We flew from San Jose to Dallas on Friday, then Dallas to Roatán the next day. A taxi met us and drove us 45 minutes to the Oak Ridge dock, where we switched to a boat for a short ride to Reef House Resort on Oak Ridge Cay.

Windy conditions were too rough for diving, so we went snorkeling in the protected pool in front of Reef House. In the afternoon, we took a boat through a mangrove tunnel, and snorkeled around the roots.

In the morning, we walked a couple hundred feet across the cay to the dock, and got geared up for diving. Just a few minutes away from Oak Ridge, we stopped in 20' of water. We swam over the shelf and cruised along a wall packed with colorful creatures: coral, fans, and lobsters hiding in the rocks. In the afternoon, we relaxed in the hammocks and swam in the ocean pool.

In the morning, we saw giant crabs and lobsters on a wall dive near Port Royal. Near Oak Ridge, we swam over beautiful coral gardens. Our guide found both spotted and green moray eels lurking in the rocks. In the afternoon, we tried to get a ride to Port Royal National Park, but nobody had heard of it. We relaxed in the hammocks, porch swing, and ocean instead.

In the morning, we saw lots of colorful fish and a big green moray eel snorkeling over the reef at the end of the jetty. At 11am, we set off for the mainland: water taxi, taxi to the ferry terminal, and a 90 minute ferry across rough waters to La Ceiba. After a stop for groceries, we drove inland about 30 minutes along the Río Cangrejal to Villas Pico Bonito. We walked around the lush grounds, explored the river, watched hummingbirds, and had dinner as it got dark.

We met our rafting guide at 10am, and drove a few minutes upstream to our launch spot. We rafted a couple of hours down the river, surrounded by steep green mist-cloaked mountains. Our guide showed us three spots where we jumped from rocks into the river. After lunch, Kimberly walked up the road to Omega Jungle Lodge, and hiked along their well-marked jungle trails.

We met our hiking guide at 9am, and walked a few minutes up the road to the entrance to Parque Nacional Pico Bonito. We walked across the river on a suspension bridge, then up a steep trail past several smaller waterfalls. After 2 hours and 1,600' of elevation, we arrived at the 200' tall Cascada El Bejuco. We had lunch while watching beautiful rainbows created by the cool mist rising from the falls. We went back a different way, with several stops for wildlife.

Our last day was a long travel day. We left Villas Pico Bonito at 7:30am for the ferry from La Ceiba to Roatán. A taxi picked us up at the ferry and dropped us at an amazing over-the-water restaurant. An hour later, our driver returned and took us to the airport for our flight back to Dallas, connecting to San Francisco.