Roatan, Honduras (Saturday, February 17)

Overcast skies and intermittent rain showers greeted SIRENA's arrival at Coxen Hole on Roatan.  The forecast called for better weather as the morning progressed.  Since we were going on a snorkeling trip, the rain was less of a concern than the overcast skies that would limit underwater visibility.  Roatan is world-famous for its reef life.

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The "Today's Tour" description that normally appears here is not here because the tour was added at the last minute so there was no source from which I could electronically cut and paste the description.  I could type it in, but I'll just go with what actually happened.

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We were wedged into a small bus and driven over some uneven roads for about 30 minutes, transferring to a boat for the last five minutes of our trip to Little French Key.  

We were told that our scheduled activities had been reversed, so instead of snorkeling followed by beach time, beach time would precede snorkeling.  Oh, the hardship of having to wait on a beach chair under increasingly clear skies in 80 degree weather staring out at the Caribbean.  

Eventually we were called to action, boarding a boat for a short ride to the reef.  Along the way we were outfitted with equipment.  It was a mass-production process done well.  The snorkel equipment was generally in good condition.

Once moored, it was off the boat and into the water.  Let the adventure begin.

Yawn.  The reef was in sad shape and sparsely populated with marine life.  The water was murky.  Some snorkelers floundered along bumping into everyone in their path.  The anticipated highlight of the tour was a huge disappointment.  

Back in the boat, the guide told us that he could not take us to the good reef because it was too rough.  This statement concurred with my observation that even in our sheltered location there was a lot of wave action.  

We returned to the dock, had a few minutes to  change into dry clothes and were then loaded aboard a boat for the short trip back to our bus.  Along the way we passed an example of why many coastal communities in the United States do not allow transients to anchor indefinitely. This picture does not do justice to the dilapidated condition of these two boats.  They appeared to have gone beyond being non-transiting transients to resident vagrants.

It would be incorrect to conclude that this was a bad tour experience.  During the course of our bus ride we saw how the people of the island live.  We were not devoured by moray eels.  We had time laying in the sun.  We got to splash around in the water.  Our group took the tour in stride.  Pam & I have been on much worse tours than this one.  

SIRENA sailed on schedule, quickly moving from Coxen Hole to open ocean to start our passage to Costa Rica.