East or West Roatan? (which tour)
 

We have a stop in Roatan for about 6 hours on our ship. I prefer to book with the cruise line when distances are involved and it appears that most excursions from Roatan are about a 30 min. drive.
We would like something that gives us plenty of photo ops. Basically, deciding between the following...
(leaning toward #1 but I have heard wonderful things about the West end and don't want to miss out)

Tour #1
Learn about the history of Roatan and the Bay Islands during your 30-minute drive to Dixon Cove Harbor.
Board an island-style boat for a narrated trip around the reefs, keys and visible shipwrecks.
Move on to Marble Hills Farm.
45 min. drive to "Yubu": The Garifuna Experience”.

Tour #2
Take an approximate 30-minute ride to the Carambola Botanical Gardens.
Move on to the Roatan Butterfly and Bird Park, learn about the butterfly's life
Travel next to the West End Village to do some shopping and exploring on your own, or just relax.

Tour #3
More of a shuttle to and from Tabyana beach. I have heard this is a beautiful beach and great snorkeling (my hesitation is that we will be at other beaches/more snorkeling in other ports)

The Carambola Reserve offers some wonderful hiking but you may have other opportunities for that other places. The Garifuna piece might be interesting - haven't visited Punta Gorda but have enjoyed Garifuna towns in Guatemala and Belize and on the Honduras mainland. Sorry you don't have more time to spend - our 2 weeks on Roatan wasn't enough. Happy trails!

I did the gumbalima park and snorkel tour on my visit to Roatan. It was a lot of fun. The water is pretty deep there, so if you've never snorkeled before it could be challenging. As for the park, they offer zip lining, and a lovely rope bridge. You can see lizzards lounging around, and the park offers you a chance to interact with parrots, and white faced monkeys which are full of energy and a lot of fun. Overall, a fun and enjoyable afternoon. If I go back I would like to do the garifuna experience tour or the mangrove tour. They were close seconds for me, but I ran out of time.

I read somewhere that Tabyana Beach is only open to tour groups from the cruise ships. Anyone know if this is so? We'll only be in Roatan a short day (with Carnival)and would prefer to just take a taxi if we can.
Thanks.

Anyone??