Roatan Dreams

Roatan , Bay Islands - A Concise History and Current Facts

by Joe Mankawich

On Columbus’s fourth voyage to the New World in 1502 he discovered the Bay Islands and landed a party on the island of Guanaja on July 30, 1502. Columbus sent his brother Bartholomew ashore who found the island inhabited by friendly natives which they named the "Porras". His recorded comment was "very robust people who adore idols and live mostly from a certain white grain from which they make fine breads and the most perfect beer".

( Archeological evidence suggests that large populations of the Paya Indians lived here for thousands of years. Expeditions have discovered clay figures, mace heads, votive pots, chipped knives, jade, marked monuments, earth mounds, and rough stone foundations. While these do not match the sophistication of those at Copan, similarities with the Mayan culture have been noted. It has also been determined that the islands supported populations greater than today’s in pre-Columbian times. )

Columbus named the island "Isla de Pinos" for the tall pine forests on the island. A most interesting episode was the capture of a large canoe laden with merchandise. Bartholomew reports: "seized a ship whose cargo of merchandise and wares came from some area to the West called "Maiam". The canoe cargo included small knives, copper hatchets, obsidian toothed swords, copper bells, dyed cotton clothing, ceramics, maise beer, and cacao beans used as currency. This has been cited as the first European encounter with people from a higher civilization in the Americas. From information available, it is impossible to verify thatq this merchant came from the Mayan culture on the mainland, but the cargo would indicate that this is likely. Columbus retained the merchant who he named "Juan Perez"and forced him to serve as an interpreter and navigator for further explorations to the mainland.

Noting a large land mass to the South of Guanaja, Columbus set sail and made landfall on the coast at Puerto Castilla near what is now Trujillo on August 14, 1502. Columbus set foot on the mainland of the Americas for the first time and claimed the land for Spain. Although Columbus did not land on Roatan, his log mentions a larger island to the West on his way from Guanaja.

From 1516 to 1536 Spaniards enslaved the Indian population of the Bay Islands, captured most and shipped them to Jamaica and Cuba to labor in mines and on the plantations. Within a very few years the Islander population was decimated.

Notwithstanding Columbus’ discovery, the Bay Islands were not under continuous Spanish control for over the past three centuries. British Buccaneers took over the Bay Islands in 1564 and began using the islands as a base from which to plunder Spanish Galleons. These ships were heavily laden with new world treasures: gold, silver, and gem stones of great variety and high quality.

The Bay Islands were particularly strategic and attractive from the raiders viewpoint. The Gulf of Honduras contained the only Spanish ports between Panama and Santo Domingo. Trujillo and Puerto Caballos ( near what is now Puerto Cortes ) were the terminals for the Spanish fleet and obvious targets. Despite being virtually defenseless, these ports often fairly burst with gold and other treasures from the interior. For the next 200 years, the lusty buccaneers attacked both ships traversing the "Spanish Main"and the Spanish settlements and ports on the mainland.

Buccaneer Henry Morgan was based for a time at Port Royal, Roatan which was then one of the best harbors in the Western Caribbean. Pirate John Coxen used the harbor near the town that now bears his name "Coxen Hole". During the next century, Spain lost hundreds of galleons to the pirates and buccaneers. The value and amount of treasures lost to the buccaneers is impossible to determine, as severe tropical storms and hurricanes took a substantial toll as well.

The first English attempt to permanently settle in the Bay Islands was by the Puritan Party under the auspices of the Providence Company in 1639 after an attempt to colonize Providence Island (now Santa Catalina) off the coast of Nicaragua was terminated by Spanish occupation.

The Puritans renamed Roatan "Rich Island"in honor of Lord Henry Rich. These Puritan settlers set up a small town above Old Port Royal on 100 acres of relatively flat land.

After 4 years the Spaniards ousted the colonists as they considered this an attempt to occupy the Bay Islands which, of course, is just what they were doing. The Spaniards did not want the islands to be a source of supplies for the pirates, but this expulsion of the Puritans had no effect of reducing the operations of the buccaneers who were highly mobile and elusive.

On June 23, 1742 the first English forces disembarked at New Port Royal from the Man-o-War "Litchfield"and the sloop "Bonetta". This first contingent was comprised of 250 regulars of Colonel Trelawny’s Jamaica regiment and a few laborers to help erect fortifications. In the following years, the contingent was to grow to an estimated population at New Port Royal of nearly 5,000 people. This involved two settlements "Augusta"and "Litchfied"composed of 30 buildings, and two forts: one at Fort George with 17 cannons and the other Fort Frederick with 6 cannons. In 1782, a Spanish armada composed of two Man-o-War and 10 other ships attacked Port Royal. At first the English put up a valiant defense. To prevent the Spaniards from entering the harbor, they sank their only ship, a brigantine, in the entrance channel and exchanged cannon fire from their two forts. On the 2nd day of the battle, the defenders abandoned Fort George and capitulated. For a week, the Spaniards tried to round up the English who had retreated into the forest. Ultimately they captured 200 defenders whom they exchanged for Spaniards the English had captured in earlier battles. After removing all cannons and supplies, the Spaniards demolished the fortifications and burned all the buildings at Port Royal.

