The Best Roatan Honduras Tours, by What You Want From the Day

Choosing a tour here comes down to a few plain questions. Do you want the reef or the land? Your own car or a shared van? How long before the ship sails? And what does the fare cover, since there is no island gate to pay at? This guide takes them in that order, from each tour's own terms. If you already know what you want, compare the Roatan island tours side by side.

How do Roatan tours differ?

On paper most of them look alike. Nearly every one collects you at the cruise port, runs four to five hours, and mixes animals, a tasting and a beach. The differences sit in the small print: who else is in the vehicle, how long you get at each stop, and what the fare leaves you to pay on the day.

There is no ticket to the island itself. So a fare buys a driver, a guide or a boat, and some of the entries along the way. One fare pays the sanctuary, the beach day pass and the tastings. Another covers the car and nothing else. That is the first thing to read on any card.

Reef, land or both?

Start here, because it splits the island in two. The reef days put you in the water on the Mesoamerican Reef, with gear and a guide. The land days drive you round the sloths, the monkeys, the chocolate and rum stops, the viewpoint and West Bay.

You can have both. The private snorkel, sloths and beach-club day gives you about 80 minutes of drift snorkelling, a sanctuary and some three hours at a club. Another private day adds a 45-minute snorkel at Blue Rock to an eco-park and a resort day pass. Every reef day is compared on Roatan snorkeling tours.

Which tours include a West Bay day pass?

West Bay is a public beach. What some fares add is a resort day pass: a lounger, a restroom and a shower, and on the Henry Morgan days a pool as well. The private sanctuary and West Bay day, the zipline and West Bay day, and the private Henry Morgan resort days include one.

Others give you time on the beach without a chair. The most-booked shared day gives you two hours there; the West Bay and sanctuary day about three, with the chair rented on the day. The cheapest private car lists US$15 each for the beach. Our post on whether West Bay is free explains what each option buys.

Which tours include the sanctuary entry?

Most sanctuary days put the entry in the fare. Most shared sanctuary and beach days, every ATV day, both zipline days and the private sanctuary and West Bay day all say so.

Some listings do not say either way, among them the most-reviewed private wildlife day and the private eco-park days. Ask before you book. The customizable days and the VIP car leave the entries to you: US$15 a person on the VIP day. The parks differ too, and our post on the sloth and monkey stops sets them out.

Shared or private?

A shared day puts you in a van with up to 30 or 50 others and a fixed timetable. A private day gives your group its own car and a driver who is also the guide. You choose the pace, and on the customizable days the stops too.

It is not always dearer. The most-reviewed private day costs $56 a person, and the most-booked shared sanctuary day $65, though that one includes two hours on the beach. Every private fare is per person, and most need two to book. They are all compared on private tours in Roatan Honduras.

How long do you have ashore?

Take your ship's arrival and all-aboard times and knock off an hour at each end. That is your tour. On a six-hour call, a three- or four-hour tour leaves room to breathe.

The shortest are the two-hour reef snorkel and the two-hour private West End boat. Most sanctuary days run four to five hours port to port. The water-bike day and the family day run six, and the customizable full day up to nine and a half. Our timed cruise-day plan shows what fits.

ATV or zipline?

Both are the adrenaline pick, and both come with a sanctuary. An ATV day means driving dirt roads through villages and hills. The buggy day sets its driving age at 16 with a full licence. A zipline day means clipping in: the zipline and West Bay day takes children from 5, with a weight limit of 295 lb.

The buggy day does both, with 12 zips and a buggy ride, at $163. Every ATV day is on ATV tours in Roatan Honduras, and our ATV or zipline post weighs the two.

Which is best for a first visit?

If you want one day that shows you the island, take a sloth, chocolate, rum and beach day. The most booked of them, the sloth, rum and West Bay day, has 785 reviews at 4.8 and meets you 20 minutes after the ship arrives.

If the reef is the reason you came, take the three-stop snorkel boat. It visits a starfish garden, the Blue Channel and a wreck in three hours. For your own pace, the private wildlife, chocolate and rum day has the most reviews of any private day, 1,040 at 4.9.

What if you dive, or would rather cook?

Divers and cooks have options of their own. Certified divers can make two boat dives from West Bay for $185, with the gear, the fees and the port transfer in the fare. You need a logged dive in the past 12 months, and the driver meets you as you leave the ship for an 8:00am start.

The cooking class is the one tour with a meal in the fare. In three hours, up to twelve guests make Honduran pastelitos and a Caribbean chicken stewed in coconut milk with plantains, then eat both. It costs $125, and the recipes come home with you by QR code.

What do the ratings tell you?

Almost every tour here sits between 4.8 and 5.0, so the stars alone will not choose for you. The lowest are the Superman zipline day at 4.6 and the wildlife and ATV day at 4.7, from 163 and 470 reviews.

Look at the number of reviews as well. A 4.8 from nearly 800 travellers says more about a tour's consistency than a 5.0 from 37. Then read the low ones, which are more use than the high.

What do travellers complain about?

Rarely the guides. Most complaints are about the day around them:

• The animals: one traveller on the most-reviewed private day found the animals in cages; others were not allowed to hold a sloth. No fare here promises that you can.
• The tasting stop: another on the same day found the chocolate and rum stop more like a store trying to sell you things.
• The beach chair: on the most-booked shared day, a chair on West Bay meant renting one.
• The sea: on the private snorkel day, one traveller found the reef choppy and crowded with other snorkelers.
• The clock: on the three-reef trip, one traveller got back to the ship without much time to spare.

None of these is a reason to skip a tour. Each is a question to ask before you book.

How do the kinds of tour compare?

Here is the choice in one table, from each tour's own terms. Fares are per person in US dollars.

Still between two? Our guide to prices and fees adds up what each one costs on the day.

Frequently asked questions

Tours worth a shortlist

Roatan 3 Stop Snorkeling Adventure, Shipwreck, Starfish & Blue Channel

Three stops by boat in three hours: a starfish garden, the Blue Channel and a shipwreck, with gear, entrance fees, water, juice and fruit in the fare.

From $112 per person

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Roatán Monkey Sloth Park, Chocolate Rum & West Bay Beach Club

Your own driver to an eco-park with sloths and macaws, the chocolate and rum stops, then three hours on a resort day pass with chairs, pool and showers.

From $74 per person

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Roatan Wildlife plus ATV Adventure

A guided ATV ride through villages and hills, then a wildlife park with monkeys, sloths, birds and butterflies. A beach break is optional.

From $119 per person

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