Today was my first dive day, Emily was allowed to snorkel in the same general area. I requested my own dive master so we ended up having our own boat for the first two dives. My dives were respectable at 40, 49 and 48 minutes of down time. I am getting better in respect to time and buoyancy. The more I struggle with buoyancy the less time I can get. Not worrying about shortening anyone else’s time was nice. I do know on one of the other boats someone only got 30 minutes, she was a newer diver from what I understood.

I was able to get my camera working again with the old SD card. No malfunctions today. Water clarity was okay but some areas it was diminished and I wasn’t able to get some pictures of the squid and giant puffer fish. The squid were small but the puffer was the biggest I’d seen. I did swim through the reef in one spot, it wasn’t very far maybe 8 feet.

After our trips were done we relaxed in the pool for a while before getting cleaned up for dinner. We ate a what we’re assuming is a newly opened restaurant, I’m guessing if things don’t improve it won’t stay open long.

We really haven’t done much else today so I will add in pictures for you to enjoy.

Also my foot is better, maybe one little dot but the rest are gone.

Hi folks! A little update on my foot, the majority if spines have dissolved, there is a couple spots yet but we have vinegar and a something to put it in so I can soak. They don’t seem to be causing any issues. I will clean it regularly and do the soaks while I’m here. I also put antibiotic ointment on it. I don’t think I need to take the oral med just yet. If I see any signs of infection I will.

More sad news, the SD card in my GoPro is having some issues so our snorkel trip today has no pictures. We did see a lot of fish though. We went to the West Bay and snorkeled for a bit. The water was really nice. There was a current of cold water and one of warm water as we were right at the south end of the island. Some places it was cold and you could see the water shimmer where they mixed. It probably was a little short but I did try out the new fins in the ocean. I didn’t seem to notice any issues with the width of the blades, in the pool I did hit them together some. They do make it easier to keep up with Emily since I don’t use my arms normally because of the GoPro. It’s a big difference in speed if I have fins and use my arms. These are a bit stiff. I feel it in my ankles and calves. I will use dive shop fins tomorrow, they will be longer and more flexible. The longer ones will give even better propulsion in the water. I would have gotten longer ones but for traveling the way we do I need them to fit in my suitcase. They are much better quality than the last ones I tried.

So here’s pictures of the pool here we get to use. It is probably the best one so far. And it’s not cold. These are from yesterday. Emily did go swim for a bit after dinner. I started getting stuff rounded up for tomorrow and started my post.

Before I forget, a little update on my boat project. I will have to sand and repaint it after I get back from vacation. The motor should be running like a top though, I went and picked it up a couple weeks ago after taking it to a mechanic to look at those carbs. As suspected the lower carburetor was not functioning. So the bottom cylinder was not getting gas and the middle only half. He did do a compression test on it and all three cylinders were at the top end of the range. Everything has been set on the motor and all electrical stuff was tested and I already replaced most of it. He was able to find the one part that I had trouble getting a new one last fall. I’m going to test it out after I get home and see how she does.

We used the scooter a bit today, it was nice not needing to walk the hot gravel road to our condo. I don’t mind the main road, it’s more interesting and smoother. Where we are staying is basically at the end of the main drag, everyone seems to us the gravel to do a 3 point turnaround at. We haven’t ventured further down yet but I suspect there’s not much to do there. The main drag is fairly long and it’s mostly restaurants, bars or restaurant and bar establishments. There are also dive shops, they become more densely located on the northern end of the road. There are a few small grocery stores and I’ve seen a few souvenir shops. We are surprised there are not more of those. They also have the people who walk around with shirts, bracelets, carved rock items, fruit and offering massages and hair braids. There are not many currently but I suspect there are more during high season. I have only seem a few tour operators.

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With it being low season some of the bars do not have many patrons, last night was interesting to see all the places still open for just a couple people and the music going like it was a full house.

Overall we had a good day. We got our laundry done and back, had good food at lunch and dinner, snorkeled and had some time just to relax. With the late night last night it’s going to be early tonight. I have dives scheduled for tomorrow. I did change the SD card in my GoPro and it seems to be working. It is the old card but it says it has two hours left on it. Hopefully I will get some good pictures.

So, we had an eventful day yesterday that ended with an evening at the local Urgent Care where Bill got sea urchin spines dissolved out of his foot. He’ll write about this more fully in his post. We went for a night snorkel, but our snorkel guide didn’t show up so we went out with a very young boat captain who took us to a place where the water was too shallow for snorkeling. At night, this is particularly problematic because you can’t see very far ahead to know whether you are in an area where the coral is too close to the surface. Bill smacked his foot on a sea urchin because there was so little room to maneuver around them.

We made it back to shore and I went to our hotel to get passports, credit cards, allergy medicine and money while Bill waited for the snorkel place to send a car and take him to the urgent care down the road. On the way there, I overheard parts of the conversation between our driver and the owner of the snorkel place. I think the person who was supposed to be our guide had been smoking weed and failed to show up. The owner said something about weed being a pathway to the devil that Christians should not engage with. We were at Urgent Care until about 11pm. Bill soaked his foot in hot water with industrial-strength vinegar to dissolve the spines that couldn’t be pulled out. At least now, we know how to treat sea urchin spines. Last night, we didn’t know if they were venomous or caused allergic reactions. They don’t, which is good. We are planning to put together a small medical kit to take with us in the future for events like this. We have a lot of stuff already, but I think a dedicated bag that could come with us on the boat would be a good idea.

