Tuesday Feb 12th 2013 - Roatan

First sight of Roatan 7am

Tuesday Feb 12th 2013 - Roatan, Honduras

Derek, Pat and adorable George

Heading for coffee shop (Mandy on left)

'Downtown' West End, Roatan

Very excited to get off the ship and meet up with our friends Pat and Doug who were in Roatan for a couple of months visiting their daughter (Mandy), who is a dive instructor. She met a Honduran (Rino) and opened a dive shop with him. They have a beautiful baby (George).  We went straight to the dive shop to see it and work out a plan to go scuba diving. Went for a coffee at a local coffee bar and then headed back to go scuba diving. After a training session on land, then in shallow water, we got on the boat and headed out into the ocean, stopping at a dive location. We donned our tanks and equipment, flipped backward off the side of the boat and headed down the rope into the sea. It was so much easier than either of us thought it would be. Unfortunately Janice couldn’t get the pressure in her ears equalized and the pain was too much for her to continue down, so she came to the surface while the others went down 40 feet. She was a bit disappointed but still proud that she did it. Later, on land, we went with Pat and Doug to a couple of local bar/restaurants and had lunch at one. Also had a ‘Monkey La La’ (drink)…. Wow…!!! not sure what was in it, but it was white, creamy and delicious. We spent our time catching up on family and learning about life in Roatan. It is a beautiful island and one I would DEFINITELY want to re-visit. Slow pace of life, sandy beaches, palm trees and lots of snorkeling/scuba diving. Mandy took us back to the ship and it was hard saying goodbye to everyone…ESPECIALLY little George, who I wanted to steal!!! 
We loved Roatan and would love to go back and stay longer. It is a beautiful place. It is generally poor, and supported by tourism. Because it is an island it is a different community than mainland Honduras and the people who live here consider themselves totally different from main-landers. 

Mandy and Doug outside Dive Shop (Scuba Roatan)

Taken from side of dive shop

Derek in his wet suit with Doug

Training on land with Katie our instructor

This is gonna be fun

Tanks are heavy

Heading for shallow water training

And down we go

Fully 'trained' and ready for deeper waters

Heading back in after deeper dive.

Post dive - lunch and Monkey La La's

View from table at lunch

After Monkey La La!!!!!

Little fella climbing out of the beer bottle - just noticed him!!!

Heading into second beach bar. Pat and Doug come here often to watch sunset

Back to ship - Our cabin is second row down at very back .. 3 from left

Leaving Roatan

Sunk in the bay, Mahogany Bay, Roatan

Hanging out on our balcony after a fabulous day

Another great sunset

Sunset from Balcony