Lately it seems like there are new gas stations popping up everywhere.  Petrosun is the main one- there are Petrosun gas stations in West End, Flowers Bay, Coxen Hole, just after Los Fuertes and at French Harbour, and now a new one has opened up across from the airport.  BIP used to only have 1 location, just west of Los Fuertes, but they've now opened a new station with huge store, near where the new municipallity building is being constructed. 
Gas stations aren't just for gas.  They all have a store with them, not only serving the basic convenience store kind of items, but also serving meals.  All the Petrosuns have great baleadas, tortillas made fresh right behind the counter, as well as serving pastelitos, sometimes soup (their conch soup is great!), and other plates of food.  Some of the Petrosun stores also now have an E-Coffee, Blimpies subs, and Pizza Inn pizza, as well as a wide selection of drinks, and big beer cave (my kids like to see how long they last standing inside it in the cold).  The new BIP store has hot dog machines, extensive fridge section with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and Dunkin' Donuts, though the donut shelves were empty when we stopped by to take a look (apparently they receive them every day at noon).  Another BIP station is breaking ground in Sandy Bay.

April 12th is a celebration called Settlement Day in the Garifuna community of Punta Gorda, Roatan.  The date marks the occasion when the Garifuna people first landed on Roatan, after being exiled from St. Vincent (for more on the history of Garifuna, see this article: https://roatan.online/roatan-garifuna-people ).  The day's celebration includes a reinactment of the boats landing, a parade and partying into the wee hours of the morning.

Many people start of at the hostel with plans to possibly permanently relocate to Roatan- or if they didn't have that plan at the beginning of their stay, sometimes they have made that decision once they've been where a little while.  There are often posts to discussion groups of what types of businesses are needed in Roatan, people wanting to relocate that are trying to get ideas for what business they could start.  If you haven't spent any time living in Roatan, I think that's the best place to begin- it's pretty hard to start up a venture if you don't know the island well enough to get a feel for what business might work.
Every business is different, and there are probably different requirements depending if you're a bar, restaurant, dive shop, or hotel, but usually the start of any business begins with a trip to the lawyer. Find a good one, because having a reliable lawyer and accountant make a big difference. Generally you'd want to create a corporation, though it's apparently also possible to start a business as a comerciante individuale, though I think there's less flexibility with the second option (I was recommended to start a corporation).  Once you've formed a corporation (this is pretty much all work for the lawyer- at the end, you'll get the legal document of your corporation), then you'll need to get an RTN number for your business (you also need an individual one).  You used to be able to get this at the Zolitur office in Roatan, but apparently now you need to do it in La Ceiba.  It's been awhile since I went through that process, I think you'll need to take along your corporation document as well as your ID.
To get your operating permit for your business, the municipality will give you the list of requirements (inspection from the fire department, inspection from the municipality, copy of land documents and a rental agreement if not on your own property, corporation document, RTN number- not sure what else is on the list of current requirements.  There have been recent changes, now requiring that all businesses are members of the chamber of commerce, and any tourism based business is member of the tourism association, both which have yearly fees in addition to the fee for the operating permit.
The operating permits are based on a calendar year, so no point starting up a business at the very tail end of the year, might as well get yourself all organized to start at the beginning of the year.  Once you have your permit, you'll need to get specialized receipt books: the requirements of these also frequently change, and they have expiry dates on them. For example, the government just changed their requirements, giving businesses 2 weeks to have new receipt books printed in accordance with the new requirements, with all old-style receipts no longer being valid after that date.  Even if you had just gotten some printed, they'll all need to be turned in to be destroyed.
Your accountant may help you to get your receipt books (mine does for me).  At the close of every month, the receipts need to be turned in and monthly taxes that have been collected must be paid, within about the first few days of the next month.  My accountant does this as part of his monthly charge: I pass him the receipts from all of my expenses, the government copy of all receipts issued for customers that month, and the taxes due, and he takes care of filing the taxes.  Every year, he also does the annual personal income tax from the business, which I think gets done in March or April. Occasionally the accountant will contact me with a new hurdle to jump, whenever there's some change or the other with a government agency and more paperwork of some type is required.  Generally everything can be taken care of right on Roatan, though last year I remember there was some new hoop to jump through, with the government representatives on the island just a couple days for appointments, and the line up going out the door, down the stairs and along the road, so for that one, I took a trip to their La Ceiba office to handle things instead.
For me, having a business in Roatan has been a great choice.  Though the sometimes convoluted processes and changes from the government sometimes don't make much sense, and being a small business owner sometimes means extremely long days, I love what I do, and have gotten such enjoyment out of growing my business and meeting people from all over the world.  If you're thinking of taking the plunge and opening a business in Roatan, I wish you the best of luck!  Feel free to contact me with questions about my experiences, I'm happy to help out if I can.

