The Island of Roatan

 

Looking at Puerta Azul from the beach.  Enough tropical forest for you?  There are about seven buildings on site (a main lodge and guest cottages).

Looking out toward the dock and reef.  The "puerta azul" or blue door is the entrance to the long dock.

We are told that we are visiting Roatan at the start of their warmest season.  Makes sense due to the sun being directly overhead on its way north until June 21.  Our rented house here is fully air conditioned; however, at the windows we have screens and wooden shutters, no window glass. Thus, we have the choice of A/C and no light from the windows (closed shutters), or light but no effective A/C.  Still, we have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, and a basic kitchen to enjoy.

It reminds us of our time living in Panama. Tropical nights are long year around; sunrise is announced by the crowing of chickens, the cooing of pigeons, and the bleating of goats (from nearby “farmlets”) before the sun actually appears.  Dense tropical vegetation delays the morning sun even longer. 

A sample of staghorn coral.  There were simply too many types of coral to capture them all.  There were large fields of fan coral, some of an intense purple color.  There were huge formations of brain coral also.  Some areas looked like an underwater forest of small trees.

I caught this fish out in the open where it couldn't hide.  Before we got to the reef, we had to cross a field of sea grass.  I saw a large stingray there but was unable to get a photo (first day out wearing those crappy short fins).

Roatan is still very much part of a third world country.  It was in evidence during our drive from the airport and also at a visit to our nearby bodega.  When I first stopped here, 42 years ago, English was the almost universal language. However, Honduran mainlanders noticed that this island was relatively more prosperous due to tourism and have moved here in response.  Now, Spanish is a strong second language here; combined with more congestion and the loitering of those still seeking employment.

The big reason to come to Roatan is for snorkeling or scuba diving.  Our hotel/lodge is set up for excellent access to snorkeling at the reef just offshore.  Other accommodations favor the scuba diving tourist.  The western half of this island is somewhat developed while the eastern portion is usually visited on a powerboat excursion.  The reef here is part of the second largest reef worldwide, the Mesoamerican Reef which stretches about 700 miles from northern Yucatan to the Honduran Bay Islands.  The snorkeling may be the best in the Caribbean.

This was one of the first fish we came upon.  I took 100+ photos but will post only a few samples of what we encountered.

A small sample of fan coral on the edge of a deep drop off.  I have never been attracted to scuba diving: more equipment, air refills, and it gets colder and darker as you go deeper.  The most colorful coral seems to prosper in the sunlight nearer to the surface.

We bring our own snorkels and masks; ours are simple snorkel tubes with no valves to complicate things.  Let the snorkel fill with water when submerged to reduce buoyancy.  I want no air restriction and perfect reliability; our snorkels are 40+ years old.  Not all faces are the same shape, and a leaking mask from a poor fit or a rim seal which has lost its pliability can ruin a trip.  I think that Dawn's mask is ready for replacement due to reduced pliability in the rim seal.  You want a wide-angle, close fitting, low volume mask with a soft (usually silicone) rim seal and a soft nose covering.

Good swim fins are harder to transport; physics dictates that the fins must be about two feet long (longer is better) to provide efficient thrust from your legs.  Shorter "travel fins" are sold but are definitely inferior.  The fins our hotel initially rented to us were crap.  Instead of imparting a "wave" motion, it was more like a "barndoor" motion. We exchanged them for longer fins which were many times better.  Still the fins need to fit your feet.  I have wide feet which resulted in sores from pressure points; it is the first time I have had that problem.  We used to have our own fins when we lived in Panama.  I really don't want to have to add them to our luggage.  We had no checked luggage for this trip; makes for a quick departure.  We have experienced lost checked baggage in the past.

Larry floating near the surface.  He and his wife, Janet, are harder core than Dawn & I.  They got up early to get in one last snorkel.  We slept in.

Dawn wearing her rash guard.  It is great to have a wife who enjoys such activities as much as I do.

This is the biggest fish we saw, about 2 1/2 feet long.  I saw a barracuda of about the same length, but they are slender, and that is only a small barracuda.  Larry & Janet saw bigger fish which were gone before we got to the location.

Hard to catch a small quick fish like this in a photo.  Often, they would hide under a coral formation as we approached.

