Where is Roatan

Community Map of Roatan

Roatán, located between the islands of Utila and Guanaja, is the largest of The Honduran Bay Islands. It is approximately 60 kilometres long, and less than 8 kilometres wide. Although there is some debate on the actual size this is the most quoted size. Location of the largest barrier reef in the Caribbean Sea (second largest after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef), it has become an iimportant cruising and scuba diving destination in Honduras. Tourism and Commercial Fishing are the two critical economic factors.

The Capital of Roatan Island is Coxen Hole. It is the most populated town. It is located in the Southwest of the island. Other important towns include French Harbour and Oak Ridge.

1998 Hurricane Mitch, and 2005 Hurricane Wilma, brought only minimal damage to Roatan. Sadly, CNN and other news agencies reported extensive damage, temporarily paralyzing most commercial activity. This had a negative impact on the islands econmy. Tourism and other commercial activities suffered needlessly because of this negative press.

Roatán is served by the Roatán Airport.

The island was formerly known as Ruatan and Rattan.

Where is Roatan?

“Roatan is in Paradise”

To see
Roatan Island Photos

The Roatan Island Coral Reef is in full bloom right now and sporting a host of colorful coral, sea fans, reef creatures and schools of young Roatan tropical fish.

Last weekend my husband, Bob and I enjoyed a long leisurely snorkel at West Bay Beach. It was 7:30 in the morning on a beautiful day with clear blue skies. The light was perfect and the water crystal clear. The Roatan reef was dazzling. We quickly spotted bright green brain coral, new stagg head coral growth, red coral, purple hues, and waving polyps. Sea anemones were beautiful with young fish swimming in and out of its tentacles unscathed by the stinging nematocysts. Various marine plants were in full bloom attracting a variety of sea creatures to hide in their branches. The Candelabrum-shaped coral sported a number of orange and yellow sea snails feeding on them. A close look revealed intricate patterns and designs over the body.

The most encouraging part about our Roatan snorkel adventure was the number of fish that we witnessed. I love to snorkel down through schools of Jacks and Tangs and mingle with them. They remain relatively unaffected by my presence and let me experience the schooling effect for a moment or so. The sheer numbers of fish were fantastic! We saw lots of young fish in intermediate stages which just baits me for another Snorkel in a few weeks or so. Blue Angles, French Angles, and Gray Angles were easy to spot and quite large in many cases. I always love the variety of Butterfly fish that adorn the reef but must hold out for the Jewel fish that play about the crevices and dimples of coral heads as my favorite.

A pair of large ice blue parrot fish we have watched for many moons were an old welcome site. They swam by us as if to say that the reef is as it should be - abundant and well.

Roatan.ws More Miracles Coming to Roatan Island Honduras - Illuminated my email titles one morning before the New Year. What was the miracle? I wondered. On New Years Day It Happened on Roatan Island Honduras an island in the Western Caribbean right here off the coast of Central America.

This did not happen in Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Belize - No it happened in Roatan an island in the Caribbean. Central American stories like this…

Lynne Carpenter Millsaps

www.Roatan.ws

West End, Roatan Independence Day Crowd - Biggest Yet !

West End in Roatan, Honduras pulled off the biggest crowd yet for Independence Day celebrations. If you have ever
been to West End you know it as a place dotted with divers headed to the Caribbean, a few straggling shoppers, and well fed tourists walking off their meal. This Saturday there were so many people that you could not find the sandy road or even separate it from the beach! The Fishing Tournament was on, the parade was starting, food booths were in place, the band was playing, the judges were present, and the onlookers eager to participate in it all! Large and small fishing boats appeared bringing in their prize fish to be measured and weighed. Some Blue Marlin took 5 grown men to carry to the big dangling scale at the arch in West End across from Coconut Tree Divers. Everyone was curious about the Marlins long sword nose and spiny fins. The winner brought in a 282lb. Blue Marlin! A few less Marlins for the Orca Whales this winter, a much discussed issue this year that resulted in an announcement of a catch and release program scheduled for next year.

The parade began with quite a racket and cars honked and kids screamed from festive floats designed to bring the Independence Day Celebration in Roatan to its feet! Shouting and cheering, clapping and catching candy was just a part of event. The costumes, themes, and participants were outstanding this year. A true celebration of color! A special thanks to everyone who made it so special for the “kid” in all of us!

