Roatán

West Bay, at the island's western tip, is the reason most people come: a long curve of pale sand on calm, clear water at about 27-29°C all year, with the reef so close that snorkellers swim out to coral straight from the beach. Half Moon Bay in West End village is smaller and more sheltered, and on the quieter eastern side there are cays and narrow beaches reached by boat.

Beach life shapes the day, especially in West Bay, where the resorts line the sand. The beach gets busy on days when cruise ships are in port, and sand flies bite at dawn and dusk on some stretches. The dry season, roughly February to May, gives the calmest sea and clearest water, while the late-year rainy months bring more cloud and the occasional storm.

Eating here is about the sea: grilled snapper, lobster in season, conch, and fish cooked in coconut milk. The Garifuna communities on the north coast make tapado, a coconut seafood stew, and you can find coconut bread and machuca, plantain mashed with fish. Roadside stalls sell baleadas, flour tortillas folded around beans, cheese and cream, which make the cheapest and most local breakfast.

Most restaurants are in West End and West Bay, where beach shacks sit alongside places serving international and North American menus to divers and resort guests. There is plenty for a week, but not much depth: fine dining is limited and the island's cooking doesn't have a long list of dishes. Local rum and cold beer are the usual drinks.

Roatán has little to offer as sightseeing. Its heritage is in its people rather than its buildings: English-speaking Bay Islanders whose families go back to British and Caribbean settlers, and the Garifuna community at Punta Gorda on the north coast, the oldest Garifuna settlement in Honduras. A small island museum covers the history of pirates, settlers and the pre-Columbian peoples.

Oak Ridge on the east side, with stilt houses lining a mangrove waterway, is the most picturesque village. Coxen Hole, the main town, is practical rather than historic. Visitors who want Maya ruins or colonial towns need to go to the mainland, which takes much more than a day.

Going out happens mainly in West End, where a row of beach and dock bars along the sandy main road fills up at sunset and stays lively later on party nights, with rum punch, reggaeton and a crowd of dive instructors, backpackers and expats. West Bay is quieter in the evenings, mostly resort bars and a few spots on the sand.

There are no proper nightclubs to speak of, and since many visitors are diving early the next morning, the island is quiet before most cities would get going. It's fun for a few casual nights, not a reason to come.

The real landscape is underwater. Roatán sits on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second-longest reef system in the world, and the marine park along the west end protects coral walls, swim-throughs, wrecks and abundant turtles, rays and reef fish, often in visibility well over 20m. It is one of the Caribbean's classic places to learn to dive, with dive sites a few minutes by boat from West End and West Bay, and snorkelling right off the shore. Whale sharks pass the neighbouring island of Utila in spring and late summer.

Above water, the island is a long ridge of green hills with mangrove channels on the eastern side, good for kayaking and paddleboarding, and some short forest walks. There is no serious hiking. Spend your time in the water.

Most outings from Roatán stay on the island or go by boat. Utila, the smaller and more laid-back dive island next door, makes the best day out, with its wooden village on the harbour. The Cayos Cochinos, a group of protected cays with a small Garifuna fishing village, are a longer boat trip to the south. The ferry to La Ceiba on the mainland takes about an hour and a half, but the town itself is mostly a transit point.

The great sites of Honduras, such as the Maya ruins at Copán, are too far for a day trip. Most visitors fill their spare days with the island's eastern villages and mangroves.

A family vacation here works best as a simple beach stay in West Bay, where the water is calm and shallow and children can snorkel among fish just off the sand. Day trips are things like glass-bottom boats, dolphin encounters, small parks where children can see monkeys, parrots and iguanas, and zip-lines in the hills, all easy to arrange from the beach resorts.

There is nothing made for children beyond this, and evenings are quiet. Medical facilities are basic for anything serious, sand flies can make young children miserable without repellent, and the roads are narrow and unlit. Families of strong swimmers and older children who can learn to dive will get the most from it.

West End and West Bay, the two bases most visitors choose, are each easy to walk around, and water taxis and a short road connect them. A single paved road runs along the island's spine, with shared minibuses and plenty of taxis linking West End, Coxen Hole and French Harbour. You need to agree a taxi fare before getting in.

To explore the eastern villages and mangroves, hire a car, a scooter or a driver for the day. The roads are hilly and winding, sometimes potholed and unlit at night. The airport is close to the western beach areas, and boats to Utila and the mainland leave from the island's south coast.

Shopping on Roatán means souvenirs: T-shirts, hammocks, carved mahogany, coconut crafts and jewellery made from local larimar-coloured stones and shells, sold from stalls in West End and the shops by the cruise piers. There are a few galleries of local painting and some Garifuna crafts, but very little fashion or design and no markets worth planning around. Bring what you need.

Roatán costs far more than the rest of Honduras because almost everything is shipped in and prices are set for foreign visitors. The beachfront resorts and villas at West Bay cost about as much as in the wider Caribbean, and restaurant meals in the beach areas are not cheap.

West End is the budget alternative, with simple guesthouses and dive hostels, cheap local food stalls and shared minibuses that cost very little. Dive courses and fun dives are among the most affordable in the Caribbean, which is why so many people come here to learn. The busiest and priciest months are the dry winter and spring.

There is almost no formal performing arts here. The one distinctive tradition is Garifuna music: drumming and the fast punta dance, performed for visitors in Punta Gorda and at cultural shows, and more authentically at village celebrations. Apart from that, live music means a band or a sound system in a beach bar in West End on a good night.

Roatán has no bathing or spa tradition of its own. Wellness here is the larger resorts' spas, massage tables set up under the palms, and some yoga classes and small retreats, mostly around West Bay and in the quieter coves to the east.

What the island offers instead is its pace. The days are shaped by the water and the evenings end early, and on the eastern side, away from the cruise traffic, there are hammocks over the mangroves and long silent stretches. Avoid the western beaches on cruise ship days if peace and quiet is the goal.