Travel with Tades

*From Friday: We found out shortly after boarding our flight that Katie and Matt, who were supposed to arrive in Roatan at 1:30, missed their flight. They had gotten all the way to the airport where Katie discovered that she had forgotten her passport. They were able to rebook for the next day but that was some unneeded stress on the brink of a relaxing vacation.

2/11/22 / Day 1: Flight 703 from MPLS. After no snow for a week, it started about the time the Harmons hit Brooklyn Center on Thursday afternoon. They made it okay, just a little bit of rush hour traffic. A great dinner of sheet pan chicken thighs and veggies.

 

A little overnight freezing rain and snow but got out on time and through ticketing and security in record time. We had noticed that there still seemed to be some open seats on our flight which surprised us and so Sun Country actually changed to a smaller plane for our flight. There was now no longer a row 24, where we were originally assigned, just 23 rows. Me and the Harmons ended up in row 18 and Susan and Nicci in the last row, row 23. It was a long, boring flight and for awhile, being a no-frills airline, I was worried that we would not get water, and more importantly, coffee! But about two hours into our flight they came through. Good thing we had brought snacks.

 

 

Landed a little late and then got in line for immigration processing. Since Susan and Nicci were the last people off the plane, we were at the end of the line. Turned out to be not such a bad thing when I couldn’t find my passport! I tore my bag apart and nothing. I decided that I’d better go back and look on the plane. I went to the door which was  now locked and looked out to see a young man holding my passport and waving at the terminal. Saved!

Problems with the car rental. The car that we had wanted apparently had an air conditioning breakdown and was being worked on. They had no other car for us, which seemed strange until one of their workers made a call to a guy who showed us with a kind of beater Honda. The car was dinged up all around the edges and clearly had had some hard use. Our alternatives seemed bleak, so reluctantly we accepted. Made the long tedious drive to our place via West End. Turns out the headlights don’t work very well either and on the northern road it is pitch black and the potholes enormous. Plus people walk on the road and motorcycles dart in and out of traffic. I say all of this by way of letting you know that we lived to tell about it. Navigated our way to Ananda and were greeted by Guy. We’ve got a really nice place with a large common living space and two separate bedrooms with baths. Both bedrooms have small decks off the back surrounded by jungle and with a distant view of the ocean. We stowed our stuff and made a beeline for food. We hadn’t had a proper meal in over 14 hours.

 

Next stop was West End to get Nicci checked in and to find food. Like everything else on the island, it was a long, slow process involving phone calls and several excursions to somewhere by the young lady at the desk. Eventually Nicci got into her room and starving and dazed we stumbled down the main street in search of sustenance. After looking at a couple of places, we decided on Pirate Booty, a large, open restaurant and bar right on the water. We had eaten there on a previous trip and were not disappointed. Got the catch of the day which was Snapper along with house made fries and a green salad. Washed it down with a large, tasty margarita and a few Salva Vidas. 

After dinner we strolled down the main street for a couple of blocks and then decided we’d better head back to the house while we still were awake. Slept (occasionally) all night underneath a clanking, rattling air conditioner.

 

Saturday, 2/12/22:

After a sporadic night of sleep, woke up early to the parrot alarm and, after opening up the windows, a delightful morning breeze. We resolve to sleep with the windows open tonight. Had a bountiful breakfast of eggs, coffee, bacon and toast. Got our stuff together and headed off to Clearwater Diving. Arrived to a crowded house of eager Canadians.

        

I was assigned to a waiting boat of divers while Clay did a refresher and the girls did their snorkeling. It was a short boat ride out to our first dive, Coco Lobo. Beautiful morning, calm seas. Talking to the other divers, it had rained the previous day, and had kept the divers onshore. Everybody was rarin’ to go. I dove with a group of four other divers and our dive master Alex. 

*A note on diving videos. I shot video on all seven of my dives and edited it all together in one. There are separate descriptions of each dive, but just one video.  Here it is:

Dive 1 / Coco Lobo: Visibility good, maybe 100’. Saw a Drum Fish, lobster, two turtles, one big one with three remoras on its back. Abundant hard and soft corals and some beautiful barrel sponges. Lots of parrotfish, grouper, butterfly fish, indigo hamlets, a barracuda and a million other small fish.