Tamales are a Christmas tradition in Honduras.  This year, I took part in their preparation, at the house of my friend's mom.  There are 11 siblings in their family, and I'm friends with a few of them.  They've taken me under their wing and invited to many family get-togethers, and invited me to help out with their tamale making.
When I arrived around 1, their mom had already been hard at work for hours, preparing all the ingredients, including corn that had been cooked and ground by hand to make the dough.  There were several large bowls outside on the table, one containing the corn dough, another corn dough mixture that had spices added, giving it a reddish-brown colour, and others with rice, potato, peas and meat.  Being vegetarian, I normally don't eat tamales at Christmas, since they usually have either meat or chicken in them, but my friends have made me a vegetarian one previous years, and this year we made a few vegetarian ones as well.  
If it doesn't have meat in it, they call it 'mudo' (literally translated, it usually means 'mute').  I didn't want my mudo tamales to get mixed up with the others, so Manuel tied a string around mine to differentiate it.  He laughingly told me no one would voluntarily take a mudo one, that's considered the worst of the lot.  When they were growing up, if the meat finished up in the tamale making process, but there were still other ingredients left, their mom would continue making mudo ones until all the ingredients were finished, so there would be no waste.  The kids wouldn't know which ones were mudo until they bit into one, and once food was on your plate, you had to finish it.  Apparently tears were shed over the agony of having to eat an entire mudo tamale. If I had grown up in their house, I guess I could have made lots of friends, taking the mudo ones off their hands :)
The tamales get assembled on top of a boiled banana leaf.  In the past, the banana leaf alone was the wrapping, but now, the Munoz family also uses a sheet of aluminum foil so that they can be wrapped up more tightly, with the banana leaf still inside of the aluminum foil to help to give the tamale flavour.  On top of the banana leaf, you put a big spoonful of the corn 'masa', then the other spicy corn masa, then a handful of each of the other ingredients.  Next, you roll it up, making sure to tuck it tightly in, and compact the ingredients together when folding up the side edges, so that the finished product will have a firm, tightly packed consistency.  Once all the tamales are assembled, they go into a pot of boiling water for around an hour.  They're done when the potatoes inside have been cooked all the way through (all the other ingredients are already cooked, so the boiling process just firms up the dough and cooks the potato).  Take them out of the water, and straight to your plate for a delicious dinner!

Travelers around the world have grown accustomed to beach vendors.  Whether you love it or hate it, if you're on a popular beach, there seems to always be a crowd of people touting their wares.  Personally, I like the convenience of a mobile shopping center passing right by in front of me, so I don't have to go anywhere, as long as it's up to me to approach the vendor, rather than constantly having to fend off aggressive sellers.  I traveled in Brazil, and thought their style of beach vendors were great- you could buy everything from a sarong to a kebab roasted right in front of you, entire bars with blenders wheeled on past on the beach.  None of them really approached, they just called out what they were selling, and if you were interested, you could stop them.  Other places, I've had to constantly ward off the bombardment of people selling their wares.
In Roatan, the area with the biggest concentration of vendors out on the hustle is West Bay.  West Bay is the most popular beach on the island: white sand, turquoise blue water only a little over a km in length, and lined with resorts.  On cruise ship days, hundreds get taken to West Bay by bus to enjoy a day on the beach.  The beach itself is public, no one can charge you to use it, but there are no public facilities.  Want a lounge chair?  There'll be at least a couple vendors who can offer to rent you one for $10 for the day.  Hungry?  Vendors with coolers or buckets pass by, selling empanadas, banana bread, ice cream.  Thirsty?  Try coconut water or pineapple juice.  Alcoholic beverages are one of the few things the beach vendors don't sell, so you'll need to visit one of the beach bars if you want a cold beer or Monkey Lala.  If you're looking for an activity, there's someone to sell one to you, whether it's jetskis, parasailing, snorkel tours, ziplining, paddle boarding or fishing.  Didn't pack your shades?  There's a vendor for that.  Need some souvenirs?  Multiple options passing up and down the beach, from t-shirts to mahogany, bracelets to hammocks, cigars to hats.  To get in the season, there are also Christmas ornaments for sale.  If you need a new look, someone can help you out with braids.  And don't forget the massages- there's never a shortage of massage ladies.  These are the most persistent sellers on the beach, seemingly impervious to averted eyes and disinterested airs.  Don't think about just saying a polite 'maybe later', as that guarantees that you'll be followed by a shadow, so that 'later' isn't missed- the only way for them to move on is after a firm 'no thank you'.
Is the constant sales pitch bothering your beach relaxation mode?  Though the muncipality has tried to crack down and limit the amount of vendors on the beach, it seems to be a never ending hustle.  Stick in your headphones, pull down your sunglasses and just let them do their best and continue on their way.  Though the bombardment can be annoying, there are lots of hardworking people out in the sun all day long, just trying to make an honest living.  And if you'd rather relax in solitude, there are other, less touristic beaches around the island that can provide that for you, so get out and explore!

