Many sides of Roatan

Well Friday morning arrived in a fuzzy sort of a way, but it’s time to pack up and head to the next portion of our adventure.  We pack up the car, so full we have very little place to sit, and head down to West End to fill the time between locations. We decided to pay to park at West End so we could go snorkeling and enjoy the morning.  We headed out to a nice snorkeling spot and got some coffee. There were some island boys playing on the dock , they had a string and a hook. They were trying to catch a fish. What a wonderful way to start the day coffee, beautiful view, watching the kids just be kids. We had a nice time snorkeling and wandering West End. Then we headed to our new island home.

 

Our second week was spent at a nice little beach apartment in Sandy Bay. Sandy bay is an area that stretches up the coast for a few miles, which is big by Roatan standards.  We stayed with some wonderful Expats who decided to leave Florida about 10 years ago and find an island to call home. Our week in Sandy Bay was much more laid back than the one near West End. We turned in our rental car on Tuesday .We suffered several very rainy days. When I say suffered I mean we had to walk the beach in the rain, rather than shovel snow. I think if I find myself in Roatan as a home or part time home I will come to enjoy the rainy days. They make you take a little time to relax, read a book, talk to the people staying in the house next door. We spent the non -rainy days on the dock, walking the beach, snorkeling.  We spent several days going to look at property.

 

 We decided to take a day and be a typical tourist. We headed to West Bay and paid for the rights to sit in beach chairs at Bananarama. Yes that’s how it works at West Bay. All the hotels and restaurants have beach chairs they will rent you for the day.  We received directions to the outer reef from our local expat host who has his own chair at the bar in Bananrama. We headed out to the reef which is just about 50 yards from the beach.  Jessica chose to stay on the beach and people watch with one of the people staying with us this week. People watching is a family favorite activity and West Bay Roatan is a great place to enjoy the sport.  We headed out to the outer reef and meandered along the reef all the way to the end. Then just walked ashore and walked the beach back.

 

I find it amazing that there is so much going on just below the surface just steps away from the beach. The island life in Roatan is so diverse.  I think West Bay is one of the most interesting places to observe this. There are humble little hotels surrounded by amazing resorts. There are people from all walks of life wandering along the beach. The folks in resort dress looking perfectly together, Europeans in little at all, cruise ship people following an island guide, expats hanging out at bars, vendors selling all their tours and wares, snorkelers, divers, swimmers, sunbathers, and the list goes on.  The incredible bustling diversity happening on land and the amazing peaceful beauty of the reef under the water make for a contrast that is hard to put into words. A phenomenon of many tropical island beaches I would imagine but for me it is yet another treasure of Roatan.

 

At the end of a wonderful afternoon at West Bay we decided to take a water Taxi to West End. For $2 a person we took a nice boat ride along the coast to West Bay. Best taxi ride ever. We discovered it was Taco Tuesday at Monkey Island.  This turned out to be one of the most magical nights on the island. We had to wait for Tacos so we just hung out on the beach. The girls took out their Hula Hoops and started hooping. As the sun began this older weathered looking islander came down to the beach and started a fire. Then a young woman joined the girls with her glass ball dancing. All the employees at Monkey Island came out and sat in front of the bar to watch the show. What an unforgettable way to watch the sunset.  

 

We have been here long enough for the bartenders and singers to recognize us. We are starting to feel like locals.  I have been snorkeling 7 times in the last 5 days.

 After the amazing sunset experience on the beach we headed into Monkey Island. I must say this was the best meal we had on the island for many reasons.  First it was $2 a Taco and these were amazing tacos. Second it is the local, expat, hang out on Tuesdays. What a great value why wouldn’t everyone come here every Tuesday and meet up with friends. We will be experiencing Taco Tuesdays many times in the future.

I really enjoyed Sandy Bay it seemed like a trip to a familiar place with so much more to offer. When we go to the gulf coast of Florida we love to walk the beach and find shells, birds, and beautiful sunsets. Sandy Bay offers all these things. It is very different from West end and West Bay.  One of my concerns when considering spending all our vacation time or lives on a little island was there would be no diversity. I discovered over our two weeks on the Island there are many different places to find adventure on Roatan, they all hold their own little spirit and feel about them. West Bay is the tourist beach, the Virginia Beach, Miami Beach, Hampton Beach of the island. It is where you go to get sun, sand, food, fancy hotels, feel like you are on a typical beach vacation.  West End offers the local small town feel. In West end you can go to church, eat dinner, catch a local musician, hang out with friends, grab a few groceries, do a little shopping. Then Sandy Bay is more like a retirement beach in Florida, relaxing place to live. There are many more amazing places on the island we did not even get to explore. All these possible adventures make it very exciting to think about spending lots of time there.