Honduras News Stories

Roatan - Island of Fun

Roatan visitors will be able to "fly" to the beach on a new elevated chair lift, when the Carnival Cruise line debuts its new Mahogany Bay Cruise Center in Roatan, Honduras, next month.

The six-minute lift ride, which Carnival is calling the "Magical Flying Beach Chair," will start directly at the cruise terminal and take passengers to Mahogany Beach. According to Carnival, it's the first such transport in the Caribbean (it looks a lot like a ski lift).

Four-passenger chairs will travel on nearly 1,200 feet of cables suspended 67 feet above the ground and trees with bay and countryside views. Carnival will charge a $5 fee for unlimited rides (chair lift passes will also be included in pre-sold beach activities). Some 1,500 passengers can use the lift per hour, Carnival said.

The lift is part of Carnival's new $62 million cruise center which debuts with a visit of the 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend on Nov. 20th. The cruise center and its two-berth cruise terminal is a joint project between the cruise line and Roatan businessman Jerry Hynds.

Mahogany Beach is a 10-acre private island featuring an 825-foot-long white-sand beach replete with lounge chairs, floats. a beach volleyball court, private cabanas available for rent and a whole bunch of watersports opportunities. There's also a restaurant and two themed bars.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has a strongly worded travel alert for Honduras, issued last week: "The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the current unstable political and security situation in Honduras, and recommends that American citizens defer all non-essential travel to Honduras until further notice." The alert expires Dec. 20th, 2009.

Asked for a response, a Carnival spokesman said, "Roatan, which is located in the Bay Islands, approximately 30 miles from the Central American coastline, continues to be an exceptionally popular port of call for cruise lines. It has not been affected by the recent political unrest in Honduras and we have continued to call there throughout the past many weeks without incident." - Written by Fran Golden