I've lived in the tropics for the majority of my adult life, but having grown up in Canada, there are several things that have been completely foreign to me when I arrived, that I've learned about while I've been here
1. Things grow way differently than I thought. I had no idea how pineapples, cashews and coconuts look when they're growing. I'm well educated and have read a lot, but there are some things that had just never come up before.  I thought pineapples maybe grew from trees, that the hairy brown spheres of coconuts that are sold in the supermarket were how they looked on the tree (maybe blame that are cartoon portrayals of coconut trees), and I don't really know how I pictured cashews, but definitely didn't imagine them anything like how they really are

2. I had no idea that the sky could hold so much rain.  Incredible- it can be dumping buckets for hours, and then going on even longer!  

3. The concept of 'tomorrow' is different when you live on a Caribbean island.  Tomorrow doesn't necessarily mean the day after today- it just means some abstract time in the future.

4. Little things I used to take for granted are actually luxuries and blessings, so I've learned how to be thankful when I have them: hot water showers, clean drinking water right from the tap, electricity that doesn't go out, going to the grocery store and being able to find everything on your shopping list.

5. There's no need for mail.  On Roatan, we don't have street addresses, no mail delivery- the electric bill gets tucked in by your meter, your water and phone bills also get dropped off by guys on moto, and if you have someone write to you, it eventually will arrive to the post office in Coxen Hole, though might take a few months to get there.  No flyers, no mailbox jammed with crap.  

I love the simpler lifestyle of living here.  Lying out in my backyard, gazing up at the stars without any city lights to block them, taking my dogs for a walk along the beach in the morning.  I like people smiling at me when they pass by, saying good morning, good evening and good night.  I like seeing kids running around outside playing, instead of glued to their electronics. I like the sweet smell of plumerias in bloom, seeing hummingbirds dart around the garden, hearing the sounds of nature, the warm feel of the sun on my skin, the taste of juicy mangoes and pineapple.  And I love, love, love not having snow.  Ever.

​HONDURAN BEEF PASTELITOS
PREPARADOS

For the Dough
 2 POUNDS FLOUR
 2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER
 2 TEASPOONS SALT
 2¼ CUPS WARM WATER
 1/2 CUP VEGETABLE OIL(WARMED UP)
 2 TEASPOONS SUGAR
1. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Make a well in the center and pour in oil, incorporate well.
3. Dissolve the sugar in the warm water and add it to the dough, continue gently working
the flout until you form the dough.
Transfer to a clean and lightly floured kneading area and work the dough gently for
about 5-7 minutes. Dough should feel soft and flexible.
Divide into 12 pieces.
Grease your hands with a little oil and form 12 uniforms balls. Place back in the bowl,
cover with a clean cloth and let rest for 45 minutes.
For the Meat
2 POUNDS 90-95% LEAN GROUND BEEF
2 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL
4 GARLIC CLOVES PEELED AND MINCED
1 MEDIUM ONION CHOPPED
1/2 GREEN BELL PEPPER CHOPPED
1 TABLESPOON DRIED OREGANO
SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

Cook the Meat

In a medium-heavy bottom pot, heat the olive oil and brown the ground beef. Break out any
large chunks.
Add rest of ingredients and cook until no sign of pink, and all liquid has evaporated (about 15
minutes). Reserve.