I brought my underwater camera.  It is on the low budget end of the spectrum but can produce good pictures if everything goes right.  Fish are the most difficult photo subjects.  If they sense your interest in them, they tend to either hide or swim quickly away.  Stepwise photo sequence: 1) check to see if the camera is on (it automatically shuts down to save battery if you pause too long between photos), 2) take a breath & put your tongue in the interior snorkel opening to keep salt water out of your mouth, 3) surface dive lifting your legs out of the water using their weight to start a vertical dive, then flutter kick, 4) if going to depth, pinch your nose (through the soft mask) and blow your nose to equalize pressure (and avoid pain). 5) keep kicking to get close, if you stop, you will bob to the surface, 6) you can't take time to focus, you must be quick, point the camera in the right direction and use wide-angle, 7) make sure you hit the right button; on/off & shutter buttons are close together, 8) was the fish still present?  you may just get a narrow rear view as it flees, 9) success! now relax, let natural buoyancy lift you to the surface, 10) as you reach the surface (not before), fill your cheeks with air from your lungs, remove your tongue from the interior snorkel tube opening, and forcefully blow to clear the snorkel tube.  Our rash guard suits add some buoyancy; the problem is more likely to be too much buoyancy rather than not enough.  This limits your ability to go deep.

A grazing school of fish constantly moving across the coral landscape.

A major concern for us was avoiding sunburn.  Our pale Colorado bodies had been covered all winter to avoid the cold.  We both have "rash guards" which are thin nylon suits to cover the entire body.  Larry (couple we were with) showed me to use a baseball cap turned backwards to cover your head and neck when snorkeling.  It is kept in place by the mask straps.

Directions to the reef were easy: Walk to the end of the dock, put on your gear, and swim out.  When crossing the boat channel (marked by buoys) look both ways and cross briskly. We were advised to not try to cross the reef by a local, due to the danger of being trapped and pounded by those breaking waves but discovered that it could be done by steering toward those areas where the waves were not breaking and then searching for a shallow channel to follow.  We swam along the outside (open sea) edge of the reef to a point where a deep reef break existed, "Spooky Channel".  It was called that because it was so deep that in places you could not see the bottom, or it was a faint shadow.  Then we would return following the inside edge (beach adjacent) of the reef and recrossing the boat channel.

Just a small view looking into Spooky Channel.  When you can't see the bottom, your imagination wonders what may lurk there in the cold depths.

Orville, a long-time resident with a 22' panga boat, took us to this site.  The several cannons from a pirate ship are real, but the location is staged.  The cannon, an anchor, and other relics were brought from a different wreck location

Do you see the trumpet fish?  Usually, you find this type fish hovering vertically, imitating a coral frond while awaiting prey.

A living conch of good size, about a foot long.  Most of what we found were empty shells.

One day we went on an excursion with Orville in his 22' panga OB.  Being a longtime local he was able to show us some of the better areas and joined us in the water.  He knew the names of all the fish species and pointed out lobsters, conch shells, sea anemones, and cuttle fish.  So many types of coral that I could not describe them all!  We saw many more types of fish than I was able to record.  Dawn and I saw nothing that was really impressive in size; the largest fish being about 2 1/2 feet long, but Larry & Janet, a couple we were with, saw fish up to 4' long.  I saw no sharks, eels or lionfish; a few barracuda but none were over 2 1/2 feet long.

Schools of small fish would hover near a protective coral formation.
  

We made a few forays by taxi away from our hotel to attractions east and west on the island.  We had dinner at a nice restaurant "Sunken Fish" at a nearby hotel and enjoyed the sunset there.  We took a taxi into West End, poorly kept, touristy, lots of bars, not our cup of tea.  We also took a taxi to the Roatan Island Brewery.  Interesting in that the facility is essentially outdoors.  The beer is good, but they served it with ice.  Drink quick or drink it watery.

Roatan locals are friendly and easy to talk to.  Prices are moderate; neither cheap nor expensive.  The flight there from the US is less than three hours.  Will we go back?  The snorkeling is the attraction, otherwise, no reason to return.  We were slightly disappointed with the ambiance.  Third world is depressing.  There are too many other attractive areas to explore.

Hiding in the shade of a nearby soft coral.

Can you see the antennae of the lobster hiding in its coral cave?

When snorkeling on the outside of the reef, you are hundreds of yards away from the shore with no direct route to the beach.  If any emergency occurred, the only option is self-rescue. Larry and Janet were a welcome addition to our snorkeling party.  Before departing from Roatan, the plan was to stay in touch with them.  I was going to send them photos of our snorkel outings.  Unfortunately, the business card that Janet gave me for contact information was completely out of date with no useful information.