In 1797, approximately 5000 Black Carib Indians staged an uprising against the British authorities on St. Vincent Island in the Eastern Caribbean. The British authorities forcibly removed the Caribs to Roatan and landed them at Port Royal. The Garifuna moved to the North shore and established the town of Punta Gorda. It is the oldest continuously inhabited community on Roatan.

For the next 50 years, little interest was shown in the Bay Islands, particularly by the Spanish people on the mainland who had now become Hondurans. The general feeling of the mainlanders was that it was too dangerous to go to the undefended islands, as there was little confidence that the government would protect them from pillaging and plundering by the buccaneers whose reputation for terror far outlasted their presence in the islands.

In 1834, slavery ended in the Cayman Islands and both the slave owners and the freed slaves became intrigued with finding a new place to live. At about the same time, England, noting the lack of interest in the Bay Islands by the Spanish, decided in 1852 to make the Bay Islands a British Crown Colony. For 6 years, English subjects from the Caymans began to migrate to the Bay Islands, mainly Roatan. It is estimated that over 600 people from the Caymans made the Bay Islands their new home during this 20 year period.

A furor arose in the United States when it became apparent that England was making a new colonial move into the Western Hemisphere, an infringement of the "Monroe Doctrine". Under U.S. pressure, England turned sovereignty of the Bay Islands over to Honduras in 1859. Although a few hundred people chose to leave the islands after the end of English Rule rather than live under Spanish Rule, most found their economic situation so favorable that they remained.

During the 1860-70’s, the export of bananas, plantains, and coconuts (mainly to the United States) was big business, as an insatiable market developed while the islands were a colony. By 1875, the commerce was so brisk with the United States that American Consuls were opened on both Roatan and Utila. The New Orleans and Bay Islands Fruit Company was established to conduct trade with the Bay Islands. The prosperity of the 1870’s ended abruptly when a major hurricane leveled most of the plantations in September 1877. This and increased competition from the mainland almost completely ended fruit growing on the islands. The demand for fruit had also outgrown the capacity that could be provided by the islands and large scale production was possible on the immense plantations on the mainland, which was soon to become known as the "Banana Republic". Although there was a resurgence of fruit growing on the islands again in the 1920’s, the business never regained its earlier vitality. Soon the abandoned fruit plantations grew over with brush and tropical vegetation.

Current Island Facts

After the 1920’s, the islands needed new business to maintain the economy. Fortunately, new alternatives appeared. The sea had always provided subsistence for the islanders and this is the direction to which they turned. Many were capable sailors and boat handlers from the Cayman Islands . So they turned to become merchant mariners and to this day many families owe their livelihood from the men folk going to sea for many months, some on cruise ships, others merchant vessels and the majority on shrimp and lobster boats. In fact, over most recent times the earnings for the island economy has come from the sea. The islands now support one of the finest shrimp and lobster fleets in the Caribbean. Over 150 well maintained vessels call the Bay Islands their home port. High quality seafood products are shipped all over the world from the packing plants on Roatan.

The Bay Islands are located at the Southeastern end of the Great Mayan Reef. This is the second largest coral reef system in the world. This provided another superb opportunity for the economy of the Bay Islands. Substantial and well equipped Dive Resorts have been developed on most of the Bay Islands. A quick review of any dive periodical will show in great detail the fine facilities and equipment available here. It is estimated that well over 10,000 divers visit the Bay Islands annually. The diving here has been reported by well traveled divers to be the best they have experienced. Excellent underwater visibility and the fantastic array of sea life, plants, coral and fish make "Underwater in the Bay Islands "a special experience. Divers return from their underwater adventures to share "Port Royals"at bars broadcasting videos of acrobatic dolphins, eels peeking from coral caves, and mantas waving spotted wings.

Another factor which has given a boost to the islands economy is the influx of expatriates. Hundreds of people have discovered that living outside their home country to be an appealing option. A strong U. S. Dollar and a lower cost of living here provides a higher standard of living.

Imagine living on a tropical island with swaying palm trees, balmy trade breezes overlooking the beautiful turquoise Caribbean. Property prices in the Bay Islands is a bargain when compared with most other areas in the Caribbean. It is still possible to buy a tropical home for close to $100,000 U.S. Dollars! No wonder the rush is on for the better life on a pension budget!

