Roatan Honduras............An Island Adventure

Roatan is very popular for scuba and snorkeling, but I'm not much into that. I went to Roatan to visit an old friend (Vern) who is living there, running his Catamaran from Roatan to Utila. Vern and I had not seen each other for over 10 years, and it's been longer than that since we have rode together.

Vern no longer has a bike as he spends most of his time on his boat. And since I flew in - I was bike-less............................so we rented the biggest bikes on the Island that we could...........................a couple of Honda XR200's

Before we take off the guy at the rental place does a little PM on our little steeds.




And of course we need a good breakfast............very tasty and only 100 lempiras ($5)




Roatan is aprox 35 miles long and 3 miles wide and Vern lives in West End Roatan. So we headed east, but took a dirt route for as much as we could.
Nice helmet huh?




Then this dood seemed to want us to stop and take his picture.





His cousins.




At this spot we also were approached by a couple of locals that were obviously very poor. They were talking to Vern in spanish, and the only thing I understood is that Vern told then all he had was a 500 lempira bill and he wasn't going to give them that. They nodded, smiled, turned and started to walk away. I asked Vern what they wanted. Vern said they they were looking for change to buy some rice and asked if I had any change. I pulled a dollar bill out of my wallet and called the guys back, they were very grateful, thanked us and went on their way.



Above French Harbour, Vern was always turning around for me since I wanted to stop and take lots of pics




Next stop was the little town of Jonesville to visit some friends of Vern's, this is the view from their back yard looking towards the Ocean



Looking inland.




Still in Jonesville we stop at Miss Lilly's store.




Vern goes in to say Hi, then steps outside and makes a phone call............................................"hey, I need a ride"

I'm thinking ride? :huh we have bikes.

Next thing I know a little boat pulls up to take us to the other side of the bay.



Looking toward our destination



We pull up to "Hole In The Wall".........it is only accessible by boat http://www.roatanonline.com/moreroatan/images_east/hole.htm



Vern hanging with some of his friends.



At the Bar



This boat in the background belongs to Vern and one of his friends..................can't remember how long he said it's been sitting there.



Island life is rough.



Vern goes on shore to hang with a couple more friends he has not seen in awhile.



There was writing all over the place, so I asked if I could sign my name..................the guy I was sitting next to said go for it and handed me a sharpie.




After a great burger and fries (sorry no pics) we asked for a ride back.



Self portrait.




The "street" (there is just one) of Jonesville.





All along the ride I saw things that I wanted to take pictures of, like cute little kids at work or play, old timers sitting in the shade,... but did not want to make anyone uncomfortable so I did not get the camera out.

One of those times was along this street, where a family had a little pet monkey under their carport.

cool. Hole in the wall...some great lobster cevechi there ...so good trip?

From Oak Ridge looking down to Bodden Bight




Getting closer to the East side of the Island we stop at Camp Bay......................you may notice that Vern is on his cell in a lot of the pics, every time we stopped he had, or would get a call from someone looking to hop a ride on his Catamaran to Utila.



As I look for shells for TG, Vern is writing in the sand.....................



................for his girlfriend Zuni.



One more shot before we hit the road again.




Back on the bikes we start gaining in elevation, then the road starts heading back downhill, we can see we are getting closer to the end of the Island.



At this point I thought we might be at the end of the road as it dead ended here with a big puddle in front of a dirt wall. I got off my bike and told Vern to "go for it"...............and I'll take a picture.

He goes ripping down the road, slams on the brakes just before the puddle and starts cussing at me..........................hey what are friends for?



Coming back up...............good thing we only had 200cc bikes, cause I know he would have roasted me if he could



Looking at the end of the Island before we drop down to the beach on another road that we found.



The road does not go to the very end of the Island as the last couple of miles is the Saint Helene Wildlife Refuge.



Down on the beach we went a little ways but there was so much trash on this remote beach I was worried about getting a flat with no tools and miles from anyone, prep aired?...........................I'm on vacation with a rental bike, although I did have my trustee Leatherman with me



Collecting more shells and rocks.............lots of conch shells on this beach.



