Maddog62's Blog

Roatan 1/22-30/2011

Our friends Brent and Deanna invited us to go with them on their 25th anniversary to Roatan to be totally honest I had no idea where Roatan was, I knew where Honduras was in fact Honduras has always been on my “bucket list” of places to scuba dive so we said we would love to go with them and what a great decisions that turned out to be.

If you click on the picture above you will be able to see the island better.

We spent  most of our time on the west side of the island that is really where the best diving is and most of the population on the Island.

The trip started with a “red-eye” flight out of SLC to Atlanta and then on to Roatan.  We landed about 12:30 PM so we had plenty of time to get find our rental house and get a car.

Brent Deanna and Linda just outside of the Roatan International Airport.

Our first stop was at the local grocery store to pick up some light snacks beer and of course wine.  Looking back we should have bought a case of wine on the first day because we came back to the store every day to pick up more wine.

This is the home we stayed in for the week.  It was a great house about a block from the beach but we felt like we were right in the middle of the jungle with all the trees and birds.  You can also see the Rav 4 we rented to get around in.  I would recommend renting a car just because you have to take a day or two just driving the island and seeing everything as well as spending some time with the locals.

Name of the Rental House.

This is the front deck where we would have coffee, play games, drink a little or just sit out and talk while enjoying the beautiful weather.

The side deck is where we would meet every night just to talk and have a glass of wine.  See why buying wine by the case is a good idea…

I picked this picture because you can see the inside of the house which was very beautiful and Brent trying to make a few bucks by showing us his tits.

The house also came with a golf cart this was our transportation to and from the beach.  We felt a little lazy taking it a block but it was fun at night because with all of the trees it gets dark on the road and guess what… Linda pointed out the golf carts don’t have head lights… wow we must have got a cheep one because every golf course I have ever played has “night golf”…

Here’s the four of us right outside of Foster’s where we had lunch. 

The beach is just beautiful and when the cruse ships are not in the they are so empty.  So we learned early that when the ships are in we would spend the day touring the Island or scuba diving.  The good news was the people from the ships didn’t hit the beach until 10:00 and they were gone at 4:00 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday’s so it really was not that bad.  

We had our first dinner at a place call Bite on the Beach.  The food is wonderful and they make the best Mango Margaritas and another drink called the Monkey La La.  But if you order the monkey la la get it with banana and chocolate.  Dang that is good stuff.

Day two we spent the day driving the Island and seeing all of the sights.  This was a little bar called “360” overlooking the jungle the view was amazing I just wished that one picture could capture the entire view.

This is what the Island looks like unless they clear out the trees to build something.

If you click on this picture you can see where they started building a house but ran out of money and the jungle just filled back in.

We spent the afternoon just checking out the locals we found they dress very well and some speak great English but for the most part they speak Spanish.  But they can carry a lot stuff when they use their heads.

This is a picture is from the South West end of the Island looking back.

We headed over to the town called West End to look around.

They do a lot of diving out of here and some of the cheaper hotels are over on this side.  This is where you can find some of the coolest sports bars and believe it or not we found some great places to eat.

The main road around the Island is paved the rest of the roads are just dirt.

 

As you can tell from this locals face she doesn’t like to being touched but that didn’t stop Linda and Deanna from groping her.  If a guy did that we would be in jail…

After a few stops for beer and wine we ended up at Ton’s for dinner.  The food here is wonderful and I would say it is a must stop if you go to West End.

This was a great view to end the night.

Day three started off with our first Dive, we checked out most of the local dive shops and settled in with Anemona divers.  Maria is the owner / operator and she does a fantastic job.  She was so fun and her dive masters did a fantastic job taking us to the places we wanted to go.

I cannot tell you how wonderful the diving is in Roatan.  The coral in its self is outstanding I have never seen barrel sponges so large and coral that healthy and beautiful.  We made two dives that day and they were both amazing but the best dive was called the West Wall. 

