Santo Thomas or Roatan?

[looking_forward]

Trying to decide between two different itineraries. NCL Sun goes to Santo Thomas, Cozumel, Belize City and Costa Maya. NCL Spirit goes to Roatan, Belize City, Cozumel and Great Stirrup Cay. Since many of these ports are the same, the difference seems to lie between Roatan and Santo Thomas. Which would be better for a family of 4, husband & I are very active, 2 kids ages 13 & 14, love beaches, swimming, etc. Family wouldn't be averse to doing something different.

 

Any thoughts, especially from people who have been to both places?

[Zeno]

Trying to decide between two different itineraries. NCL Sun goes to Santo Thomas, Cozumel, Belize City and Costa Maya. NCL Spirit goes to Roatan, Belize City, Cozumel and Great Stirrup Cay. Since many of these ports are the same, the difference seems to lie between Roatan and Santo Thomas. Which would be better for a family of 4, husband & I are very active, 2 kids ages 13 & 14, love beaches, swimming, etc. Family wouldn't be averse to doing something different.

 

Any thoughts, especially from people who have been to both places?

 

I have been to both places and really it depends on what you like to do.

If you love beaches and snorkeling Roatan would be ideal. However if you want to go to a port that really is quite different from a lot of the other ports Santo Tomas definitely is different and interesting.

There really are no good beach/swimming areas near Santo Tomas unless you go to Lake Isabal and that is not especially nearby. However there are some quite interesting excursions available. When we were there, we just wanted a day to relax so we chose to do the Amatique Bay Resort excursion through the cruiseline. While I would recommend this for parents with very small children (great children's pool with pirate ship), I would NOT especially recommend it to people with older kids or anyone who wanted an active day.

The pool is quite nice but frankly the beach area is not - murky unappealing water. If we did this port again I would probably do something like an excursion with Gus. He has been recommended by many on the board and it sounds interesting.

Roatan - beautiful scenery and some really lovely beaches. My feeling is that you would probably enjoy it more.

[saraisarai]

Do the tour with GUS to the waterfalls that include the school!!! You won't regret it!

[mdwest75]

Our family has done both. If you like beaches and snorkling, then Roatan is the way to go. In Guatamal (sp) we did the Resort thru NCL. It was awsome. Everyone (ages 5 thru 60) loved it. the food was great. There are several swimming pools with slides. A kids pool with Pirate ship, shopping center and all of this is on a beach. We loved it. You have to take a boat to the location, but it was worth it. The port of Guatamal is industrial, but the people were great.