Roatan, Honduras (Fantasy Island)

1/17/17

Oh, my to be stuck in paradise!  We have been here 25 days now and can not get out of here.  Roatan is, of course, a beautiful island.  Unfortunately for the cruising community, it is a very large island and the only way around it is by car.  You can take your dinghy here and there, but not very far from the "mother ship".  So, it makes it difficult to shop or sightsee without renting an expensive taxi or rental car.  Both of which we have done.

Now, this is a MEAL

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The island is also, from what we have experienced so far, not a gastronomical feast, as was Isla Mujeres, Mexico.  We did get a ride to Punta Gorda and had traditional island fare out over the water. Met some locals who offered us a "drink" from their bottle, followed by a sip of Orange Crush.  The older gentleman told Charlie is would be good for his sex life when we got back to the boat.  (yeah...whatever)....

Our restaurant bungalow 

Most of our days are spent laying around reading or "bobbing" in the water with our British friends, Jan and Richard.  So not only am I learning Spanish but "English" as well from them.  We will be sailing to Panama with them in our small flotilla.  We have done one dive trip (a 2 tank dive) to Mary's Place and Gold Chain.  These are 2 dive sites very near Fantasy Island.  The dive boat drops you off on top of the reef (approximately 15') and then you make your way to the wall and down to about 65'.  The coral (both soft and hard) is breathtaking.  But my favorites are the sponges.  Of course, it goes without saying that the reef fish are pretty cool, too.  I had some great photos with our GoPro, especially of a Hawksbill Turtle that seemed to love to swim all through our group of divers.  Unfortunately, my sweet husband lost the tiny chip from my camera so all photos are lost somewhere in our boat.

The local grocery store, Eldon's, sends a large bus to the "Tiki Palapa"....the meeting ground of the cruisers at Fantasy Island, on Tuesdays at 3:00.  They wait for an hour and then return us with all our groceries, so that is a help.  Presently we are thinking about trying to rent a 4-wheel drive truck so we can really explore the islands north side as well as the east end.  John is looking for a way to rent a house for a month and bring his "fast" panga here from Guatemala to do some serious fishing.  So if our exploration actually unfolds I will report on that in a future post.  Until then....