A week in Roatan is the perfect amount of time to explore the island without feeling rushed. Most of the tourist traffic comes from cruise ships, but I think 8 hours isn’t enough time to get a real taste of the island.

Last January, my husband and I had an unexpected chunk of time when we needed to be out of our house, due to a last minute AirBnB booking (more on how we rent out our house here). I was craving some Caribbean warmth and started searching for cheap flights out of Dallas. I found round trip tickets to Roatan for under $300 and after a little research, booked a seven day trip to the small island off the coast of Honduras.

Places to Stay

With six nights, I would recommend splitting up your stay into two three night chunks. Where you choose to stay depends on the environment you’re looking for. Roatan is a fairly small island, about 40 miles long and 5 miles wide at its widest point. Read a full breakdown of Roatan neighborhoods here.

West Bay

Most of the tourist activity is on the western side of the island, near the airport. This side of Roatan faces the Yucatan peninsula, positioned on the Mesoamerican Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world. The most popular spot is West Bay, at the furthest western tip of Roatan. Here, you’ll find plenty of beachfront hotels and lively nightlife. 

West End

A little further up the coast is West End, clustered around Half Moon Bay, with slightly cheaper stays and more local activity. We chose to spend the first half of our trip here, to be close to the action. We were smack dab in the middle of the bay at Mame Trees Hotel, within walking distance to plenty of restaurants and shops.

Sandy Bay

Even further up the coast, a little more northern and central is Sandy Bay, another popular spot for tourists. This area is definitely quieter and home to more all-inclusive resorts.

Punta Gorda & Elsewhere

The rest of the island is mostly residential, with a couple of resorts here and there along the coasts. In the central part of the northern side of the island, Punta Gorda is the cultural heartbeat of the Garifuna people, Roatan’s indigenous people.

Throughout the island, there are private villas turned AirBnBs. We spent the second half of our trip in a small casita with our own private beach, away from the action in Milton Bight. The cabins have recently gone under new ownership and branding as The Reefside Retreat, but the atmosphere remains unchanged. From here, we were able to use their included kayaks to explore nearby mangroves and paddleboard around to the nearby resort for our COVID tests.

WHERE TO STAY IN ROATAN BREAKDOWN

How to Get Around

From our experience, public transport is nearly nonexistent so you’ll need to rent a car or rely on taxis to get around the island. If you stay in West Bay or West End and don’t want to do too much exploring, you can get by without a car. We went carless and relied on a water taxi to get back and forth between the two in the first half of our trip.

Renting a Car

If you’re staying on any other part of the island, you’ll want to rent a car. Honestly, I wish we’d rented a car for the whole duration of our trip. We weren’t sure about the driving conditions and wanted to save on a rental car, but we found the roads easily traversable for the most part. The island has one highway that runs east to west, with smaller roads jutting off to the coasts. The road down to our casita was pretty steep and a little treacherous, but our little rental Kia took it like a champ.

You can rent a car at the airport when you arrive, or for a higher price, in West Bay. We used the Hopper app to book ours, a travel aggregator which provides more flexibility and protection than many direct travel providers.

Things to Do

The Beach

The most obvious thing to do in the Caribbean is of course, sit on the beach and take in the views. West Bay has beautiful beaches, though if you want a beach chair, you’ll have to pay to use one from a beach club. 

If you want a more private experience and pristine water, you can visit somewhere like Little French Key, a private island which includes food, drinks, and more. After being alone in our casita for a few days and craving some more human interaction, we sprung for a day pass and I don’t regret it, despite the price tag! Your ticket includes transport from West Bay, West End, or the cruise port, but we saved by driving our own car right to the key.

There’s plenty to do in Roatan if you get tired of sipping a Monkey LaLa on the beach. Many companies provide excursions for any of the following activities, including some mix and match options if you’d like to experience more than one

Snorkeling & Scuba Diving

The Mesoamerican reef, the largest coral reef in the Western Hemisphere, stretches 700 miles from the Yucatan Peninsula to Honduras, curling around Roatan. This makes the island a prime spot for snorkeling and scuba diving. We hired a boat to take us out to the reef for snorkeling, but neither of us has our scuba certification. We did see several groups departing, one on an overnight boat trip out to the reef, so that’s certainly an option if you’re interested.

