It was calm and overcast this morning, so we decided to take the kayak out for a spin. We didn't go terribly far. Andrew does not really like, nor understand the point of, kayaking. For some reason, his body does not want to hold him in an upright position. Even with the snazzy backrest, he was practically laying down while we paddled. He says it feels like perpetual crunches. I am somewhat concerned he may have a physiological anomaly resulting in missing ab muscles but, based on the crunch analogy, can understand his aversion to this activity. To his great credit, he was a good sport and we were out for the better part of an hour before breakfast.
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| Andrew trying to figure out the GoPro |
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| Morning rain - we got a little bit wet! |
After our paddle and breakfast, we walked up to the road and hailed a taxi to West End. West End is about 7 km up the road in an area more dedicated to tourism. The cost is $2 each to take a taxi there from our VRBO. WE has one main street and it is lined with a few small hotels, dive shops (the main attraction here in Roatan), gift shops, restaurants and bars. Today it was filled with a fair number of cruise ship passengers doing kayak, diving, and fishing excursions.
Our first mission was to then get a water taxi to West Bay, the most heavily touristed part of Roatan. West Bay is where the larger resorts are found, and has the best beaches on Roatan. The water taxi from West End to West Bay takes about 15 minutes (including a few stops along the way to on & off-load locals going to various jobs), and costs $3 per person. Unless you are one of said locals. They don't seem to pay. Nor did the guy who ran out of gas and needed us to tow him back to shore.
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| Water taxi heading to West Bay |
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| I hope this wasn't one of the water taxis |
Trying to avoid the crowds, we were in West Bay for one specific purpose - to talk to Julio. Yesterday, our tour guide William told us that Julio did day trips to a place called Cayos Cochinos - a series of islands about 45 minutes from Roatan with good snorkeling. We found Julio easily and discussed the trip. We learned that the trip is an all-inclusive day (food, alcohol, boat trip & snorkel guide). These are typically not our thing. Mostly because we just don't drink enough to make the cost worth while. At $150/person, we decided that we would much rather dive. We thanked Julio for his time and info, and took the water taxi back to West End.
Back in WE, we poked around in a few of the shops so that Andrew could get a magnet. As well, we stopped in to Coconut Tree Dive Shop to arrange a dive. We're all set to do a 1-tank dive on Friday afternoon. If things go ok with Andrew's ears on that dive, we'll likely go another time or two. We'll have to play it by ear (hee hee).
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| West End Main Street. Actually, the only street. |
By this time the cruise ship traffic was noticeably picking up, but wanted to grab some lunch before we left town. Our noses led us to a place that was grilling meat and baking fresh bread. What more do you need? Our served recommended we share the mixed grill plate, which included a large assortment of chicken, steak, ribs, chorizo and pork. With two cocktails (beer for Andrew, margarita for me) and soft-serve ice cream for dessert, our total for lunch was $16 US, plus tip.
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| Lunch was the caveman special |
Last thing on the "to do" list for WE was to hit one of the produce stands. This is one of my favorite activities on these trips. We bought a pineapple, 4 limes, 4 avocados, 2 bananas and some potatoes for $6 US.
Back "home", the sun was out and it was hot. We grabbed our gear and swam out to the reef. I can't tell you how lovely it is to be able to snorkel whenever the mood strikes, and for whatever length of time that suits. It's very different than what we're used to from our Belize trips where it all has to be arranged in advance. We saw a lot of fish, and even a couple of squid today, but the water was choppy (the wind comes up in the afternoon) so we only stayed out about 45 minutes. No worries - there's lots of time left!
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| Snorkel |
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