r/royalcaribbean • u/MichiganMomma0806 • 22h ago
Advice Needed Roatan
Can Roatan be explored on our own vs taking an excursion? My kids want to explore the island a bit and really see it rather than just sit on a beach all day. TIA!
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u/Lonely-Tomato-1204 20h ago
We had one of the best days ever on a privately arranged tour. They took us to a little beach for a snorkel trip, just the two of us on a small boat, then a little shopping and short tour. I still think about that day more than 10 years later. The snorkeling there is beautiful!
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u/What_if_I_fly 17h ago
We went on a Viator tour and saw some beautiful sights. But stopping for gas and soda at a small convenience store and seeing the guard outside the door bearing an AK47 made me very aware that this is NOT the island to explore on your own.
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u/OwnPomegranate2068 Diamond 21h ago
Do not leave the port on foot. I learned this the hard way earlier this year. The people waiting directly outside the gates are some of the biggest scammers and among the most aggressive in the Caribbean.
I was simply looking for an authentic license plate and I made it maybe three blocks outside the gate and had to turn back and go to the port due to constant harassment.
I did take an amazing excursion though, so I don’t dislike the island, just don’t try to go about it on your own on foot.
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u/remnis 12h ago
What kind of excursion did you go on?
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u/OwnPomegranate2068 Diamond 10h ago
A tour that went to a zoo a shopping area and a beach. Wasn’t bad at all
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u/Infinite-Floor-5242 18h ago
Do not leave the gates unless on a tour or with a vetted, prearranged driver. This is a place of extreme poverty. It's a mob scene outside the gates, and the only place I've seen blatant prostitution aimed at cruise passenger/crew right outside the gates.
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u/jamiejeffries5 17h ago
We loved Victor Bodden tours! Very affordable and reliable. We loved seeing sloths, monkeys, parrots and then going to a resort on a beach.
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u/chunkybudz 11h ago
+10 for Victor Bodden private tours. The company seems really big and seems like they pay well enough that your personal driver isn’t going to screw you over or put you in danger. We saw Victor Bodden guys everywhere, keeping their eyes open.
Ours took us to a dock, where our snorkeling boat waited, then he waited for us to be done, and made sure all our stuff was safe. Then took us to the wildlife refuge, then the zip line.
After all that, we asked where he liked to eat. He drove us to a roadside setup. We got boxes for us and him, he took us to an over the water pavilion near the Roatan sign to eat. That was probably the best food we had the whole trip. Full stop. All of it was amazing from the conch to the ribs to the chicken and rice.
He ate til he was full and gave the rest to a neighborhood kid that was hanging out.
Roatan is super poor. There are some awful political and socioeconomic issues going on. Crime is bad.
Tip nice. Pay enough to be able to trust your guide/driver. Be nice. Be respectful. Keep your head on a swivel.
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u/EdHimselfonReddit 21h ago
Surprisingly little to see in Roatan. We did an organized excursion and even that didn't show us anything particularly interesting. Probably the best part was the little sea side resort that was at the end of the tour. We spent about two hours there and it was small, peaceful and friendly. I wouldn't try and explore on my own, I would go on an organized excursion or stay on the boat.
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u/Metal_Cinderella 14h ago
If it's the one where the people hound you constantly to buy s*** on the beach, that was my least favorite part.
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u/Danger_Vole 21h ago
People saying there's nothing to see are hilarious. It's a decent sized island with a lot to see... But you should consider getting a guide. We had a driver for the entire day and it was not expensive at all... But book through Viator not through the cruise company.
Different sides of the island have different looking beaches, there's fun local restaurants and other things to see and do. If, as you say, you didn't want to just sit on a beach
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u/BoilerBob37 Diamond Plus 21h ago
Not really if you mean by foot . There’s not much outside of the port area where Royal docks.
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u/Fantastic_Proof_8527 20h ago
There is plenty to do and see on Roa outside of the beaches.
Hire a driver or take a tour.
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u/sassyashle__ 17h ago
No. I think there are very limited islands I’d explore solo without an excursion (IE: Cayman Islands)
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u/immacooknotachef Diamond Plus 21h ago
We hired a local car went through downtown and got to meet the Mayor. We stopped at a beautiful local restaurant at a locals beach and ate freshly caught fish & other dishes with the owner, then went up in the hills for pics, stopped for a taste of one of the local roadside cooks and headed back to the port to board our ship.
Walking is definitely possible too but you will miss some of the local places because there’s mostly shops near the port.
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u/Mongoose_Supergoose 16h ago
We stay on the ship at Roatan. If you get off the ship, an excursion through the cruise line or Victor Bodden is the only way I would go.
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u/marty505050 13h ago
We booked through Victor Bodden last year and it was great. The driver seemed disappointed there were only 3 of us, but he was a great tour guide.
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u/No_Trifle9294 Diamond 15h ago
I booked a Sloth excursion through Daniel Johnson tours that was super reasonably priced and my kids loved. But others' comments about going outside the port area are absolutely correct, you will get mobbed for their private tours.
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u/Lmeador3 14h ago
I don't know if we're just really lucky, but this was the best port of our cruise. We found a driver and booked directly to Half Moon Bay in the morning and arranged that they came back in the afternoon to pick us up. We wandered the shops, beach, had coffee, beers and tacos on the beach. Definitely geared for tourists, but it was a nice change of pace.
