So, What Did We Think?

I've mentioned before that Roatan has been on my list of places to visit for quite a while now and we finally decided that the time was now. So, what did we think about this island which is part of the country of Honduras but yet seems so far removed from it?

The island is filled with a good mix of locals and expats and English is spoken most everywhere on the island even though the same is not true for the mainland, as the country's language is Spanish. The island is easy going and if you can avoid the tourist spots during cruise ship times and avoid other gringo scams is it a great friendly place to spend your time.

There are 3 main areas that people would consider moving to so I'll address each and our view of it:

West Bay - this is where the best beaches and best snorkeling is located but it is also where many cruise ship passengers end up so it makes it a bit touristy and not really our pace. Although we only spent one day in this area we did feel a little mauled by some of the places and people looking to get our money and that kind of in your face pressure is not our style at all. So by all means I would say that any snorkeler or diver should visit this area especially if that is the primary reason for their visit. For us, it would not be a location to live.

West End - this is where we spent most of our first week and we really enjoyed this area. It is less touristy than West Bay and there is a great variety of options for both things to do, as well as places to eat. We had plenty of good food in this area and a lot of it was cheap - the taco guy, baleadas - think breakfast burrito, Sundowners, Ilene's Kitchen, and Creole Rotisserie Chicken to name a few and the beer was cold everywhere. 

East End - this "area" actually contains a large amount of the island because anything outside of West End, West Bay and the 2 other major areas of Coxen Hole and French Harbour is part of the East End. The farther east you go, the farther out you get. I know it sounds obvious but what I really mean is that the farther east you go, the less there is around you. Shopping for groceries is farther away as are most other facilities. That doesn't seem too bad since it is an island and you can only go so far but the roads are less than desirable the further out you go. That doesn't make it all bad because there's a lot less hassle out this way too that just comes with less people around. Since Dave and I are somewhat anti-social, that can be a bit appealing and in getting to know some of the people that have moved out this way, I can see that they share some of that desire for anonymity. It's not to say though that they don't all pretty much know each other and are there for each other when it is needed without having to be all up in each others business. And the views look like this:

Now to answer the big question: "Is this the place for us?". 

While there were many things we did like about Roatan, we will likely not be moving here. The more Dave and I travel, the more we discover about ourselves and what things appeal to us, what things don't, what we can live without  and what things we would prefer to have around. 

Although Roatan has a lot going for it, especially by island standards, for us we feel like we couldn't deal with the bug situation very well. I can't imagine having to constantly think about putting on bug spray or any other repellent that locals are using to keep the biting bugs away and knowing how badly Dave reacted to them it just seems like it would make the transition tough.

It also seems like there are less long term rental options here and most people buy or build their homes which is not what we are initially looking to do, we want the freedom to move if/when we feel like it.

Another feeling I had about considering living on Roatan is that we are not interested in the mainland so moving to this island means moving to THIS island. I have this idea that when we do retire and move somewhere that we will move to a place within a place which would allow us to explore many other areas of the country or area we move to. It's not that we couldn't explore from Roatan but I think because I am uninterested in the mainland I feel a little limited. Who knows, I could have it totally wrong about the mainland too but for now we will look into other options.

In the meantime we will be concentrating on getting our house on the market and see if we can sell it while the market is hot!!!!

Until next time.....