My holiday away part 3- Roatan, Honduras and Costa Maya, Mexico!

Our next port of call was to Roatan, Honduras. The cruise port was Mahogany Bay, this cruise ship port is owned by the Carnival Corporation, located in Dixon Cove, between Coxen Hole and French Harbour along Roatan’s south shore. There is a full range of activities, tours and excursions here but here is an island that in my opinion if you want to explore then you need to pre book an excursion.

The immediate port area is full of gift shops and bars, being able to buy all sorts of souvenirs and full of hustle, bustle and street entertainers. The thing that stands out the most is the Magical Flying Chair. Unique to Mahogany Bay is a new chair lift system that takes cruise ship guests from the welcome center to beautiful Mahogany Beach, a 10-acre private island featuring an 825-foot-long white-sand beach with a beach volleyball court and myriad watersports opportunities.  

The cost of riding the chair lift is $14 for adults and $8 for children 4-12 years old for an ALL DAY PASS.  Children 3 and under ride FREE.  It transports guests of all ages who are at least 32 inches tall. The queue wasn’t very long and didn’t need to be booked. We decided to explore a little more though and walk down to the beach.

We were in port with one other cruise ship that day and the beach was very busy along with the bars down there. But again another stunning beach and just such a fabulous atmosphere in the bars. Live Music, fun staff and cold reasonably priced local beers! You did need to hire a sunbed and it was very busy but the beach also has access to WIFI.

The only downside of Roatan, we found was lack of local excursions, tour information and buses. We were hoping to visit Daniel Johnson’s sloth Sanctuary but it was £80 taxi each way and the taxi rank area was packed and quite hectic so we decided to avoid. A gorgeous island in all but can be quite busy when another ship is in.

The following day we arrived our all agreed now favourite island of Costa Maya, Mexico. We had the BEST day here, not just because the weather was glorious and the island was gorgeous, it just suited the 4 of us. We weren’t really in the mood for exploring too much, mainly due to the heat! As you arrive, walking past the clear blue waters, you are greeted into very much a man made resort. Full of colour, vibrancy and all things Mexican!

Tequila is for sale everywhere, so many tourist shops celebrating local crafts, Mexican wrestling and of course the day of the dead objects. We loved that there were beautiful Flamingos and Parrots to see free of charge. Also a highlight was Dolphin Discovery, you can stand feet away from the dolphins watching them swim and play.

In the middle was a giant swimming pool which caught my sons attention, with swim up bars and sunloungers. The only charge to use loungers and pool is that you buy a drink. 2 beers and 2 cokes was $16, so very reasonable! We had the best day, surrounded by views of the sea, flamingos, dolphins jumping in the background, music playing and lots of games being organised for the kids in the pool! The best bit of the holiday for them, they say was filling the pool with water balloons and having 5 minutes to burst them all as quick as possible during a huge water fight! It was a low cost terrific day, we loved it!

We are having the time of our life and no where near finished. To be continued people! If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. My telephone is 0800 408 6107, my email address is [email protected].