Roatan travel

[Doc]

We went weeks with no Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke on the island ...had to switch to --usually plenty on Monday and Tuesday, but at the end of the week it is time to break out .....This is regular life on most islands in the Caribbean....Shortages happen....

Roatan got through the Cola Wars of 1992 (?), and I don't know which is the main drink nowadays, but suffice to say, it got pretty ugly. No, no gunfire during the war, but the proliferation of billboards touting Coke vs Pepsi actually surpassed the "you can't swing a dead cat without hitting" political signage.

As a side note about advertising-

1) Political Campaigns are constantly painting the bottom 8' of utility poles, which has all sorts of ramifications. Not only does it deter rot and termites, but if the candidates pals are hooked up to the owners of the utility poles, all sorts of permissions and free paint may ensue.

2) The first two FM radio stations that only just recently began allowing screaming, slightly overly caffeinated DJ's to play the latest ear crunching junk that passed for music... the two stations were each supported by one single sponsor each. Yes, each of the two of the Island's main fancy grocery store owned their own radio station. They're still not selling a lot of advertising time, to this day, but their broadcasting styles have changed, toning down dramatically.

Diet Coke availability is only very recently (in the Bay Islands) and most connoisseurs declare it's taste a bit odd. This- even though it isn't a product of the local use of sugar cane versus what we Americans have grown to accept- they changed us to Coryn Syrup years ago in our "real" Cokes and Pepsi. Thus, real Colas kind of taste strange until you bat down the first six rum and cokes.

I myself, have slipped into the dregs of the truly lost, and in the US, I select Diet Pepsi, which is a relatively rare commodity in the Bay Islands. "Coke", as they say, "is it".

In November 1998, the Cola Boat didn't arrive for quite some time, so the locals were nudged towards things like Dr. Pepper- which didn't really sell at all except to Texans. Now, after that forced inDOCtrination , they will also buy several other "bebidas" (drinks) as well.

Remember, when they say "Frescas", it is not necessarily asking for that brand name. If they want a lemon-lime soda pop, they may well use their generic term for it, "Teem" (Not 7-Up).

Spanish is easy. Roatanian dialectic is tough.

 

[octopuppy]

Nuth'n says vacation to me like orange FANTA in an ice cold chipped glass bottle!

 

[Bay Island Diver]

I am unaware of any fuel rationing, i live next to the West End gas station and it appears to be operating normally.

You will have no troubles at AKR.

Regards

Will

 

[SEA MONKEY'S]

My wife and I will be there this Saturday the 11th. In response to the first post. You take a certain amount of risk traveling to every foreign country. At least with Roatan, you'll know the risk before you go, so your already at a plus.

If I/we had kids, I would bring them, although I might suggest the 9yr old write a report for school about the historical significance this is for the people of Honduras, maybe include some first hand pictures from Roatan, I don't know of what though, maybe the Dolphin encounter?

I/we don't plan on discussing the political situation with anyone while we are there though, even after I've been drinking, I don't want to offend anyone with my personal views on the matter.

This will be our first time there, I've been reading every post I can find on the topic and keeping up with the current news as much as possible, and yes we do have some concern but if a problem arises and our travel plans were to be "extended"...

1. I informed my accountant and employees what to do if were delayed.

2. I don't mind getting in a few more days of diving.

3. If they run out of fuel, I can swim or kayak to the dive sites.

4. This is a V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N, and I can't wait to try one of those monkey la-la's at CoCo view.

Just my .02 cents.

 

[mrlipis]

Here is a post from a Roatan forum I belong to. Posted today. Should give some insight to the power situation on the island.

