Roatán
The Honduran port for cruise ships
We got to know Roatán during a cruise in the western Caribbean. The port is ultra-prepared to receive tourists who disembark during the day. It has stores, restaurants, bars, gazebos for massages and even an area with swimming pools and beach, all very nice.
The proposal for cruisers is to hire a tour to spend a day at the beach, in one of the available resorts.
We @tripticity_ decided to leave the port area and negotiate the cab fare to the public beach. This way, obviously, we paid much less. As you get further away from the ship the offers get sharper. Of course, it is less safe, so you have to be alert and wide awake, but it is still a very valid option. In fact, we decided to share the trip with other tourists, so it was even cheaper for us.
The ride from the port took about twenty minutes. The driver insisted on taking us to a private beach resort, but together with our new adventurous fellows, some daring young Canadians like us, we decided to get off at the public beach in West End.
A fact, tours are also offered to get to know the Garifuna community, settled in the north of the island. They are descendants of slaves who arrived a couple of centuries ago and now teach tourists their customs.
Another offer is a circuit through the Eco Caribbean Culture Park to interact with animals, such as the friendly sloths. But @tripticity_ doesn't find it very endearing to see them in unnatural conditions, beyond good intentions.
You can also visit a local brewery, the Roatan Island Brewing Co. or hire the sea rides proposed by Luna Beach Roatan or other resorts. The coral reefs surrounding the island create - understandably - an ideal ecosystem for divers. In fact, the word Honduras means “deep waters” and its reefs generate pools of calm water where an intense and varied marine life develops.
In our case, we headed straight to Half Moon Bay Beach to spend the day on our own.
A curious fact, in the XVI and XVII centuries pirates and buccaneers lived there, and later the British arrived, so English is the other predominant language on the island along with Spanish.
When we were about to disembark from the cruise, Mr. @tripticity_ warned that he had arrived in the Caribbean without a bathing suit, so the first thing we did was to look for one in one of the many stores along the coastal avenue. Again the rule applied, “the farther we got away from the beach the more bargains we found”. Then we settled on a log under the shade of a large palm tree that sheltered us from the intense sun, unfolded the towels that the cruise staff gave us when we got off and got ready to spend our day at the beach.
The water was crystal clear and warm, to the point that we could see the small fish that were approaching the shore, but that same clarity allowed us to see the garbage that was there. Of course, being a public beach, it was a bit neglected. It was still very nice.
For the return trip, the same cab driver picked us up and we paid the agreed price. Before getting back on the ship, we strolled through the stores of the fun port, saying goodbye to Honduras.