Roatan Island is the jewel of Honduras. The largest
and most popular of the Bay
Islands, Roatan Honduras is surrounded by a vibrant
living reef, part of the large Meso-American Barrier Reef,
the second longest reed on earth. Each year, thousands
of people take a Roatan vacation to experience the great
diving, white
sand beaches, and easy-going Bay Island way of life.
Because Roatan Honduras was formerly part of the British Empire, English is much more widely spoken here than on the mainland. More Spanish-speaking Hondurans have relocated here in recent years to work at the resorts or in construction, but if you can pick up on the strong Anglo-Caribbean accent, you will have no language difficulties in Roatan.
Two U.S. airlines, Delta and Continental, offer a weekly Roatan flight from the United States (Delta flies from Atlanta, Continental from Houston). It is often more economical to book a ticket into Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula on the Honduran mainland and get a connecting Roatan flight to the island. Flights are also readily available from La Ceiba in northern Honduras. An alternative to getting a Roatan flight is to take a ferry from La Ceiba. The boat ride from La Ceiba to Roatan Island takes just 75 minutes and costs about $25.
However you begin your Roatan vacation, you will arrive in the far west of this 35-mile long (and just 1.5- to 3-mile wide) island. Most Roatan hotels are fairly close to the airport or ferry harbor. The two main resort areas are West End and West Bay, about ten minutes from each other by water taxi.
West End is the more affordable of the two areas. Rooms are available for as little as $25 a night, dorm beds can be found for $10 or under. There are also some high-end Roatan hotels in West End and the restaurants are generally excellent.
To the south, West Bay has some of the finest resort hotels in Honduras, and a beach that is unrivaled anywhere else in the country. Most hotel rooms in West Bay are right on the beach, and almost every vista seems lifted from a travel catalogue.
There are also some good Roatan hotels in French Harbor and Oak Ridge, though the eastern part of the island is less developed and more run-down than the west. Still, a bus ride along the coast is a good way to spend a day on a long Roatan vacation. Some of the Garifuna towns away from the resorts seem plucked from the past.
Roatan diving is simply magnificent: coral reefs, shipwrecks, and calm Caribbean waters. You would be hard pressed to find better, more varied, or more reasonably priced dives anywhere in the world, and most sites are just a few minutes’ boat ride from the shore. West end alone is full of dive shops offering packages for Roatan diving, either individually, by the day, or for ten dives. Prices are pretty uniform, so it is best to ask around and go with a Roatan diving company that is well reviewed locally.
Roatan Honduras is a true island paradise. Development has changed part of the coast line, but heavy efforts to preserve Roatan diving spots and the beautiful beaches ensures that this will be a vacation hotspot for years to come. No Honduras vacation is complete without a trip to Roatan.
