Trouble getting into and out of Honduras

[RTBDiver]

While calling one countries embassy or another might be a waste of time it only costs a few cents and a few minutes. I've personally had great experiences dealing with the US Embasssy in Honduras and in Micronesia. They are every day people that do their best to help travelers. Sometimes they just can't help and sometimes they may refer you to other sources including foreign embassies. They are not the devil and they do try and they are on the ground and I have no reason to believe they would try to harm me.

Chuck,
I could come up with a dozen or more things to try that only take a few minutes and cost a few centavos but if I know they are ideas that wont work then why bother?
As far as expertise? Never called myself an expert so you can't be talking about me but as for Roatan , Honduras and Cental/Latin american experience? I have more than you and certainly more than Agilulfo yet certainly not more than all. Why you care about expertise and not just good basic information is beyond me. The fact is that the idea of calling the Honduran embassy in Nica to ask for help was a stupid Idea, the fact the poster did not think Mel was spending time at the same embassy may not show ones expertise but it did show his lack of knowledge. As far as the US Embassy, The us has no alert at this time for NICA, they would not act as a travel agent to help someone get into a country in which there is a travel alert. Then you go one babbling something about the US Embassy not being the devil and not wanting to harm you?? What is that about? I think you may be hallucinating, I can't recall anyone suggesting they were out to harm anyone. Have you been watching too many scary movies?
Sometimes, and of course this is just my opinion, it seems some people here have some type of grudge against Honduras and or Roatan and rather than stick to basic facts and knowledge would rather try to discredit others. It's almost like they were promised some type of dream job in Honduras with hopes and dreams of living a dream in paradise and then once they moved there it all fell apart and they felt lied to so there is some type of vendetta.

 

[ncchuck]

Chuck,
it seems some people here have some type of grudge against Honduras and or Roatan and rather than stick to basic facts and knowledge would rather try to discredit others. It's almost like they were promised some type of dream job in Honduras with hopes and dreams of living a dream in paradise and then once they moved there it all fell apart and they felt lied to so there is some type of vendetta.

You are so wrong. You have no idea. I love Roatan. I've been diving for 19 years and Roatan is the only place I have visited more than twice. I love the people there. I loved working there. I certainly had a few problems but they had absolutely nothing to do with the everyday people. I have talked with my old boss several times and we have a great relationship. I have visited former co-workers and we have a great relationship. I have a great relationship with my former instructor from Utila. Roatan isn't perfect but it's a great place to go diving. It's even better when you don't have to worry about the crazy politics.

Based on all the comments you make on Roatan and Honduras I was have to assume you have some "knowledge" of the "basic" facts. But there is almost always more to a story than the "basic" facts. The opinions expressed by many poster here are valuable and based on their view of the facts they might know. You don't have to live on Roatan to get facts. We all appreciate the facts you are able to give us but there is no reason for you to treat people with such disrespect.

I'm certainly glad most posters on this forum have a little more civility and treat their fellow divers with a little more respect than you appear to do. Like I said before, let us express our opinions without tearing us down all the time. Just because you don't agree is no reason to attack someone.

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

San Pedro Sula airport has never been closed throughout the whole crisis. During the first two weeks SPS airport was closed at night due to the curfew. It is certainly not surrounded by the military! The travel agents you have spoken to are giving you an inaccurate picture of the situation.

I have had four members of staff fly out of Honduras from SPS in the last 3 weeks and 2 fly into San Pedro Sula. They all got cabs and buses without a problem. The road from SPS to La Ceiba is open and traffic flows normally, no demos or blockades, etc. Hedman Alas buses depart SPS for La Ceiba 4 times a day and cheaper buses more frequently.



There is more military & security present at Heathrow Airport, London every day of the year than at SPS!

We have divers arriving from SPS every week.

The border with Nicaragua has been recently closed because of Zelaya's hokey pokey antics but hopefully not for much longer. AFAIK only the bigger bus companies (tika) cross the border, the cheaper ones all require you get out and walk over the border and collect a honduran bus on the other side.

hth!

