You can’t visit Honduras without going to the Bay Islands. Check out my travel tips for where to go, what to do and other top recommendations.
Getting There
There are numerous flights from San Pedro Sula (40 minutes) and La Ceiba (20 minutes). Check the general info 1 page for info on schedules and prices. There’s also daily direct flights to Belize City.
You can also go by boat or at the airport you can take a taxi. A trip to West End will cost you 10 US$. You can also simply walk to the main road (a 1 minute walk), and jump in one of the public minibuses. I don’t know about the price, but that’ll be much cheaper. Most people however are picked up by their hotel.
Renting a Car and Driving
In Roatan you have several rent-a-car agencies:
• Sandy Bay Rent-A-Car : located on the main road in Sandy Bay. They charge 45 US$ for a small Suzuki jeep, but this does not include taxes. They have hotel delivery. Their cars are not new. They offer hotel delivery. It might work to ask a price at Roatan rentals, chances are they will give you a better rate.
• Toyota Rent-A-Car: they are located right in front of the airport (walking distance). Their desk at the airport itself was empty, maybe in high season they have an agent there. I don’t know about quality of their cars.
• Avis Rent-A-Car: they have a desk at the airport
• Roatan Rentals: they are situated in West End. They have smaller Suzuki Samurai and also Vitara’s. The quality of the Samurais is not too good with all kinds of things not working. They don’t have insurance, prices include taxes: 45 US$ per day for a Samurai, 65 US$ for a Vitara. They claim to be the cheapest on the island. There was no room for bargaining here.
Where to Stay
First of all you need to decide where on the island you want to stay:
West End is undoubtedly the most lively place, and catering for independent tourists/backpackers. It has a nice beach, and it’s packed with small budget hotels, restaurants and dive shops.
If I say “budget hotels”, you’ll still be a bit surprised by the prices if you’re coming from the mainland. A room without AC and bathroom will be 15 or 20 US$, but once you want your own bathroom and AC, prices go up pretty fast (30 US$ for a room, 40 US$ and up for a bungalow).
Right next to West End (walking distance) is Half Moon Bay. This is a really nice place, much more quiet than West End, nice beach, good snorkelling, but still within walking distance of the action in West End.
A nice place to stay here is Posada Arco Iris. It’s kept by an Argentine guy. He has nice rooms and also some appartments for families. A double room with bathroom will cost 35 US$, if you want to turn on AC you’ll pay 5 US$ extra. The appartments with kitchen and 1 or 2 bedrooms go up to 80 US$. They have their own website. Recommended.
One beach further is West Bay. This is a really fantastic beach with clear blue water, and also excellent snorkelling from shore. The only big disadvantage is that there are really few options to go eating, very few dive shops, and in low season the place is really dead.
You can only get to West End by watertaxi (20 L pp), and they only go till 6 pm, so you can’t go to West End. There is an unpaved road, but taxis will charge heavily for it. we were also a bit shocked by the prices of the accommodation right on the beach.
The only budget options are either 500 metres from the beach (Caribean Dream or West Bay Lodge), or else small bungalows like in Bananarama or Cabana Roatana.
Bananarama is a nice place. Bungalows are nice, but expect to pay also 49 US$ for a double without AC. The bungalows are at 50 metres from the beach. They have a bar, but it’s closed in low season. Next door is a bigger place with bar and swimming pool. They also have a website. They work together with Ocean Divers in West End (see below).
Cabana Roatana is nextdoor, right on the beach and a bit more expensive. They have a website, but not much info.
Las Rocas is a small place on a rocky cliff, not so well located and a bit far from the beach. When we were there (low season), the place looked deserted and not really inviting. The caretaker didn’t speak a word of English. They also have a swimming pool, but I would rather call it a large bathtub instead of a small pool. Prices are around 80 US$. They also have a website.
Sandy Bay is a bit closer to Coxen Hole, and full of more expensive resorts catering for package tourists. Some of them have a beach, some don’t. Here are 3 examples:
We stayed at the Inn of last resort. If you’re an avid diver, and you’re looking for a nice place with familial atmosphere, where everybody knows everybody, and where the lady of the house will have a chat with you, then this is your place.
They mostly cater for package tourists including full board and 3 dives a day. They have 3 wooden buildings: 1 with restaurant and bar, and 2 buildings with each about 16 rooms. The rooms are big and have a nice bathroom. AC is very effective, no television or fridge, small safety deposit box.
The food is good. Prices of beer are reasonable for this type of place. (1,5 US$ for a beer). They have their own website, check it out for any special deals. The only disadvantage is that each time you want to go out, you need to take a taxi, but often someone from the hotel will bring you. Also there’s no beach.
If you only want the best (and are prepared to pay for it), then go to Anthony’s Key resort. This is a fabulous diving resort with nice bungalows, a bar on a hill with great views on the resort, 2 islands with bungalows, 1 connected with a bridge, the other with a small boat. They have a website, but count on 1100 US$ pp for a week including diving and food.
A place I didn’t like was Bay Beach resort. It just didn’t look very appealing, although they did have a beach and snorkelling is possible there. But they wanted to charge us 25 US$ pp for snorkelling in their so called “tunnel”.
North of Coxen Hole, there are 2 places we visited.
Fantasy Island is matching Anthony’s Key resort. They also cater for all-in package tourists. You can book your package at the airport for 80 US$ including food but no dives (low season rate per person).