What makes the diving even better was the dive shop was just  two minutes way from the house and when we got on the boat the dive sites were only a five or ten minute boat ride at the most.  Sooooo Coooool

We ended up having dinner back at Ton’s because everyone is closed on Monday nights.  I don’t understand the deal but you will have to look long and hard to find a dinner place open on a Monday night here.

Day four was another dive day we dove two more times and one of the dives was called the “hole” its 140 foot dive that takes you through some very cool tunnels and opens up into a huge open area called the hole.   The second dive was a very short one for me because I could not get my ears to clear.  I tried three times to get below 10 feet and could not so I just went back up to the boat and sat the second dive out with the boat captian.

Deanna and I heading to the “hole”

Check out this spung

Just getting everything set up

Heading out to another dive.  Linda took a lot of pictures but while we were diving she was laying on the beach working on her tan.

Another one of Linda’s great pictures of us pulling into the dock from our dive.

I just wish the colors would come out better the coral was amazing

This is Mike he was the one of the best Dive masters.  As you can tell he had a rough night and needed a little wake up coffee.

Deanna and I diving the “Texas” dive.

Brent and Deanna

Just another great picture of the dive.

You might have to click on this picture to see the Sea Horse.  This is the first time I have ever seen a sea horse in the ocean.  It was so cool.

After a long day of diving we found ourselves back at Bite on the Beach for their wonderful beverages.

Lets just say that Brent had a good time and leave it at that…

After Diving we headed down to the “Mother Ship” the Harley Davidson shop it has only been open for a month and that’s when things got bad.  They wanted to close their doors and go home but Linda and Deanna wanted to shop and things got bad in a hurry.

Security trying to hold on to Linda and Deanna.

Deanna tried to have Linda’s back but it was not working, Linda was going to the “Big House”. 

Ok maybe we staged this little scuffle but after looking at the picture and her smile I think Linda like the hand cuffs.

Day five started with Breakfast at Celestes the food here is very good and they have seven parrots that will clean your plate if you don’t.

This ones loves eggs.

After Breakfast the girls went and spent the day at the Serenity Spa.  They both loved it but Deanna just about got a happy ending so I think her massage was a little better than Linda’s  Although I didn’t hear Linda complain a bit.

The only Harley on the Island.  But they did have a few “Harley Not’s”

The Harley logo was a little faded but after careful inspection… We don’t think it was a Harley.  We were a little appalled that someone would use the Harley logo for their own gain until we saw that even God uses the Harley logo now and then.

Now I know that Jesus rides a Harley!!!

Weather is a funny thing we are driving in beautiful 85 degrees the sun is shinning and we see a Water spout in the ocean.  How cool is this.

Our timing was perfect because it only lasted about five minutes.  The crazy thing is the Water spout was on the North side of the Island and we took these pictures on the South side.

Brent and Deanna

Weather is funny.

Keeping with the crazy and funny theme we had sushi for dinner normally that’s not to funny but when we made our reservation they gave us an hour to eat.  We were just finishing up when our hour was up and they said bye you have to leave now.  We named the place the Susi Nazi.  The sushi was wonderful the service…. Not so good.

If you go there book an hour and a half because they will hold you to what ever time you set.

Day six started back out on the Boat for two more outstanding dives.  You must dive the place they call “Texas” it is just so clear and beautiful you have to dive it.  Here we are with Maria the owner.

Day seven was a rainy day it rained so hard and so much that the power went out for most of the day so we just got in the car and rode around to see the rest of the Island we had not seen  The girls had to use flash lights and a lantern to get ready for dinner because it was Brent and Deanna’s 25th anniversary.

 Good thing the restaurants all have generators. The food at the Vintage Pearl was great and service was even better.

 The Tourist Police ride in two’s I think they also have to room together so they feel comfortable spooning as they ride.  The good news they are there, the bad news is they don’t speak any English.  So I guess they ride around the Island just to make the travels feel better.

 

Day eight Brent and Deanna crying and Linda just happy to still be on vacation.

Like I said Honduras has always been on my “bucket list” of places to visit and it was everything I thought it would be.  I cannot tell you how wonderful the Island is and how relaxed we felt after our vacation.