What a day in Roatán actually costs

The excursion is the part you can pin down before you sail. Ours are priced per person and the price covers the guide, the entrance fees the tour includes, and the round trip from the terminal. There is no separate transport line waiting at the end.

The shortest and cheapest options are around 45 dollars. A full island tour with the monkey and sloth park plus the chocolate and rum stop is 50. Four hours on horseback along the beach is 75. Snorkelling at the starfish garden with the sea turtles is 90. The one tour that reaches 150 is the longest day we run. Half the catalogue sits between 60 and 95, which is the honest answer to what a normal family pays per person.

Paying with PayPal adds 5.4 percent. That is the transfer charge the payment processor takes, we show it on the form before you confirm, and it is the only thing added to the price you picked. Paying cash at the port avoids it entirely, and plenty of people do that.

What the excursion price does not cover is lunch, drinks and whatever you buy from a vendor. We do not quote those because they are not ours to quote, and a number invented here would be worse than no number. Most tours include a beach stop where you can eat, and the guide will tell you what things cost before you commit to anything.

Tips are separate and they are customary, not obligatory. We wrote a whole piece on how much to tip in Roatán because the question comes up on every van.

Going without a tour is the other option, and it is not free. Travellers on the cruise forums report port taxis charging roughly 25 to 30 dollars one way to West Bay, with round trips quoted around 50 and up, and the West Bay water taxi at about 5 dollars a person. Those are ranges reported by passengers rather than a published tariff, so treat them as a rough idea and agree the fare before you get in. Two people going to the beach and back can land close to what a guided tour costs, with none of the return timing handled for you.

The part with real money at stake is the ship. If your ship does not dock, you get a full refund. That is written into our booking policy and it is the reason people book ahead instead of haggling on the pavement with the clock running.

One more number worth knowing: your all aboard time. Every price on this page assumes you get back before it. The guide asks for it before the van leaves, and it is the only figure of the day that has no flexibility at all.