RECO update

As everyone is aware , RECO is currently on the final stretch home of
'rehabilitating' a 10MW Wartsila power plant . A project which began in
June of last year and is expected to be finalized and on line by the first
part of August. While we have been undertaking this project , we have been
purchasing power from Grupo Laiesz ( Honduras' largest IPP ) in the form of
several cummins KTA units and 3 aging emd engines. We have also been using
our peaking power , caterpillar stand-by units to help prop up the demand.
From time to time both the Grupo Laiesz engines as well as our Cat's will go
offline unexpectedly for any number of technical difficulties :



We currently have 1 Cat unit (U9 - 1.2MW) out ( dynamo bearing damaged being
worked on 24hrs a day , awaiting final parts from SPS on this evenings yacht
to be finsished by tomorrow at 6AM )

Grupo Laiesz has 1 emd ( U12-2MW ) that will not synchronise above 300kw (
they have flown out a technician who is currently working at the unit )
possible on by tomorrow AM

Grupo Laiesz has 1 kta ( U13 1.5MW) recently overhauled and ready to put
online since yesterday however a faulty oil sensor was discovered and so a
new one is being sent out midday should be online in time for the game
tonight ( Honduras V USA )



We have every confidence in our technicians , engineers as well as those
from Wartsila that we will be completed with the current short term phase of
RECOs re-construction by the first part of August , in the interim
unfortunately as you can understand we are at the mercy of our IPP as well
as our tired Cats. As we have always mentioned before it took RECO 10 years
to almost completely decay and it almost certainly cannot be rebuilt to
perfection overnight !



Our apologies for any inconvenience caused .



MJH

 

[openhelix]

In talking with one of the owners of RECO this morning, I was told that there is no shortage of fuel at this time and no interruption of supply in sight as far as their business goes. I have no idea about supplies for boats and other business which i believe is the only thing people have mentioned being rationed,

Thanks. that's about what I expected. Seems very few of the negative "reports" out of Roatan have any substance.

 

[Vetdrm]

Thanks for the updates everyone,

As I bragged about several months ago, we purchased airfare with TACA (and Islena) at a great price. We will be traveling through Guatemala City, San Salvador, San Pedro Sula to Roatan on the way down and La Ceiba to San Pedro Sula to San Salvador to Guatemala City to CHI on the way back and I was wondering if there is any news on the Islena situation. I guess it's number 2 on my list of concerns and we don't leave until August so plenty of time for these things to sort themselves out.

(Any chance that a monarchy will take over and I could become a Princess?)

 

[LynnB]

You might not have a problem on the first leg of the flight but there was no interisland flights when we returned 3 weeks ago. You ight make it from San Salvador but if the situation is still the same you will have to find alternate ways to Roatan.
We made it down before the airlines was shut down. On the return we did the ferry from Roatan to La Cieba and then had a driver with a van take us to SAP. It wasn't bad at all.
Good lluck

 

[RTBDiver]

You might not have a problem on the first leg of the flight but there was no interisland flights when we returned 3 weeks ago. Good lluck

Have there ever been any interisland flights of any regularity? I try to fly direct from the US so I never paid attention but I thought most came from Ceiba or san Pedro.

I have heard that islena is back up and running, Maybe someone who has guests comming or friends to pick up at the airport can confirm this.

 

[Doc]

As of 10 July, 2009

Islena had some unpaid fees and tax issues that grounded them. They are still grounded. And in Honduras, when you are dealing with the Tax Man, it can get pretty long-winded. If your business accounting shows that you might owe $300 in taxes, they'll say you owe $32,890. I am not exaggerating. It's a local sport, often played at the expense of business development and tourism.

SOSA Airlines has taken a lot of the ticketed passengers, but they are fairly overburdened due to their limited equipment.

This info is from Roatan Charter Air Desk who seamlessly rerouted pre-booked group travelers thru SOSA when Islena was shut down by the Tax Man.

Most people do fly non-stop to Roatan via Miami or Houston, so this hasn't made a great splash on the SCUBA related forums.

TACA does still, I believe, do their turn from Houston as an overnight in their hometown, San Salvador, their have made a morning Northbound stop on Roatan in the past.

Departure: 08:53 San Salvador, El Salvador - Comalapa International
Arrival: 09:48 San Pedro Sula, Honduras - Ramon Villeda Morales, terminal A
Airline: Taca Intl Airlines TA220
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A320-100/200

Change of plane required. Time between flights = 0:57.

Flight 2 Departure: 10:45 San Pedro Sula, Honduras - Ramon Villeda Morales, terminal A
Arrival: 12:25 Roatan, Honduras - Roatan Note: includes 1 technical stop(s)
Airline: Taca Intl Airlines TA152
Aircraft: Aerospatiale/Alenia ATR 42/72