A Dive Trip to Honduras

(Location: Roatan, Honduras)

“You’re going to Honduras, why?” That is what people asked when we said where we were spending Thanksgiving. We saw it in a magazine – an ad for Anthony’s Key Resort – “dive with dolphins” it read. We had to do this.

Roatan is in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras (think south of Cancun, south of Belize). We flew through Miami to San Pedro Sula, then boarded a small plane for the hour flight to Roatan.

We were relieved to see our luggage, but surprised when it sat next to us on the plane. The pilot looked about 16, and the copilot read the paper next to his open window for the duration of the flight. The un-airconditioned Russian plane (guess based on the signage) flew low – not THAT dangerous I guess but we were glad to land in Roatan.

Most of Anthony’s Key is perched on a hillside with a small boat that takes you to the island, which is ringed with palm trees, thatched cabins, and hammocks. Perfect. We were surprised that there was no alarm clock, wondering how we’d wake up for the 7:30am first dive. Well, if the roosters don’t wake you up, the peacocks certainly will. Vocal birds. Who knew.

The diving was awesome! Every dive was a drift dive, and the current was pretty strong. Our daily routine included two dives in the morning, lunch, relaxing on the island, a dive in the afternoon, happy hour, then dinner. The food at the resort was…edible. We ventured off property a lot even though it was an all inclusive. With the exchange rate being 14 lempiras to the dollar, it was lobster, lobster, lobster.

We took the “bus” into Coxen Hole one rainy afternoon. Seemed like all of Coxen Hole was built on stilts – not very scenic but worth the trip for rations 🙂 Another afternoon we went in to West End – cool little town with dirt street, local crafts, and expatriate bars. Our last night we walked to the Monkey Lala bar (a monkey lala is a green lizard – the kind that runs on its hind legs).