Best excursion for kids in Roatan

[Okie918]

Traveling with 4 grandkids (8,9,10 and 11) on the Caribbean Princess March 2016 and looking for Roatan excursions. Would prefer a day pass resort or beach but would also like other ideas.

 

Thanks!

[crewsweeper]

You'll be docking at Mahogany Bay. There's a beach right there. And the cruise ships sponsor a dolphin swim/show which is also right there. That's easy. NOt a way to see a lot of Roatan, but for kids a beach is a beach.

[OCruisers]

Since you'll be docking at Mahogany Bar with a decent beach right there, you don't have to go anyplace else unless you wish to do so. :)

[Noelle2375]

You'll be docking at Mahogany Bay. There's a beach right there. And the cruise ships sponsor a dolphin swim/show which is also right there. That's easy. NOt a way to see a lot of Roatan, but for kids a beach is a beach.

 

Is this a free beach? Are there any restaurants, etc? Sorry to jump in but we are traveling here in August with our kids as well. Thank you!

[Noelle2375]

I found good information here.

 

http://www.mahoganybaycc.com/Port-Information.aspx

[OCruisers]

Is this a free beach? Are there any restaurants, etc? Sorry to jump in but we are traveling here in August with our kids as well. Thank you!

 

Yes, the beach and the beach chairs are free. You only pay for any extras your want like clam shells, water toys, etc.

There's a restaurant/bar right on the beach for buying food and drinks.

The restrooms were kept nice and clean.

 

LuLu

[BrotherCraig]

Yes, Carnival's port there is very nice and great for families. The beach is free. We never stayed for more than an hour there but will someday soon.

[Okie918]

Would prefer to get away from the crowds. This is now our short list of things to do:

Zip Line (safest for kids)

Monkeys

Beach (away from the crowds)

Still debating if the best way to do this is to hire a tour guide or use a taxi.

Suggestions or recommendation would be appreciated.

[Guest 2000]

Would prefer to get away from the crowds. This is now our short list of things to do:

Zip Line (safest for kids)

Monkeys

Beach (away from the crowds)

Still debating if the best way to do this is to hire a tour guide or use a taxi.

Suggestions or recommendation would be appreciated.

 

I believe you better off hiring one of the tour companies. Taxi are not regulated, it all about the haggle. For the price form Mahogany Bay it makes more sense to prebook with no worries, this way you have an English speaking local who knows the island well.

 

The tour guide could also give you options on beach and zip line. if snorkeling is part of the day, you may have to compromise for a bit more crowd.

[Lialovestotravel]

Would prefer to get away from the crowds. This is now our short list of things to do:

Zip Line (safest for kids)

Monkeys

Beach (away from the crowds)

Still debating if the best way to do this is to hire a tour guide or use a taxi.

Suggestions or recommendation would be appreciated.

 

I'm not going til April or I'd update you how it goes, but we are taking our daughters to Daniel johnsons to see the monkeys, sloths and birds. You can find him on Facebook and arrange for a guide and other activities if you like. A driver for the day, and trip to the sanctuary and beach is 30pp. If you add zip lining or snorkeling it is of course additional. My daughter really wants to meet the sloths so we are doing that, but there are lots of tour guides recommended here.

[mikesteg]

Is it possible to walk to the beach? I'm not a huge fan of heights, so the chair lift is not appealing. Tack on the $12pp charge ($48 for us), and that's a good argument to go elsewhere if the beach is not accessible otherwise. However, it looks like it should be walkable and maybe 1/4 mile from the back of the pier area?

 

Hopefully this will work:

 

 

I think the piers are the bird shaped structure in the pink box, and the walk way to the beach-island would be in the orange. Can somebody confirm if that is accurate? If so, and assuming each of the walkable piers is 600-800 feet, the beach seems to start about 1/4 of a mile from the back of the port area. Maybe 1/2 mile from walking off the ship?

 

I'm also going to guess that the chair lift only covers a few hundred feet, so you wind up doing most of the walking either way.

[Guest 2000]

Is it possible to walk to the beach? I'm not a huge fan of heights, so the chair lift is not appealing.

 

These are images of Mahogany Bay cruise dock.

 

Yes, it is possible to walk to the beach along a very nice path from the ship to the beach. http://www.mahoganybaycc.com/

 

I understand the chair lift offers some views but often people say walking is faster, if one is mobile enough to do so.

[IslandGallery]

Okay, so to answer a few of the questions from different posters:

 

1. Yes, you can walk to the beach and not use the chair lift

2. Yes, if you have a group it would be better to pre arrange a tour.

3. Remember that this beach situation is not the case for ALL cruising to Roatan. There are TWO different ports. Carnival has it's own port- Mahogany and that's the one posters are referring to with it's own beach. The Port of Roatan in Coxen Hole is in town, it does not have a beach.

 

4. The other thing to know though is that the "beach" and all the activities there at the port are all fabricated, they are not our natural beaches or activities. For many that doesn't matter but none of that existed before the port was built. The restaurants etc. are just there for shippers.

 

If you want to see some of the island (since Mahogany Bay is kind of a random location away from most of what our island is known for) you can do so by doing a tour or excursion. The best beach on the island is West Bay Beach, it's the beach we are known for, beautiful white sand. It is, however, a bit of a drive from Mahogany. It would take about an hour on a cruise ship day.

 

Out closer to Mahogany, the Arch Family Iguana Farm is a big hit with kids, they have thousands of iguanas that they raise on their land (NOTHING fancy) and they are free. The farm is to replenish the species (not for eating!). The kids can feed the iguanas (if you are super organized- go to the salad bar on your ship and get a few ziplocks of lettuce to take with you. Then entrance fee with give you like one or two large "trumpet tree" leaves that they love to eat, but if you bring lettuce or cabbage then you will have more to feed them.

 

Little French Key is out that way- again, it is a created location, catering to cruise ship visitors. But it has it's own beach, you can swim, see animals, ride horses, snorkel, and eat on site. It requires a day pass and is more expensive. But is out that direction so wouldn't take as long to get to.

 

If you want to come West, West Bay is the best beach. If you want to do teh whole day pass thing- Mayan Princess has the pool that is the most fun for kids. It is sort of organically build, it zig zags around and has several different areas, waterfalls, etc. They do daypasses. Honestly- if I was going to do a Day pass with all those kids I would go to Mayan Princess if I wanted to be in West Bay. I would order the $75 4-person platter (comes with fish, shrimp, calamari, plantains, fries, etc.) and can easily feed 4-6 people. The kids can play in the pool or you can lay out on the beach, snorkel, etc. They have showers and bathrooms.

 

West End is more of a village atmosphere and people can do some shopping if you have people in the group who want to do so. You can also sort of park your group on the beach (remember all beaches in Honduras are public, its the privately owned access and chairs that get you). There are a few places, like behind Costa Dulce gelato shop that are great for not having as many crowds. If you go in to Costa Dulce (just after the Baptist Church) and buy some gelato or coffee, you can ask to hang out, they have a patio on the beach and teh kids can just hang out on the beach, if you bring towels, the water is very clear right there and you can snorkel straight out front.

 

All of these are viable options. Good luck!

[sminfiddle]

With that age range of kids I would recommend Little French Key, no question. They will bring you back with time to do the zip-line right by the port if you want. I think they offer a package with a zip-line as well.

There are definitely monkeys.