Roatan trip review
My 17 yo daughter and I had an incredible week in Roatan primarily focused on diving. Here are some notes from our trip in case they’re helpful to anyone else:
Lodging: We stayed Cocolobo in the West End and would choose it again in a heartbeat. This is a small establishment with an incredible staff. The website for Cocolobo is understated, but trust. You will not be disappointed. Every room overlooks the water (no access) and includes a sizable deck with hammock and lounge furniture. Our kitchenette was very well stocked and we could have cooked more than we did. Breakfast was included and the pool was clutch for late afternoon dips after we dove. Note: It’s HOT and humid here. We would have struggled staying anywhere without a pool to cool off in.
Diving: After a lot of research from home, we landed with Reef Gliders and are so glad we did. Safety and service are clearly their top priorities and they also know how to have a lot of fun. I’ve never felt so well cared for. The reef was healthy and full of crabs, shrimp, eels, small and large fish, nudis, squid, rays and turtles.
Dining: My daughter is picky and I worried her options would be limited but there is so much to choose from. Overall, we found the prices here to be similar to home and in some cases much cheaper. On average we ate out once a day for between $20-$70 total for two depending on the meal. (We weren’t drinking.) Our best finds were Jesus’s Taco Stand and Drunken Sailor in West End; I highly recommend both. Note: if you buy groceries be sure to check the setting on your fridge. Ours was set too low and a few dairy items went bad before we realized the issue.
West End: Definitely the right choice for anyone looking for a local vibe. We loved the variety, the food, the people. Half Moon bay isn’t a stunning beach but a perfectly fine place to get a dip in between or after dives.
West Bay: We visited on Sunday and really didn’t appreciate the appeal. While it was easy enough to find a chair (mostly free if you buy food), umbrellas were reserved for hotel guests. We ended up paying $30 each in consumables at Paradise Inn where we mostly used the shaded pool. The white sand is lovely, but overall just not our vibe; especially if you like shade/seclusion. To be fair, we had already done a lot of diving and couldn’t take advantage of snorkeling bc of an ear infection; I imagine visitors there to snorkel would love it especially if you return early enough to use the water taxi. For younger kids, the crab races are sweet and the fire dancers are cool if you’ve never seen anything similar but not worth the land taxi fare to get back to West End after dark IMO.
Tours: This was the one regret of our otherwise awesome trip. I chose to book with someone suggested by another Redditor and just didn’t ask enough questions. He said the tour would be 3-4 hours but I didn’t realize the 2 hours of that would be time driving to and from the mangroves. From there we were in the mangroves for about 15 min total and swam in an unremarkable area for 30. I did learn a lot about the island from our driver which made up for not seeing any lovely beaches, etc. Moral of the story: know what you want and ask for it!
Weather: Weather Underground’s icons showed just ‘wind’ for seven straight days so we weren’t sure what to expect. We were treated to sunny skies every single day and remarkable rain storms at night. The wind only impacted the availability of certain dive destinations and wasn’t otherwise noticeable where we were.
Overall, the West End felt like exactly the right spot if you like getting out and about without a car, want to eat a variety of foods and/or are diving. We look forward to returning.