On the way out we did find one more road...but again I thought about how far away we were from anything... I decided I would pass on this puddle since I had no idea how deep it was.........................this didn't stop Vern.................."about 2 feet" he said

Sorry for the blurry pic, and I thought I had a good one of him coming back across, but it didn't even come out.



One more view of the West side before we head back...............notice Vern is wearing my backpack....................I had it loaded down with conch shells and rocks it slipped out of the bungee straps.



Heading back to West End, we only made one stop at this little place for a little refreshment before "racing" back to the other side of the Island.

Very good trip.....................didn't know if you would see this report or not so I was going to send you a link to it when I was done

Not sure what I enjoyed most, driving or riding with very little rules, the food, the views, the eye candy, the rum punch.....................it was all good

I would have loved to have my KLX400 there for riding around the Island

you're killing me....camp bay beach is where we spend most of our time there....glad you got there...

Yes, Camp Bay Beach is a (one of many) beautiful place.

I want to and will go back, as small as that Island is, and I did see most of it, I want to be able to spend more tiime at a lot of the places that I visited.

OK, I need to finish this report

Riding on the Island was a blast once I got used to how people drive, the only rules of the road are.............if you're in a cage, wear your seat belt................if you're on a bike wear your helmet, and don't hit anyone (pedestrians do not have the right of way here).

I wish I could have had a helmet cam on the ride back................yeah we were just on little 200cc bikes, but we wound them out for all they were worth, passing every car, truck and bike that we came up to. When you pass you just give a little 'toot-toot' with your horn to warn the driver/rider that you are passing. At one point we came up behind a big truck with a Policia car in front of it, both were going quite slow and I asked Vern (who looked like he was going to make a pass) "you do see what is in front of the truck don't you?" he looked at me and said "yeah, so?" and went around the truck................shit! OK, the truck is going slow so I make the pass. Then Vern passes the Policia car!.................damn Vern, don't do this to me....so I hang back to see what the Policia is going to do (oh, BTW...there is no plate on the bike that Vern is riding!). So as I see Vern riding away I decided to make my move (something I would never do here in the States) 'beep!beep!' ... and I make my pass, catch up to Vern and we are off to West End passing more trucks, cars and bikes reaching speeds up to 100km.

This ride would have been funner on little bit bigger of a bike, but I still had a blast


The next day I still had a couple of hours before I had to return the bike, and Vern had to prep for his next trip to Utila, so I just rode around the West side of the Island for a bit.

On the beach.



Self portrait.



Above the beach.



The Policia station in West End.



They ride around 2 up on this little DRZ200.............with assault rifles



Somebody started to develop here.

Neat to see an out of the way place.
Well done.

Thanks, I've done much longer rides on bigger/better bikes..................but this was a ride I will never forget.

Did you hit up the iguana farm?

Inquiring minds. . .

Nice pics.

Thanks, and yes I did..................but I enjoyed the monkey's that were at the Jungle Top Zip Lines better

Cool man, Gotta love kickin' back like that!
I missed that side of Honduras, I'm gonna have to go back to check it out!

Cool report Tom. Hope to see you this summer sometime.

I can't wait to go back

If you see Cap'n Vern http://www.aboututila.com/TravelInfo/Roatan-to-Utila/index.htm punch him in the arm for me

We stayed at the Coconut Tree in West Bay, Cannibal Café was our favorite place for eating in West End.

Thanks..........and yeah, if you don't make it down here, I am sure I will be up your way this year.

Thanks for the ride report - it brings back many good memories! Roatan is a beautiful, interesting and unique place to visit, as is Utila.

Now I'm wondering why we didn't plan a warm weather getaway while sitting here with the remains of the last snowstorm glaring in through the window...

For such and old guy (I can only joke because I'm right behind you).......
You look like a 35 year old here, with a tan on your skin and a bigass smile on your face

Looks like it was a great vacation in a relaxing place, with a little moto adventure thrown in.
WTH ?? Passing a police car on a bike with no plates :huh..????
and those helmets don't look DOT certified

AND, I'm betting you were riding around with a beer or two in yer bellies ta boot

Awesome Tom! Looks like a fantastic place.

Hello Tom. Nothing like a tropical holiday to break up those winter doldrums. Looks like you had a great time. I also did a recent trip on a rented bike...no report though. Just a few pics. #41447
cheers!
Wayne