During our recent trip to Aruba, I found out the area next to our resort was used as a beach "day pass" location and anyone can purchase a pass to use the amenities offered by the location (typically a resort but in the the Aruba case it wasn't). The location usually puts out chairs out at the beach and has food service (some have all-inclusive packages as well). This is something that is usually advertised to cruisers who get off of the boat looking for a relaxing day at the beach but don't know where to go; transportation is usually included or available as an upgrade.
When looking at excursions for Roatan, none of the Royal Caribbean offered packages appealed to me because I was really interested in doing a resort day pass so that the kids could both swim in a pool and enjoy the beach. I did my research and knew that I wanted to go to Infinity Bay Resort and needed to find a reputable company to take me there. One of the first ones I saw was Explore Roatan and their prices and add-ons looked great (almost too great on the price that I thought it may be a bit on the sketchy side) but after looking at a few more options, I decided to book my day with them and add on a sloth and monkey park stop for a fraction of the cost the ship was charging us for. Finally, I made our tour private for only $30.00 more -- this I think was truly what made our trip amazing.
Upon arriving in Roatan, the actual cruise port is laid out nicely but funneling you out to find your tour group is completely overwhelming. Everyone you are passing is trying to book you on their own tours, but he most amazing part of all of this to me is when I said "no thank you we're already booked" they would ask who I was booked with and then give me directions on how to find where they were located. In my experience, one you tell another tour guide you are booked with someone else, they ignore you and go onto the next person walking by. Not in Roatan -- everyone was over the top nice and welcoming. Once you exit the port gate, you immediately are dumped into a busy street and it is complete chaos. Once again, a man with another tour group asked if I wanted to book on his tour and I told him I was already booked. The same thing, "who are you booked with?" "Explore Roatan" "oh they're across the street" and I looked over the street filled with cars and busses and no cross walks wondering how my family would ever cross. He looked at me clearly thinking the same thing and just stopped traffic for us to cross. The tour guides in Mexico would never...
Once we got to the other side of the street Explore Roatan checked us in within seconds and presents our private tour guide Cecelia. From the moment we met, Cecelia was warm, friendly and incredibly knowledgeable about the island and its offerings. The kids took an immediate liking to her, especially when she shared pictures of her sweet pup.
We started our day with a visit to Mayan Eden Sloth and Monkey Park, which was an absolute highlight of the trip. Cecelia set us up with a semi-private tour there with Edwin who was also fantastic at guiding us through the park and pointing out all the different animals. We got to see sloths, monkeys, toucans, and a macaw up close and even got to hold them - an experience I will never forget! He made sure everyone had their chance to interact with the animals and even encouraged my son to hold the toucan! Cecelia stayed with us the whole time so that we were able to leave at any time during the tour.
I mentioned that I wanted to take pictures in front of the Roatan sign and she said it gets very busy first thing in the morning and close to when the ship leaves. We were approaching it on the way to our next destination and there was no one there so she excitedly pulled over saying it was never like this one port days. It was the perfect photo opportunity and a great way to show off our port stop in Roatan (as if the sloths and monkeys weren't enough LOL).
Next, we made our way to Infinity Bay Resort for a relaxing and blissful morning. The resort was absolutely stunning and the staff were incredibly welcoming. Cecelia made sure that everything was taken care of and sat there the whole time as well incase we wanted to leave. The pool area was great, complete with swim up bar and full service restaurant. I forgot to bring Barrett's swimmies but luckily they had some for rent through their snorkel shop (wouldn't recommend getting again because the kids were tall enough to walk around in most of the area we were in and the snorkel life jackets were uncomfortable). While the resort itself was wonderful, right outside of the fence, there were locals that were trying to sell us stuff (foods, shirts, hair braiding, massages, etc.) and while I don't mind this, they would not leave us alone. At one point, two women started screaming at each other about who saw my daughter first when she wanted to get her hair braided. It was completely overwhelming. Cecelia told us as long as we were on the resort side of the fence then they could not cross but that did not stop them from leaning over it and hassling us the whole time. When you would leave the fence to get to the water, they would practically swarm you. It got so bad that the police came and shooed people away. Cecelia said that they have to have a permit for selling on the beach and many didn't so after that the amount of people thinned.
Our private tour with Explore Roatan and our wonderful tour guide Cecelia was already a fantastic experience, but it became even more memorable when Cecelia went above and beyond to make a couple of special stops for us on the way back to port.
I had mentioned to Cecelia that I loved trying local snacks from each country I visited, and she took note of this and made sure to stop at a local market. It was such a treat to be able to sample some of the local chips and sweets, and Cecelia was able to give us some background on the different foods we tried. She even let the kids bring ice cream back into her car!
But that wasn't all - Ben mentioned that he loves empanadas, and Cecelia knew just the place to stop. She took us to a local gas station known for making empanadas on the spot. They were absolutely delicious, and it was such a unique experience to be able to sample some of the local cuisine in such an unexpected location.
Cecelia's thoughtfulness and attention to detail really made our tour with Explore Roatan stand out. She went out of her way to make sure that we had an amazing experience, and we couldn't have been more grateful. I highly recommend Explore Roatan and Cecelia to anyone looking for a personalized and unforgettable tour experience in Roatan.