Afterwards, we headed back to shore for a brief interval. Clay was re-certified and ready to go and the girls had had a fun snorkel tour including seeing an Eagle Ray and dolphin sighting. This time we would all be on the same boat. 

Dive 2 / Bikini Bottoms: Our destination this time was Bikini Bottoms. It is a beautiful, well-lit, shallower site. Our dive master was Sofie, a Spaniard from Barcelona. Lots of beautiful corals and Sofie was great at finding all kinds of critters, my main reason for diving. Saw an Eagle Ray stirring up the bottom in search of food, Brittle Star in the Tube Sponges, a Lionfish, Banded Coral Shrimp, and a Scrawled Filefish.

After the dive, we returned to our house. The girls cleaned up while Clay and I decided to check out the pool. Then we and made some sandwiches and had some chips, queso and very good cookies. By the time we had finished, it was about time for Katie and Matt to be landing. Nicci and Susan headed for the airport and grocery store while Clay, Jean and I went down the hill towards West End and the fruit stand, chocolate store and gift shop. You can’t come out of the chocolate store without an armload of chocolate that they make on premises. They make several different kinds and are generous with samples. I bought a couple of bars and the Harmons loaded a small box. This will be the first of many trips. Bought a bunch of great looking fruit for just $5. Toured the gift shop but decided to wait until right before our departure before loading up. I have to mention that the young woman who was tending the store was probably the most laconic human being that I have ever encountered. Not judging, just saying. 

Went back to the house and awaited the arrival of Katie and Matt. They arrived relieved and happy, albeit exhausted. We all caravanned to West End and went to the Argentinian Grill for dinner. Their specialty, unsurprisingly, was grilled beef. It is a cool, casual open-air restaurant with a pretty expansive menu actually attached to the front of the place that Nicci, Katie and Matt are staying. We started with a round of exotic cocktails including the indigenous favorite the Monkey Lala for Matt and Katie and Nicci had a refreshing martini. I had my second consecutive dinner of fresh grilled fish with ratouille and curried potatoes. We also had fresh baked, warm bread and a delightful round of cocktails. It was all perfect. Things move slowly on island time so we were there for a couple of relaxing hours, enjoying the spectacular sunset just across the road over Half Moon Bay. It would be hard to find a more classic setting. I couldn’t do it, but there were a couple of amazing desserts ordered including a lovely Key Lime Pie with a merengue crust. Whoa. 

 

Sunday, 2/13/22:

Big pancake breakfast with bacon. The kids came over to join us and then we trooped down to the dive shop. Got there early enough to chat with our fellow divers. Overheard one woman telling another person that she lived in Ely and that her husband led canoe trips in the BWCA and that they published a magazine. I asked if it was the Boundary Waters Journal and she said yes! Small world. I told her that my brother had had many pictures published in the magazine. “Oh yes, I know his pictures well”, she said. Here name was Michelle Ostoff.

She also said that it was -42 degrees in Ely that day. She seemed to not miss Minnesota at all. Beautiful calm, clear, warm morning.

Dive 3 / West End Wall: The first trip of the morning we headed towards the southern point. A bit  of a boat ride past West Bay. A nice morning, clear and calm. A woman with us got in the water- her O-Ring blew right away. I tried to descend and was unable to- no weights. It was more fodder for my opinion of the dive shop as being overused and unable to keep up. Worrisome. We dropped down in a shallow area. The West End Wall dive had a fairly level area consisting of mounds of coral. You work your way across that terrain and then encounter the wall. It drops off dramatically. Saw a turtle, barracuda, an unbelievably hard to see Scorpionfish, schools of huge Jacks, Yellowtail Snappers, crabs, big sponges, and bountiful coral.

Went back to the dive shop for a surface interval. A woman at the dive shop was telling us about seahorses that live under the dock. Gotta check that out.