Now frequent airline service brings the islands a quick 2 hour trip from the United States many vacationers and tourists are coming to visit these lush tropical islands. The infrastructure is improving on a day to day basis as new hotels, roads and tourist facilities are constructed.

Today nearly 100 hotels are in service catering to every taste and need. Importantly, the Honduran Government is strongly in support of tourism and offers attractive tax incentives to those who capitalize tourist related business. Tourism will soon be the leading source of income.

At the West End you see sunburned tourists walking the sandy strip lured by shops that peddle colorful sarongs, fluorescent bikinis, straw hats and Central American handicrafts.

What makes Roatan so wonderfully appealing is it’s living cultural and historic mosaic. Bay Islanders take pride in the variegated skin colors and hair textures, but even more important they hold the coral reefs and marine life as priceless jointly owned treasures. A dory trip through the labyrinth of reefs and mangrove tunnels to clear turquoise lagoons and up from the shore to jungle covered slopes of undulating hills displays the tremendous natural beauty of the island.

Given all that the Bay Islands have to offer, a boom in development and business seems imminent.

Roatan is a lovely tropical island and the largest and most developed of the Bay Islands that lie 35 miles North of the mainland of Honduras.

Roatan has a mountainous backbone that extends down most of the 40 miles length and is surrounded by beautiful coral reefs. To simplify things, you might consider Roatan as being made up of 3 regions. -- Western, Central and Eastern.

Each region has it’s own special personality and attractions to suit your tastes:

• Western Roatan

  The Western region covers the area West of the Roatan International Airport.

  It includes the older developed areas, such as the town of Coxen Hole where the municipal and governmental offices are located, the expanded Cruise Ship Dock, and many stores and markets. Further West and on the North shore are Sandy Bay, West End and finally West Bay at the end of the island. These areas cater to the tourists and dive visitors. Here you will find many hotels and dive facilities of great variety. The following are more detailed descriptions of each area:

• Coxen Hole

  Coxen Hole is the largest town and is the Port of Entry to the Bay Islands. Customs and Immigration are in a white building at dock side, the post office is in the same building away from the water on the road. The tiny town square adjoins immediately to the West. There are 3 Banks, a Hodutel telephone office, the Municipal offices, the large H. B. Warren Supermarket, Hardware and Appliance stores and an array of tourist gift shops. There are also local island style restaurants and over-the-counter Honduran foods, Nothing fancy here.

• West Bay

West Bay boasts one of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the Caribbean. Idyllic turquoise water and soft sand is a sure sign you have arrived in paradise. A leading attraction is the Henry Morgan Beach Resort an all inclusive Italian resort. They fly 200 lucky Italians in from Europe every week, and recently it has been opened to the all visitors. It has 85 rooms and is the largest vacation facility on the island. Tabyana Beach is a rustic tropical island resort with the beautiful reef offshore. Mayan Princess is an upscale 2 Bedroom Condo facility, should you like privacy.

In total, there are 15 fine Resorts, Hotels and B&B’s at West Bay to serve you. Don’t miss the Coral Reef Explorer, a glass bottom tour of the reef. Or don your fins, mask & snorkel, and see the delights of the underwater world firsthand.

• West End

  The West End offers a variety of activities. Many small shops, restaurants, and hotels. The ambiance is decidedly "Laid Back"and budget conscious folks find this area to their liking. Cabins and small rooms are available at less than $30 per night so this is a haven for the less affluent crowd. Just walking the bumpysand road with all the busy behive of tropical dive shops, restaurants and bars, some out over the water, is great fun for everybody. Water taxis are available to and from West Bay. The diving on the reef a few hundred yards off shore is spectacular! The tone of West End is definitely, international, as you will meet people from all over the world here and everybody always seems to be in a party mood. The bars are very busy after the sun goes down! Enjoy a "Monkey LaLa" a favorite island drink and a conversation with a new found friend. Many are from Europe and other countries you may wish to hear more about.

  Inn of the Last Resort is a large 30 room Dive Resort. Full dive facilities , dive boats, instructors and everything you need for a great dive vacation. The bar and restaurant is excellent with family style meals which change daily. The service is very friendly and everyone bubbles over with island warmth. Half Moon Bay Cabins is a lovely tropical rustic style facility catering to divers and vacationers alike. A beautiful setting overlooking the bay and the ironshore shoreline. 14 cabins of different sizes, dive dock and restaurant. Luna Beach is a self contained resort, nice beach, bars and restaurant. One of the few that have a nice fresh water swimming pool. 8 two bedroom condos.

  There are no less than 24 Hotels and B&B’s located at West End to match your taste and pocketbook.

• Sandy Bay

The best dive accommodations are available at Anthony’s Key Resort, which has the finest dive Boat fleet in the Western Caribbean with full dive services including training, The Institute of Marine Sciences, Dolphin shows, and is a very beautiful place.