Deciding where on Roatan to stay can be tricky if you've never been here before.  All areas have their pros and cons, and people have different factors that are important to them.  If you've done a bit of research, you'll have seen that Roatan Backpackers Hostel has a great reputation, and the price point is in your budget, but what about the location of Sandy Bay?  Why would anyone pick to stay in Sandy Bay instead of the tourist hotspots of West End or West Bay?  Here are just a few of the great things about Sandy Bay:
1. It's not a tourist hotspot- that means you'll get a feel for more authentic island life, which is usually something backpackers are looking for.  Inexpensive little local eateries (called comedores) to have some tipico dishes, long walks on the beach and interactions with people in the neighbourhood who aren't trying to sell you on anything touristy, beautiful reef to snorkel at without having tourist boats zip by you every few minutes
2. It can save you money- there's a grocery store in walking distance, and many of the places to eat are aimed at the local population with low salaries, rather than high priced restaurants geared towards tourists
3. The evenings are quiet, but the night life is just a short taxi ride away (with taxis generally costing $2-$5 per person, depending on the time of night)  That means that you can get a good night rest, and only go out to find the nightlife if it calls to you, rather than trying to block out the sounds of bars when you're trying to sleep
4. Even though it's not touristy, there are several activities/attractions in Sandy Bay- the Carambola Botanical Gardens, the dolphins at Anthony's Key, several dive shops in the area (including Roatan Ocean Divers, which is just a 5-10 min walk from the hostel), and some really great snorkeling from shore
5. Public transportation is easy if you want to visit the more touristic spots- staying in Sandy Bay doesn't mean that you can't see other areas of the island.  We're on a bus route, so it costs just a little over $1 to travel the 4 km to get to West End, and from there, you can take a water taxi if you want to see West Bay.  

Are you a fan of staying in Sandy Bay?  Share this blog post with someone you know who is planning a trip to Roatan.

Most of our guests are traveling on a tight budget.  Even for the ones that aren't, everyone loves to have fun free!  Here are a few activities that you can enjoy without spending money:
1. ISoar rope swing in Half Moon Bay (West End): Karl the sub guy has put this sailboat in the water for everyone to enjoy at no charge.  There's a rope tied to the mast, so you can climb up the steps, swing out and jump into the water

2,  Early morning sunrise hike from Sandy Bay to Flowers Bay: this strenuous hike up to a beautiful viewpoint is well worth the workout!  At the top of the hill, there's a lovely lookout, and then you can make your way back down the other side, exiting by Gravel Bay, and then walk east (turning left) along the shoreline to wind up by the big Roatan sign.  One way takes about 1 1/2 hours.   

3.  Check out the dolphins from the outside of the enclosure: About a 20 min walk from the hostel, from the west Sandy Bay Beach, you can swim to the outside of the Anthony's Key dolphin enclosure (best early morning, or very late afternoon, when they aren't running any programs and there isn't boat traffic).  You can often catch the dolphins doing jumps in their enclosure, and if you've got your mask on, they're super curious and will usually swim by close to the netting to check you out

4. Snorkeling the coral reef: if you have your own snorkel gear, this activity is totally free (if you need gear, we have sets at the hostel for $5/day).  You can swim out from shore in Sandy Bay, about a 400 meter swim, to check out the incredible coral formations and marine life

5. Beach time: All beaches on the island are public assess, provided you can reach them without cutting through private property.  West Bay, West End, Sandy Bay and Camp Bay are all worth checking out, you just need to figure out your transportation to get to them.

We love to shape and adapt our spaces to best fit the needs of our guests.  We understand that sometimes female travelers might want to opt for a dorm stay, but may feel uncomfortable sharing the room with males, so we've added a female dorm.  As we don't like to crowd people in, it's still just a 3 bed dorm, so you'll have at most 2 roommates.  Each bed has an electrical outlet near the bed for charging electronics and an individual fan, and the room also has a ceiling fan.  There are lockable individual compartments, and cubbies to unpack.