Dive 4 / Fish Den: Second dive was to Fish Den. I had done this dive before but had forgotten how beautiful it was. I saw more fish and critters here on this dive than I had ever seen before: small puffer, enormous puffer that swam right at me just as my GoPro battery died; a perfectly camouflaged porcupine fish, big crabs, big groupers, and a turtle. Ended the dive swimming through huge schools of blue tangs and yellowtail snapper. Best dive for wildlife ever in Roatan!

The snorkelers appeared to have had a good time and were impressed by Junior’s display of free-diving. He would swim right down 30’ or so with no weights and no fins and then back up again. I mentioned to Nicci that he had probably spent his entire life in the water and she said that he had told her that “he was born in the water”. 

 

After diving, Clay and I jumped in the pool and then we made sandwiches and ate fresh mango, chips, salsa and for dessert, a bar of our locally made chocolate. Yum.

Next, we all drove to the chocolate/fruit/gift stand complex to stock up. Many free samples of chocolate and a lot of gift bars to go. Then we headed for West Bay. We had been told by our dive master, Luna, that she and other local artisans had their wares on display and for sale. We found them in the courtyard of the Paradise Resort. Luna was there with her significant other. She had told us that she dehydrated her own foods so we were disappointed to see that she hadn’t brought any with her. It was supposed to rain so she left them at home. Her partner was selling a fresh fruit cocktail in a bottle and they had a couple of sauces for sale. There were musicians performing and a very accomplished artist who etched scenes into conch shells. Beautiful work.

We walked down the beach a little ways and managed to not spend any more money and then headed for West End and dinner. Our planned destination was to be Creole’s but it was closed. We settled for Ginger’s which overlooked Half Moon Bay. It was Super Bowl Sunday and the place was packed.

Our waiter arrived eventually with a menu and a lot of attitude, spending the next three minutes telling us how overworked he was, how he couldn’t break our check into parts and an involved monologue about taxes on our bill. This was a prelude to what was to come later. Ordered some apps: Thai wings and guacamole that were superb. It took a long time to get our food but it was also very good. I got a Texas cheesesteak. Bland but plentiful. When we were done and flagged down our waiter again we were surprised to discover that our bill was $277! Shocked, we asked him to explain it to us. He reluctantly agreed, exuding an air of exasperation. Turns out that they accidentally charged us $112 for a $12 margarita. Small mistake. Thank goodness Jean and Susan were all over that.

It had started to rain so we bolted for the car, took a few wrong turns through the labyrinth sidewalk complex behind Arco Iris and got plenty wet before we got in the car. Drove back to the house carefully picking our way over humps and through potholes avoiding the inevitable bottoming out of our shitty rental with warn out springs. The previous night when we had started down Tamarindo Drive from the main road and there were workers filling one of the enormous holes with wet cement. I couldn’t tell if it was cement and thought it was rocks. There were no signs and the workers were standing there looking at us giving us no indication that we couldn’t drive through there. Found out today when we drove back in, that it had indeed been wet cement. Now there was a large perfect tire trough right through it. Some things about this island I guess I don’t understand.

Back at the shack, the Super Bowl halftime show was just underway. We watched the rest of the game while the others played Feffer. Lights out about 9 pm.

Monday, 2/14/22:

 

Rain Day. Overnight it rained at times like the end of the world. Had all of the windows open and fans on to keep it cool. Woke up to a puddle of water on the floor. Forecast called for at least 24 hours more of rain. No diving today. 

The kids brought breakfast from Sandy Buns Bakery in West End:

Muy delicioso! Then, with rain coming down, Nicci introduced us to “fish bowl”. It’s a game that she and Tyler and friends play where each player writes six words on slips of paper and place them in a bowl. Each person draws a piece of paper in turn and then gives clues to their teammates trying to guess that word. 

The rain fell off and on, sometimes with a few hours in between. Met a young couple staying at Ananta by the name of Kelly and Todd. Said “hi” to them. They were on their way out walking somewhere. We were on our way to the fruit stand and grocery store. Starting driving up the road and a half mile or so on our drive, we saw them walking on the road. I stopped and, after discovering that they were headed to West End to buy groceries, picked them up. We went to Woody’s in West End first but decided to hit Eldon’s for their better selection. Kelly and Todd tagged along. Made our first stop, our daily stop, at the local fruit stand. Their produce is fresh and ripe- great tomatoes, avos and mangos. What else do you need? Picked up a few things and then made the long and winding drive to Eldon’s. It was the usual dodge ‘em cars on the way in plus a lot of flooding in low spots. I find it stimulating. Others find it harrowing. Loaded up at Eldon’s and then headed home. 