Ziplining

If you want to get off the water, Roatan’s inland offers plenty to keep you busy. We really wanted to go ziplining, so we chose to do a combo tour we found on TripAdvisor that included ziplining, visits with animals (namely sloths), snorkeling, and a stop to visit a rum factory (with absolutely stunning views) and a chocolate factory.

The ziplining experience was stunning, as we flew through the jungle and balanced on rope bridges, but be warned – it is NOT for the weak. Because the first line is at the top of the mountain, we took a very steep journey up a potholed road in the back of a truck. With no door on it and only the strength of my arms between me and falling down the mountainside, I would not consider this a family friendly activity.

Animal Visits

Arguably the most memorable part of our trip was holding sloths in the jungle. Right next to the ziplining course is a small sloth sanctuary with sloths, monkeys, toucans, and more. While it was amazing to get up close to these exotic creatures, it was a little sad to know that they live in captivity due to being dumped by previous owners. Not all animals are able to rehabilitate into the wild, so they’re kept safe and cared for at sanctuaries around the island.

Carambola Gardens

If you want to get active and immerse yourself in the jungle, the Carambola Botanical Gardens are the perfect outing. Tucked off the main road in Sandy Bay, this 40 acre green space includes a wonderful jungle hike up to the peak of Carambola Mountain, which boasts mile wide vista views. The summit would be a lovely location for a picnic lunch, but make sure you pack sunscreen and bug spray! The entrance fee is only $10 and this was one of my absolute favorite activities!

Places to Eat

There are many restaurants all throughout the island along the main road, as well as dotting the coast in West Bay, West End, and Sandy Beach. Here are some of our experiences:

The Drunken Sailor 

Our favorite place in West End, the Drunken Sailor is a cute little Italian restaurant with the best pizza, aperol spritz, and lemonade. If you’re lucky, you can snag a seat at one of the swings and eat your dinner while looking out onto the drag and people watching.

Bean Crazy

Bean Crazy is a chain on the island, and one of their cafes is in West End on Half Moon Bay, just down the road from our first hotel. We stopped in most mornings for coffee and breakfast. I loved their smoothies and baleadas, a traditional Honduran food consisting of a folded over tortilla filled with refried beans and either cheese, eggs, avocados, or veggies, depending on the meal.

Captain Jack’s Seafood Island Bar

Near the main cruise port and airport, Captain Jack’s is a quiet spot with typical island fare and great happy hour margaritas. We ate here as our last meal on the island before heading back to the airport and devoured their brisket nachos.

Romeo’s Restaurant

We started really exploring the island on our last couple days and found this little gem in the bay off French Harbour. It was pouring so we took cover under the patio and watched a boat full of scuba divers load up while we ate margarita pizza and tiramisu. One of our pricier meals, but a lovely atmosphere with the checkered tablecloths and attentive service.

Kristi’s Overlook

If you find yourself drifting toward the east side of the island, Kristi’s Overlook boasts a nice view off the main road headed that way. It’s a popular joint for Expats with Tex Mex and delightful watermelon lemonade. The atmosphere wasn’t my favorite with lots of boisterous customers, but the food was great

Anthony’s Key Resort

Across the street from the Carambola Gardens in Sandy Bay, we had the best late lunch at Anthony’s Key Resort. Though it was just past lunchtime, the staff was nice enough to make us each a burger — we were famished after our hike. The restaurant was lovely with views of their private key and the monkey la-la, Roatan’s signature cocktail with Kahlua, Bailey’s, coconut, and rum, was cool and refreshing.

Our Thoughts

A week was just enough time to wish we could stay longer, but still relax and feel like we really saw what Roatan had to offer. If you have more time, I would definitely recommend exploring more of the east side of the island to learn more about the Garifuna people at the cultural center. Part of traveling is learning about different cultures!

Safe to say, Roatan is a lovely island and tops my list of all the places I’ve visited in the Caribbean (Tulum, San Pedro, Belize, Costa Rica)!