Roatan, Honduras is a relatively secret island destination in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of mainland Honduras. I acknowledge there are much more “secret” Caribbean islands, but Roatan has an international airport and is still relatively “secret”. Roatan has one really touristy section of the island that is owned by the multinational cruise lines and is starting to become a more popular Caribbean cruise stop, this travel guide will avoid that touristy section of the island. Roatan has historically been a popular spot for divers, but this travel guide is for the non-diver, but will incorporate snorkeling and other water activities. Roatan’s region, Isla De Bahia(Bay Islands) is the safest region of Honduras and it is a much safer alternative to visiting Honduras’s mainland.

How to get there: The best way to arrive from another country is to fly into Roatan’s international airport, RTB. It is not the most well connected airport, but it does have frequent flights with American Airlines direct from Florida and Texas. Because it’s an obscure destination flights can be expensive. I used American Air miles and flew via Dallas. If you are traveling through Central America you can ferry from La Ceiba, Honduras. See the daily ferry schedule.

Length of Stay: At least four days, I spent a week and it was a good amount of time to relax and see the highlights of Roatan, along with a day trip to Cayos Chinos. If you have more than a week consider splitting the time between Utila and Roatan. This guide solely focuses on Roatan.

Where to Stay: I highly recommend West End or West Bay. If you want to get off the grid consider Camp Bay on the far east of the island.

West Bay vs West End: West End and West Bay are the two best parts of the island to stay. Each has their advantages and they are both easily connected via 5-10 min water taxi. The naming of these two areas does not make the most geographical sense… West Bay is the very far west tip of the island and West End is on the northwestern tip of the island(see pic below).

Why is West Bay not called West End… poor Geography skills

Since I only had a week I did a lot of research on which area is the best for me as I did not want to move accommodations, I got a weekly discount at an Airbnb as well. West End is the more local village with the really nice Half Moon Bay beach. West End is a little less touristy but still has plenty of accommodations and restaurants. The internet is spotty in West End and the accommodations are a little more rustic. If you are more of a backpacker, prefer more local experience, and don’t mind lower quality infrastructure then I would recommend West End. I stayed close to Half Moon Bay at Hotel Posada Las Orquideas, with a great deck overlooking the bay and a really great breakfast. It was a quick walk to Half Moon Bay and the main strip of the village, but far enough away for a very peaceful and quiet stay. West Bay is much more developed with a better beach but much more crowded with hotels, resorts, and tourists. If you need a quality internet connection and/or prefer a nicer hotel experience I would recommend West Bay. It wouldn’t be hard to split up your stay between the two, but not really necessary. Either way you can’t really go wrong, both are great places and are easily accessible via a quick water taxi.

Sample Week Itinerary: This itinerary is going to be very slow paced. You are on island time in the Caribbean where everything moves at a sloth’s place, but it’s part of the charm of the Caribbean culture.

Day 1: Land and clear customs. Taxi to West End Village and check into accommodation. Stock up on water and any other staples for your room- you can’t drink the tap water here. I recommend on your first day trying to book a Cayos Cochinos day tour, for later in the week because they book up. Get settled, then walk around West End Village and get a nice dinner. I ate at the Blue Elephant Thai restaurant, it was pretty good but a little pricey. If you want to get drinks consider local expat favorite Sundowner’s or walk a little past Half Moon Bay to one of the restaurants over the water.

Day 2: Wake up leisurely and grab a nice breakfast. Consider a yoga class on Sundowners upper deck, they have a great yoga studio with classes every morning(check the sign for specific times). Relax on Half Moon Bay beach, and snorkel around or rent a kayak. Make sure to bring your own goggles, the water is great for snorkeling. Head to one of the restaurants that overlook the water for dinner and drinks- I liked beacher’s.

Day 3: Beach day at West Bay. After breakfast water taxi to West Bay and find your spot on the beach. Consider splurging on a day pass at the popular Infinity Bay Spa & Beach resort so you can have access to their pools and ammenities. I didn’t find it worth the price for a day pass to a resort, so I just relaxed on the beach and whenever I was hungry or needed shade I went to a beachside bar. The beach is really nice and a lot of restaurants have chairs on the beach for patrons. Whenever you are beached out water taxi back to West End. Unfortunately, a lot of the cruisers spend their day stop over at this beach, going early or in the evening will help make sure you miss the cruisers window.
Day 4: Cayos Cochinos day tour. I booked this on day 1 with Blue Reef Explorers. My girlfriend and I got the last two spots available that week. You may want to consider reserving in advance. It was a really rough ride, but the uninhabited islands were pretty nice(not as good as pics) and the sea captain was great. It’s about an hour or two bumpy boat ride. The best part of the tour is stopping at the Garifuna people’s island for lunch. It was great to see the Garifuna culture and have an amazing fresh red snapper lunch. Cayos Cochinos is an archipelago of 15 different islands on the Meso-American reef and is a Unesco world heritage site- most islands are uninhabited or protected for the Garifuna people. Overall, it was a little pricey but it is worth the day trip if you have the time in Roatan. After returning from your day trip head to Anthony’s chicken for the best chicken jerk on the island.

Day 5: East Island culture tour. I recommend hiring a guide to show you the eastern part of the island which can be challenging to visit independently. The tour took us through Oakridge Mangroves to meet the rastafarian community, the monkey and sloth park, the iguana farm, and a shipwreck at Mahagony Bay. This tour is kinda pricey because a lot of demand for it from cruiser stopping through for the day, but it’s worth paying for a guide. I asked a taxi driver did an impromptu east island tour hitting all the above spots, it was good… but the taxi driver was very unprofessional/scammer and I would recommend paying extra and going with Cleve’s Tour.

Day 6: Relaxing beach day. Enjoy Half Moon Bay beach in West End or water taxi to West Bay for a beach day. Enjoy your last full day enjoying the best attraction in Roatan, the crystal clear blue water. Send your evening off for a night out in West End Village. I was here for New Years and they had an epic firework celebration and the whole village was partying on the beach.
Day 7: Departure. If you have more time I recommend taking the ferry to Utila, a less populated Bay Island that is popular with backpackers and scuba divers.

Safety: While Roatan is safe for tourists and much more safe compared to mainland Honduras there is a lot of poverty and you should keep your wits about you. I would not let anyone know where you are staying and I would recommend staying at an accommodation with a guard(pretty much all quality accommodations have a guard/gate). The reason I say this is because I had a local hustler offer me weed, prostitutes, cocaine, etc- I politely declined and was nice to the guy. After being nice to him he started to follow me around and I bought him a beer and told him that was it from me and to have a good evening. I felt bad for the guy, he was really poor like a lot of the locals and didn’t even know how old he was, couldn’t read or write, nor had a cell phone… he was just at the same spot in West End village everyday where I walked through. After a week of seeing him everyday and buying him a beer one evening he started to follow me a little too much and hassle me, I eventually had to tell him to leave me alone. I never felt threatened but whenever I was walking home I would just look over my shoulder and make sure he wasn’t following me- he never was. You just gotta be a little extra vigilant when independently traveling the Caribbean because there are a lot of poor locals and most of the tourists stick to the resorts which are owned my multinational corporations. The Caribbean is generally safer than most people think and I highly recommend getting out of the tourist resort zones.

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