With a break in the weather, I went out for a walk. It was a beautiful day. Somewhere in the mid ‘70’s.

Walked for about an hour and then came home for lunch. Sandwiches, guacamole, mangos, salsa and some amazing sandwich cookies with crème brûlée filling. 

In the afternoon, the Feffer games began. I busied myself by telling annoying bad jokes from the Garrison Keillor book to the players.

Later Clay and I took a good walk on the beach, walking all the way to West Bay and back. Walked for about an hour.Got all the way back to Ibigari before the skies opened up. Made the final climb up the drive in a heavy rain. It was almost enjoyable. The temperature is warm enough that you don’t get chilled and when the rain stops things dry out pretty quickly. 

When we got back, Susan was hard at work on dinner. On the menu tonight: fish tacos. It’s terrific but also labor intensive with a fresh and delicious pico de gallo as the center piece. While dinner prep was under way, there were several spirited hands of Feffer. Had a great meal accompanied with wine and locally made Passionfruit cocktail. After dinner we all hit the hot tub and swimming pool and then off to Lala Land.

 

Tuesday, 2/15: 

Quest for cacajuates! It took me two days to figure out just how to say cacajuates! Cacajuates is Spanish for peanuts and the preferred snack for our resident parrots. Dolly, the resident property manager directed me to a local market just down the hill from Eldon’s, the big market in town. We found the peanuts but without the shells which I found out was risky when I tried to delicately give one to them. After having my finger nipped, I was content to just place them on the edge of the cage. Our other “resident” animal is the agouti.

When we walk down the hill to the water, we occasionally see them dart across the path in front of us. They’re an interesting critter with the snout of a beaver and the hind legs of a rabbit and about the size of a woodchuck. They also seem to be quite docile. I have seen one grazing contentedly in a meadow. When we took to the hot tub in the late afternoon, one calmly poked around about 20 feet away on our small lawn. I wonder if they like cacajuates?

 

Another rainy night overnight with rain predicted all day. Today’s weather was a little more benevolent. Longer breaks in the rain but extremely windy on the water. No diving and no water taxis today.

The girls went to yoga in West End first thing. Their original plan was to take a water taxi to West End but one look at the water and the uncertainty of rain changed their minds. I drove them down there and after going to Woody’s and looking for a place to walk other than the beach, I decided to stroll down the main drag. I walked almost all the way to end and back. It was a perfect morning. It was in the mid-70’s and traffic was minimal in the streets. All of the patrons of the dive shops were idling in the cafes. A lot of the restaurants hadn’t opened yet and the cruise ships were not in town yet. Of course I had to stop at Sandy Buns to pick up a warm cinnamon roll. Walked for about 45 minutes and then returned to my car. Next stop was the nearby bakery and then my daily stop at the fruit stand. Headed back to the house where Clay and I decided to take a walk on the beach. In the meantime, the girls all went out for their own cinnamon rolls and coffee. A little while later they and Matt drove over to the house for a swim and lunch. In then afternoon there were card games, more walks and another hot tub soak before we headed for dinner. 

Dinner tonight was at Creole’s. My fondest memories of meals from our previous trip in 2020 was the exceptional carrot cake at Creole’s. Their desserts are legendary and numerous. Their specialty is grilled chicken. It is amazing and inexpensive. Their sides are creative and tasty. I had a half chicken with sides of yuca and coconut rice and beans. The yuca had a very interesting vinegar and cilantro sauce. For drinks we all went with concoctions that included a generous dose of fresh ginger. Mine was passionfruit-ginger. There was also limeaid-ginger. Good cocktails too. After we had been served, the restaurant ran out of chicken so they decided to close down for the night. Before we left we all grabbed a dessert to go: key lime pie, carrot cake, tres leches, brownies, etc. Of course five minutes before we were ready to leave it started to rain. I gallantly volunteered to go get the car but underestimated how far away we had parked. I got good and soaked but the good food and good vibes more than made up for my discomfort. The girls and Matt decided to stay in West End so we returned to our house and hit the sack. In bed by 9 pm. I must be getting old…

A promising weather forecast for Wednesday! Let’s go diving!

