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Roatan Marine Park, Honduras: A Scuba Diving and Snorkeling Mecca
Published by Drew Tapley, Managing Editor & Writer
Country: Honduras 
The Experience
Before you pack your regulator away, there’s one prime dive destination that may well have eluded your attention. The tropical paradise marine park island of Roatan in Honduras is an underwater world teeming with parrot fish, sea turtles and sharks.
Roatan is a small island, 60 miles across, just off the coast of Honduras. The island is a prime dive site—one of the best dive sites in Central America—hosting the second largest reef in the world after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and attracting dive enthusiasts from all over the globe to dive Roatan. While the ocean bed shimmers pure white sand amid the dense reef, sea turtles venture as far into shore as to be almost visible from the beach. You need only snorkel 20–30 metres off Tabyana beach in West Bay Village before you are swimming with 3-foot parrot fish, sea turtles, and a reef “drop off” that’s more than 25 metres deep. This is paradise found, and after a fine morning of great snorkeling or diving, with near-perfect visibility, the nearby beach bars, restaurants and Roatan hotels beckon you for lunchtime Mai Tais and Long Islands.
All along the kilometre beachfront of West Bay Village, native island fisherman will take you out for snorkeling and mangrove tours, and there are several professional dive organizations and dive resorts in Roatan. The locals have deep knowledge of the island that you could never obtain from a book, and it’s all presented in an affable and joyous island personality that seems to permeate the whole of Roatan, despite the fact that 75 percent of Roatan’s inhabitants live in shanty towns and barely scrape a living together.
Most tourists that currently visit Roatan do so to enjoy the splendid underwater world of the Roatan Marine Park; although the island has many more trinkets to offer, both on and off land. Coxen Hole is the urban centre of the south, and many other towns, such as French Harbour, have a colourful personality well worth seeing. Over the last decade, Roatan has increasingly become a developed tourism site, opening itself up to Caribbean cruise ships that dock at Coxen Hole. It also somehow manages to identify with its roots and not become tainted by the influx of tourism. Roatan’s character can be best seen in the mixture of its native Garifuna people and Spanish Hondurans.
The Garifuna were formerly referred to as the “Black Carib” under the British Commonwealth administration, which took control of St. Vincent from the French in 1797, and deported the Garifuna to Roatan, the largest of the Bay Islands. Utila and Guanaja are the other main inhabited islands in the Bay Islands, a part of Honduras, which also have great diving and snorkeling sites. There are eighteen “departments” in the Bay Islands, each headed by a governor.
The main hub of tourists concentrates in an area of Roatan known as West Bay Village, and West End, where most of the Roatan hotels and dive resorts are located. West Bay is where most of the luxury accommodation is. West End is a 5-minute water taxi ride away, and is less dressed to suit, but retains more island character, and is the main go-to place for a lot of divers.
No article on Roatan would be complete without mention of this guy: Captain Karl Stanley. Self-titled Capt. Stanley is an American living on the island who advertises in the local brochures that he’ll take you down 2,000 feet in a submarine that he’s built himself. He’s generally regarded on Roatan with mixed opinions, although, apparently, several tourists have done it and claim it to be an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Roatan is a small island, 60 miles across, just off the coast of Honduras. The island is a prime dive site—one of the best dive sites in Central America—hosting the second largest reef in the world after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and attracting dive enthusiasts from all over the globe to dive Roatan. While the ocean bed shimmers pure white sand amid the dense reef, sea turtles venture as far into shore as to be almost visible from the beach. You need only snorkel 20–30 metres off Tabyana beach in West Bay Village before you are swimming with 3-foot parrot fish, sea turtles, and a reef “drop off” that’s more than 25 metres deep. This is paradise found, and after a fine morning of great snorkeling or diving, with near-perfect visibility, the nearby beach bars, restaurants and Roatan hotels beckon you for lunchtime Mai Tais and Long Islands.
