PegNDerek's Snorkeling
Where intelligent life returns to the Sea
Coral Cay, Roatan,
Bay Islands, Honduras
Ship: Norwegian Dawn (NCL)
Sailing Date: December 22nd, 2005
Date of Snorkel: December 27th, 2005
Equipment Availability: We have our own which we take with us, but equipment (fins, snorkels, masks and vests) are available at this site for rental from the Visitor’s Center of the resort. All equipment appeared to be clean and well maintained.
Water Access: From the Beach and from a long pier (with multiple access ladders) built out into the water for boating and snorkeling access.
This is a newly opened resort hotel on Roatan, so new that parts of it were still under construction at the time of our visit. It is absolutely exceptional from every point of view, and will undoubtedly become one of Roatan’s premier sites for snorkeling and marine ecology studies in the future. WARNING: bugs in the sand created severe itching and raised red lesions on our legs in the days following our shore excursion. Be sure to use bug spray on your legs and feet before and after visiting this site, especially around your ankles and under any socks (if you happen to wear them) both during and after the excursion!
We were taken from the pier by Volkswagen buses to Coral Cay, about a 20 minute ride past the airport and through the lush vegetation of the Bay Island of Roatan to Coral Key. Motor vehicles are not allowed on the Cay itself—one has to walk across a substantial wooden bridge to the island, where concrete paths lead one into the visitor’s center (with fabulous gift shop—not to be missed) and on to the beach. The beach facilities are amazing! There is a large, modern building with wooden cabana roofs featuring a restaurant (terrific food—at a price), bar and bandstand with a number of loud-speakers so that the sound reverberates on to the beach. The beach itself is exceptionally clean and well graded, with plenty of white plastic chez-lounges and multiple turquoise beach umbrellas. Everything is beautifully laid out and brand new! On one side of the beach front, there is a huge enclosed pen (about 50 square yards in area) surrounded by a solidly constructed wooden walkway which one can walk around to admire various sea creatures kept in the pen—a large variety of sea turtles (both vegetarian green turtles and carnivorous leatherback turtles—obviously housed in separate areas), nurse sharks and numerous large fish, including about 10 Gray Angelfish. We discovered later that these animals had been trapped in the nets of local fisherman and had been brought to Coral Key for protection. There is also an echinoderm park (they showed us each animal and let us hold them all with the exception of the baby turtles) and a special pen with a coatamundi that cavorts excitedly, especially when given a piece of chocolate or a slice of banana! Even Peg’s Aunt Martha Belle had a wonderful time seeing all of the penned creatures, and she is NOT a snorkeler, albeit a good swimmer. An exceptionally friendly and knowledgeable Marine-Ecologist-in-training named Geoffrey gave us all a superb tour! He should be eligible for a scholarship to the Scholl’s Marine Lab or the Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institute if we have anything to say about it!
Snorkeling is arranged in groups of no more than 25 swimmers, each separated by about an hour for swim time. We were in the third group, so enjoyed some beach time and the tour of the pens before we went into the water to snorkel. The snorkeling was amazing!! The reef area is incredibly well developed, shallow and magnificently colored with all varieties of corals and fish. We were almost overwhelmed by its beauty—our coral shots alone take up 10 pages in our album of this excursion! The fish were fantastic, both in terms of shear variety and quantity. Any and every variety of anything one might want to see or photograph in the marine environment is included here! Among our more unusual shots are Indigo Hamlets (beautiful blue and black) and a Palometa (silvery and gorgeous at about 15 inches long), as well as Green-Blotch Parrot Fish which we have never photographed or seen before. We had to run for our copy of Paul Humann’s Reef Fish Identification as soon as we got back to the ship! The staff that accompanies the snorkelers is there to ask questions or take you on a guided tour if you wish—there is no pressure to stay with the herd.
We cannot recommend this excursion more highly—one of the best we have ever experienced from every point of view!
Snorkeling Grade: A+
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