Wednesday, 2/16: 

Another overnight of on-again, off-again rain and wind. In the morning, things lightened up and the wind subsided considerably. Breakfast of omelets, mango, coffee and toast with everyone. It was still raining off and on so after breakfast that meant a game of Phase 10. When things cleared up and the rain stopped, we took a long walk on the beach. Then we headed back to eat a fabulous lunch of chicken quesadillas and guacamole. Clay was still feeling the effects of La Turista so I was the only one diving with Clearwater this afternoon. Things had been in chaos at the dive shop due to the two days of no diving, so they were scrambling to accommodate all of the people who wanted to go out. They had taken a couple of divers out in the morning but it had been pretty rough on the water. Michelle Ostoff had been one of the divers that morning and she told me that, because of the dark and overcast skies, there were a lot of big fish on the reef hunting in the twilight. I went out with four other divers and Denisse. The divers were going out as part of an advanced open water course and were doing their navigation unit. I was the tag along. 

Dive 5: Quarantine Buddy: We went out to Quarantine Buddy, a site with an open, sandy bottom and columns of coral. Saw three rays, a Peacock Flounder, Hogfish, big Groupers, a Trunkfish, turtle and millions of small fish. At the end of the dive, we did our safety stop in the coral nursery. They are trying to re-establish Elkhorn Coral. They take pieces and attach them to a one of a series of scaffolding columns. When they take, they are transplanted and epoxied into place on the reef. Coral die-off is an imminent threat to the reef of Roatan. There is an illness circulating in the Caribbean that has already wreaked havoc on the reefs surrounding the island. Transplanting is one way to combat the die-off. Another is to inoculate the affected coral which seems like a Sysiphus-like task at best but at least they are making an effort.

 

Got back and up to the house. Everybody had caught a water taxi and gone to West Bay to hang out on the beach and swim. They ended up having a great time and said that the water, that was so churned up on our beach, had been nice and clear down there. Their stay had included snacks and adult beverages that Nicci had so expertly captured.

In the middle of the afternoon, I spotted Guy and Dolly in the little bar building so stopped to chat. They were sharing a couple of shots (“One of the perks of ownership”, says Guy). They gave me a lot of interesting info about a lot of different things. I had mentioned the agoutis that seem so at home around the area. “Watusas” is what they called them. They apparently just nonchalantly hang around and are totally comfortable as long as you stay in the little bar or by the pool. Otherwise they spook easily and will vanish in a second. “The are delicious,” added Dolly.

When everybody returned, the kids took off to shower and change. We had dinner reservations for Oasis at 6:30. It was our first beautiful sunset in three days so the kids were enjoying a drink on the water. We decided to head to the Oasis early and were practically the first and only diners there.

Ordered one of their amazing passionfruit-coconut mojitos and waited for the kids. Oasis is expertly run by a group of dedicated and enthusiastic people. They were severely hampered by the COVID pandemic and had to actually shut down for nine months in 2020 due to the lack of patrons. They are coming back strong and are just as good as ever. Had their nightly special- mushroom tortellni in a heavenly reduction with whole basil leaves on top. Others had the lobster pasta or the catch of the day broiled on a bed of risotto. Winners all around. The coup de grace was dessert pannacotta with passion fruit and raspberry sauce and the chili chocolate brownie. That put us all over the top. After that, nothing to do but go home and sleep it off.

Thursday, 2/17:

After breakfast, we headed to rendezvous with the kids in West End. It was a perfect morning weather-wise: clear, calm and warm. The angry ocean had calmed down to a purring kitten. All was back to what it should be. The kids had access to kayaks so we met on Half Moon Bay for some water fun.

