Options near La Ceiba

[coloradodiver]

We (my wife, three sons and I) are travelling to Honduras this July/August and plan to scuba off West End in Roatan. We can stay at a nice resort 20 km east of La Ceiba for cheap (my parents have offerred their timeshare coupon) and I'm wondering if anyone knows about water sports from there. It is the Hotel Palma Real Caribe and the photos show a nice place and a decent beach. The time-share organization says it "has scuba" but I've only read about scuba from the three islands. Are there dive shops in La Ceiba? Does it involve long boat rides out to the islands for each dive? Does anyone know what snorkeling is like off of the beaches there? It is Playa Roma near the town of Roma. I'm also interested in windsurfing but I don't think the resort has sailboards. We'd plan to do a lot of ecotourism stuff in Pico Bonito National Park and in the wildlife refuge west of La Ceiba. Any help would be appreciated. I think we'll need to decide whether to do this timeshare by tomorrow. Coloradodiver

 

[Doc]

says it "has scuba" but I've only read about scuba from the three islands. Are there dive shops in La Ceiba? Does it involve long boat rides out to the islands for each dive? Does anyone know what snorkeling is like off of the beaches there?

Keep your gear in your bags until you make the 40 minute flight from LaCeiba to the Bay Islands. No, there is no diving of any value, no- there are no dive shops that I have evr heard of in the city. The resort is said to have a water slide and pool, that's about all I know.

I would rather spend the time on the West End of Roatan, it would probably be cheaper and much more fun... but be assured- two distinct worlds.

 

[tatonkadive]

Hopefully you took RoatanMan's advice and plan to stay somewhere in the Bay Islands. I only stayed in La Ceiba one night and it was fun, but I couldn't imagine having an entire vacation there. The life on the islands is much, much different. I was very happy to get out of La Ceiba for Utila the next day. BTW, I knew people who traded timeshares for places on Utila...so you can probably do better.

Of course if it is just a part of your trip, there are interesting things to do on the mainland, so it may not be a bad idea. I just don't think that I would plan an entire holiday WITH family there...but to each their own!

 

[coloradodiver]

Thanks for both of your replies. We passed on the time-share near La Ceiba and will be spending a week in West End and about three days in the La Ceiba/Tela area seeing the mangrove swamps, rainforest, etc. I appreciate your help.