The FOOD! Oh the FOOD! It was fantastic! From barbequed chicken, pork, beef, and fish, to potato salad, beans and rice, tortillas, salsa, fruit, and rice pudding, the food just kept rolling. There were grills going everywhere, coolers, bags and bags of ice, and more tupperware than i have ever seen in one location in my life! The prices were great and no one went hungry! Families and more families hit the scene. Old friends gathered together and new Roatan arrivals were introduced. Kids wove in out of adult legs occasionally glancing up to be sure they had made their way back to the right parents. The community family atmosphere prevailed for most of the night.

The fireworks were beautiful and fun in that we all enjoyed them during a thunderstorm…a new one for me. I do not know which was more beautiful, the lightening or the fireworks themselves. It made for hugging kids closely and keeping our eyes fixed on the sky!  The grand finale was a real whopper of a light show for all!

Lynne Millsaps

www.Roatan.ws

www.RoatanBeachFront.com

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Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras Independence Day Celebrations

 September 15, 1821 - September 15, 2007

Parades, Marching Bands, Dancing, Cheerleaders, Carnivals, and the Famous West End Fishing Tournament are held to Celebrate Independence Day in Roatan. Roatan is the only Honduran community that starts celebrating one week ahead with a different community leading the festivities every night through the 15th of September. Read how the Sundancer-Sandy Bay Community kicked off the celebrations this year!

The festivities begin with decorating cars and parading the Carnival Queen, Princess, and area sponsored Royalty through Sandy Bay , Flowers Bay , and Coxen Hole. The kids throw candy and string beads from the car to families along the road. Watch out for flying candy! Everyone has a great time! Cars were honking, Princesses were waving, kids were screaming, and great big smiles were on every face! Check out the pictures on http://www.roatan.ws/ . 

The evening festivities begin with good friends and good food served up Island Style! Grilled Chicken, Pork, Rice and Beans, Potato Salad, Drinks, and Chips for over 100 people are just a part of the evening. There is a live band for dancing too!

What was traditionally The May Pole for the English has become the Platt Pole for the Hondurans. They have their own dance step strategy to go along with it. This does take some skill so they start with adults and then work down in age until even the little ones learn the game.They weave the pole and then unweave it. There is a platt leader that oversees the technique so the platt or weave is evenly done. There is lots of laughing and giggling during the event!

.The big events are Saturday the 15th and they begin in Coxen Hole with a parade, marching bands, cheerleaders, and lots of kids. Then there is lunch, horse races, races for kids, and many other activities that go on all afternoon. We will let you know how some of these turn out once we go!

Needless to say, Roatan Hondurans love to celebrate their blue and white colored Independence Day! The banks and local stores have been decorated for several weeks now and Hurricane Felix did not slow the festivities down a bit! Great recovery Roatan….onward and upward!

see May Day Plat Pole Video…

Hurricane Felix Roatan Update

Roatan Island is still pretty bare when it comes to supplies in grocery stores, fresh fruit and vegetables, and gasoline. Supplies that would have been shipped hurricane week have still not come. Life is very different on an Island. It is not like in the USA where life just resumes as normal. We sit and wait for boats to reschedule to come and bring supplies. I checked again today and there are still no fresh vegetables, soft drinks, and canned goods etc. I have asked the proverbial “when”, but that is ridiculous because everyone you ask has a different answer! So, it will be here when it gets here! I think we all bought every grocery possible before the storm and we will just have to wait for supplies to even out again. Tourists have returned so a happy spirit is floating about. The most fun we are all having is around the Independence Day Celebrations! Looks like Saturday will be lots of fun and we need fun right now!!

by: Lynne and Bob Millsaps

www.Roatan.ws - We write & photograph the Caribbean Island Roatan

Roatan and The Bay Islands Escape Felix the Cat 5
Tourism is ON !
Sundancer Area Labor Day Carnival is ON for Friday ! 

 A special “Thank You” to all that contacted us with encouraging email, thoughts, and prayers !