All along the kilometre beachfront of West Bay Village, native island fisherman will take you out for snorkeling and mangrove tours, and there are several professional dive organizations and dive resorts in Roatan. The locals have deep knowledge of the island that you could never obtain from a book, and it’s all presented in an affable and joyous island personality that seems to permeate the whole of Roatan, despite the fact that 75 percent of Roatan’s inhabitants live in shanty towns and barely scrape a living together.
Most tourists that currently visit Roatan do so to enjoy the splendid underwater world of the Roatan Marine Park; although the island has many more trinkets to offer, both on and off land. Coxen Hole is the urban centre of the south, and many other towns, such as French Harbour, have a colourful personality well worth seeing. Over the last decade, Roatan has increasingly become a developed tourism site, opening itself up to Caribbean cruise ships that dock at Coxen Hole. It also somehow manages to identify with its roots and not become tainted by the influx of tourism. Roatan’s character can be best seen in the mixture of its native Garifuna people and Spanish Hondurans.
The Garifuna were formerly referred to as the “Black Carib” under the British Commonwealth administration, which took control of St. Vincent from the French in 1797, and deported the Garifuna to Roatan, the largest of the Bay Islands. Utila and Guanaja are the other main inhabited islands in the Bay Islands, a part of Honduras, which also have great diving and snorkeling sites. There are eighteen “departments” in the Bay Islands, each headed by a governor.
The main hub of tourists concentrates in an area of Roatan known as West Bay Village, and West End, where most of the Roatan hotels and dive resorts are located. West Bay is where most of the luxury accommodation is. West End is a 5-minute water taxi ride away, and is less dressed to suit, but retains more island character, and is the main go-to place for a lot of divers.
No article on Roatan would be complete without mention of this guy: Captain Karl Stanley. Self-titled Capt. Stanley is an American living on the island who advertises in the local brochures that he’ll take you down 2,000 feet in a submarine that he’s built himself. He’s generally regarded on Roatan with mixed opinions, although, apparently, several tourists have done it and claim it to be an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.
When to Go to Dive Roatan Marine Park
The rainy season (August to January) will bag you a better deal on your flight and accommodation, and if you don’t mind getting wet once a day, then you can just work around it. Roatan is a jungle island, so the storms do add an exotic backdrop to your experiences; but without bug repellent your time there will be without joy. Although the island promotes eco-friendly bug sprays and creams, if you’re the type of person that normally ends up like a roasted rotisserie chicken for bugs, you’ll need to invest in a can of “Off” as soon as you touch down.
Odds n' Ends
There’s a $37 departure tax payable when flying out of Roatan, which can only be paid in cash at the airport. Despite the many shanty towns you’ll see on the drive to and from the airport, expect to pay the same prices in the tourist areas as you would back home. Taxis, food and drink are hiked up for the “gringos,” so unless you look local and speak the island patwa, make sure to budget accordingly. A water taxi is not too bad at $3 one-way: West Bay to West End, or return journey. Be mindful that they don’t run after 6 p.m. There are a few ATMs around West Bay and West End (inside the gas station), but there’s no guarantee they’ll be working every day. The same applies for the Internet. Some places allow you to pay by credit card, but there’s no substitute for cash. Don’t bother with travellers cheques as no one will accept them.
Despite diving and snorkeling, Roatan hosts a few other activities to keep everyone happy, from ziplining above the jungle, to taking an exotic island tour inland or along the many secluded coves and mangroves. Marco Webster is a Roatan tour operator who will take you all over the island, into its nooks and crannies, and explain in great detail the ecological, political and social characteristics of Roatan. He knows everyone on the island, and everyone knows him, and he does a lot of charitable work on Roatan to help poor people in need. His wife runs a great gift shop in Coxen Hole, selling souvenirs made from children on the island. Another great tour operator is Roatan Culture Tours run by Cinthia Hynds and her daughter Daniellie.
