Roatan

Off the Caribbean coast of Honduras there is a group of islands known as the Bay Islands. These are Roatan, Utila and Guanaja. Historically these were discovered by Christopher Columbus (he landed in Guanaja in 1502) and the indiginous people were taken by the Spaniards to work in the gold and silver mines in Cuba and Mexico. Later, the islands were used as a base by pirates from England, the Netherlands and France. Today they were filled with tourists from America, Canada and Italy (there's a direct flight from Milan, as well as a seasonal one from Rome), amongst others.

We visited Roatan for a long weekend. We went with a group from Keith's work and enjoyed the luxuries of West Bay and the night life of West End. I stayed on a little longer and did some diving. It seems the second largest barrier reef is here, after the Australian Great Barrier Reef. I also came across some family friends who now live in Roatan, and who I hadn't seen in 25 years.