Port day
Coxen Hole or Mahogany Bay: which Roatán port is yours
Carnival, Princess and Holland America dock at Mahogany Bay. Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Celebrity, MSC and Virgin Voyages dock at Coxen Hole. The two terminals sit about 8 kilometres apart on the southwest coast, and both let you walk straight off the pier.
4 min
Your cruise line decides your port, and you can work it out before you pack. The Carnival Corporation brands use Mahogany Bay. Everyone else uses Coxen Hole, also called the Port of Roatán.
Neither terminal needs a tender. You walk off the ship, through the terminal building, and out the gate. There is no boat to queue for and no shuttle to find, which matters more than it sounds when you are counting hours.
What actually changes between the two ports is where your guide waits and how long the drive takes. Mahogany Bay opened in 2009 and is the larger of the two, spread over about 20 acres, with its own beach for passengers. Coxen Hole opened in 2007, sits closer to the island's main town, and has fewer facilities inside the gate. Both can hold three ships, one at the pier and two at anchor.
If you are booking a tour before you sail, tell the operator your ship name rather than your port. Ships get reassigned between terminals, and the ship name is the detail that survives a schedule change. We check the arrival board the morning of your call anyway.
One thing worth knowing about Mahogany Bay: the beach there is inside the port complex and reachable on foot or by the chairlift, so passengers who only want sand do not strictly need to leave. Passengers who want the reef, the wildlife parks or West Bay do.
Still deciding how to spend your port day?
Send us your ship and date. We answer from the island, usually within minutes.