Roatan

I am very nervous about taking my family to Roatan, is it safe, How does Carnival protect you?

Thank you in advance

LJ:eek:

Now forgive me here, but I don't understand how a cruiseline is going to "protect" you in a foreign port of call. If you book a tour arranged through them you should have some assurance that the vendors are pre-screened and work well with the cruiseline and that if you do have some unforseen issue (such as a delay back to the ship) the cruiseline will wait for you. HOWEVER, that does not protect you or your tour group from unforseen things that can happen.

That being said, Roatan is a very, very poor area. I have personally witnessed both pickpockets as well as outright purse snatchings along the main thoroughfare in Roatan. HOWEVER, in the case of each the tourist/cruiser was exhibiting a lack of common sense. Bags flailing, wallets hanging out, etc. If you act as if you mean business, wear your purse slung across your body and in the front, and don't go down any back streets with someone showing you "a good deal" you will be fine. I would "up" your sense of keeping on the alert, more so than if you were in St. Thomas, but I wouldn't let it keep me from getting off the ship. (Which is also a perfectly viable option for the day if you don't feel comfortable.)

Roatan can be lovely. Is there the possibilty for some petty crime? Probably. Something worse and unprovoked? In my opinion, no more than in any other place in the world at any time.

I could have written that better, my plans are to get off the boat and dive or snorkle in each port with my children. I just graduated from Valencia and have very limited cruise experience. I would rather not pay for an excursion to enjoy the beach.

LJ:p

I am very nervous about taking my family to Roatan, is it safe, How does Carnival protect you?

Thank you in advance

LJ:eek:

Roatan is no different from any U.S. town. There are buttheads in both places. You have to use common sense in either place.

That said, I want you to know that Roatan is one of the easiest/cheapest ports that you can visit. You can take a taxi and do anything that you would like to do and you don't have to pay the driver until he gets you back to the ship. My suggestion would be to grab a cab and go to Tabyana Beach or Half Moon. Both are nice, but please don't stay on the ship and miss this place.

A taxi ride is not that expensive. There are no good beaches by the port, I would go to West End. The water there is gorgeous. Id spring for the taxi.

Carnival has a a fairly cheap excursion (by bus) to Tabyana Beach which is supposed to have excellent snorkeling.

Fins & Flippers also has gotten great reviews and you can get there by boat from the pier. (snorkel, beach, pool, etc.)

I second the last post. We did Tabyana Beach last month, and it easily is my favorite of all caribbean beaches. We had such a great time! The snorkeling is great and the service was top notch. No worries.

Jodi

I am very nervous about taking my family to Roatan, is it safe, How does Carnival protect you?

Thank you in advance

LJ:eek:

I was just in Roatan this past Friday and had a lovely, lovely time. The port is quite small. Just a pier with some construction going on around it. There's a little flea market set up under a tent that you can visit without leaving the fenced in area.

Outside the port, there is a little strip of various shops and bars. Travel responsibly like you would in any other port and you should be just fine. There will be pickpocketing and petty theft, but it doesn't seem like an area with violent crime. Also, I saw several police officers in this area making their presence known. I wouldn't venture too far from this area (there's nothing but residential areas anyway) unless you know where you're going.

My boyfriend and I did the Tabyana Beach through Carnival and it was truly one of the most spectacular snorkeling areas I have ever visited. The beach is beautiful,, private, and secure. It was worth every penny and will probably go down as one of my all-time favorite spots I've ever visited.

Go and enjoy it! Roatan was my very favorite port and is not to be missed. Just use caution and you'll be fine!

Also check out 'Fins n Flippers'

http://www.finsandflippers.com/en/index.html

Check out the ports of call threads, I'm sure you'll read even more rave reviews about Roatan and the beaches.

I absolutely loved it there - everyone I spoke with was so friendly. One of my friends even moved there several years ago. I'd say that is a good sign. :)

Roatan is a very nice island, don't let your imagination get the best of you.

I am very nervous about taking my family to Roatan, is it safe, How does Carnival protect you?

Thank you in advance

LJ:eek:

Not sure what you heard but to us, we loved Roatan and it was one of the safest islands we have travelled too.

Fred

My suggestion would be to grab a cab and go to Tabyana Beach.

It was my understanding from the last time I was there that you can not take a taxi cab to Tabayana Beach, cabs won't take you there as they can not stop there. Its a private beach, the only way you can go is through a tour with the ship or a land base tour.

It may have changed by now but thats what I was told.

Fred

Tabyana is just a small piece of West Bay Beach and you can walk up and down it and snorkel out in front of it all you want - just can't use their beach chairs and other facilities.