Preparation for the Sauce
In a small pot melt the margarine.
Sauté pepper, tomato and onion and 1 garlic.
Add a packet of tomato paste and stir.
We add the consommé or seasoned salt and stir but do not let it burn.
we add water little by little (do not leave it too thick).
we add the bay leaf (we undo it with our fingers), the salt, the sugar.

Preheat oil.
Flatten out each dough ball with the help of a rolling pin, kind of like you would do with a tortilla.
Place about 2 tablespoons of the ground meat in the center.
Fold the dough over and seal the edges with a fork.
Place the pastelitos in oil and fry until golden on both sides.
Cut up cabbage and grated parmesan cheese for topping.

For most people, the ideal beach is crystal clear water, and a soft white sand bottom.  There are a few beaches like this in Roatan (West Bay and Camp Bay, for example), but the majority of beaches here have turtle grass in the shallows.  Wading through turtle grass is something that you might not like,and maybe you've thought that the turtle grass should just be removed. Sometimes people do remove it, but it's not legal to do so.  It actually has many important roles and should always be kept in place.  Some marine life, such as seahorses and lizardfish, live in the turtle grass, and many juvenile fish use it as a temporary home to keep them safe from predators.  Removing it destroys their habitat.  Many herbivorous fish feed on turtle grass (and so do some turtles), and decomposing dead seagrass plants provides food for sea cucumbers, crabs and other filter feeders.  Seagrasses help trap sediments and particles in the water to improve clarity, and filter nutrients from stormwater runoff before they go out to sea and cause damage to coral reefs.  Even though you might not like the look or feel of turtle grass, it's important to the beautiful reef system that Roatan is known for.  Instead of rushing past over it, next time you head out for a snorkel, spend some time checking out the turtle grass and seeing what creatures you can spot in this marine life rich area.
Reference: http://myfwc.com/research/habitat/seagrasses/information/importance/

Torn between wanting to pack light and not wanting to forget anything important?  Here are some helpful suggestions for what to pack for a trip to Roatan- a lot of the time, a carry-on size bag is all you need.

1. Swimwear.  Roatan is known for it's incredible coral reefs and beautiful beaches, so chances are, you're going to be getting in the water.  If you don't like putting on a wet swim suit, then stick a couple of suits in your bag- they're small and easy to pack.
2. Sarong or quick dry towel.  Towels take up a lot of space, and are a pain to pack along when wet, so I'd leave your full size towel at home (at the hostel, bath towels are provided in private rooms, and for guests staying in a dorm, can be rented for $1, and you can also rent a towel for the beach for $1, or pick up a cheap one at a souvenir store that you can always leave behind if you don't want bother with packing it afterwards).  Sarongs are so versatile- they can be used as a towel, bed sheet/blanket, skirt, dress, and they're a great item to have in your carry-on in case the flight is cold.
3. Underwear- pack enough to get by for about 5 days, and then just get your laundry done (if you're only coming to Roatan and not traveling elsewhere, and just going to be here for a week, then pack a week's worth, but otherwise a 5 day supply is enough).  Don't bother with socks, other than to wear on the plane or if you're planning to go work out while you're here, as usually you'll just be barefoot or in sandals
4. Footwear- as mentioned above, sandals are all you need, maybe with a pair of running shoes for the plane ride and if you're planning to do any exercise. No need for fancy shoes, or serious hiking boots.  If you're planning on ziplining, you'll probably want something other than flipflops, as those can easily fall off.
5. Clothes- a 5 day rotation is really all you need to keep you going for months, then just plan to do laundry when things get dirty.  Shorts/t-shirts, maybe a sundress.  If you're coming during rainy season (mid-Oct to mid-Jan) a raincoat or umbrella are good to have, as well as a pair of pants and a sweatshirt if it ever cools off a little, or you're going to somewhere with a/c.  If you're planning to spending several months traveling and will be in a mix of hot and cold countries, it's still not worthwhile to drag around a lot of cold weather clothes everywhere with you.  A couple of things that you can layer, and then you can always stop by a used clothing store to buy a few things for the cold when you arrive somewhere that you need it.
6. Bathroom stuff- small shampoo, conditioner, soap.  Contact lens solution (it's hard to find here, so if you'll be traveling longer term, you'll probably want to bring along a full size bottle, even if it means you have to check your bag).  Tampons are also sometimes difficult to find, especially if you prefer a specific brand.  Sunscreen and bug spray you'll want to have, but you can always pick up here if you need it (probably more expensive than at home, though).
7. Flashlight, back up charger for phone.  The power goes out on a semi-regular basis, so it's nice to have a little light source, as well as a back up way to charge your phone.
8. Money, cards, passport.  US$ are accepted everywhere, as long as they don't have any rips in them (even small rips aren't accepted).  Sometimes bank machines don't work, so have some cash ready with you in case you have difficulties getting cash out.  For your passport, make sure there's at least 6 months left until it expires, or you might be turned away on arrival.  

