Roatan Island Honduras - Chapter 5

I discovered Roatan Island many years ago when my friend, Jesse, and I went to visit my brother who was stationed in Honduras.  Roatan was a secret paradise.  Nobody knew about the place.  It was desolate.  Years later, we returned to discover that it was a much more popular place.

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The sun rose to reveal the island we were about to explore.  This is a HDR panaromic photo comprised of 6 shots.

This HDR shot of the sunrise minutes later allowed me to capture the foreground of the island despite the glaring sun just coming up behind the trees. 

The captain parks the ship.

There's a unique ship wreck just off the coast.

The Mohagany Bay sign greets us as we stepped off the ramp.

We took a cab to explore the island.  The scenes of the ocean were fantastic as we climbed to higher elevations on the island.

We continued our journey when we noticed these beautiful homes with breathtaking views.

We arrived at a private resort at West Bay. 

We were excited to walk down the path toward paradise.

We were almost there.....ahhh...look at that water awaiting us.

We made it to the beach.  What a beautiful place. My friend Jesse and I debated about whether this was really the place we were years ago.  Quite honestly, there were so many more resorts and buildings along the beach, that I couldn't even recognize it.  Jesse was certain it was the same beach, but I thought otherwise.  The hut we stayed in years ago was replaced with expensive private condos, hotels, and resorts.  I could not recognize it.  I was not convinced that this place, West Bay, was where we were years ago.

My wife didn't seem to care who was right.  She didn't waste time jumping in.

Soon we made our way to the edge of the shore.  Jesse was right.  This WAS the place we were many years ago.  The coral reef and the fish is what I recognized.  Here's a panoramic shot (6 photos stitched together) of my wife and Jesse doing some freestyle snorkeling, courtesy of our Speedo swimming goggles ;-)

Fish are to Roatan as pigeons are to Venice.  They are not shy.  They are everywhere.  They are hungry.  And they want to be fed.

If you ever visit Roatan, just remember West Bay to experience this.  West Bay.  West Bay.  West Bay.  I certainly won't forget again!

There's not many places, I imagine, that have scenes like this.

A true vacation haven. This HDR captures the details of the scene.

A big fish swimming solo.

This caught my eye on the beach.  Click on this one to see the detail in the wood and the moss.  HDR was necessary for this one.

Okay, so I was a little obsessed with this spot, but I just couldn't quit shooting it!  This is my last captured memory of that beautiful place.  This is an HDR photo.

We left West Bay :-(  On the way we found some shopping.  This composition caught my eye.

Mohagany Bay is full of lush vegetation.

A fountain in the marketplace.

There's that big boat that got us here.

This photo is an optical illusion of sorts.  Although it appears that the path juts out from the ship in two directions, this path actually runs parallel to the ship.  The formed image comes as the result of several shots stitched together from the unique vantage point from the balcony.

I was captivated by the way the clouds surrounded the sun.

The sunset revealed rich subtle colors. It was a perfect ending to the day.

Make sure to check out the other chapters of the cruise excursion including many intriguing HDR images:

Carnival Legend Photos - Chapter 1

Cozumel Excursion Photos - Chapter 2

Carnival Legend Elevators - Chapter 3

You Better Belize It - Chapter 4

Inside a Carnival Cruise Ship - Chapter 6