Itinerary for Roatan, Honduras

Hands down the best beach on the island and 100% worth spending lots of time there. We stayed in the fantastic Sky View Condo right on the beach and would stay there again in a heartbeat. We spent a lot of our downtime after going out on our excursions just relaxing at the beach. Watching the sunset was a highlight. We looked at cruise ship schedules when planning our itinerary and chose a day that no cruise ships would be in port to just spend the whole day at the beach. 

We actually stayed in two different places in Roatan. Halfway through the trip we moved over to a house on the beach in Sandy Bay. It had fun character and it was quiet. We enjoyed jumping off the dock and taking the paddleboards out to an underwater museum for snorkeling. The downside was that swimming from the beach wasn't as desirable with sea grass that grew very close to shore. But the long dock took you past the sea grass and made swimming enjoyable from there. 

The Anthony's Key Resort Dolphin Encounter was perfect and family friendly. We got to touch dolphins, watch them do tricks, give them signals and learn about the training process and the dolphins' personalities. We could take pictures with our own cameras which hasn't been the case with other dolphin adventures. Saves a lot of money when you don't have to purchase their packages. Then we got to swim with the dolphins in their habitat, play fetch with sea grass, and watch them interact. Our 5 year old wasn't old enough for the swimming part at the end but the resort made it easy for her to participate in the the first part with the trainer, and then she waited for us on the shore with our other daughter who was nervous about swimming with them in the wild. 

We did this and the dolphin encounter on the same day. Plenty of time to do them both and still have some beach time. 

There are several places in Roatan where you can interact with sloths and other jungle animals. We chose the Daniel Johnson Monkey and Sloth Hangout because their website had the best information on how to visit if you weren't coming from a cruise ship. We loved every minute of it. Since our visit, government regulations have changed so that visitors can no longer physically touch the animals, but it would still be worth it to see them up close. The situation is still evolving so physical contact may be allowed again. Be sure to check with the location before you book your experience.    

We saw some of the best coral we have ever seen snorkeling in Roatan. There are so many companies you can book with in advance online, but after getting there we wished we had waited. There are boats just waiting in the water at West Bay Beach, ready and willing to take you to some of the best snorkeling spots for better prices than what you can find online. When we go back that's how we will book all of our snorkeling trips. There are SO many locations for amazing snorkeling that you could go everyday and never repeat the same spot.  

We did love the 3 stop snorkel excursion we did with Roatan 5 Stars. Each stop was unique and completely worth it. It was so cool to hold the giant starfish in starfish alley, then to look deep down into the blue channel, and then finally to get up close and personal with an actual shipwreck. Super family friendly and experiences we will never forget! 

We chose South Shore Canopy Zipline because it was close to our condo, easy to book online without being part of a cruise, and they had a the Zuperman Zipline which was absolutely worth it. Even a steady rain couldn't ruin our fun. The employees were fantastic with our two youngest kids who couldn't zipline on their own. We felt safe and truly had the perfect family adventure. We also booked the eco-walk tour which was beautiful and interesting, but we would skip it if we were to go again. 

After ziplining, souvenirs and snacks were easy to find in West End. We found parking a little ways from the main street. Had the weather been better that day we would have also tried out Half Moon Bay for some swimming. 

This incredible foster home and school was a joy to visit. Check out their website (Sandy Bay Lighthouse Ministries) for information on what help they currently need. We received a tour led by one of the young women who grew up there and is now atttending college on the mainland. Then we got to play with the kids  - duck duck goose, hide and seek, and soccer were popular. They were welcoming and so fun. 

We had high hopes for this beach, and it has potential! But some factors out of our control left us disappointed. First off, it is a journey to get there from the West Bay/West End area. The roads are not in great condition and they are winding. It was fun to get a taste of the whole island on the drive. Weather was the other factor not in our favor. When we arrived at the beach it was actually pretty dirty from trash as well as seaweed. It was sunny there, but storming out at sea so there were some pretty big waves. It wasn't as inviting as we would have liked for all of the efforts to get there. And the water was too rough for our youngest kids. So after a walk along the sand we turned around and drove back to our rental and swam in the pool there instead. 

Or you could go for Big French Key as well.  They both have similar offerings and are right next to each other. We opted for Little French Key  so we could swim with pigs. Which turned out to be fun and silly, though maybe not as spectacular as we had been expecting. Glad we did it once, but we wouldn't do it again. Little French Key in general however, would totally be worth another visit. It was a nice place to relax on beautiful sand and have calm water where the kids could play, take a paddleboard out in the cove, snorkel over an underwater museum, jump in with a rope swing, and see wildlife like peacocks, monkeys, a jaguar, and of course the pigs. They fed us a meal and we got a few drinks, all included in the price. We had a short snorkeling excursion from Little French Key as well that was phenomenal. The coral and fish we saw were some of the best of the whole trip. 

Right on West Bay Beach, but the less crowded end. So clean and comfortable and large for our group of 7. Anywhere along that section of beach would be a wonderful location.

Link to Sky View Condo on Airbnb

The house itself was comfortable, though maybe a little rough around the edges. The dock was fun and access to amazing snorkeling from a paddleboard was unique. When we go again we would opt to stay at West Bay Beach the entire time and hire boats from the beach to take us to snorkling spots.

Link to Sandy Bay House on Airbnb