The scooter was on a 24 hour rental and didn't need to be returned until 10:30am so we decided to head over the road to West Bay to take some photos. Our plan had always been to spend the day there but this meant we wouldn't have to leave the camera unattended on the beach while we were swimming or snorkeling.

Maria was complaining about sore legs this morning and struggled to get back on the scooter but eventually made it after leaning the scooter at 45 degrees. The road headed back inland from West End and up into the hills, by road it took us about 6km to travel less than 2km down the coast. This explained why water taxis between the two places were so popular. There was no parking close to the beach, so Maria jumped off (as well as she could with her sore legs) to take some photos of the beach. Photos taken, we were back on the road to West End to return the scooter. We ended up paying only 30 US dollars plus 5 dollars for the tank of petrol, about a third cheaper than the other rental companies.

We packed our bags for a day at the beach and walked down to the water taxi jetty. They wait until they have at least three people before setting off but it didn't take long before another couple hopped in the boat and even less time to have us down the coast at West Bay.

We were dropped at the eastern end of the beach which gave us the opportunity to walk the entire length of the beautiful powdery white, sandy beach to check out what was going on. Even though it was low season, you could tell that this was the busiest place in Roatan and where the money came too. There was no street as such running along the beach, it was enormous resort hotels, sitting side by side, stretching from the distant road onto the beach front. The beach looked busy today but looking a little closer, you could see all the resorts had a lot of sun loungers stacked and stored almost out of sight. In high season it must be absolute chaos on the beach.

At the far western end of the beach it was much quieter with more people in the sea snorkeling as opposed to lying on the beach. David managed to break Maria's snorkel clip as we were entering the water. David claims it was 'cheap ****' and Maria claims heavy handedness...anyway, David has to give Maria his mask and snorkel and he uses the broken one. The sand gave way to the coral very close to the shore and there were a lot of different fish, even a line of four cuttlefish at one point. The coral was in remarkably good condition for the number of people that must visit this beach - perhaps the masses just come to wallow and drink cocktails in the sea rather than venturing out to see what lies beneath the surface.

We sat on the beach after snorkeling and looked at the rain storm on the horizon. Being an offshore wind we didn't concern ourselves too much but failed to look behind us. A few drops came down while the sun was still shining and we decided to stay put. But the rain got heavier and sun began to fade, so like the rest of beach goers, we packed up and sought shelter. We went into Beacher's Bar for a drink to kill some time and decide whether to wait it out or return to West End. With impeccable timing, we finished our drinks just when the rain stopped and sun came out again.

Having already bought drinks in the bar, we were able to use their sun loungers on the beach. We did however buy more drinks, two for one Piña Colada's made with overly generous servings of Roatan rum. Sitting back, drink in hand, it was fascinating just watching people - a group of maybe 20 were drinking in the sea, a lady dropped a friends tablet in water when trying to take a photo and a couple was teaching their Dobbermann puppy to swim.