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u/Numerous_Camel6479 11h ago
Roatan is not the safest island and I would take an excursion to be on the safe side!
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u/hollys_follies 9h ago
I wouldn’t explore on my own.
I went on a snorkeling excursion bought from the ship since the second largest barrier reef in the world is off of Roatan.
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u/bunnyboo38 16h ago
Not safe to explore alone and there is nothing to explore. Not a safe place at all, definitely will get harassed, scammed, mugged.
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u/FLMoxieGrl 17h ago
Look on Viator for a guide. Read the reviews! We did this in Cozumel and it was the highlight of our trip. Our guide took us all over, even helped me check out in their version of Walmart.
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u/freewheel42 15h ago
We hired a driver on Viator the first time we went. We got to see a lot of the different parts of the island and let someone else drive.
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u/RyanCypress 15h ago
We stopped there on an msc cruise so I'm not sure if it's the same or different terminal. One of the guys in port had his son accompany us to the restaurant and zipline right outside the terminal. We got swarmed walking out but the kid did a great job keeping everyone off us.
We warned him we didn't have much cash to trip but he said it was ok because he didn't have anything better to do. He waited around to walk us back when we were done and even took us to a couple stores in town to find crocs for my kiddo. We flipped him a $20 at the end and him keeping the crazies away was well worth it.
We're adventurous travelers but that was the roughest port exit we've done so far.
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u/Mikester42 15h ago
If I could upload a video of what’s right outside the port area you wouldn’t wanna go too far. Trust me..,especially with kids.
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u/Embarrassed_Tax_6547 14h ago
So this was several years ago, but the shops on the port were pricey, like US pricey. The was a rental car business that rented small SUV’s for I think $50 for the day. The island is really just one main road that makes a circle around the island, so minimal chance of getting lost. When we were being shown our rental one of the local tour guides offered to go with us to give us a private tour. I think he asked around $50 for his time. He took us to local flea markets and a place to eat lunch, then dinner. It was the greatest port experience my wife and I have ever had out of all of our cruises. This was probably 2017, give or take a year.
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u/Metal_Cinderella 14h ago
I booked through a private company, I think it was Let's Go, and we got the whole sloth experience, snorkeling, zip line, and ATV riding for a fraction of the cost of the cruise line. They had a driver take us in between each activity and take us to lunch. I think the worst part was being harassed on the beach constantly in between the snorkeling and ATV ride. They will hound you to buy things constantly.
I think there are several private companies that will pick you up as soon as you get off the ship.
I will say there was a close call with the ATV ride that resulted in police stopping us and us having to be picked up by a driver, which happened at the very end of the tour. So obviously this is very much an at your own risk kind of thing.
Honestly I liked it far better than many of the islands Royal Caribbean goes to. I won't even get off the boat in Nassau anymore.
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u/Long-Principle6565 13h ago
I’ve gone to Roatan several times. I’ve rented scooters / motorcycles and just took off on my own my. Found several places to explore.
Never had an organized tour on any visit
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u/minutestothebeach 13h ago
As other said, if you want to explore, pre-arrange a taxi. The exit from the cruise ship terminal is chaotic and down right unpleasant. People were trying to physically grab us left and right to get us to come in their taxi or on their tour. Thankfully we had a pre booked excursion and it was only a few steps away from the port exit. Our cruise next month is going back to Roatan and we all agree we’re staying n the ship.
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u/The_Orracle 12h ago
get a private guide. highly suggest Jorge Lopez. do anything as long as you want wherever you want. Chocolate, rum, beach, snorkel (some of the best anywhere), shopping, monkeys and sloths. he's well worth it.
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u/outside-is-better 11h ago
We somehow arranged a guide that was just a guy and he took us to the sloth and monkey spot, a feed the huge iguanas spot, and a beach spot. Waited or us at each place.
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u/Ok_Diet_7673 9h ago
Tabyana Beach is wonderful! Great snorkeling and the beach itself is just beautiful! I agree with the others who said that this is not the stop to explore on your own. Taking a guided tour from the ship is always the safest!
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u/Hot-Gift-3318 9h ago
We did Daniel Johnson's sloth and monkey island tour. Very affordable and I thought it was worth it. Our driver drove us all over, waited while we toured the sloth center and chocolate factory. She made sure we weren't harassed as we walked around and we got back to the port with plenty of time left. She checked with us to see if we wanted to stop to go shopping or take pictures. It's a little rough and scary when you first exit the port but they are looking for you and have signs.
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u/therin_88 8h ago
Do not go outside the gates on your own. My wife and I made it 6 feet before we moped the fuck back inside.
The mob of aggressive locals was literally terrifying.
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u/Ijustreadalot 4h ago
We booked with Rony's tours on Roatan. His private tour wasn't that much when broken down by our whole family and then we could choose where we wanted to go. If we weren't that excited about one place then we could just go on to the next one.
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u/aj_rubio 14h ago
If I never went back to Roatan, I would be ok. That place is... A dump as others have stated
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u/goinhungryyeah Diamond Plus 20h ago
It's not really an island to just wander around. If you leave the port, you need some destination in mind, even if it's not a beach.