our videographer took a shot a day all voyage with his GoPro and spliced them together in a video. It’s awesome: http://vimeo.com/35514917

  • February 5, 2012

    We looked at Roatan for our honeymoon but quickly realized that since we don’t dive, it’s probably not the best spot for us. Now I think I’m glad we didn’t go – we had gorgeous weather in Aruba, and I would have been seriously sad with rain!

  • March 7, 2012

    Very cool! Actually just doing some research for work and your article helped me out!

  • April 16, 2014
    Sara

    I found your blog today and have enjoyed reading it! I am also a travel lover so I always love to hear about everyone’s travel experiences. I visited Roatan this past summer and loved it! I stayed in the West End but also visited some of the other small islands nearby. The people were amazing! I found the island to be very secluded, not many tourists at all. We were there in June and were lucky to only have one night of rain. Can’t wait to read more about your upcoming travels. xoxo

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