VISAIn Aug 2024, in response to the UK changing their policy and requiring a visa for Honduras travelers, Honduras also changed their policies and started requiring a visa for British travelers wanting to visit.  This has discouraged UK passport holders from visiting Honduras, which is really a shame, as Honduras is a beautiful country to discover.  For British travelers that have wanted to get the visa and come, finding out information on what is required has also been difficult.  I've recently had UK guests who have completed the visa process, one from the Canadian Consulate in Montreal, as he was in Canada before his trip down, and a couple who did the process in Guatemala while they were traveling.  Both said that the easiest would probably be in London, England before traveling, but as travel dates and accommodation arrangements need to be done for the visa, sometimes that's not an option.  
Here is the information I've gathered on the process, just to give future British travelers an idea of requirements.  I would suggest getting in touch with the Honduran consulate to verify requirements.
Payment: $30US for up to 30 days, or $60 for up to 90 days.  In Canada, the payment had to be done as a bank draft.  In Guatemala, visa applicants are sent with a form to a nearby.  
VISA APPLICATION UK PASSPORT-information provided from guests that did the process in Canada
Consulate office: 1255 Blvd Robert-Bourassa #500, Montreal, Quebec H3B 3V8, Canada [email protected]  Phone: +1 514-439-7151
-book appt online, get money order to take to appointment
-get an email from where you are staying with the details of your reservation
-bank statement from the last 3 months
-2 passport photos
-online form printed and filled out
No police check was requested for this guest.  The visa was granted right at the time of the appointment, which took around an hour.

VISA APPLICATION UK PASSPORT-information provided from guests that did the process in Guatemala:
[email protected]
You will need the following documents if you are applying for a Honduras visa: 
- Proof of where you will be staying in Honduras
- ⁠Letter in Spanish explaining your reason of visiting the country, where you’ll be staying and who you’ll be traveling with and how you have funded your trip 
- ⁠3 months of recent bank statements 
- ⁠3 months of payslips (if your not working state that your not working) but you’ll have to explain how you funded your trip in your Spanish letter so just put “we saved for x amount of time for this trip” 
- ⁠criminal background check which you can get on the DBS website just a basic one I think it’s £22. Online it says the certificate takes 14 days or 14 days to process but when you apply you can track your application process and view your results online we just did this and it took 48 hours. You then need to take a screenshot of it or send the view link to the embassy 
- ⁠2 passport sized photos 
- ⁠photocopy of your passport on the photo page 
- ⁠photo of driving licence or another photo ID 
- ⁠proof of travel in and out of Honduras if you don’t know just explain in your Spanish letter that you plan to stay for 30 days and you will travel overland from your destination to your next destination by bus. They didn’t ask to see any flight details or bus tickets but I think it depends who you have at your appointment or you could explain that you will book onwards travel once the visa is approved 
-application from 

Note from the travelers that did this application in Guatemala "There was a list of other stuff but it didn’t apply to us. If you have all these documents prepared in advance I think you can email them to the office.  They will then email you back within 7 days and will send you a link to book a face to face appointment. You could take the chance and turn up to the embassy in person with all these documents and try to get one the same day but not sure how that works we tried to do that but we had no documents so was turned away "

VISA APPLICATION for UK Passport -application processed in El Salvador

List of documents we provided (printed)
Application form 
Colour Copy of Passport and 1 other ID (we did our driving licence)
DBS Check (criminal record): can be ordered online https://www.gov.uk/request-copy-criminal-record  Takes a day to get a link with it, which a screenshot will be sufficient.  Paper copy gets sent by post, and is not needed
Cover letter explaining reason for visit (sample below)
We needed a letter from our employer (previous employer in our case as we are traveling for a year)
Bank statements/credit card statements/proof of savings
Tickets to show entry and exit into the country
Confirmation emails for all the accommodation booked

These travelers submitted documents on Friday, got a message on Monday that it was approved and to book an appt to get the visa, which they opted to do on Thurs.  They didn't have to pay an upfront fee and the fee is only payable once confirmation of approval has been received. 

SAMPLE COVER LETTER:
Consulate Honduras Embassy
Dear sirs,
Our main reason for wanting to obtain a tourist visa is to ______
The trip will be funded through savings which have accumulated from working as an XX (support 1 –
letter from work). I have included my bank statement for the past 3 months (support 2) along with
my credit card from the past 3 months (support 3) which shows a credit limit of XX.
Itinerary
Insert details showing transportation, dates and accommodations, and include confirmations from accommodations
Kind regards,
SPANISH TRANSLATION
Estimados senores,
Nuestra principal razón para obtener una visa de turista es ______
El viaje se financiará con los ahorros acumulados trabajando como XX (apoyo 1 – carta del trabajo). He incluido mi extracto bancario de los últimos 3 meses (apoyo 2) junto con mi tarjeta de crédito de los últimos 3 meses (apoyo 3), que muestra un límite de crédito de XX.
Itinerario Insertar detalles que muestren transporte, fechas y alojamiento, e incluir confirmaciones de alojamiento. Atentamente,

below outlines how I got a 30-day tourist visa to visit Honduras as a UK passport holder at the Honduras Embassy in Managua (February 2026). This is quite lengthy so I hope you find it useful for your blog:

1.) Booked an appointment online at the following link. You don't receive a confirmation email so I took a screenshot of the confirmation at the time of booking: 
https://citaconsular.sreci.gob.hn/citaconsular/pages/layout/CitaConsular.php

2.) Had passport style photos taken (and printed) ahead of the appointment. They only needed one passport photo for this but I'd recommend acquiring more than one in-case this changes.

3.) Collated (and printed) the following documents ahead of the appointment:

a. Letter of invitation from my dive school;
b. 3 months' worth of bank statements;
c. A printed statement of my savings account (I provided this as I am on a career break - this wouldn't be applicable to someone just on holiday/vacation);
d. Proof of travel into Honduras (Roneey shuttle - possibe to book this flexibly via Bigfoot hostel over whatsapp);
e. Proof of travel out of Honduras (GekkoTrails shuttle - also booked flexibly).

4.) I turned up at the appointment and they gave me a form to fill out. This needs to be filled out in Spanish but is quite straightforward.

5.) Payment needs to be made in USD. Usually this is done at a nearby shop (a supermarket) but I was lucky because a kind lady made the transfer on my behalf and I simply handed her 30 dollars in the embassy.

6.) The visa was attached to my passport before I left the embassy. This takes up an entire page in the passport and was issued for 30 days effective from the date of the appointment.

Overall the process took about an hour and a half - but it would take more time if you had to go to the shop to make the 30 USD payment. In this case, I would recommend that the person needing a visa use a ride hailing app such as InDrive or Ray (I don't think hailing taxis from the street in Managua is particularly safe).

Other documents I prepared that weren't needed in the end:

-Cover letter explaining why I wanted to visit Honduras;
-Basic DBS check;
-ACRO police check;
-Accommodation reservations.

The embassy were extremely unresponsive over email but they were very helpful and kind in-person. The appointment itself was very manageable with intermediate-level Spanish, but I would note that the staff here didn't speak English.

A final note: Managua isn't that nice; I was actually staying in Granada, so I simply took a local bus for 37 Cordobas (about 75 pence) and asked to get off once I got close to the embassy (took about an hour). The Embassy itself is in a nicer part of Managua, so I sat in a nearby coffee shop until it was time to go to my appointment. To return to Granada, I simply crossed the road and hopped on local bus back to Granada (37 cordobas once again). There is no need to go into central Managua at any point if coming from Granada.​

Are you a British traveler who has gotten a Honduran visa in the UK or in one of the surrounding countries?  I'd love to hear about your experience, so I can update this blog post with the most accurate information possible for future visitors.  Please email [email protected] with details of your experience.
​

Wow- I was just reviewing the website, and realized how very long it's been since I did a blog post.
The hostel has now been running for 13 years- so incredible!  We haven't added any new accommodations in the last few years, just polishing what we have.  The top bunks in the dorm have all been eliminated, so it's single beds only, as no one ever wants to be on the top bunk.  We've added more solar energy to the 2nd side of the property.
The biggest change coming is that I'm going to go wander the world again :)  My boys are now adults, and Deo is stepping in to my shoes, taking charge of the hostel for the year, so that I can travel. I'll leave mid-August, come back for Christmas and to celebrate my 50th (Deo's gift to me is giving me the freedom to go), and then travel more in the new year.  I'm so excited to spread my wings!  

