Archive for March, 2011

Snorkeling and swimming in Roatan

Posted in Honduras on March 31st, 2011 by Vagablonding – 1 Comment

We left San Francisco at 1:30am on Tuesday, March 29th, and touched our toes to West Bay beach around noon the same day. The journey, hazy in memory, consisted of 3 flights and 2 very brief layovers in San Salvador, El Salvador, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras. There was also airplane food french toast somewhere in there.

Upon checking in at Foster’s we found that we had been upgraded to a 2 bedroom, 3 bed unit with lots of stairs (we were upgraded because the gentleman who booked this room couldn’t do stairs and needed our single level cabana.)

Our room is on the second floor, has lovely views of the ocean from both the master bedroom and the upstairs loft bedroom, plus a full kitchen which is currently housing only my beer and protein bars, but may get some use if we happen upon a grocery store. The beds are comfy, there are lots of fans and 2 air-conditioners, the shower is hot and strong, and there are cute bats that live outside under the overhang of the roof. The very best part is, of course, the hammock on our deck. I’ve already logged a couple hours reading in it.

We had lunch at Foster’s when we arrived, I had a quesadilla for $6 and a lime margarita for $5. After lunch Elena and I spent an hour or 2 swimming down the beach quite a ways and walking back. The beach was really crowded with cruise shippers, who usually swarm the place from noon until 3 or 4 pm. When they’re gone it’s really quite peaceful.

When the crowds left we sunbathed for a bit then had 2 for 1 drinks at Foster’s before turning in early.

West Bay Sunset Roatan

On Wednesday, March 30th, I woke up at 7 and took some pictures before having breakfast at Foster’s. I split a veggie omelet with mom for $6, and had coffee with refills for $1. The omelet was really good, full of spicy veggies and cheese, and came with potatoes and toast.

Fosters West Bay Roatan

Fosters Dock West Bay Roatan

There are cute stray kittens here, we fed this one some of Elena’s breakfast.

Stray Cat West Bay Roatan

Mom and Elena rented snorkel gear from Anemona Divers for $10 each. Anemona Divers is affiliated with Foster’s and they offer a 10% discount to Foster’s guests. We snorkeled for a long while at the southwest end of the beach. We got in the ocean in front of Infinity Bay Resort, but the best snorkeling was by the rocks beyond the southwest tip of the beach. I saw a lot of beautiful coral formations and some interesting fish that were new to me, but all in all the snorkeling was better on Gili Air.

Snorkeling West Bay Roatan

This fish was as big as my torso!

Snorkeling West Bay Roatan

Snorkeling West Bay Roatan

Snorkeling West Bay Roatan

Snorkeling West Bay Roatan

At one point I was swarmed by a school of fish for 3 minutes, very cool!

Snorkeling West Bay Roatan

Snorkeling West Bay Roatan

Snorkeling West Bay Roatan

Snorkeling West Bay Roatan

After snorkeling I lunched on a protein bar and a lime strawberry margarita ($5) at Foster’s, then relaxed in the hammock and read while mom and Elena napped. The backs of my legs started to feel irritated and when I looked at them I discovered a sunburn 🙁

Back on the beach I bought 3 imperial beers for $5 from a man with a cooler who called me pumpkin. His deal was 2 for $5, but I promised to be a repeat customer if he gave me 3 for $5 and he did.  The people here are all very sweet and friendly.

Back to the hammock with my beer and book while mom and Elena snorkeled again. I wanted to go with them but no can do with a sunburn :/

When they returned from their second snorkel trip we went to Las Rocas Resort’s restaurant for dinner where they give you one free teeny tiny cheese pizza slice from 4-5 everyday, plus 2 for 1 cocktails! 2 cocktails and a tiny piece of pizza is plenty of dinner for me, so it was a good deal.

West Bay Sunset Roatan

Tomorrow we’re going to check out the town of West End, and on Friday Elena and I are going scuba diving!

Going to Roatan, Honduras

Posted in Honduras on March 28th, 2011 by Vagablonding – 2 Comments

Hello friends,

Tonight I leave on another vagablonding adventure with my mom and sister. We’re headed to Roatan, a small island off the coast of Honduras. I’m super excited, I hear there is excellent surfing, and my sister and I are going to try scuba diving!

It’s going to be a very short trip, only about 5 days, but it will be a nice break. Looking forward to the sunshine, warm water, and beautiful scenery 🙂

I’ll keep you updated, so check back soon for a new post.