If you really want to get away from it all, you could go to Paya Bay resort. It’s a long ride away from Coxen hole, part of it over an unpaved road. Of course it can be romantic staying there, because they have 2 beaches and their restaurant has terrace on a cliff overlooking both beaches.
Still, the main disadvantage is that you’re really isolated, and prices for food and drinks are not cheap. However, accommodation for walk-in guests is only 50 US$ for 2 nights is a double. they have their own dive shop of course.
Scuba Diving
Most people come to Roatan for diving. This is one of the best places in the Caribbean and Central America to learn to dive.
Those staying at the big resorts usually have a diving package pre-booked, this typically includes 3 dives, at 8.30 am, 10.30 am and 2.30 pm. If you’ve come on your own, your best bet for diving is probably West End. You have about 10 different dive shops to choose from there. I cannot reliably tell you which are good, and which not, so these are simply general remarks:
It might be wiser to avoid Happy divers. It’s run by a local guy, and it’s the only one who doesn’t have oxygen. As long as everything goes well, you won’t need it, but it could also be an indication of the rest of the equipment.
I took my PADI course with Ocean Divers. This shop is owned by an English couple, and they have about 5 young dive masters giving the courses and guiding you. The atmosphere is pretty relaxed, but once the teaching starts, it gets more serious.
Prices are as everywhere: 250 US$ for a PADI open water course, 125 US$ for 5 dives, 200 US$ for 10 dives. This includes taxes, if you want to pay with VIAS, an extra 6% is charged, also add 1 US$ for each dive for the marine park. In general, I think they did a good job.
Eating in West End
We stayed for about a week around West End, these are the restaurants we ate at:
“Le Boulangerie” is, as the name says, a bakery run by a French couple for about 6 years now. They bake excellent croissants and other things, they have sandwiches with cheese and ham and also fruit shakes. Count on 15 L for a croissant, and 25 L for a sandwich.
Pura Vida is a very nice and cosy place. They have good pizzas as well as other dishes. Recommended.
Tony’s is an Italian guy also serving pizzas. They are good, but don’t expect the real Italian ingredients, instead the Hondurese version, which is equally good, will be served.
Eagle Rays: above Sueno Del Mar dive shop on a pier overlooking the bay. The location cannot be beaten of course, but the prices are pretty high. Happy hour for beer and Rum Cola from 4 till 6 pm.
Cindy’s was definitely our favourite. This is a place run by local women. Don’t expect any frills here, but the food is excellent and the cheapest in town. Great seafood dishes.
Papagayos tropical cafe, next to Ocean Divers was a rip off. The food is not bad, and a main dish does include a soup, but nowhere do they mention that taxes and service should be added to the bill. So at the end, they add 16% tax + 15% for service, and if you want to pay with VIAS, they add another 8% which makes this dinner pretty expensive. To be avoided.
Big Blue has some Thai cuisine. They have a cosy terrace next to Pura Vida.
Best Things to Do in the Bay Islands
These are some other things to do in the Bay Islands other than scuba diving:
We rented a car for 2 days and drove around. In 1 day you can easily cover the island going from west End to Paya Bay.
Carambola Botanical Garden
The entrance is across Anthony’s Key resort. This is a small garden with some tropical trees like banana, teak etc. They also have 2 trails, a jungle trail which can be covered in 10 minutes, and a mountain trail which is a bit harder, but which gives great views over the shore (including Anthony’s Key). Overall, I don’t really recommend a visit, unless you’re really enthousiastic about these things. Entrance is 3 US$ pp.
Institute for Marine Science
This is inside Anthony’s Key resort, and it has a dolphin show each day at 10.30 am and 2 pm. Entrance is 5 US$. The show lasts 15 minutes and involves 3 dolphins. It’s nice, but you could also give it a miss.
Coxen Hole
Coxen Hole is not really worth visiting. They have a Warren supermarket there, and next to that is a travel agency (Edificio Bonilla on the 2nd floor) which will reliably confirm plane tickets at 60 L.
French Harbour
Also nothing special. Most of the houses are in a poor state.
Iguana Farm
If there’s 1 place you should not miss while on Roatan, then it’s this Iguana farm. It’s signposted behind the turn off for French Harbour. It’s really incredibly spectacular to see huge iguanas crawling over each other, eating but also climbing in the trees. Great pictures are guaranteed. Entrance is 1 US$.
Fantasy Island
You can use the facilities on Fantasy Island for 10 US$ pp. You can get in for free if you just go there for lunch.
Oak Ridge
This is probably the nicest small city in Roatan, but don’t expect too much. A lot of houses are built on stilts. People will immediately approach you to join them on a boat trip to the mangrove tunnels. This will cost 10 US$, a bit more if you want to stop at a bar called “Hole in the Wall”. I must say the tunnel itself is pretty spectacular, but still I had a feeling of being ripped off. The boats are very unstable and thus go very slow. It takes more then 30 minutes to get to the tunnel, then you get in for 5 minutes, and 5 minutes back, and that’s it. While going there you can of course enjoy the boatride and the scenery. You can also stop for a drink at the bar “Hole in the Wall”, they also have hamburgers.
View my other tips for popular destinations in Honduras:
• La Ceiba travel guide
• Tela travel guide
• Copan travel tips