Shopping at Barefoot Cay Resort Shop

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sometimes when you’re on vacation, you just want to kick back and relax.  Especially if you’re somewhere as beautiful as Roatan, and escaping the winter snow in trade for Caribbean sunshine.  Laze in a hammock, soak up the sun, maybe muster up the energy to hop in the water.  Somewhere in the recesses of your mind, there may be a slight tinge of guilt, a feeling that you should possibly mail a few postcards and pick up a little something for the neighbour that’s feeding your cat, the co-worker that’s covering your workload, the friend that gave you a lift to the airport.  But actually using valuable vacation time to go shopping for gifts just sounds so unappealing.  Thus the beauty of a resort gift shop.  A few quick minutes inside, shopping done, and back to the lounge chair.  At Barefoot Cay, we started off with a very small selection of items for sale, so usually guests ventured off elsewhere to fulfill their obligations reluctantly.  We were listening, and so we’ve worked at expanding our collection so that there’s now a beautiful selection of gift items, as well as logo wear, dive gear and accessories, jewelry and more.  While you’re in there, don’t forget the most important person to shop for- yourself  A beer cozie with a Barefoot Divers logo or a scented shell candle will keep you thinking about your getaway long after the tan has faded.  Happy shopping!

A great new spot to spend a day

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I love discovering new little spots on Roatan, great venues to send people to check out when they’re touring the island, nice little getaways to go to when I have a day off.  Today, I went to check out one that I’ve been hearing about for a couple months, Little French Key.

If you’re staying at Barefoot Cay, you might not feel the need to venture out anywhere- there’s great snorkeling, kayaking, comfy hammock, terrific food, incredible diving- but sometimes, it’s nice to get out and see what the rest of the island has to offer.  If you’re up for some exploring, Little French Key is a good spot to stop for a few hours.  It’s located about a 10-15 minute drive to the east of us (when I went there today, I thought it might be fun to plan an occasional boat trip there), on the same turn-off as the Iguana Farm.  There’s a restaurant on shore, called Frenchy’s 44, which is open for lunch and dinner, and that’s the pick up spot if you’re headed to Little French Key, which is owned by the same family.

It’s just a few minutes by boat to get out to the key, passing by beautiful sailboats anchored in the calm waters inside the reef.  Once at the key, there are lots of lounge chairs for basking in the sun, a grill serving up chicken, shrimp or lobster kabobs, a bar right on the water, as well as monkeys, parrots, beach, and watersport toys such as jetskis, kayaks and a banana boat.  The key is a day venue only (though occasionally they have parties and special events at night), but it’s not yet over-run by cruise ship guests, so it’s still a very great get-away: way different from the crowds at West Bay!  They’re open from Tuesday through Sunday, which means the weekends, when there are no cruise ships around, would be the ideal time to go and have this little paradise all to yourself!

 

Sunrise at Barefoot Cay

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The sun rises early in Roatan, around 5:30 in the morning.  If you’re up for the early start (or willing to get up and then crawl back into bed after), watching the sun rise over the Caribbean is a beautiful thing.   Just the sound of the wind and the water lapping the shoreline, birds singing their morning song, the sunlight peeking out and then stretching itself across the sky.  Ahhh   It’s a good way to wake up.

The villa has great wood louvered windows that can completely shut out the light, so if the early morning rising was a huge sacrifice, you can always crawl back into the snuggly goodness of the Heavenly bed, burrow your head into the goose down pillows, and fall back to sleep for a few more hours

Happy Holidays!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

‘Tis the season for holiday cheer   Who wouldn’t be cheerful when they’re lounging in the tropics, enjoying Roatan’s great diving, beautiful sunshine, and being pampered at Barefoot Cay?

All the Christmas decorations are up and we’re ready for the holidays.  The chef whipped up an excellent Thanksgiving feast last week, I can hardly wait to see his Christmas menu.  For anyone who’s in need of Christmas shopping, the Resort Shop is stocked and ready, with super-cute new Barefoot Divers t-shirts, beer cozies, visors, ball caps and more.

And if the stress of the holidays is getting to you, then you can count on Johel and Doris to ease out the tension with an excellent massage at the spa

Happy Holidays!

Reel fun

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This weekend, we held Barefoot Cay’s 2nd Annual Wahoo Challenge.   12 boats headed out to test their skill and luck.  The boats returned at 5pm for the weigh-in, with the criteria being the highest combined weight caught per boat (permissible fish were wahoo, tuna, dolphin, and king mackrel). 

The 1st place position went to the boat Madi Rae, captained by Jerri Jr. Hynds.  They had 5 wahoo, and a king mackrel,  totalling 146 lb, 77 oz. with their largest fish being a 43 lb 1 oz.  This lucky boat walked away with $900 in prize cash, plus a handsome trophy and the bragging rights to go with it.

In 2nd place came Palanque, captained by Chris Rosales.  Chris and his crew caught 3 wahoo and 1 king mackrel, for a combined weight of 82 lb 33oz.  Along with their trophy, they also got $540 in prize cash.

