Shore dive Roatan?
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/3412153-post9.html Not much to be done, nothing like Bonaire.
Driving your own rental car? Better to hire a driver.
We come from our lives to visit in paradise, quite often we feel what we need back home is also needed on the islands during our visit.
Look around- do the locals need, have or use personal vehicles? Due to the economic levels, probably not.
There are almost always convenient busses, taxis or jitneys (a cross between the two) that can be used to cheaply move you about your temporary home.
There are "tourist prices" for cabs, and there are also "local" prices. Quite often, if you step away from the resort's "cab stand", your price, negotiated in advance, can be quite a bit less.
Consider hiring an English speaking driver to take you around for an "island tour". We usually do these on the day before our exit flight- as we don't do any diving in the 24 hours before the flight home.
Check out all of your options for that full day. A driver might settle into the lowest common denominator trip- maybe your tastes lie elsewhere. Do your research in advance- talk to other vacationers who have been there a few times, speak with the staff. The "Parrot Jungle" tour that everybody goes on might be... just... awful? Have fun- be adventurous... but hire a driver!
Rental vehicles are usually pretty ratty, but largely servicable. They are much better than the other vehicles that you will encounter, some local vehicles may not have the benneft of stop lights, headlights or even brakes.
Roads can be dreadful and never have reflectors or striping. They are almost always narrow and if you thought the cars on the road were bad- wait till you see the trucks!
There are no real medical facilities by any US standard, certainly no trauma center, no real ambulance service. Incidents that you might easily live through in the US are your final ride in paradise. Medical care is simply not available. Life Flight,
if everything is working with you, will put you into a Houston Trauma center a minimum of 6 hours from the time of impact. Figure it more like 12 hours.
Some things that we ignore in the US, such as rain... quite an impact upon the traction and visibility (again, no reflectors an likely bad windshield wipers). It is quite likely to rain, after all- you are in a "rain forest" (aka: jungle) at most destinations.
Real craters, things you could lose Aunt Alice's couch into- unmarked for as long as they exist. They will be there forever- so the logic goes- why mark them with a cone or barricade... everybody knows where they are, right?
Speed bumps are everywhere and they're especially fun as, again- they are unmarked and pack quite a wallop- loosening your teeth. Pothole ruts beaten in on either side will finish the job and likely cause your head to hit the roof. Probably you'll remember where they are after you discover them.
They use an odd concoction of an old firehose and 4" ship anchor chain for speedbups, but sometimes just lay a length of 4" ships hawser line across the roadway at neighborhood initiated speed bumps.
The Vehicle Police (yes, there are multiple layers of Law Enforcement) will often set up road side documents check. You, as a renter, are not responsible for registration documentation, but you may well have to walk away from a confiscated vehicle. Cabs are always standing by idling at these check points. Go figure.
It is very common to have animals roaming or tied up allowing them to be on the roadway. The same applies to pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcycles- they will be all over the road, and quite unexpectedly.
Each place we go has its things to watch out for. The one hidden thing is that in certain places, your liability in an accident is absolute and unavoidable. In Honduras, for example, if a hitch-hiker just jumps aboard uninvited, no matter how he gets hurt- you could wind up supporting him for life. The laws that make sense to us in the USA no longer have any weight or consideration.
Would you like to own the carcass of a $50 chicken or possibly a $400 dog?
Hire a driver for the day.
That can ruin your day. There aint no 911!
It's cheaper to hire a driver or take a taxi. In many ways!
