BAY ISLANDS

NOTE: we would have brought you awesome underwater pictures of fish and coral but our shit OLYMPUS TOUGH underwater camera broke in Cambodia and the equally shit on-line retailer SIMPLY ELECTRONICS failed to get it repaired in time for Julie's parents to bring it over to us in Costa Rica.

Roatan, Honduras, worth putting on your holiday destination lists.

WHERE: ROATAN, BAY ISLANDS
WHERE (less detailed): three small Honduran islands off the Caribbean coast of the country
WHEN: t-50 till -46
WEATHER: before we arrived we checked the 7-day forecast and were told there was a 60pc chance of thunderstorms. Fortunately for us we enjoyed beautiful sunshine most days with only a single cloudy day

the view from our sun-downer bar

FOOD IS: a sore point. For some reason while scuba diving is obscenely cheap (￡20 a dive) food was extorbitantly expensive with a cheap lunch costing the same as a dive. We did find an awesome sushi place but their Caribbean attitude towards opening hours - whenever they felt like it - meant our much-anticipated final night sushi fell through.
PEOPLE ARE: all western divers enjoying the easy life
TEMPERATURE: mid-30's. Paul's gotten so used to wearing singlets and board shorts that he referred to another pair of shorts and a cotton t-shirt as "dressing up"

us, still in the sun-downer

HIGHLIGHTS/LOWLIGHTS: the scuba diving would have been a clear, hands-down winner were it not for the breathtaking happy hour Mojitos at the sundowner, oceanfront bar that faced our hotel... we happily concede that sitting on a bar decking, drinking amazing Mojitos while watching the sun-set is holidaying and in now way traveling ... Happy hour being 4pm-6pm meant that our nights tended to end early...

two minutes from our new hotel

 ...the diving was superb and far better than Thailand ... amazingly the reefs lie within 200m of the beach so travel time to them is a matter of minutes ... Even the snorkeling is amazing, you can wade out to waist high crystal clear water and see thousands of colorful fish... Paul turns green with envy as Rhaani snorkels with the dolphins "one of the best things ever!" is Rhaani's review ... learning its not always better to plan ahead ...

Rhaani makes a new friend at the dolphin show

... our $40 a night, tripadvisor and lonely-planet recommended hotel room is pretty disappointing being a fair walk away from the beach. Later that day an oceanside dive shop offers us a nicer room, with cable tv (Wimbledon) for $20. Paul gets the job of canceling our x5 night booking ... Wasting hours trying to track down the Haye v Klitchko fight ...

with a few fancy tricks

THINGS LOST/STOLEN: nothing more to add.
UP NEXT: a two day bus/bus/bus/boat/bus/bus/bus/bus ride to famed GUATEMALAN ruins TIKAL