Roatán Overview

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The largest and most popular of the Bay Islands, Roatán is a long skinny strip of Caribbean beaches loaded with resorts, powdery-white sand, a mountainous ridge down the middle, and accommodations and restaurants for all budgets and tastes. Despite being the most developed of the Bay Islands, Roatán retains a classic Caribbean, laid-back atmosphere. There are several isolated beaches that can only be reached by water taxi.

Its easy to get to Roatán, the international airport has regular flights to and from Miami and Houston as well as to and from other cities in Honduras. The airport is a five-minute drive from tiny Coxen Hole, the capital of the Bay Islands. Also known as Roatán City, this is not much of a tourist destination, but it offers all basic services and a few hotels.

A few miles from the capital, West End is the most popular place to stay on the island. It is at the western-most tip of the island (big surprise) and features a skinny stretch of palm-filled beaches, lots of international and local restaurants and hotels and cabañas for all budgets. The diving and snorkeling are excellent here, although the beaches are also irritatingly popular with the pesky sand flies.

Sandy Bay is also on this end of the island is a somewhat less-developed version of West End. There is a nice botanical garden and history museum. The Institute of Marine Sciences has regular dolphin shows and lets visitors swim with the dolphins.

On the other end of the island, visit Punta Gorda. This is the oldest established community on Roatán and is bursting with vibrant Black Caribbean culture. April 8-12 is Carib Week, the local festivals. From here, you can rent a boat to visit the park and wildlife refuge at Port Royal.

The easternmost tip of the island features a couple of islands just off Roatán like Isla Barbareta with a private nature reserve, beaches, good diving, sport fishing and hiking trails.