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" />Roatán is the largest of Honduras’ Bay Islands located roughly 56 kms off the north coast of Honduras in Central America and was stop number three on our cruise. Long and thin (50km long but only 2km to 4km wide), the island is a real diving and snorkeling mecca – virtually its entire coastline is fringed by an astonishingly diverse coral reef teeming with tropical fish.
Interesting Fact: During 1550 to 1700 English, French and Dutch pirates established settlements on the island of Roatan. They frequently raided Spanish cargo vessels carrying gold and other treasures from the New World to Spain.
On arrival into the port of Coxen Hole, we were greeted by the locals with bongo drums, maracas and native dance.
Roatán is a hilly island that has brilliant blue waters, palm-fringed beaches and nature trails. Our choice of shore excursions ranged from snorkelling or diving on the reef, zip-lining in the jungle, ATV tours, kayaking along the shores of West Bay or Half Moon Beach, a visit to the Butterfly Farm or horse-back riding. We chose to go snorkelling on the other side of the island.
Our 45 minute scenic mini-bus ride took us across the island where we were treated to some spectacular scenery such as this:
We arrived at a popular diving spot called Milton Bight and once we had outfitted ourselves with snorkelling gear and fins we boarded the dive boat and headed about 5 minutes offshore. We enjoyed 2 one-hour long guided snorkelling underwater adventures, which consisted of shallow reefs and a deeper channel full of larger fish.
Afterwards we were able to relax at the resort nearby and enjoy a tasty lunch and the most amazing fresh banana daquiri I have ever tasted. We spent the afternoon on the picture-perfect beach lazing in the hammocks under the grass-thatched roof shelters and wallowing in the shallow turquoise water. It was a perfect ending to an exhausting two hour snorkelling adventure.
This former pirate haven of Roatán was like paradise found. I can fully understand why any pirate would want to hide-out here! Its unspoiled charm and warmth of the locals was both alluring and engaging.
For more articles on Central America and the Caribbean see Cozumel: Mayans and Mariachis or Basking in Belize!
Next on the itinerary we are returning back to Mexico and the port of Costa Maya.
Linking up with Travel Photo Thursday
Kathy was a 50 something year old when she started up this blog 6 years ago, but has since turned over another decade and is now in her early 60s. She is married with two adult children and lives on the Tweed Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Kathy enjoys living life to the fullest and loves to keep fit and active by maintaining a healthy diet and exercising regularly. Some of her interests include reading, photography, travelling, cooking and blogging! Kathy works part-time as a freelance writer but her real passion is travelling and photographing brilliant destinations both within Australia and overseas and writing about it.
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Rae Hilhorst
June 19, 2015Wow, what a magic spot, yes I would want to hide away here to. Love your photos, being greeted by the drums would have been awesome. Milton Bight intrigues me x
Kathy
June 19, 2015Oh yes the welcoming party were tremendous. We watched and listened to them as we sailed into the harbour. I know I say that all these places were my favourite – but this one definitely stood out!
Michelle Weaver (@pinkypoinker)
June 19, 2015I’d love to comb the beach with a metal detector. Imagine what you could find. Gold crowns and pirate treasure maybe! Now I feel like a banana daiquiri.
Kathy
June 20, 2015I think there could be some pirate treasure buried somewhere on Roatan. It is certainly very untouched and under-developed. That banana daquiri was heavenly! Our dive guide told us about them. :)
Red Nomad OZ
June 21, 2015What an awesome tropical paradise! Sounds like your trip was a blast!!
Kathy
June 22, 2015Roatan was pretty special, as was the rest of the island paradises that we visited.The only problem is that you only get 8 hours ashore and very small sample of the what the islands have to offer. I could easily go back here to explore some more!
Nancie
June 25, 2015Hi Kathy. What a gorgeous island. I would have gone snorkeling, too. There’s as much beauty under the water and above! Thanks for linking up. #TPThursday
Kathy
June 27, 2015Our son has travelled to Central America and he went diving on another island off Honduras so we knew how good it would be. It is definitely one of the most renowned diving and snorkelling places in the world. Absolutley stunning!
Miguel Deleon
August 17, 2015Help me in preserving her sister island of Guanaja. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/314/228/111/save-guanaja-for-future-generations/