Roatán, Bay Islands

Roatán is the largest of Honduras’ Bay Islands, roughly 60 km long and rarely more than 5 km wide, sitting directly on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef — the second-largest reef system in the world. The reef comes close enough to shore at several points that snorkellers reach live coral from the beach, which is unusual.

The island has two cruise ports and they are not interchangeable. Mahogany Bay, on the south coast, is a self-contained resort complex built by Carnival Corporation, with its own private beach reached by chairlift. Port of Roatán at Coxen Hole is a working terminal on the edge of the island’s capital, so you can walk into an actual Honduran town.

West Bay Beach at the island’s western tip is what most people picture when they picture Roatán — a long white-sand beach with reef 50 metres offshore. It is 30 to 40 minutes by road from either port, on a winding island road. Water taxis run to it from West End as an alternative.

Roatán is culturally distinct from mainland Honduras. The Bay Islands were British until 1861, and English and an English-based Creole are still widely spoken alongside Spanish. Practically, that means a group can navigate the day in English without difficulty.

Warm and humid, 28–32°C. The wettest months are October through January — Roatán’s rainy season peaks later than most of the Caribbean. Hurricane risk runs June to November.