Roatan Backpackers' Hostel is about a 3-5 min walk to the ocean.  Though the beach closest to us isn't very esthetically appealing (I've affectionately named it 'the ugly beach'), what it does have going for it is absolutely amazing snorkeling.
The reef is a few hundred meters out- it's normally very calm and not a hard swim, but as it's a fair distance, it's easiest to put on a pair of fins.  If you don't have your own snorkel gear, we have sets at the hostel for $5/day.  The entry from the beach is a bit goopy (mud mixed with turtle grass), so as soon as you're in knee deep water, you'll want to put your fins on and start swimming from there. You can go in right next to the dock (if the dock gate is unlocked, then just jump off the end of there rather than wading in the goop).  As you look out to sea, off to the left, you'll see the cay belonging to Anthony's Key Resort, with their over-the-water bungalows.  If you look straight ahead, there's a little rock island- that's the direction you should head.  Initially the water is murky, but as you get out further from shore, it clears up.  Around the rock island, the coral starts in, and gets very shallow.  There are some parts that it's too shallow to pass overtop (be especially careful if there's some water movement, as you don't want to brush up against any), but there are deeper sections, so you can kind of weave your way through, and then about 50 meters or so past the rock island, the coral starts dropping off to a wall.  Beautiful crevices, huge parrot fish, schools of blue tangs, lobsters hiding under coral, sometimes turtles, eagle rays, schools of squid, barracuda, eels... so much to see!
You can head either to the left or to the right- there's generally not much current, but if there is a bit of current, it's always better to go against it to start, so that you can get a ride back with it at the end of the snorkel, rather than struggling when you're tired.
You could head out to the same spot every day and see something different each time, but there are also other spots that you can hop in to snorkel.  About a 15 min walk east along the beach, many of our hostel guests like to get in to snorkel by the site called 'Spooky Channel'.  Or you could walk down to the other beach east of Anthony's Key (to get there, go left on the main road once leaving the hostel, then go down the Anthony's Key drive way, at the bottom, make a left, and walk about 10 min through the little neighbourhood until you get to the beach).  If you're going to that beach, you can leave your clothes/shoes by the Beach Grill, and there are several docks along the beach that you can hop off of.  That beach is also very close to the dolphin enclosure, so you can swim to the outside of their netting for a little look (the dolphins are very curious, so they'll usually swim up to say hi), and then swim onwards out to the reef.
On your way to and from the reef, don't forget to look down as you pass over the turtle grass- there's lots of great life hiding away in this area!

The covid rules keep changing, and sometimes it's hard to navigate what is required when traveling, but travel is definitely resuming again!  While covid is still around, numbers seem to be substantially lower pretty much everywhere, and many countries are removing/loosening their restrictions.  
 In Roatan, masks are still required inside of enclosed areas such as bank, grocery stores, and the airport, and we're still waiting on the government to ease their restrictions on shared space that required us to close up our dorms.  But for the most-part, day to day living is back to normal, and travelers are enjoying all the great activities that Roatan has to offer. 
I just made the trip from Roatan to Canada via the US. To prepare for my trip, I needed to get a rapid test (Canada no longer requires any testing to enter, but the US requires one, even if just in transit).  The cheapest option was at Island Med in Coxen Hole across from Petrosun.  $20 for a couple minutes of someone's time to do the swab, and then get the lab work done, which was back about 1 1/2 hours later.  The US uses an app Verifly, but it wouldn't work for me- I don't know if it would have made any difference, I think it just meant I had to show someone my test paper at the airport when I checked in. Canada uses an app called  ArriveCAN, which I downloaded and completed (Canada requires that travelers be vaccinated to enter, so I had to upload my proof of vaccination.
Getting checked in at the airport in Roatan for the flight was fairly straightforward.  I went a few hours early, and everything went smoothly.  Had time to enjoy a mochaccino at Espresso Americano before I went through immigration.  Once I boarded the flight, I could take my mask off.  The plan was probably around half full, so my seat row companions moved off and I had the row to myself.  In Miami, the initial going through immigration wasn't bad (fortunately as a Canadian, I can go in the same lines as US citizens, which is way, way faster than the section for travelers from other countries).  After clearing immigration, if you have a connecting flight, you need to go back through security again (and pick up your bags and recheck them if you have any, but I just had carryon).  It was a bit chaotic, there were pretty long lines to get checked back in, but I had lots of time between flights.
My flight to Toronto ended up being full, so I got offered a travel voucher and hotel night to get bumped to the next day, which was a huge bonus!  The following day, coming back to the airport, again there were huge lines to check in to security, and this time, they pulled aside my carryon, opened it up, and swabbed my bags of coffee.  That completed, I gathered up all my stuff again (the day before, I didn't have to take out liquids, laptop or take off shoes, but this time I had to do all 3), and made my way to the gate.
The flight to Toronto, we didn't have to wear masks, but it was announced that a mask would be required once getting off the plane.  I had thought Canada had dropped the mask rule, but apparently not in the airport.  We arrived on time, but then spent 2 hours sitting in the airport, as immigration was too backlogged (apparently this has been a huge issue at the Toronto airport for the last couple weeks).  We finally could disembark in groups of 50, with our masks on, and then it was another hour to get through the lines in immigration.  Once I finally got to my turn in immigration, that was super quick, and no testing was required (I don't know if they are still randomly testing some people).  
Now that I'm back in Canada, it seems like things are pretty much back to normal- no masks required to go in to any shops, nothing special asked when entering a restaurant.  
Got a story about your recent travel experience?  Feel free to share!