The international airport on Roatan, RTB, has direct international flights from Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, Grand Cayman, Belize, San Salvador, as well as direct charter flights from Toronto and Montreal several months of the year, and domestic flights from La Ceiba, San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalapa.  If you're arriving on an international flight, what should you expect when you arrive?
The plane will disembark outside on the tarmac, and then you'll walk over to go inside to immigration, so be prepared for the blast of tropical heat!
Once you get inside, you'll go in a line to clear immigration. If the line is long and you've got to wait for awhile, there is free wifi in the airport, but sometimes doesn't work so well.   The immigration procedure includes fingerprint scanning, so it takes awhile when there's a big plane (or several planes at the same time), but it has improved a lot over the last couple years, with many additional agents to speed up the process.  Immigration can grant you up to a 90 day stay, but that is at their discretion, so they might just stamp you for a 30 day stay.  If you are planning on a longer stay, make sure to ask for 90 days.
After immigration, you'll collect your bags.  There are free carts to use, and there are also baggage handler guys that work for tips, if you want help.  Once you've collected your bags, you'll need to put them through a bag scan along with your hand luggage.  Why, when you've already gone through all the security before your flight?  Who knows, that's just the way it goes.
Once you exit the secured baggage claim area, be prepared to be assailed with all sorts of offers for transportation.  There are posted rates inside the airport for taxis (to Sandy Bay, the rate is $20, for example).  If you want a pick up arranged to the hostel, we have a taxi driver that does this for $15 for 1-2 people, and can include a grocery store stop on the way.  If you don't have much to carry and can dodge and weave through all the persistent taxi drivers, leave the airport, walk out to the main road and cross the street, then you can flag a shared taxi passing along the street for a cheaper rate (around 100 lemp per person to Sandy Bay), but there are no street addresses on the island, so make sure you've written down directions to where you're going.
Inside the airport, there are no money change facilities.  Don't bother to bring down Canadian dollars, you can't exchange them here.  If you're flying in from Belize, make sure you've changed any Belizean dollars before you leave Belize, as you can't exchange those either.  The only currencies that you can exchange on the island are US dollars (and these are accepted around the island, so no need to go line up at a bank to exchange any), and a few banks also exchange euros.  Banks have some strange rules with currency exchanges though, so you might end up frustrated.  If you need an ATM before leaving the airport, there's one that dispenses in lempira and one that dispenses in US$.  Occasionally these machines have been tampered with and have a card skimmer attached to steal your banking info, so you might want to wait and go to an actual bank to use their ATM.
If you need a bite to eat or something to drink before you leave the airport, there's a coffee shop, Espresso Americano, as well as a bar.

Time to fly out of Roatan?  If you're on an international flight, you should plan to arrive at least 2 hours ahead of your departure time (and an hour for domestic flights).  You'll need to line up at the airline's counter to check in and check your bags.  It's not legal to take shells, sea fans etc, so be prepared to have them removed from your bag if you were trying to take some home.  International departure tax is now included in the pricing for pretty much all the airlines that fly out of Roatan, as far as I know (it used to be paid separately, but I think only Spirit Airlines doesn't include it yet, and they don't fly in/out of Roatan, just San Pedro Sula).
Once you've checked in, you'll need to pass through immigration (and the fingerprint scanning again), and then through the secure area where your carry on items are scanned.  Shoes need to be removed and put through the x-ray, as well as watches and any other metal items (belts with buckles, for example).  They've stopped having people remove shoes in airports that I've been to in Canada and the US, but here, they still require this.
When you've gotten through to the secured area, there are some purified water dispensers, so it's worth bringing an empty water bottle with you.  There's only 1 place to get anything to eat in the secured area (they have sandwiches and chips, not all that much selection), so you might want to bring some snacks with you to the airport.

Have a question about flying in or out?  Email us at roatanhostel@gmail.com, we're happy to help!