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Roatán 2022

December 2022
A 11-day adventure by Kristen Read more
  • 8footprints
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  • 11days
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  • 44miles
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  • Kristen MetzgerRoatán 2022
    Day 3

    Tranquilseas EcoLodge

    December 19, 2022 in Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    This place is an awesome destination if you hate touristy crowds, don't feel the need to go out every night, and are committed to scuba diving. You can stay here and just snorkel and play around, but I feel like it would get boring. The beach is narrow and there's a bit too much boat traffic and shallow reef for open water swimming or snorkeling on your own. Walking along the main road is a fool's errand unless you enjoy diving into a ditch every time a car comes along. Basically you have to take a taxi to go anywhere, which is fine, but kind of a bummer if you like exploring on foot, on your own. But if you like diving, you can dive your face off, right from the resort and for a reasonable price, so that's what we did. When we weren't diving, we were either sitting on the private deck of our room, or on the deck of the restaurant, both of which have spectacular views. The only downside of the restaurant is that they played the same 7 Bob Marley songs over and over again most nights we were there. Except for the night where they played the same 7 BeeGees songs. It was very weird. All in all, we loved it here and would stay again...if we hadn't discovered Palmetto Bay.Read more

  • Kristen MetzgerRoatán 2022
    Day 5

    Roatán Brewing Co

    December 21, 2022 in Honduras ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    We visit breweries everywhere we go, so why should Roatán be different--especially because they actually *have* a brewery which I wasn't expecting. They're about a 20-minute cab ride from our resort...unless you get beckoned into a cab that already has two passengers in it because they want you to split the fare. Then you wind up at the airport first, which is not on the way but whatever. So it's a 30 minute cab ride and you're late for nothing because vacation. The Roatán Brewing Co is on a beautiful, rainforesty inland property, with lots of outdoor seating. Also lots of white people, because that's who goes to breweries. They have games and toys for kids and it's a lovely place to spend time. We got a flight of beer, and it turns out beer is not their strong point, It was all fine, but kinda flowery. They had an orange passion hard seltzer that was really their best offering. We also had lunch there, and the food was great. When it was time to leave they called us a taxi because they are off the beaten path, and it was easy to get home. But here's a pro tip: if you think you can ride part of the way back to the Tranquilseas lodge and walk the rest of the way on Sandy Bay road, you are sadly mistaken. What will happen is that you will be blocked by another resort, have to backtrack a quarter mile, and then run along the main road like the silly sucker you are. You will not make this mistake again.Read more

  • Kristen MetzgerRoatán 2022
    Day 6

    Sunken Fish

    December 22, 2022 in Honduras ⋅ 🌙 79 °F

    I'm putting in a separate footprint for the restaurant, but it's really part of the resort. Still, we spent a lot of time here so it seems to warrant its own writeup. You can either do an "all-inclusive" thing for meals here, or eat on your own. We didn't really know what to expect, but the idea of not having to worry about where to eat three times a day was appealing, so we went all inclusive. I don't think that was a mistake, but I'm not totally sure we got a ton of value from it. It turns out it's really hard to eat three full meals a day when you're busy diving, and when the portions are totally enormous. We figured out to order half portions or split things, but it still just felt like a ton of food. However, if we hadn't done all inclusive we still probably would have eaten most of our meals here (and probably wondered if we should have taken the all inclusive option). The food was delicious, fresh and seafood-heavy. When they reserved inside tables for the resort guests (which they did sometimes if the weather was threatening), we always got our favorite table with the ocean view. We were very well taken care of!Read more

  • Kristen MetzgerRoatán 2022
    Day 7

    Sea Divers Palmetto Bay

    December 23, 2022 in Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Tim and I were the only ones at the resort who wanted to dive this day for some reason, so instead of taking us out from TranquilSeas, the dive shop had someone from their other location (in Palmetto Bay) pick us up on a boat and bring us here. We thought it was a nice opportunity to try something new without having to put in any effort ourselves, and indeed it was. Plus, we got a bonus boat ride. We did two dives here, one of which was beautiful with lots of sea life and healthier coral than in our more populated part of the island, and one of which was interesting because we swam through a cave thingy, but kind of lame in terms of animals. But here's the thing. Palmetto Bay is incredibly beautiful, and we happened to fall into conversation with a guy who used to live in North Carolina until he and his wife bought a place in Palmetto Bay and retired here. Now, I've been on vacation before and I'm familiar with that fleeting "I could live here" feeling that you can easily treat with a dose of, "yeah well it would suck if you had to participate in every day life," but this felt different. How different? Different enough that Tim and I did some research on homes in Palmetto Bay. And that's as far as I'll discuss it at this time.Read more

  • Kristen MetzgerRoatán 2022
    Day 7

    Black Iguana

    December 23, 2022 in Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    They sent us home from Palmetto Bay in a land taxi instead of on the boat (lame), but at least they prepaid our driver. We mentioned that we liked Palmetto so much we were thinking about looking into property there, and blam, Dunis our driver became a real estate tour guide. He offered to show us a couple of places he thought we'd prefer buying, and we were like, OK, let's see how this unfolds. I think it's safe to say we won't end up living in the Black Iguana neighborhood, which is close to West End and boasts a very odd terraced golf course. But if we were going to buy a rental property, I suppose we could do a lot worse.Read more

  • Kristen MetzgerRoatán 2022
    Day 7

    West Bay

    December 23, 2022 in Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Nope nope nope. This is the beach that everyone goes to in Roatán, and yes it's a lovely beach, but it's wall to wall people and banana boats and people trying to see you beaded jewelry and day trips. Dunis insisted we come here as part of our real estate tour, so we could see why all the tourists want to be here. Clearly they do, but does Dunis know us at all? Clearly not. On the days when there are no cruise ships in port, apparently, this beach is beautiful and quiet. But during the high season, which is now, you're lucky to get one day per week without at least one ship in port. And what if that's not the day you feel like going to the beach? Sorry Dunis, we won't be living near West Bay, even if it's where all the rich Americans are.Read more

  • Kristen MetzgerRoatán 2022
    Day 7

    SunMart ATM

    December 23, 2022 in Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    We needed more cash for taxi rides and tips, so on the way back from Palmetto Bay we had our driver take us to the ATM at the PetroSun. Tim went inside and I chatted with the driver about sloths and monkeys. The guy standing outside the store with a machine gun gives the impression that this is a dangerous place to be, but Tim said inside it's like every convenience store we've ever been to in the US. We came back a few days later (so many people to tip) and I can confirm this is true.Read more

  • Kristen MetzgerRoatán 2022
    Day 9

    West End

    December 25, 2022 in Honduras ⋅ 🌧 79 °F

    I felt like we had to visit the West End because that's what everyone talks about when they're not talking about West Bay (which is confusing because they practically have the same name). Vivian had given us a few recommendations for places to eat and drink, and we had to go back to the ATM anyway, so we decided to walk into West End and see what the fuss is about. And I can tell you that I'm still not sure. It's like one stretch of road along a beach, lined with bars and restaurants and tacky souvenir shops that all look basically the same. The photos I took don't really capture how crowded it was, but it's not particularly clean or picturesque or safe to walk without getting creamed by an ATV or a taxi. It's crowded and loud and people are way too drunk for daytime. It occurred to me that we could have made a terrible mistake and stayed in West End on this trip, and it would have been a really different trip. Maybe we would have gotten used to that scene? But instead we said "f*** it" and after we'd walked the length of the strip we got in a taxi and came back to our quiet resort and had a drink here instead. And it was so much better.Read more

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