Roatan

PHOTOS HERE –>> Isla Roatan

French Cay anchorage

Roatan was the next destination for us. The passage to Roatan was an easy daytime crossing. Roatan is different again to its sister island, it has the lovely beaches and reefs, but is flatter island and more populated.

We entered the French Cay anchorage where Fantasy Island Resort and Marina are located. There we anchored in an anchorage sheltered by the reefs and a few cays. The only land access was through the Marina, but for $2:00 a day we also had the benefits of the Marina, trash dumping, transport to the grocery store and such. Lucky for us the day after we arrived was the day the vegetable/fruit man came, plus the transport to Eden’s the grocery store. T

Eden’s Grocery store was a treat! We were able to stock up on everything we needed and had not seen in months. English mustard, HP sauce, marmite, red Tai curry, all the little luxuries were available. In fact we returned a second day too for more groceries and are now fully loaded again and prepared for Ethan and Rhianna’s visit.

We explored the area in the dingy again it is very beautiful. We found a channel that on the charts showed that it went through to the other bay on the other side. Hopefully we followed it. Not a good idea, it ran along the

back of homes and smelt of sewage. Just as we decided it was too shallow we got something stuck on the prop. Luckily there was a dad and his son outside their home and they leant us a knife cause it turned out to be a T-shirt, probably theirs, stuck around the prop. Anyway the canal was ruled out as access to French Cay Harbour.

We went for a fantastic snorkel off the nearby reefs where we found the snorkeling was just excellent. There were so many fish, and large ones too, all different types of corals and sponges.

West Bay

Was our next stop in Roatan. This bay as its name suggests is at the western end of Roatan. To access it we had to go through a narrow channel in the barrier reef.

Inside the barrier reef was a calm anchorage where we picked up a free mooring. As this area is all park/marine reserve they have moorings for the yachts.

Here we enjoyed 2 days walking ashore and snorkeling.

Ashore, along the front, is a quaint, touristy street. There were any number of eateries of all types plus artsy stores and such with the beaches running along the shoreline. West Bay is a really pleasant beach front ‘town’.

The snorkeling was excellent! With massive corals of all types, lots of fish, squid and conchs, lots to see. Roatan has very healthy reef as it has been protected.