Bill had to go back to Urgent Care this morning for a tetanus shot and we got a prescription filled for antibiotics but he doesn’t think he will need them. I had a short conversation with one of the paramedics while Bill was talking to the doctor. The medic sees a lot of heat exhaustion, dehydration, divers with compression problems from coming to the surface too quickly and other people who get hurt in various ways on the reef. It was definitely a unique experience. We got a free scooter rental from the snorkel place, and we may get one for the rest of the week. It’s nice to have some faster mobility.

Otherwise, we did a tour of part of the island yesterday. There wasn’t a lot to see and we were in some really poor areas, but we did go to West Bay. I definitely don’t want to stay there, it’s all big resorts with lots of people. But, there is a potentially good snorkel location that we can get to with a water taxi. I think we are going to try that this afternoon. Our driver also stopped at a couple of fruit shops so I have some fantastic mangos and a pineapple that’s also probably very good. There was another group of Americans who went to a private zoo where people are allowed to hold the animals which seem to be mostly monkeys and sloths. That’s crazy unethical and bad for the animals. I would love to hold a sloth, but I’m not willing to pay to fund the illegal traffic in animals for these kinds of places.

This is our apartment. It’s really lovely and very comfortable. We’ve been fixing breakfast and should probably do the same thing with lunch.

The food here has been really good! Yesterday, I had shrimp in a garlic sauce with rice and beans, a salad, some sort of pickled purple vegetable, and plantain chips. For supper, I had fried shrimp with French fries. They also make really good lemonade here.

As part of our city tour, we went to a rum distillery. It was on top of a hill so there was a beautiful view of West Bay. Apparently, when the weather is clear, you can see the mainland of Honduras. Bill bought a coconut rum cake that is surprisingly good. It doesn’t have a strong alcohol taste at all. He said the rum samples weren’t harsh either, so not too bad.

It is super hot and humid here! It’s still hazy but it’s been much sunnier for the last two days. I burn fast so I’m glad it was hazy for our long snorkel trip the first day.

I got this very pretty lemonade for lunch with colorful sugar over the top. It was delicious. There is also a French bar and grill that has a bakery where I got chocolate pie a couple of day ago. It is owned by a French couple.

Howdy friends and family! I did not post last night per my normal due to an evening visit to the local Urgent Care/Emergency Room. I seem to find various new experiences while Traveling with Emily. While night snorkeling my foot managed to come in contact with a sea urchin. It wasn’t too bad as there are just some tips that entered my foot and mostly my big toe. They don’t seem to be too deep or particularly bothersome so the contact was light. They spent a few hours soaking my foot in hot saline they had heated in a microwave and added vinegar to. The spines are mostly calcium so the acid in the vinegar will dissolve them. I do seem to have less than I received but I will have to continue to soak my foot until they’re gone.

The tour company owner had to come get us and take us to urgent care. While waiting our guide rounded up another guy who brought some leaves and a fruit that didn’t smell great, he broke the fruit in half and massaged it on my foot then wrapped it in leaves. I don’t know if it helps or hurts but the practitioner didn’t say much about it. They cleaned me up with antiseptic.

We have gotten a deal on a scooter for the day and I believe they are going to give us a snorkeling trip.

Nelson, not Nathan, took us on a tour around the area yesterday with two other couples. It wasn’t the best tour. The rum factory tour was more like a rum selling outlet store , I don’t know that they made anything there. It did have a nice view.

Nelson was supposed to take us snorkeling last night and again he wasn’t there and they guide we got was supposed to have a partner who may or may not have been off smoking weed with his friends based on the conversation Emily heard parts of. Our guide had said while waiting for the big boss that he was told where we went was too shallow.

So for the dumb choice on my part is I opted out of taking my new flippers on the trip. I wasn’t expecting to need to swim fast but they do offer foot protection. I think I will take them from now on. I will have to review them later. So far I haven’t had much experience with them except in the pool.

We probably got a half hour or so in the water before my incident and I had gotten some pictures. Unlike other places the night life in the water wasn’t much different from the day. I did notice the colors were brighter, the blues, greens and purples. A handful of fish, a lobster, several ot the tentacle type starfish and a lot of sea urchins.

That’s it for now!

Hello everyone! Yesterday’s post was quick and seems I left out greetings! Hopefully all of our readers are doing well and are ready for another round of posts by Emily and myself. We picked Roatan because of its promise of clear blue water and it’s shoreline’s proximity to the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. According to the research we did do there are places where good snorkeling is right off the beach. We are staying at the Splash Inn located in the West End. West End Bay has beach access to the reef on one end. We have several restaurants and tourist shops within walking distance. There are taxis and water taxis to get us around and they rent scooters and motorcycles just down the street.

