Caribbean – Diary – Volume II – No. 36

Roatan Honduras – Lifestyle in Port Royal and Jonesville…

29.04. – 03.05.2025

In the morning, the sun greets us again, and so we set off to sail to the next island, Roatan—or rather, motor, since the wind has largely died down. Roatan is the largest of the three Bay Islands, and we'll make several stops here. From Guanaja, Roatan is already in sight, and it takes us about six hours to reach our first anchorage in Port Royal Bay.

We chose this anchorage on Roatan because Port Royal is said to have been the favorite anchorage of the infamous Captain Morgan. During the pirate era, more than 2.000 pirates hid in this well-protected bay. Even today, remnants of the pirate settlement can be found deep in the jungle. We didn't go looking for them because the jungle here is dense and impenetrable.

Behind a huge reef, we find a quiet spot for Joline. We anchor here alone, but locals keep passing us in their small, fast motorboats – where are they going? It's unclear to us, even though Old Port Royal is on the other side of the narrow passage, accessible only to small boats.

The next day, we set out to explore the terrain by dinghy. The island is hilly and overgrown with trees. There are also canals lined with mangroves. A few isolated houses stand at the foot of the hills. We sail along the coastline, looking for a base for snorkeling on the reef. Swimming from the boat is too far, but we can't find a good spot for our dinghy to snorkel on the reef. The mangroves are impenetrable, and in many places it's too shallow even for our dinghy. So we decide to move on and try our luck in another bay.

We set off in the morning – after just six nautical miles, we reach Jonesville. Here, there are a surprising number of houses on the hillsides. Hidden behind a long reef are sheltered channels, and everywhere you look, there are huts, as well as chic houses. Some houses here are also built on stilts. There's a marina, and we spot several small restaurants on our first dinghy tour.

We anchor directly behind a floating bar on a platform – these are – quite pragmatically – built on disused ship hulls.

The next day, we extend our dinghy tour and notice how expansive the town stretches along the foot of the hills, protected behind the large reef. We stop at the floating bar "Happy Landing," which entices us with good music.

However, we are and remain the only guests, and most of the dishes on the menu are out of stock – there are burgers, nothing else… But we arouse the interest of the bar cat – she is happy to have visitors and joins us.

Across the street at the bar, however, all hell seems to be breaking loose – so we cross over without further ado. This seems to be a meeting place for expats. There's live music and a lively crowd; we seem to be the only unknowns here. In typical American fashion, the American woman at the next table engages us in conversation. She tells us that she lived on the Honduran mainland for a long time and now owns a house here. She found the Honduran mainland to be safe – as long as you don't get involved with gangs or drugs – and recommends we visit there.

We reconsider our remaining time frame and realize that we don't have the time for it... yes, even as a long-term traveler, time can be short... After reviewing the destinations that still lie ahead of us until our destination for this year - the Rio Dulce in Guatemala - we set a schedule and realize that time is already tight... We want to arrive there no later than one day before my birthday on May 17.05th and have already invited guests to celebrate together: Renate and Peter from the Amira - last met on Curacao in June/July 2024 approaching the Rio Dulce from Belize…

Here in Jonesville, they've installed a platform with a ladder in front of the offshore reef – great, we can tie up our dinghy here and snorkel to the reef. No sooner said than done... unfortunately, there's not much to see – the bottom is covered in seaweed – there's no coral and very few fish.

Otherwise, there's not as much going on here as it might seem at first glance. There are bars, restaurants, and a marina with a pool, but there aren't many guests... It's a dance of death everywhere. We don't feel like being the only guests anywhere, so we decide to move on to the next bay... French Harbour – here the the island's tourist hotspot .

← Previous entry | Overview | Next entry →