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Roatan and Bay Islands Discussion List Archive
| Posted On: | 22-Sep-2003 |
| From: | becky marshall [squishy.....net] |
| Subject: | [roatan] Roatan tidbits and travel tips |
Hi all My friend and I just got back from a week's vacation in Roatan and picked up some valuable information that I wish I had read somewhere somehow before we left. I thought I would share for those who are planning their first trip to the island. We flew from Chicago to Miami then on to San Pedro Sula via Taca. Lots more leg room than American Airlines, that's for sure. We then got on a puddle jumper from San Pedro to Roatan, but had no idea that the plane was going to stop in Goloson and that we'd have to switch planes. That was an unexpected trip-lengthening experience we were rather bummed about. By the way, if you're flying into San Pedro Sula and you have checked your bags, it is very unlikely that they will reach you in Roatan as we found out and were told later. It took two days for my friend's bag to show up, and it was missing some stuff. I carried on my small bags which was the smart way to go. Not the end of the world though. Don't over-pack. You won't need much more more than some lightweight shorts, lightweight shirts, flip flops and your bathing suit. I had a tiny backpack of clothes and barely wore any of them as it was so warm. Well, and the goal was to get a rockin' good tan too. The sand flies are nasty, evil, %*&..... Especially if you're highly susceptible to bug bites like me. I got chowed on Tuesday and am still itchy and unhappy. Bring a lot of bug spray, and I mean a lot. My friend and I went through a can at least every day and a half. And we weren't in and out of the water all the time either. If you're tanning, lounging on one of those chairs halfway in the water, go to flip over, you'll have to dry off and re-spray. No kidding. I never want to see another bottle of bug spray in my life now, I'm so tired of it. I did find that toothpaste helped the sand fly bites stop itching for one night. The mosquitos were bad, but not too bad. If you get one in your room overnight, that stinks, but ya know, they're mosquitos. We stayed at Foster's West Bay and it was nice. We were in the Round House 2, which wasn't huge, but we weren't there much. It had two twin beds and a king size bed as well as a/c, water cooler, fridge, coffee maker, and kitchenette. It wasn't anything fancy but it was a place to sleep. The view of the bay was darn great, and the proximity to the best beach couldn't have been closer. Foster's does have the best location on West Bay, in my opinion, though the better snorkeling is all the way at the end of the beach to the west. Mark and Lana were great and took nice care of us. I could swear their web site said that they had free transfer to and from the airport. They picked us up but told us we had to take a cab back for $20. We were rather bummed since we had almost no cash left and really thought we'd get a free ride back. I have to check the web site again. Foster's did cash my traveler's checks if we ate there, which was very handy since you don't want to use the ATM. They do have internet access too, for $0.25/minute. Internet is good as telephones are nowhere. Don't eat at Cannibal Cafe. My friend, myself, and another guest at Foster's all ate there on the same day and got sick. The other guest was out of commission for the rest of the week, and it was his honeymoon. That sucked. Don't drink the water or eat the lettuce. No need for lots of small American dollar bills. We found that lempiras in 10's and up, no more than 500's, along with American 20's were fine. I read that most people wanted American dollars, but in actuality, it was more like half the places did and the other half wanted lempiras. The water taxi's were great fun and were only 20 lp. Much better than a land taxi. The buses (just mini-vans actually) were super cheap from West End to Anthony's Key Resort, even less than the water taxi. And things are more expensive than I thought. I kept hearing about how cheap everything was, food, trinkets, etc. but it was all pretty comparable to the States so I ran out of cash quick. You must do the dolphin encounter and swim at Anthony's Key. Things I wish I had brought: a night light, a little flash light (the power went out 3 times while we were there, which was no big deal but it gets very dark at night), a more complete first aid kit, my own beach towel. Things I'm glad I brought: first aid kit, small packets of tissues, my toothpaste for the bites, bars of Ivory soap, tweezers, enough supplies for two people to live off of, Imodium chewables, Benadryl. Even though I brought anti-itch stuff along, it didn't help at all. Getting out of the Roatan airport is a challenge. Check all of the little pieces of paper they sign and date before you leave the airport, making sure the dates are correct when you get in. They mis-wrote a date on our stuff and they almost wouldn't let us out. After running into someone from Foster's, the guy examining the passports finally realized that he did stamp them that week, and that things were all ok. But mainly only because the guy from Foster's remembered us. Our new friends from Foster's didn't know you had to pay $25/person to exit the country. The surprise fee was the $2/person for having them run your bags through their x-ray machine. Things are not well labeled in the airport, clocks are hard to find. Get there early though. Turns out we were sitting in the wrong area and would have missed our flight all together -- the only one out for the day. And don't forget that though it's pretty, and an island, it is still a third world country. I don't say that to be insulting. I say that because the image that was painted in my head by reading all the posts to this group was one of say, Aruba, or the Cayman Islands -- all quaint, pastel and such, which Roatan is not. It is still rough around the edges but it's obvious that things are changing. Whether that's for the best or not, it's not my business to say so. The hummingbirds, parrots, butterflies, moths, bats, palm trees, the water was all beautiful and great but I never felt relaxed enough. The bugs and keeping my eye slightly peeled kept me on guard the whole time. Maybe that was my own problem, who knows. Personally, I doubt I will go back, but that's my own thing. To each their own, right? If I wasn't miserable physically in one way or another all week, maybe things would have been different. I'm sure I'll think of more if anyone's interested. Becky ReplayTV: Control live television Special Sale: 50% off ReplayTV CNet Ranked #1 over Tivo! | |
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