If you’re joining us on the Jolly Roger Roatan Catamaran Sailing and Snorkeling Tour with Lunch, you are in for a real treat! Not only do we host the best sail and snorkel option in Roatan, but you’ll also get a built-in island tour as we enjoy our half-day tour together.
Our regular tour departs either from the Mahogany Bay cruise port dock or from our own Jolly Roger Marina docks. If you are coming to Roatan on a Carnival, Costa, Holland America, or Princess Cruise, you will walk from your ship to meet your tour guide and then be escorted directly on board one of our spacious catamarans. If you are coming to Roatan on a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruise, our tour guides will escort you to our waiting bus transportation to bring you to our private marina.
Once you are on board one of our many spacious catamarans, we will set off for some of the most incredible coral reef this world has to offer. The Caribbean island of Roatan is surrounded by the second-largest barrier reef system in the world, stretching from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and ending in our own backyard.
While we’re headed out to this gorgeous snorkeling spot, take some time to enjoy the views of the island. You are cruising through history!
After leaving our own Jolly Roger Marina or the Mahogany Bay dock, we will pass a few of Roatan’s many hotels and resorts, plus some residential areas along the water. Leaving from Dixon Cove and Mahogany Bay, we will pass Brick Bay and then Los Fuertes – a popular commercial area with local homes along the water.
As we continue to head east along the southern shore of Roatan, we will come upon the commercial area of French Harbour. French Harbour is one of the oldest established neighborhoods in Roatan, having been settled by early English residents centuries ago. Did you know that Roatan switched between Spanish and English ownership for centuries? It’s true!
The English officially ceded any ownership of the island in 1861, handing it over to Honduras. English culture is still alive and well on the island though, with many island families speaking English as a first language and retaining English surnames like Bodden, Welcome, Mann, and Brooks.
French Harbour was one of those early English settlements, and is now a commercial and marine hub for the Bay Islands. Check out all the fishing boats and shipping cargo carriers as you cruise by – and go ahead and cheer on all the guys out there working hard!
After French Harbour we’ll come up to French Cay, which is our favorite snorkel spot and also a beautifully protected area popular with yacht-owners. After we snorkel and eat lunch, we might even have time to cruise around through some of those yachts so you can check out how some people travel the world by sea!
As we come back into Mahogany Bay or the Jolly Roger private marina, take another moment to enjoy the views you see from the sea. Roatan is a beautiful island, and we are proud to call it home. We hope you enjoy your time with Jolly Roger Roatan as we show off our stunning island paradise!