The Real News is Roatan (CoastWatcher: Caribbean West)
News from the Honduras Bay Islands and North Coast
18 February 2001
By Pierre Renaldo, The Coastwatcher©

We seem to be getting an influx of first time visitors that rivals any such surges of new callers in the past. It seems like Roatan, the Bay Islands and the North Coast of Honduras are catching on. And why not? There are some great places to visit in our Western Caribbean.

I know that we are getting a great deal of attention on the World Wide Web, and with the cruise ships landing upwards of 900 new port-of-callers every week, the word is finally out. Roatan is becoming 'discovered'.

We have a certain enchantment that is missing in most Caribbean tourist destinations. Nothing luxurious, or exotic, but a place that has that special primitive charm one only dreams might exist somewhere in the world, where only a few people venture, a place still unknown and unexplored. An island where you can make discoveries of your own. Paradise found.

WE HAVE IT!

The first time I saw this place I thought of W. Somerset Maughm, and his writings about the East Indies and islands of the Western Pacific, of pre- W.W. II. It reminded me of a movie set where Rita Hayworth and Humphry Borgart would be acting out some drama of long ago. Ah, nostalgia! We have atmosphere here that makes you think back to an earlier time.

True, it is definitely third world, but then why would you consider coming here if it were not to immerse yourself in some culture that is very unlike America? Truly a step back into the past, a rugged and beautiful island that has remained virtually unknown to modern day Americans until Hurricane Mitch.

Then it was erroneously reported by all the major networks, that a place most Americans had never heard of before no longer existed and had been wiped out by Mitch, the great storm of the century.

The real news is, that we are still here, we hardly got a scratch from Mitch and we are better than ever. New and better paved roads, new airlines serving the island, many new resorts and attractions, much more to do than ever before, and the best water sports and water quality in the Western Hemisphere.

Roatan is big! It is thirty-six miles long and the eastern half of the island is hardly developed at all. There is nothing out there but a Garifuna settlement, and some scattered houses. No electricity, no telephones, no paved roads, no shopping, no nothing. There is such prime opportunity for a macho golf course, lots of rolling terrain with spectacular views, wonderful breezes, and potential challenges that would make Tiger Wood shutter.

Once we get our first golf links, this place will take off like a space shot to Jupiter. The face of tourism here will change forever. Roatan will be in the big time. The big hotel chains will come. Maybe even casinos and then we will be competing with places like Honolulu and Havana. It will happen.

Oy veh!

Well, nobody can keep a great secret for too long. Sooner or later somebody blabs and then the cat's out of the bag and the influx begins. You know how that word of mouth thing works, right?

I think we have a long way to go before we get too crowded, like in Florida. You can't do anything there without waiting in long lines, because of all the tourists. I had to wait in line (in my car) to get across the causeways off and onto the island where I lived. About once a day some little old biddy stalled, or ran out of gas or got a flat and we sat there for the whole afternoon, waiting in a line that could not move forward or backward. That's why I'm not there anymore.

Out where I live we have one, maybe two cars a day pass our house. I can handle that much traffic. Some days, only cows come by. That's even nicer as long as they don't leave a mess in my driveway.

I have begun to get some serious input from my inquiry to readers asking for first hand experiences on Roatan. It's terrific stuff, and I will be printing many of the responses in the next issue of Roatan Insights. So far, I am pleased to tell you that people are very positive about this place. They like the rugged beauty, and the more primitive aspects of our island paradise. It's just such a good place to do something different, a new kind of vacation experience.

Paradise is a relative term, and it has many meanings to many people. The natives here think paradise is someplace in the afterlife. They should talk to my readers who have ventured into this unknown domain to seek the true meaning of 'life'. Just kidding. I really meant the true meaning of a different kind of vacation.

Last night I was watching the cruise ship departure from my observation deck, and just then the power went off. Surprise! But this time I did not cuss RECO. As it happened, there was a full moon phase, and instead of my world plunging into total darkness, it lighted up with one of the most beautiful night scenes I can ever remember here.

The sky was brilliant, with some puffy clouds for the moon to hide behind, teasingly and the Caribbean was as silver as a mirror. It put anything Hollywood could conjure up to shame. There were no other lights anywhere to interfere with the magic of total darkness, except for the fireflies twinkling and the distant ship making for the western horizon. What a sight!

I enjoyed what I thought was a few minutes of night time solitude, and only when the power came back on did I realize that I had been sitting in the dark for over two hours. It passed like minutes.

Don't forget to look at my e-book site on www.eroatan.com They offer some timely tips and advice that will prepare you for eventual retirement in the Third World, or will guide you through the home building process wherever you are going to build, when the time comes for you to put your dream into reality. Just click below for a preview.

http://www.eroatan.com/pierre/books.html

I am always happy to hear from readers who have questions and/or comments, or those who just want to say hello. elouis@globalnet.hn

Ciao, Pierre

By Pierre Renaldo, Mountain Coastal S.A,. General Contractors, Construction Management and Construction Consultants.