Cruise! Oct 6, 2011 - Roatan

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For 2 ½ years, I’ve been waiting to return to Roatan. This is my favorite port because it is so blue and not over-commercialized. (Although Carnival is quickly changing that with their Mahogany Bay area and new Disney-feeling port shopping area.) I can’t comment on this designed area because we didn’t visit it more than just long enough to walk through it to the taxi where we made friends with a local, Omar, for the day as he drove us to our destinations.

Our friends Ryan and Dana were with us (Me and Jason) so we wanted them to see the West End. We didn’t get out for drinks like we had originally intended. Instead, we drove through for a quick look so we’d have more time at the beach.

We made quick stops to check out some zipline tours and for a photo op with a monkey (who had been trained to do about 4 different poses for pictures), before heading to the highlight of our entire cruise – Fosters Beach. The waters are calm, clear, and it’s the closest to paradise I’ve yet to find. I think last time it was $5 for 2 drink tickets and use of the facility, but this time we were charged $10 for 1 drink ticket and use of the facilities with our armband. Times do change in 2 ½ years and the area is getting more popular. A very small excursion came while we were there too for swimming. It’s great to see more growth for their economy, but I know it also has a dark underbelly for the locals who aren’t actively involved in tourism as their cost of living goes up.

We ran into some other new friends from the ship and the guys had fun jumping from the second level of the dock into the clear waters. Me and Jason also took a stroll up the beach to see the nearby areas. We want to return for a longer visit another time. We asked some locals and they said it gets busier for them starting in November. (When I got home from the cruise, I found that in February, airfare can range from $640-1300, with up to 2 layovers. Never hurts to know your future vacation options!)

We took the 20 minute cab ride back to the port and still had a good 40 minutes left before we had to be back on the boat. Dana and Ryan headed up to the pool on the ship, but me and Jason decided to enjoy the island as long as possible. We spent the last minutes at Fat Tuesdays (touristy, I know, I know) and took some silly pictures. :)

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