A taxi can take you right next to it, but many of the taxi divers don't speak English or only limited. If you do it on your own get them to wait for you, cause taxis don't normally troll the area looking for passengers to take back to the cruise ship.

The taxi driver can also watch your stuff.

The snorkeling at West Bay is excellent.

[quote name=nolaAlive;14241786

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Never had a problem finding someone to speak english on this Island. It was a british colony at one point and english was taught to the children.

Roatan beaches are absolutely beautiful ! They have some of the bluest waters and softest white sand beaches I have ever seen. If I remember correctly the excursion to Tabyana Beach through Carnival was $27. and it was worth every penny. The snorkeling there was the best I've ever seen. Check out the Roatan port of call boards.:)

We had no fear in this port. If one use common sense and put $ in front pocket

and now carry large pursers. We enjoyed this port and the people. I never

felt in danger as I did in Jamaica. We hired a taxi and tour for the day and paid

him $30.00 pp. He took us around the island and would stop for us. The tour

guide would go with us and spoke good English. He took us shopping away

from the high tourist areas. We were very very lucky to have such a great

experience in Roatan.

This was our favorite port on our cruise last year. We hired a driver (reserved over the internet before we left home) through Victor Bodden tours. There are several "experiences" they will customize for you. We chose to zip line, eat lunch at Half Moon Bay (they had nice bathrooms :) and coconut shrimp to DIE for!) and snorkel a little in Half Moon Bay. We didn't see much sea life in the bay, but we were really just breaking in our gear and "practicing" for the all day snorkelling we had planned in Belize. What I loved about our tour was having Victor waiting for us when we got off the ship, he introduced us to our driver and he was ours for the day. He drove us all over the island and provided interesting commentary during the ride. We also stopped at Victor's house. He has several spider monkeys, which we were allowed to hold and take pictures with, an anteater, and several other exotic animals to see up close. Your kids would love the monkey pictures. We paid a little extra for this--I think $2/person. Not bad for a really fun memory! I never felt unsafe in Roatan--like I said it was my favorite port. I think the key is to have a plan before you get off the ship. Hope this helps!

This was our favorite port on our cruise last year. We hired a driver (reserved over the internet before we left home) through Victor Bodden tours. There are several "experiences" they will customize for you. We chose to zip line, eat lunch at Half Moon Bay (they had nice bathrooms :) and coconut shrimp to DIE for!) and snorkel a little in Half Moon Bay. We didn't see much sea life in the bay, but we were really just breaking in our gear and "practicing" for the all day snorkelling we had planned in Belize. What I loved about our tour was having Victor waiting for us when we got off the ship, he introduced us to our driver and he was ours for the day. He drove us all over the island and provided interesting commentary during the ride. We also stopped at Victor's house. He has several spider monkeys, which we were allowed to hold and take pictures with, an anteater, and several other exotic animals to see up close. Your kids would love the monkey pictures. We paid a little extra for this--I think $2/person. Not bad for a really fun memory! I never felt unsafe in Roatan--like I said it was my favorite port. I think the key is to have a plan before you get off the ship. Hope this helps!

Thanks for posting this info, I will probably be booking Victor on my next trip there.

Fred

We loved Roatan, and took an excursion ... and loved the place so much we're contemplating a week long trip there and heck I'd move there. You have to be careful just like with any other place even in the US

is considered the third best snorkel and diving locale in the world. If you let some stories about purse snatching, etc stop you from visiting this island, it is your loss.

Grab a taxi, arrange for round trip transport, head to the West End.

Talking to one of our drivers on our last visit, we asked about crime...he laughed and said, yes their is a little, but since everyone on the island depends on tourism now, they don't get far, afterall it is an island.

Wow, thanks so much, you have been so helpful.

I am with the above poster. We spent $100 for a private driver for a family of four. We chose the things that we wanted to do. LOVED Roatan. Most speak English. There are however many who speak Spanish. Our guide Tex (he was great by the way) told us that a lot of people are moving to Roatan from mainland Honduras for work. The population there is very mixed with several different cultures. I speak a bit of Spanish and could manage fine. My family liked Roatan best of all. True it is poor but it is also undeveloped and therefore more genuine. We snorkeled Half Moon Bay again the fish were not as pretty as say Hawaii but the coral was excellent. It was also a safe place to practice for Belize. Our driver told us the best snorkeling is just off shore from Sandy Bay. We did not budget for that but we will next time. We never felt unsafe. OUr driver kept our belongings safe while snorkeling. I would not stray far from the main drag but there I never was worried. Use common sense, travel light with money and stay aware. We will go back, I just hope it has not changed too much!:)

I forgot....Tex works for Victor Bodden. The monkeys were the best money I spent on the entire cruise