Half Moon Bay is ideal. It’s an almost perfect half circle with clear water and a nice sandy beach. It’s deep enough to snorkel but shallow enough near the beach to be able to swim safely. We took turns going out. Near the mouth of the bay is a shallow reef where small waves break. The submersible is also kept there. We found out quickly that that was where the fun was. Clay and Jean and I rode a few waves. Nicci was quick to notice the fun and headed out there herself. When she came into shore a short time later, she was sporting several bloody cuts on her leg. She had gotten broadsided by the wave and crashed on the reef. It looked gory but after a day of swimming and snorkeling, it looked a lot better, and now she has a story to tell!

When we were done kayaking, we headed back to the house to clean up, eat lunch and get ready to snorkel and dive at Clearwater. Once again Clearwater was handling a lot of both due to the inclement weather on Monday and Tuesday. As a result, we were scheduled to go out at 1:30. Clay and I went out with a young couple working on the Open Water. There were four other divers and a few snorkelers in addition to our group. Katie and Matt opted out of this afternoon’s excursion. They had decided to get a massage and get super relaxed (can you ever get too relaxed?) and their appointment conflicted with our trip. 

Dive 6: Bikini Bottoms:

Our dive trip started out at Bikini Bottoms again and with a new dive instructor on her first day, Sarah.  Kind of went round and round in very shallow water. Highlight of the dive was spotting and videoing a cream colored snake, a juvenile sharp-tailed eel? Saw some Crevalle Jacks, Trumpetfish, Cornet Fish, a huge school of Blue Tangs, a Queen Angelfish, Triggerfish, a Hawksbill Turtle, Banded Shrimp. Because it was a shallow dive, we were in almost 56 minutes. Got chilled!

After diving, the girls bailed on the second snorkel opportunity. Turns out, that wasn’t such a bad idea. There was a lot of people on our boat and it was crowded and crazy enough without a few extra bodies. Their plan was to explore the dock to search for seahorses which apparently live under there. After that they headed up to the house to clean up with the idea of coming back to the dock to watch the sunset. Clay and I went out at 3:30 with the plan to be back by 5 pm. We dove at Mandy’s Eel Garden, just a quarter mile offshore of West Bay. The number of fish is astounding, a steady never-ending train of Creole Wrasse, a Hawksbill Turtle, a Giant Puffer, large Groupers, a very cool eel garden, and, at the end of the dive, a small herd of Goatfish feeding together on the sandy bottom.

We returned to the dock, dunked our gear and said our sad goodbyes. I must say Denisse is amazing at what she does. She runs the business, touches all of the clients and takes care of all of their whims and needs; schedules the dives; schedules her crews and everything else that needs to be done to make the business run. Plus she is a great personality with good humor and knowledge who makes everyone feel welcome. The other dive masters and helpers were great as well: Sophie, Katie, Junior, Sarah and Denzel were memorable people. We’ll miss them.

By the time that we had returned to the house, the person to do our COVID testing was already there. So we all took our turn getting the nose swab. Everyone negative! Got showered and dressed and headed for dinner in West End.

On Guy’s recommendation, we decided to try Blue Elephant, a Thai restaurant. It’s a really cool two-story open dining venue with high ceilings and plenty of space. The food was really good and the drinks were amazing. I started with a very refreshing margarita, Clay had a Bombay gin and tonic and Susan had the local favorite beer, Salva Vida. “Life Saver”, Interesting name for beer. It’s either literal or ironic. But Nicci had the smash hit of the night: the Thai Basil. Gin(?), a healthy dose of ginger and, of course, a big sprig of basil. That punched all of our buttons! Too full for dessert, we waddled down the street just to shake it down a little bit and then, satiated and tired from a long, good day of outdoor activities, we drove home and hit the sack.

 

 

Friday, 2/18/22:

Last day on the island! The weather is golden: warm, clear and calm. Woke up early after a good night’s sleep (for once). Had a breakfast of leftovers and extra food. Had an awesome bacon-egg-tomato’s-avocado breakfast sandwich. Headed down to the dock at Clearwater to set up a time lapse. Of course the sky is completely cloudless and blue. Maybe it will change. It always does.

