American Vagrant: Roatan, Cayos Cuchillos and Utila, Honduras

I want to update you on where I've been for the last few weeks, but first I'll offer some advice for travelers looking to live and work on either Utila or Roatan for a bit (or any latin American island really). These were my impressions from many people that I met on the island who were working and living semi-permanently. Following, I'll compare these two islands for those who are deciding between them.

Work is generally not difficult to come by if you are a good bartender, Dive Master or teacher. Just don't go there planning to have income from mid-September through the end of November in the tourist industry. That's the wet season, and it's so slow on the islands that many businesses close down for these months.
Be prepared to be bored. If you enjoy drugs, then you'll enjoy your time here. If not, you may find the atmosphere unsuitable. If you're going to be diving a lot (i.e. working on your Rescue, Dive Master, etc.) then you ought to stay busy. Otherwise there is little to do. Some people can sit on the beach for hours and days in a row, I'm not one of those people.
If you're serious about finding work/extended living, consider getting your residency. You'll be eligible for legit jobs such as those found in the resorts. It's a process that can cost a couple thousand dollars, and you must use a lawyer (hint: island lawyers are astronomically priced, get one on the mainland) (hint 2: english speaking lawyers charge extra, having a friend help with translations will save hundreds)
Don't go unprepared. If you can arrive on the island and have enough money to be good for a couple months ($1200-1800-ish), then I reckon you'll be fine. Stay for some time, try and stabilize your finances, and if by the end of the two months you aren't self-sustaining, buy your plane ticket and go home. I met people who weren't able to get their finances in line, and had to scrape money together from back home to just get back to the States. Rent in an apartment is about $300/month for a room. Food is a bit expensive (relative to other places in Central America), if you spend less than $6/day you're pretty damn good at budgeting, and are cooking your own meals.

Which island to go to?

I stayed on Roatan for about 3 weeks with one visit to Utila. Both cost about the same from La Ceiba to get to, the ferry to Roatan being $55 round trip, and to Utila being $50. Based on my impressions from others who have lived on these islands, as well as what I gathered during time spent on them, my thoughts are this:

Roatan: Known for being more expensive (it is). I dove once for $25 and that was cheap, and even though the site was in the same bay as the dive shop, I still had to cut a deal by bringing someone else on-board. If you're on a budget, you'll want to be in West Bay. There is a hostel I stayed at known as "Tina's Backpackers Hostel". It was eccesntric, safe and well located. It wasn't entirely comfortable. The rate was $8 for a dorm bed or $15 for a two bed private (no singles). You can survive off of $20/day here, but that's barebones. On the otherhand, the island offers more for free, such as nice sandy beaches and the availability of coral reefs right off shore...so if you have your own scuba gear (or rent from vendors on the sand) then you're well off. The best resorts are also on this island, so if you want to live and stay for a bit, you'll find good work at them (if you have residency). Nightlife is good here (in West End), with a club, karayoke bar that's always packed, and various other bars that are generally well frequented.

Utila: A much smaller island, without any free public beaches. You can dive cheap here, especially if you want to get certified, as many dive shops provide you a room for free if you're in their program. On the other hand, the nightlife is generally known for not being as good. There are certainly bars and some that are frequented, but my experience was that they are on a smaller scale. If either you are mostly interested in diving, or your budget makes your decisions, then this is your place. If you want to spend some time on beaches, snorkel freely and have some more options for socializing, then head to Roatan.

Okay now that that's out of the way. I'll begin with my travels. While on Roatan I met a group of Texans one drunken night who were staying in a condo resort on the island, and had themselves a sail trip planned. One thing led to another, and next thing I knew I was tagging along with them. It was quite an epic diversion and I can't thank them enough. We sailed with the well known Captain Dave on his Catamaran (http://www.sailinginroatan.com), first going to the beautiful islands known as Cayos Cochinos. Along the way he told us that his friend had, in those waters, found a suitcase full of money (something along the lines of $500,000). Apparently it's more troublesome to be caught with loads of unaccounted for money than to be caught with the drugs. Once at Cayos Cuchinos, we first did some snorkeling off the boat, followed by lunch on a local island (one of 15). We had somewhat of a buffet that consisted of locally caught fish (about the only possibility of income, other than the occasional tourists like us) along with rice, plantains, coconut bread and some fresca. Following our time on the island (small enough to circle on foot in about 5 minutes), we loaded ourselves back on the boat and headed for Utila, which involved much more lounging and boozing.

Along the way I began to see fish jumping out of the water and flying through the air. And knew neither then nor now what species they are, other than they belong to the family of fish properly dubbed "Flying Fish" that encompasses 64 species according to Wikipedia. Anyway, by the time we had arrived at Utila we were fully prepared for our next feast, and feast we did. At a local food joint on the water, Captain Dave pulled the Catamaran straight up to the patio where it would be docked for the night. We all ate until we were grotesquely full on what was some of the best food on the trip. We went on to check-in to our rooms and then hit the bar, drink adequately and passed out for the night. The next morning brought us back underway headed for Roatan. This time, we were joined by a group of dolphins that swam alongside the boat for about 10 minutes. More flying fish, rum punches and a sit down at the helm with the captain and we were eventually back in Roatan territory. We snorkeled, did a drive-by dolphin feeding show at a local resort, planned to snorkel again only to rush out from the dense population of jelly fish, then actually did get to snorkel again after changing locations, and finally docked the boat back in West End. The trip was over, and it was a great time. Thanks to Captain Dave, his crew and the Texans!

Shortly after I returned from the sailing trip I came to find out things had changed signifcantly since I'd been gone. One of my roommates had left his job due to issues with the boss, the other wasn't able to get the job she was vying for at the dolphin resort unless she had her residency. Already tired of island life and with diminshing budgets, they had decided to pack up and head back to the States. This was not a problem for me, as I had already decided I wasn't going to be staying much longer on Roatan, so about a week later I was off the island (and them as well a few days after). It was a fun trip, with highly varied experiences...not that I didn't enjoy it, but I'm not eager to go back to any Bay Island. The atmosphere was seedy, mixed in with latent violence, profuse amounts of drugs (and users), a derogatory male population and poorly treated female one. A friend on the island told me that 1 in 7 people living there was HIV/AIDS positive. But not to sound completely morose, as the tourists rarely see that reality (another issue I had with the place). Roatan really is a rather unique location as far as my travels go, as it truly is more of a weekend or week-long vacation destination rather than a backpackers haven, and places like that are usually ones I try to avoid.

On September 10 I traveled from Roatan to Tela, a town on the mainland. I would continue to then travel to La Ceiba followed by Trujillo, Tegucigalpa, Lago Yajoa, Copan Ruinas, and then El Salvador, but tales from these adventures will be saved for subsequent entries.