 

[Doc]

:bored2:

since the op hasn't posted since yesterday maybe the problem is solved

Yes, I think she's in the Corn Islands of Nicaragua by now. Then the entire problem of getting to San Pedro Sula will begin again.

Either that, or she's grown weary of all of this.

Roatan is a strange island. It is very long, 40 miles or so, and very narrow... 1.75 miles would be a nice average width.

You can be talking to someone, turn around and they'll be gone. This is a testament to two things- the denseness of the terrain as well as a Honduran way of being. When you are hoping for additional contact (for whatever reason), they will say, "I'll catch you up later". Colloquial phraseology of non-committal jibberish?

What is true and garnered through one's experiences living and working in a remote resort on the far Northern coast.... it's an entirely different education than someone got be spending time on the West End, or owning a house along the far East end of the Southern shore.

It is amazing how different things are a few miles away. The contrast between similarly sized settlements, only a few miles away, is quite puzzling at first glance.

I think we have a lot of good, well informed people here on SB about the subject of Roatan, but it reminds me well of an old story....

The Buddha here tells the story of a king who had six blind men gathered together to examine an elephant.

"When the blind men had each felt a part of the elephant, the king went to each of them and said to each: 'Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me, what sort of thing is an elephant?

The six blind men assert the elephant is either like a pot (the blind man who felt the elephants' head), wicket basket (ear), ploughshare (tusk), plough (trunk), granary (body), pillar (foot), mortar (back), pestle (tail) or brush (tip of the tail).

The men cannot agree with one another and come to blows over the question of what an elephant really is like, and this delights the king.

The Buddha ends the story of the king and compares the six blind men to preachers and scholars who are blind and ignorant and hold to their own views: "Just so are these preachers and scholars holding various views blind and unseeing.... In their ignorance they are by nature quarrelsome, wrangling, and disputatious, each maintaining reality is thus and thus."

The Buddha then speaks the following verse:

O how they cling and wrangle, some who claim
For preacher and monk the honored name!
For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.
Such folk see only one side of a thing.

Roatan is many things to many people.

 

[ncchuck]

Well said Roatan Man. My personal experiences on Roatan were concentrated on the North East side. I visited other areas but some much more often than others. You are totally correct that there are differences. On of the most dramatic might be in Oak Ridge. There are two totally different cultures in that area that rarely agree on anything. There are frequent fights among the locals yet both cultures treat tourist with respect. I once lost a wallet over there with all my credit cards, drivers license, other papers and about $100. It was returned with only the money missing after several people helped my spread the word. I went there at least 2 or 3 times a week. Yet another very interesting area is Camp Bay. These people don't have electricity. They have their own rules over there and many are desparately hoping for some giant corporation to come in and buy them out. Others cling to land that has been passed among them for many years. I visited this village many times to drink a few beers and visit with one of my employees. Wow, then there is Punta Gorda, yet another totally different culture. I only visited a few times - they don't seem as friendly as others on Roatan. Of course, I went to French Harbor at least twice a week for gas and food. Roatan is really an interesting place when you get away from the Americanized west end.

It's really fun to visit the villages of eastern Roatan. Roatan Man always suggests using a taxi (and I tend to agree) but I had a truck to use and I drove it daily. When I was there, things were relatively stable and I probably hauled an average of 6 hitch hikers a day from the Alligator Head area and loved talking with them. All were very friendly and some gave me food and invited my to their homes.

Anyone claiming the people of Roatan want one leader or another has likely not visited many of the non tourist villages to get an accurate accessment. I am not making any claim here at all but only indicating that I know the people have different ideas in different areas.
I can hardly wait to get back to Roatan myself (my first ever dive trip was there as was my last). One of these days I'm going to try CCV just to see if it's as good as many many of you indicate.

I love it all so it's hard to decide which is best but if I had the money I'd chose Indonesia in a heart beat with Roatan being a much lower cost second.

 

[RTBDiver]

You are so wrong. You have no idea. I love Roatan. I've been diving for 19 years and Roatan is the only place I have visited more than twice.................

Chuck, Tell me what I was wrong about. Throughout this whole political issue and different threads it does seem that some have some type of a bone to pick, at least to me. I don't recall ever suggesting that someone was you personally.