Roatan, not really Honduras...

---

You cannot claim you have dived the world, if you have not dived the places that everybody has heard about. So here I am, diving four days in Roatan. Bear in mind, it is also my first visit to Honduras.



Honduras has today the reputation of being one of the most dangerous place in the world when it comes to the crime rate. I have no intention to be the target of any gang or any kind of express kidnapping, so don't ask me to stop on the continent. Roatan is actually a very different place. This place is more Caribbean than Central America, and yes it is safe!



I took my night plane on Avianca from Lima to San Salvador. There is a short connection before getting on the ATR72 daily flight to Roatan. On landing, I could spot 3 different cruise ships. This is really not my thing...and there are actually four of them today in town, and it feels!



First, I'm staying on the budget for this stay. My Hostal is Buena Onda...500 meters from West End. This is a simple 10km ride on the single road that cross the island. If I take a taxi in the airport, it's 20 or 25 usd. If I walk 200 meters outside the airport, the exact same taxi can be taken as a share taxi, and now, it's 2-3usd for the ride. I'm not an idiot! Budget doesn't mean bad, and in this case, I'm super happy with my choice for 5 nights.



I'm paying 33usd per night for a clean basic room. The hostal has only two rooms and 2 dorms...so if you want the luxury of your own room...book way ahead! 33usd per night in Roatan is nothing. The lounge/kitchen of the place is really nice...with a nice crowd on top of that. Perfect, I'm going to cook every single night I'm here. There seems to be not much, or actually any night life in Roatan, so I'm happy here.



The hostal is only a 10 minutes walk to the beach and to the dive center. Dutch friends who had dived Protea Banks at home gave me the good advice, dive with Roatan Divers. I have to be honest, I'm not very much in the North American attitude of using in every single sentence the word "super" or "wonderful". But these guys are true professional with a solid organization. I will do two dives a day for four days. There are a lot of small fishes, but as anywhere in the Caribbean, not much fun macro life, and forget about anything big around. The highlights here are the healthy corals...they are everywhere. Next, they have few solid swim through and caves to dive. So I was pretty happy with the eight dives I got here, even if I guess I won't come back anytime soon.



I spent my morning diving...lunch was at one of the basic local places in the one street of West End. I also went twice for the sunset...with only one bar with half a crowd. Here, it's a mix of Texas and Key West...just fun to keep my eyes and ears open while enjoying a cold local beer....but back to my little hostal pretty early every evening.



Next stop...a place that doesn't see many tourists...for 48 hours!

---

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Diving the world
Glad you are diving again.

[Maisondubonheur]

Home
Are you passing by our home on your trip in South Africa? We are 130km South of Durban...even if not much at home lately! More diving blogs to come!