OMG Swimming with the Sharks at Pigeon Cay, Roatan, Honduras

I told myself I was just along for the ride as it was something that Shelly wanted to do but yeah I wasn't complaining. I knew it would be really amazing. We looked at many possible tours, some sold out, some so expensive, some only leaving from the East side of the island. We ended up going with the favorite; Gustavo from our family-run hotel Lost Paradise Inn. See Roatan Boat Tours by Gustavo Pavón.

It was a bit of a stretch for both of us as he didn't make a ton of money taking only 2 of us on such a long trip (it cost him $300 just in fuel!) yet it was still a lot of money for us to pay for 2 people. But yeah it was so cool and we're so glad we went with Gustavo and got our own private tour!

I mean besides the fact that we like him, his boat is far better than the other boats we saw out there. I can't imagine being out there all day and going out over a mile in the larger swells in those small barely-covered boats. So we were spoiled having the best boat and the best captain. :)

He keeps his boat, Invictus, right in front of our hotel room, so we only had to walk about 20 feet to start our morning at 8:30.

The Plan

• pass Anthony's Key - see the dolphins in their enclosure
• snorkel the shipwreck
• stop at Camp Bay
• cruise by Punta Gorda indigenous Garifuna village
• cut through the mangroves between Roatan and Helene
• swim with sharks/ray at Pigeon Cay
• stop for burgers and swim in Little French Key (nope, the place was closed)
• head home

The Trip

It was all great. Gustavo jumped in the water with us at the shipwreck to show us the way and take photos of us. The ship was big! Like 70 feet and it hit the reef about 70 years ago. We saw some nice fish and coral. It's more about the ship and not the most incredible selection of reef life as some of the other locations. But still better than many places in the world. ;) Camp Bay is almost as beautiful as West Bay; undeveloped but also windy. I just had to jump in the water. So clear and turquoise!

The indigenous Garifuna village of Punta Gorda looked really cool. They still have their own language (in addition to English and Spanish) and were the original settlers of Central America. I know we drove through there in 2009 when we had the rental truck but I don't know if we stopped or what. I know we stopped at the little restaurant (Sirena?) in Camp Bay.Then we went past the not-Sylvester Stallone's house - quite the compound on an entire mangrove island(!), and through the mangroves where there apparently are indeed lagarto (salt water crocs)! LOL We did not see any though.

We started seeing a good bit of sargassum seaweed. Shelly and I had both seen large streaks of it from the plane (we are realizing now what it was) and are so thankful that there's none of it on our side of the island. Exiting the channel, the swells picked up. Good thing we're in a 40 ft boat! It handled it like a champ. Nothing like last year's disaster of a whale shark tour. LOL Over a mile we went, past a few other Bay Islands, out past the tiny Fisherman's Cay and on to what used to be a raised sandbar; Pigeon Cay.

People used to bring chairs and picnics out there, but there were no sharks. Now for some reason after the sandbar went under water, the sharks and rays started coming. It's maybe 8 foot deep and the boats chum the water. There were a couple of locals boats, us, and maybe 4 other tour boats; one of which was playing super loud music and was overcrowded with over-boozed tourists drinking cocktails in the water.

I'm not saying we didn't have music and I'm not saying I didn't crack a beer after I got out of the water, ;) but ya' know.

The Sharks!

So anyway, we jumped in the water an were swimming around about 10 nurse sharks and 5-10 stingrays. Wow! They were incredibly close. They would swim right at you and right under you. I wasn't sure which ones to be more afraid of; the sharks or the rays! When I'd put my head above water, I was afraid I was going to kick an animal in the head with my fins. LOL (or not so LOL). But it was beautiful and we were both awestruck. It was one of those times where you could stay in the water forever, but we had to get out at some point and afterward there were a few (or many) tears of joy and waves of pure emotion.

There were a couple of other "moments" along our tour. Tears of gratitude. What a good life.

Sorry for the photo dump, it's so hard to choose!

The Remainder

We ate the sandwiches we had packed and the delicious fresh fruit Gustavo brought for us (yum pineapple and watermelon) and then we headed out. My jaw is dropped at how many houses (luxurious houses) are built all along the island now! But we also went through some local areas that were much more my style. We checked out Fantasy Island Hotel that just burned down a couple of months ago (fire cause??). We were going to stop in Little French Key where we were instructed we would buy they guys a burger - uh okay no problem but it was funny - and we could go for a swim. Unfortunately the pontoon I think it was, was closed. Bummer - I was looking forward to both the restaurant and the swim. When we were done, Gustavo said we were lucky; he will not take out only 2 people again LMAO - not that far anyway. It was a test for him with his new engine and now he knows how much fuel it takes to go that far. Needs more people to make it worth it.

Anyway, we were all tired by the end of the day and were very grateful to have had such an epic day.