beach and canopy tour

[teacup754]

We're sailing on the Norwegian Sea in Dec. The ship itinerary has listed as being in Roatan from 12pm to 8pm. The kids want to both snorkle and do the canopy tour. Is that doable?Does it get dark early there at that time? How is the best way to arrange both easy snorkling/canopy tour so we aren't rushed(yet don't miss the ship)? Any recommendations?thanks

[shannonh]

It will be easy to do each. The end of the eleven-platform canopy tour is near one of the best snorkeling beaches. Our ship visited Roatan last week from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00. We didn't get off the ship until about 8:00 a.m. and had more than enough time for both. This was our second time to Roatan and we loved our day. Five years ago we went on the ship's excursion to Tabayana. The snorkeling there was the best that we have ever done and we have done quite a bit. We booked this cruise just to be able to get back there. This time I researched a lot and with the help of others from this board, came up with the plan. We left the ship, walked outside the gate and down the street just a little, ignoring all of the taxi drivers asking us if we needed a taxi. Finally, a driver came up and we asked what it would cost for us to hire him for the day. His first offer was $60 (there were four of us), but I knew that this was too expensive. I offered to pay $40 and he agreed. I made it clear that we would not pay him until we were delivered back to the ship in the afternoon. He took us to the canopy tour first. Halfway through the canopy tour, Jonas, our driver had positioned himself so that he could watch and yell encouragement. At the end, he was waiting for us. We then asked him to take us to the Mayan Princess Hotel. The hotel allows visitors to walk through and use the beach, which is public. It happens to be virtually "next to" Tabayana beach. We were able to snorkel out over the exact same reef that those who took the ship's excursion. Peddlers on the beach sell great Honduras beer for $2 a bottle. We had been told on the ship that it was best to take the ship's tour because the peddlers on the beach would drive us nuts. That was not true. Only a few came up to us; most just had their wares at tables and we chose to look. The prices were much better there than at any other ports. My son wanted a hammock and was able to get it down to $10 on Roatan. He opted not at that point and then couldn't find it at anywhere near the Roatan price in Cozumel or at any of the other ports. Anyway, the beach was absolutely paradise!! We found shade under a palm tree on the beach to lay our stuff and spent most of the time out in the water. We had told Jonas to be back at 1:00 to pick us up and he was there when we returned to our agreed upon spot. Then he took us to the downtown shopping area, where we paid him, shopped for about an hour, and walked the short distance back to the ship. It was definitely one of the best days of our lives! I really hope this helps you with your plans! We would do it again in a heartbeat! You won't have any problem fitting all of this in and I would do it exactly this way. We felt no concern doing this independent of the cruise ship. There is a lot of traffic on the road to and from Tabayana from the cruise ship, so even with a breakdown, someone else would be there to get you back. Ask any additional questions and I'll love to try to answer! I'm so jealous that you have this to look forward to!

[teacup754]

thanks for the report. i'll print it out to take with us..

[gengen]

I sailed on NCL, the last week of July 2004. Once you get off the cruise ship there are people standing with signs that charge $ 25/person for island tour and snorkeling. There were 8 of us and we negotiated them down to $ 13/person which I thought was on the expensive side (I was aiming for $ 10/person), but I didn't want to bother with negotiating. The driver and guide (Jason) took us wherever we wanted for this price. They took half of us to do the canopy tour, Jason stayed with those of us that did the canopy tour, and the driver took the other half on a driving tour of the WHOLE island! The canopy tour was great. We even saw a pet monkey (he was wearing a collar) hanging out in the trees. Those that took the driving tour were able to see the East End and the shipwrecks. The driver had perfect timing and picked us up from the canopy tour - the other half of the group was able to see us do our last swing down. After the canopy tour the driver took ALL of us to Half Moon Bay where there was awesome snorkeling and you can order 3 lobster tails for $ 16. Beers were around $ 2 per person. Our guide, Jason, watched our stuff for us while we were on the beach and took great care of us! The driver picked us up 2 1/2 hours later, and dropped us off at shopping near the pier. Roatan was beautiful and the best port of our trip!

[teacup754]

thanks for the great ideas...i'm going to take this with me...can you tell me about how long it took to do the canopy tour. also were you on the one that had 11 platforms?i've heard there is a shorter one.

[New cruiser from Atlanta]

My sister and I did the canopy tour with my son who is a very lean six year old. He absolutely loved the canopy tour. A guide took him across the longer paths but he did do four platforms alone. I think it took about an hour to do all eleven platforms and there were six people in our group. You will have plenty of time to do the canopy tour and beach. We did the iguana farm, glass bottom boat tour, canopy tour, shopping near the port and in the West End. And we still got back on board an hour early.