Much like Hurricane Mitch, Hurricane Felix was an unpredictable finicky Hurricane with a mind of its own..
The fur stood straight up on his back as Felix the Cat hit the Honduras Coast with 165 mph winds with claws extended toward Roatan. The storm was expected to weaken over land and then build again in the Bay of Honduras. That Bay holds 3 Bay Islands of Guanaja, Roatan, and Utila. Heavily populated with expates that stayed to ride out the storm. The storm did weaken over land but that did not stop the furry of its far reaching claws. Roatan made it through a firecracker of a night Tuesday! The lightening looked like explosions in the sky coupled with immediate booming cracks of thunder. Torrential rain came from every direction as the mighty gusts of wind blew it about. Houses shook, boarded windows creaked with strain, and the people lay awake in their beds praying! The intensity lasted for several hours and then as if Roatan was transported to another planet, it stopped.

By 9AM Wednesday morning Roatan had blue skies, puffy white clouds and strong winds. There are still some thunder heads around but Felix has pulled a disappearing trick and just vanished. We have the high mountains of Honduras to thank for that! Our hearts at Roatan.ws go out to the families in the mountainous area of the mainland and hope that people and homes are ok. People in Roatan are very thankful that Felix let us off so easily. It is agood wake up call for The Bay Islands to remember that Hurricane Mitch does have close relatives and we had better be prepared!

It is time to take down the hurricane boards and set businesses back up again so that life can return to normal in paradise. Tourists are expected to arrive as planned this Saturday and Sunday and by then no one will even remember what we did this past week! Grateful, thankful best describes the Islanders hears right now… the only request we have is that maybe Roatan could go more than two weeks in a row without another hurricane coming our way. We need time to rest!

The Honduras Labor Day Carnival for the Sundancer area of the Island will be Friday as planned. We all have lots to celebrate !

  By Lynne and Bob Millsaps

www.Roatan.ws  Enjoy photography and articles about Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras 

“Felix the Cat” as Roatan.ws nicked named him is now a serious category 4 hurricane and is expected to swoop under Roatan and The Bay Islands with its claws out! We are expecting torrential rains and strong winds. Whatever we get it is expected by Tuesday. I wonder what Felix will pull out of his “bag of trick” to get us through this one!

Today was a very busy day as The Governor, Arlie Thompson and The Mayor, Dale Jackson, called for additional evacuations from the Island and posted Emergency Shelters for the remaining people. Today Taca flew two additional jumbo jets to the Island and tonight Atlantica will provide a 727 for those that want to leave. The Air Force is also sending a C130 to Roatan. (Click here for Emergency Shelters in your area.)

On the lighter side let me share what today was like. Wow, what a day! Hats off  or Props to everyone who helped serve the tons of people who needed plywood and supplies for their home today. They sacrificed their time to prepare their own families for the storm to serve others! A special thanks to Deborah at Serrano’s who made sure that wood and zinc sheets were distributed in fare shares today. Hats off to Hyber Supplies employees who helped people all morning and still had smiles on their faces this afternoon!

I was one of the hundred’s of people who got to stand in line for a couple of hours this morning for lumber and then move to the car and wait another 3 hours for gasoline. I think I used more gas waiting than I would have needed for the whole week! Bo Jangles is “boarded up” but still serving fired chicken or pollo frita if you live here. The grocery stores are boarded but still open although there is not much left in them…oh, I’m sorry, of course there are cornflakes - just no milk!  Many crossed the “ouch to boing” financial side of island living today by buying their first generator…needless to say we know that because we were one of them.  You can’t report the news without electricity! And of course, the number one day that we all  needed electricity to prepare food ahead of time, Reco was down all day!

Ok, on the serious side, people are being moved to secure housing throughout the Island via Emergency Shelters and nice neighbors sharing their homes. One thing you can definitely say about this Island is that everyone helps the other one in times of need.

Many people did leave for the mainland today but that may not have been a good idea after all. Felix (that tricky cat) has moved farther south and west. It is going to make a direct hit on the coast of Honduras. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the residents there. For Roatan, we will get a more southern approach from Felix with less intensity wind wise but still clawing his way north.

Is this “Felix the Cat” at work tricking us again? We will have to see what his bag of tricks bring us tomorrow. For now…goodnight!

Lynne and Bob Millspas at http://www.roatn.ws