 

We got all packed up, said our goodbyes and headed for West End to rendezvous with the kids to eat lunch. Katie and Matt had to head for he airport by 12:30 so we decided to eat an early lunch. Went back to everybody's favorite- Creole's. One last taste of their amazing chicken and great sides. 

After lunch, we said our goodbyes to Matt and Katie and decided to kill time by meandering up the street to look for a new mask for Clay. Along the way we picked up few tourist items and browsed a few other shops, eventually ending up at the Sundowner Beach Bar. It was mid day and we had a few more hours to kill before we had to head for the airport, so we decided to have a cold beverage on their open second story bar. It was a beautiful tropical day and it was warm. But due to an odd shortage of electrical outlets and some switches not working, we couldn't get the ceiling fans to work. No problem. We would be back in the frigid north soon enough so might as well enjoy the heat while we could.

Eventually it was time to leave so we piled in the cars and headed for the airport. We dropped off the cars and entered the terminal only to find out that, what else?, our flight would be delayed for an hour. So Susan, ever resourceful pulled a cart over to our chairs and set up an impromptu card table. We played for awhile, grabbed a bit to eat and finally took off for home. Got home very late to a cold, dark Minnesota winter night. We slept snuggly in our warm beds with dreams of sunshine and diving swimming in our dreams.

Nicci put together a fun video from Instagram using all of her pictures and videos. Here it is:

Thanks to Nicci, Katie and Susan for their great videos and images that went into this blog. Thanks to the Harmons for coming along. You guys make every minute fun. Let's do it again real soon!

Just a few general thoughts on the trip to wrap up:

We have always stayed on the west side of the island (the “busy” side), but always away from the two main commercial enclaves, West Bay and West End. Still the island is nothing like some of the other destinations that we have visited that are much more established and more heavily used, like Cozumel and Belize. It was nice to have less people on the island due to COVID. The reason that so many people stay on that west side is because it is the leeward side of the island, so much calmer and less challenging for boats and diving, and the reefs are so close to shore. I did notice when diving that, while the size and breadth of the coral heads is astonishing, there were large patches of dead and dying coral. That is very concerning. One of the women who worked at the dive shop that we used, Clearwater Adventures https://www.roatanclearwater.com, was a volunteer who took part in the prevention of the coral die-off program by diving and inoculating coral. They are also creating nurseries to grow new coral. These are scaffolding erected underwater with pieces of coral anchored to them. These pieces take “root” on the scaffolding and, once growing, are taken and epoxied into place on the reef. This to me feels like a minuscule effort against a huge menace, but they are trying.

Our diving was spectacular. Short, easy boat rides, amazing clarity, (mostly) bountiful corals and millions of fish. Never had a bad dive. We did get shore bound for two days by rain and wind which was a bummer but got in the water as much as possible.

One of the main charms of the island is that there are no chain restaurants except for BoJangles Chicken. They apparently love this stuff on the island. Otherwise, no McDonald’s, Hardees, 7-11’s, no chain hotels, etc. Thus there are innumerable charming little mom and pop bars and restaurants which all serve unique and very good food usually with a spectacular view of the water and sunsets. 

Maybe one of the things that is keeping Roatan from becoming Cozumel, in addition to being significantly further from the U.S., is the terrain. The island is essentially a mountaintop that shoots up from the ocean bottom. The incline from the highest points directly down to the sea is breathtaking. Our road from the main highway down to our place was about a 75% incline with a hairpin turn at the first corner. I had to take this drive at about 2 mph. We almost didn’t make it up the road with four people in our car on a slick road after a storm. The terrain makes it difficult to build houses although they are trying. The houses sit precariously perched a story or two off the ground on posts on some of these ravines.

This island gets abundant and consistent rainfall so there is thick jungle everywhere. It’s incredibly lush and beautiful with wild parrots circling the sky. It truly is a garden of Eden. 

One of the concerning things that the island has to come to grips with very soon is that they don’t recycle. With all of the tourists and bars and restaurants that serve them, you can imagine the amount of stuff that accumulates. It’s not a big place. They don’t have a lot of room to throw it all away. After a big storm, there was a lot of plastic debris that washed up on shore. Sad and depressing. Let’s not kill paradise.