Roatán

So what is Mattias doing on a Caribbean island in the middle of the hurricane season? There is no need to worry however because both hurricanes Hanna and Ike passed by on a safe distance through Haiti to the north. Roatán is famous for being the cheapest place in the world to dive, so I passed by here to obtain a diving certificate. I found out, however, that the prices quoted in my guide were nowhere close to the actual prices on the island so it has apparently recently got much more expensive. But as it was off the peak tourist season, I got to do my course with two instructors on my own, which speeded things up compared to being in a class. It took only three days to do four dives, four confined water sessions, theory, swimming tests and final exam.

The West Village on Roátan is an idyllic (but relatively expensive) place. It is formed of one street only running parallel to the sea. Here are numerous restaurants, dive shops and hotels located next to each other, catering for diving tourists only. If you don’t dive, there is little point in going here.