The Splash Inn is probably not what I would call an inn, more like a bunch of condos or apartment buildings that are not in one location, we are a 5 minute walk from the front desk, restaurant and dive shop that is actually in a different building. The owner said he had a property management company, I think he still does. Our condo/apartment is nice, clean and maintained. The main door is a bit sketchy but the security guard sits right across from our door. We are in a gated community but they leave the gate up and the guard shack / sauna is empty. I’m guessing that shack is a sauna during the day and is the reason the guard sits under the tree access the way.

This morning we got the sales pitch for our first snorkeling trip. Nathan made us a deal and was going to guide us but we ended up with a third wheel German fella and a different guide plus a boat captain. Sounds like Nathan got called back after we had departed to be the huckster on the street pulling in business. We had a good time but I think Nathan would have been better.

We went to 5 different sites. The shipwreck site has a questionable backstory. It is an old steamboat of some sort, It probably is not as we were told an American vessel possibly from an early war but definitely not 500 years old. We had a lot of time in the water and Emily and I were watered out by the time we got done. We had thought about doing some exploring but the water was calm and we are on a shorter trip this go so we jumped right in. Tomorrow we will do some exploring and then a night snorkel.

We did find a few things today, a little grocery around the corner, a French bakery and a chocolate shop. Possibly Sylvester Stallone’s mansion in Roatan.

There are a lot of dive shops here!

I’m wearing out fast so I’m going to add some pictures to this post and call it finished. I hope everyone has been doing well!

Hello All: Bill and I have temporarily moved up in the world. We are currently living in a gated community in a very nice area of Roatan, Honduras. We have a beautiful apartment with two big bathrooms, a living room and a full kitchen. I could move in here permanently and be just fine.

As Bill noted yesterday, we had some trouble getting here. The Hondurans are burning sugar cane fields and it’s creating a lot of smoke. The airport has been periodically closed because it’s too hazy for planes to land. We had to wait for several hours in Dallas before our plane left. Fortunately, Dallas has a decent airport. There are comfortable places to sit, decent food options in all terminals, and it’s the quietest airport I’ve ever been in. While we were waiting, we went to a spa and got chair massages. It was a little weird, but we were both tired and it was an activity for half an hour.

Bill is concerned about not making it home in time to go back to work because there is no one to cover his shift. If airport problems continue, we may try to come home a day early. We were concerned that the air quality would be really bad. It’s hazy and smells faintly of smoke, but it’s not nearly as bad as we had expected.

We spent all day today on a snorkeling trip. We did three or 4 different snorkel sites, which was fun. The water is super clear here, but the hazy conditions limit water visibility some. However, the haze also helped prevent sunburns. If we had been out all day in blazing sunshine, I would have burned regardless of how much sunscreen I used. This way, I stayed out with no problems.

It’s the low season here and we are practically the only tourists in the West End. Apparently, this place is packed during the winter months. The smoke has caused some problems and I’m sure the water clarity would be better in January with a sunny sky, but I’ll take this over huge crowds and higher prices. We can go book any tour we want any time and we don’t have to worry about everything being booked or dealing with crowds of people in shops and restaurants. We were the only people at the restaurant for supper tonight.

We are planning to book a night snorkeling tour for tomorrow evening but take a more restful day. There’s a museum we want to visit and Bill wants to try out some new diving gear in the swimming pool before his dives this weekend. This is mango season, so I want to find some fruit. I had some really good fruit at the restaurant for breakfast this morning, but we would like to fix our own breakfast most mornings.

Overall, I think we are really going to enjoy this vacation and our week will go super fast.

We have already learned a couple things about Roatan that we did not find when searching about this vacation. First off, April- May is the dry season and secondly it’s the time of year that the sugar cane fields are “slashed and burned”. This is part of growing sugar cane. The reason that this is of particular importance to those who may wish to travel here is that practice causes a lot of smoke, so much so that we were delayed in Dallas waiting to see if the smoke haze would go above 4000 feet. We did finally make it on to a plane shortly after we should have arrived in Roatan if things had gone smoothly.

We did make the best of it and got chair massages in Dallas and have a meal. We also got in a lot of walking, walking to multiple gate changes and to and from the tram for terminal changes. I however was unable to procure a Slurpee from the 7Eleven, as the machine was out of service.

I will note that the dry season only means that it hasn’t rained, it’s still humid. Also once you have learned something about a place it is a lot easier to find more information about it during google searches. We found that out about the sargassum situation during our Belize. For those interested, there is sargassum here, I read it’s mostly just on the south end of the island. Our taxi driver from the airport said the same and that it’s only this month. It should not affect us as we are close to the west bay and the area is protected from the currents that bring the sargassum.

By the time we got though customs it was 6pm and the light was fading fast. We did get some ocean views but not anything that was good to make any judgments on how nice it may be. Everyone says it’s very clear and we will get to see a lot.

We got a quick pizza at the hotel restaurant before getting our villa. It’s pretty nice! We should have gotten someone talked in to coming along, there are 5 beds and a couch, so if you’re able to fly in and need a place to sleep we have plenty! Emily went up and looked the pool over and said it was a good one. We didn’t try it out yet since it’s been such a long day.

Tomorrow we will get the lay of the land and start getting some pictures.