Roatan has so many fun activities to offer!  Beaches and diving are the most popular ones, but there are lot of great things to do away from the water too.  If you're up for some adventure, you should try an ATV tour.  Even if it's raining, the tours still go, and part of the fun is getting all messed up in the mud :)

ATV Jungle Tours are located just west of Los Fuertes, so about a 30-40 min drive from the hostel (you can take 2 buses, or work out a rate with a taxi, or they can arrange round trip transfers for $10).  They also do buggy tours.  There are lockers to store your things while you're out on your tour, as well as showers, bathrooms, and drinks for sale.  I'd recommend packing a change of clothes- we didn't realize how dirty we were going to get!

I'd never been on an ATV before, so I wasn't sure what to expect.   Being a mom of 2 boys has meant that I've tried a lot of stuff that I wouldn't normally have chosen on my own, and going on ATVs was no exception- Auri had been super excited to try it, so we headed out on this adventure together.  

When we arrived, we got kitted out with bandanas to cover our hair, helmets and goggles (we didn't bother to wear the googles on the ride- Auri got pretty splashed up as he was more adventurous than me, so he probably should have put his down over his eyes).  We went with 2 guides, who went through the basics of how to use the ATVs, and then we were off!

The trails go through a hilly, jungle part of the island, with lots of mud puddles (at least during rainy season!).  Soon my feet and legs were caked in mud.  Auri was pretty much covered in mud from head to tow!  The ATVs were pretty easy to drive, other than a little tricky sometimes to steer (I ran off into the bush once, so did Auri).  I just kept to the course- Auri said he looked back, and I had a look of intense concentration :)   Auri was loving it, doing donut holes and picking up some serious speed.  

The final verdict?  If you're looking for some action adventure and feeling like a kid again, ATV tours are just the thing!  Even for wimps like me, ATVing can be pretty fun, though if I'm going to do something with mud, a mud wrap and a massage at a spa are more my style :)  

There have been a few new activities that have started up in the last few years, so I thought it was about time to update my list of activities that I send out to guests to include any options that might be interesting.  I prefer to visit a place and see what it's like before suggesting it to anyone, so today I went to check out Manawakie Park.  I recruited  Sylvia to come visit with me.

Manawakie Park (named with the island pronounciation for Man of War Cay, the area near where they're located) is on the island that runs along the north side of the island between Sandy Bay and French Harbour, also known as Mud Hole road. They're open from Mon through Saturday, from 7am to 4pm, and the cost is $35 per person ($18.40 for kids 5-11).  They offer free transportation as long as there are at least 2 people.

Their super friendly staff is headed up by William.  The park offers guided tours through different sections- old school building styles, bush medicine, island history, all with lots of local knowledge provided, as well as an animal section that has macaws, monkeys and sloths.  There's a snack shop and a gift shop on property, and a professional photographer if you'd like to purchase any photos of your experience.

The monkeys are hilarious.  The guide warned us that they're pickpockets, to make sure to take anything out of our pockets, take off sunglasses, leave our purses behind before going in the monkey cage.  I thought I had followed the instructions, but in 2 seconds I realized that I had left a 20 lempira note in my pocket, because that was all the time that it took for Poncho to get over to me and rob me!  He quickly scurried away with his ill-gotten gains, and stubbornly refused to return the money, preferring to rip it to shreds.  The monkeys are also a little cheeky, they stuck their heads down both of our shirts to check out what was down there.

For me, the best part of the tour was hearing our guide explain about how various plants and trees are used medicinally.  I've been on the island for 23 years, and have learned a bit about bush medicine, but I learned some new stuff today.  Did you know that you can boil the leaves from a lemon tree and breathe in the vapour to help with headaches?  I have a little lemon tree growing in our yard, I know what I'm going to try next time, instead of reaching for a bottle of tylenol :)