We were on the June 25, 2017 sailing of the Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston. One of the reasons we booked this trip was so we could stop in Roatan, Honduras. We were there two years ago and booked a trip to Maya Key, and we had a great time. This time, however, we wanted to get a little bit more adventurous and see the island itself. We contracted with Rony’s Tours Roatan to do ziplining and snuba diving in Gumbalimba Park. I will review the activities themselves separately, but for now wanted to comment on the service and experience with the tour company.
First things first: You don’t have to be in a huge hurry to get off the boat. Don’t waste time, of course, because you want to get everything you can out of the excursion. However, there will be a mass of people trying to get out of the pier. Follow the instructions (which when we went were to go past the parking lot and out the gates) and you will find someone with a tour sign. Make sure it is the actual operator with Rony’s Tours. There may be a short wait while they bring the van up, and then you are off to the races.
The reason we booked the excursion with Rony’s Tours Roatan was that we wanted flexibility to change our minds. It cost our family of four $100 (U.S.) plus the admission cost of the activities, but that was worth its weight in gold. We had a lovely drive across the mountain spine in the middle of the island, and we go to the ziplining place.
Here we encountered what might have been a very large problem: My 11 year old, who had assured us for months that he wanted to go ziplining, decided that this no longer interested him. Smart kid, because the experience was frankly terrifying. In terms of this post, however, here is what mattered: My wife, my younger son, and myself all went ziplining. Rony was quite happy to take the older boy and our stuff down to the bottom of the course. That meant that we did not have to make an unfortunate choice between two people having to stop what they wanted to do or one other person being terrified.
When we finally made it to the bottom, I was impressed with Rony’s flexibility. I was also still in possession of my money and other goods, and my 11 year old was safe and happy. From there we made a few purchases at the park store and went and made arrangements for the snuba diving. You remember how earlier I said that the 11 year old didn’t want to go ziplining? The 9 year old then got out into the middle of the ocean and decided that he did not want to swim. Long story short: When my family got done, we were wet, tired, and frustrated. Fortunately, we had booked with a very good tour guide. Rony arranged for us to have a tour of the park, which is gorgeous. That gave us time to dry off and to collect our wits before we went off to lunch.
At this point we were starving, so we piled back into the van. Rony recommended a great lunch spot, and we had a nice meal. He also got us back to the ship in plenty of time. If I had it to do over again, I might very well have booked a different trip– or else I would have put me and the 11 year old on one trip while my wife and the 9 year old went their own way. Regardless of the particular trip I booked, however, I would book it with Rony’s Tours Roatan. Rony saved the day a couple of different times, was friendly, safe, spoke excellent English, and helped us make a great day of it. Even if at one point I become the 43 year old fat guy who got stuck on a zipline.
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