The Pirates of the Caribbean Canopy zipline is the highest on Roatan, and has eight ziplines above the jungle floor, one of which is 102m (328 feet) high. If you’ve never seen two hundred iguanas hanging out eating cabbage, Roatan’s iguana farm is a good place to visit. If you happen to venture to Jonesville, south of Oak Ridge (about an hour drive from West Bay), you can visit the “Hole in the Wall” experience where $25 on a Friday or Sunday afternoon with bag you all the lobster tail you can eat.
http://www.drewtapley.com
Despite diving and snorkeling, Roatan hosts a few other activities to keep everyone happy, from ziplining above the jungle, to taking an exotic island tour inland or along the many secluded coves and mangroves. Marco Webster is a Roatan tour operator who will take you all over the island, into its nooks and crannies, and explain in great detail the ecological, political and social characteristics of Roatan. He knows everyone on the island, and everyone knows him, and he does a lot of charitable work on Roatan to help poor people in need. His wife runs a great gift shop in Coxen Hole, selling souvenirs made from children on the island. Another great tour operator is Roatan Culture Tours run by Cinthia Hynds and her daughter Daniellie.
The Pirates of the Caribbean Canopy zipline is the highest on Roatan, and has eight ziplines above the jungle floor, one of which is 102m (328 feet) high. If you’ve never seen two hundred iguanas hanging out eating cabbage, Roatan’s iguana farm is a good place to visit. If you happen to venture to Jonesville, south of Oak Ridge (about an hour drive from West Bay), you can visit the “Hole in the Wall” experience where $25 on a Friday or Sunday afternoon with bag you all the lobster tail you can eat.
http://www.drewtapley.com
Want a Guide?
- Pirates of the Caribbean Canopy Zipline
- This Extremely Extreme Zipline reaches heights at 328ft and distance's as far as 1,837ft at the highest and longest points. The overall length of the entire zipline is around two miles. Relax while enjoying the breathtaking views of both sides of the island as you slow down by gravity with no anxiety or fear of having to break on your own. As you smoothly come to the end of each line you will be greeted by another friendly and professional guide who will assist you by unclipping and then clipping you unto the next line. The time for the tour will range from 40 minutes to 1 ½ hr depending on the size of the group. Price: $65/person
- Marco Roatan Tours
- Marco will take you on custom tours of the island, including full island tours, mangrove tours, and shopping tours. To top it off, he's one hell of a nice guy!
- Made in Roatan gift shop
- Made in Roatan is a non profit shop near the Coxen Hole cruise ship port. Everything is made right here on the island!! We carry mahogany carvings, hand carved jade jewelry, delicious jams, paintings, bags, a natural remedies book, all sorts of jewelry, yabba ding ding, photography cards. Come on in and help support a local family!
- Roatan Culture Tours
- Come and enjoy!! It´s an experience of a lifetime where you get to see and taste the culture of what Roatan is really like. See the breath-taking sights where you can take pictures, stop for shopping at the different local markets, see how the locals live, and anything else that you may wish. Best of all, these are private tours where you are the boss. Book you tour today. Whatever your expectations may be, ask! and Roatan Culture Tours are here to make Roatan the highlight of your cruise. Pick your choice of tour. On these tours we have well trained, bilingual drivers with nice, comfortable, air-conditioned cars.
Places to Stay Nearby
Search over 900,000 global hotel deals from over 30 merchants. Book via Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Priceline and the websites of popular hotel chains.
Roatan town centre is within an easy 10 minute drive. 1 miles away
Featuring a rooftop terrace, the Club Natale Bay Villas offers air conditioned rooms with a safe, a plasma / LCD TV and a refrigerator. Guests ... 3 miles away
$4255 HNL+
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- Pristine Bay Resort in Roatan, Honduras announces golf package (magazine)
- ROATAN, Honduras -- Pristine Bay Resort - located on the idyllic Caribbean island of Roatan -- announces its "Golf in Paradise" stay-and-play package highlighted by luxurious villa accommodations.
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