Roatan, Honduras - Bay Island Beach Resort

 Eels on Wheels June 2-10, 2001

This most recent Eels scuba trip, June 2-10, was slightly different from most of our trips. We chose the Bay Islands Beach Resort. It is an all inclusive, accessible 45-acre beachfront resort located on Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras, as our dive destination. We had never been there before. This time we were bringing people from several cities in Texas as well as Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois and Washington.  All of the accommodations and buildings for the resort are spaced along the 6 acres of beachfront property on the northwest shore of Roatan facing the western shore of the Caribbean Sea. Six of their beachfront rooms are accessible, including roll-in showers, grab bars, easy-reach drawers and shelves, and more. Ramps and boardwalks provided easy access to the villas, dive shop, bar/restaurant and dock. The Handicapped Scuba Association has trained their dive staff. According to BIBR, all of the accessible rooms exceed ADA standards and have been further modified on the advice of their guests. The BIBR staff were excellent; we couldn’t ask for any better. The food was great, the weather wonderful.

Wedding - On Tuesday evening we re-enacted some Honduran history. In the year 1502, Columbus (played by Davin Cordel) made his 4th trip to the East Indies. The story of what happened afterward was brought out through a story about the wedding of Glenn and Maria (played by Chad and Sonja) – two Hondurans that lived on the island 400 years ago. The story told of how the British and Spanish struggled for control of Honduras, how the Spanish tried to enslave Hondurans to mine their silver and gold. The Spanish even brought slaves from Africa. With the constant battling, Roatan became devoid of any human population by 1650. The French and Dutch also visited Honduras. The pirate John Coxen, (played by Chris Shupack), first joined forces with the  French, attacking Spanish towns. Later he settled in Roatan. An all-you-can-eat lobster dinner followed the  wedding.

Diving - The diving was excellent. There was plenty of sea creatures, coral, and canyons to keep us all happy. We had a few mishaps, broken air hoses, broken facemask, broken wet suit zipper, and Coach (Kyle) will never play the violin after single handedly taking on a dive boat ladder. The dive guides were great though and found creatures and sites most of us have never seen. There was shore and night diving as well.

After our week of diving, the dive masters gave us written copies of the dive sites we went to, our bottom times, maximum depth and air pressure remaining in our tanks. For some of our group, this was a welcome addition to our dive logs.  My dives included:  Over Heat Reef, Balys Key Point, Fish Den, Melissa's Reef, Pillar Coral, Deep Eel Garden - Wreck, Canyon Reef, Halfmoon Bay, Mongrove Bight, Hole in the Wall, Peter's Place, and of course, the famous Spooky Channel, which was something you need to do once, but unless the visibility was better than what we had, only once!

Dolphins - Some of us elected to swim with the dolphins at Anthony’s Key, a short boat or car ride from BIBR. We had a choice of either diving or snorkeling with the dolphins. Most of us chose snorkeling. We played with the dolphins, petted them, and watched them perform. They are amazing creatures. Though kept in an enclosed area while working, they are occasionally taken out to deep water for exercise.

Sailing - After finishing our diving for the week, we decided to ply the open seas in a sailboat. Cap’n Davin found a 40-foot catamaran to rent for a sunset cruise. They loaded up in early Friday afternoon and headed out  of port. There was enough deck space for Gene and Chris to stay in their wheelchairs while Kathy opted for a plastic patio chair.  They had good winds, a sunny day, and a welcome sea with some whitecaps and swells. The sailboat owner, Fred, cautiously watched Cap’n Davin handle the helm. Cap’n Davin is a seasoned sailor, he has had much experience so it wasn’t long before Fred laid back and relaxed. Cap’n Davin had the helm while the rest of the group enjoyed the brief voyage.

White Water Rafting - Since we thought we were leaving on Saturday, a group of us planned to do some white water river rafting on Friday, since we couldn't dive that day.  After a brief plane ride to the rapids, we donned rafting gear and we were off!  In one raft was Sherrie, Patsy, George and me, while in the other raft was Vicki, Deane, John-Jack, Shannon and Colleen!  Our boat held the high honor of not letting anyone be tossed out, while on the other raft, they were not as fortunate.  All of the guys, including the guide, took a tumble!  Keep in mind that poor Deane was braving the rapids with a broken foot!

Other Diversions - There were other things to do besides scuba diving. BIBR hosted a party for us that  included a Limbo contest, pop-the-balloon contest, dancing and other activities. They did a great job, but the Limbo contest is under protest. Gene felt he was robbed of the title "Limbo King!"

Stuck in Paradise - We were scheduled to leave early Saturday but our plans were changed for us. Extremely heavy rains had flooded Houston several days previously. The Houston airport was not allowing incoming flights. As a consequence we ended up staying another day and a half at BIBR at no cost to us.  Tears were flowing as this news was delivered to us!  A good time was had by all, and we highly recommend Bay Island Beach Resort!