Roatan help

[kcbmarek]

DH and I will be in Roatan, Honduras via a cruise in March.  This is the only port that we are not excited about.  If you have been, here any recommendations as to-do items?  As of right now, we are considering just hopping off the ship, shopping a bit and then back on to the pool.

TIA ....

[noodleskooze]

We zip lined with an independent company and then had a few hours on the beach at a resort. It was actually our favorite stop on the cruise.

[orangello]

That's a bummer you're not excited about it - it's gorgeous, and the snorkeling and diving are incredible there. We're spending a week there later this year and can't wait. Have you checked tripadvisor? They have tons of ideas for what to do while there. Honestly, I'd rather spend a day on a gorgeous beach than at a ship's pool, but to each their own!

[bullsgirl]

This was one of my favorite cruise ports ever. We rented a car and drove to beach on the West End. It was beautiful, the snorkeling was great and we ate lunch at a good restaurant on the beach. The island has so much character and I loved seeing more than the area near the cruise port.

[jenmjm]

Jan 10, 2014 18:42:47 GMT -5 noodleskooze said:

We zip lined with an independent company and then had a few hours on the beach at a resort. It was actually our favorite stop on the cruise.

We are going back in March.  This time around, I reserved a private driver through Victor Bodden.  I'm planning to have the driver to take us to West Bay Beach for the day with a potential stop somewhere local to buy a snack.  There is a wall that I'm dying to snorkel, as others have already mentioned.  You will see the area on this map, specially the spot in front of Infinity Bay Resort.  Find the kidney bean on the map.  We're planning to swim through that out to the wall.  So excited!!!

www.roatanwestbay.com/

Last time we were there, we did a very similar tour to noodles.  We used Pirates of the Caribbean that day.  I wrote up a blurb about that excursion in the Western Caribbean tag in my blog (Carnival Legend post from 2011).

There is a ton of good info on cruise critic, on the Roatan board.  I highly encourage you to read through some of the threads there under the Ports of Call message boards.  I find it much more helpful than Trip Advisor when I'm cruising.  I still use TA, just not as much.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: This SHOULD take you to the cruisecritic.com Roatan board: boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27 

[onthemove]

I don't want to scare anyone, I just feel like it is now important for me to share this with others. I spent a wonderful week there this time last year, scuba diving, zip lining, you name it, all in West Bay. I was there with 6 others, and we all took anti-malarial pills, but I still contracted Malaria, but did not present for 10 months and then had to spend 5 days in the hospital. Just make sure especially if you are not taking the drugs, and you are in the jungle or near horses (beautiful horse back riding on the beach!), you are well covered and/or have plenty of bug spray.

I would definitely go back, just be careful.

[frlcb]

Jan 10, 2014 22:29:23 GMT -5 onthemove said:

I don't want to scare anyone, I just feel like it is now important for me to share this with others. I spent a wonderful week there this time last year, scuba diving, zip lining, you name it, all in West Bay. I was there with 6 others, and we all took anti-malarial pills, but I still contracted Malaria, but did not present for 10 months and then had to spend 5 days in the hospital. Just make sure especially if you are not taking the drugs, and you are in the jungle or near horses (beautiful horse back riding on the beach!), you are well covered and/or have plenty of bug spray.

I would definitely go back, just be careful.

Yikes, how awful! Did you keep taking the meds after you got home? It's crazy it can present that late!

[onthemove]

Jan 11, 2014 13:32:10 GMT -5 @mx said:

Jan 11, 2014 6:45:14 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Yikes, how awful! Did you keep taking the meds after you got home? It's crazy it can present that late!

It's not unusual for p. ovale and p. vivax malaria to present more than 6 months after exposure. P falciparum typically presents within a month.

Glad you are ok onthemove. I've had malaria twice and I don't wish it on anyone.

It's important to remember to take the meds and also to tell your doctors of previous travel when you get an illness with fever and chills. Most doctors in the US are not used to seeing malaria and there are some late diagnoses as a result.

Yup, that's me, even though they knew I had traveled, because I took all the meds, they assumed it  was either a tic bite or West Nile Virus. It really wasn't anyone's fault, but it meant it progressed much further, and I need up in the ICU. 

Twice, MX?! You are a stronger woman than me! 

[gtkim]

We loved Roatan. We hired Roatan Adventure Tours (Ron) to be our driver for the day. We went ziplining and then out to a gorgeous beach to relax. loved it. He stopped at a local market for us to get snacks as well and told us about the island as we drove around.