The 3rd place winner was Reel Temptation captained by Kinsey Borden.  This boat just had one fish, but she was a whopper: a huge wahoo, weighing 60 lb 86 oz, the largest fish of the competition.  Kinsey and crew walked away with $270 in cold, hard cash as well as a lovely trophy and the prestige of having brought in the biggest fish.

Once all the boats were in and the fishermen had a chance to go shower off the fish smell, everyone headed to Barefoot Cay’s newly installed casita for food and drinks.  David fired up the grill for hamburgers and grilled chicken sandwiches, and there were pastelitos, enchiladas, tamales and of course, ice cold beer.

Thanks to the event sponsors:  Woods Building Supply, BIP Petroleum, Texaco and Ace Hardware.  It was a great event, and next year will be even bigger and better, so we’re looking forward to it!

Remembering John

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On September 25th, we had a huge loss at Barefoot Cay. One of the owners who had lived on property, John Kennedy, passed away, after battling cancer up in the States for 5 months. Most guests who have been to Barefoot Cay have had the fortune to meet this amazing guy, as he and Milesse have always been gracious hosts that go out of their way to welcome new faces coming down. For those of us who work here, he was family, and he is deeply, deeply missed.
Last night, we had a gathering at the cay in remembrance of John. People from all over the island came to celebrate John’s life and the impact that he had in our lives. It was a wonderful experience to see all the love and admiration for John. He will forever remain in our hearts. Rest in peace, John.

A day for taste testing

Yesterday, we closed up for our annual maintenance here at Barefoot Cay Resort in Roatan.  We’ll be closed for a 2 week period in order to get any noisy maintenance out of the way and keep our resort looking fresh and beautiful for our guests.  We have a great new landscaping project in the works on the shore side of the property, just to the east of our Barefoot Divers building.  We’re putting in several small palapas with built in tables to eat at, so that we can offer a lunchtime grill on this side, as well as expanding our garden area. 

The kitchen will be getting a thorough scrub down and re-0rganizing, kitchen staff will be receiving training, and we may even be getting a new chef!  Today we sampled a bit of the cooking of Chef Doug, to see if he’d make a good addition to our team.  As my faithful readers know, I’m always testing new things before offering them to our guests, to make sure that they receive top quality and service, whether it’s an activity, spa service, or in this case, a meal.  Today, I was joined by two other members of our management team, Doug and Yannie, so that we could try out the chef’s creations.  I’t's my day off, but sometimes sacrifices need to be made (when the sacrifice includes a molten lava cake, I’m in!).

We started with a lobster and asperagus ceviche served with a mango puree.  The main course was a honey-roasted peanut encrusted fish topped with watermelon sauce, served with coconut milk rice.    Dessert, as I mentioned, was an ultra-decadent lava cake topped with ice-cream- mmmm!

I know most of you are now wanting to know-  ‘Will he make the cut, is he going to be joining our team?”   I guess you’ll need to book a trip down to find out!  We re-open on October 15th: come and see who’s cooking in the kitchen!

 

Fun at Barefoot Cay Resort

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Another gorgeous day in paradise, here in sunny Roatan.  Guests at Barefoot Cay shared their morning coffee today with Chacarron, the resort parrot who had snuck out of his cage and made his way over to the dining room.  Elsewhere on the cay, a couple indulged in a couples massage out on the palapa, where they relaxed under the skilled hands of our massage therapists, and listened to the water lapping the deck.

The pool made a great place to cool off.  For those seeking sun and adventure, an inaugural trip on the pedal boat was in order!  The champagne voyage headed out this morning to explore the calm waters of the channel- have fun guys!

On the other side of the channel on our shore property, our maintenance guys are busy installing a few palapas and surrounding gardens for our new snack shack that will be opening soon.  The resort will be closed October 1st to 15th to work on this project as well as other property maintenance, making Barefoot Cay more beautiful and better than ever.

Have time to come down for a visit?  Come see us when we re-open!  The week of October 15th to 22nd, we have a special running for only $749 per person inclusive in the studio loft- see our website for details: www.barefootcay.com/rates/specials

 

Up, up and away!

Always on the lookout for new activities to recommend our guests at Barefoot Cay Resort, parasailing has recently been on my research list.  There are two parasail companies currently operating on the island of Roatan, both out of West Bay.  The first provided very poor service with my initial inquiries, so I moved on to the second company.  Honduras Watersports (www.HondurasWaterSports.com) were great- they answered all my questions, have well-maintained equipment and friendly staff.

I headed down to West Bay with my two boys, 6 and 8, to give it a try.  I’m a bit of a wuss, so soaring 800 feet above the water with just a rope holding me to the boat was a little scary, but I was game to give it a try.  We climbed on to the boat, and got fitted with harnesses and lifejackets.  All three of us were able to go up at the same time.   We went to the back of the boat and got clipped in, with the brightly coloured parachute billowing behind us.    Slowly, we climbed up, up, up.

The view was absolutely breathtaking.  I eventually slightly relaxed my deathgrip on the ropes (in order to reassuringly pat my 6 yr old’s shoulder, who very matter of factly stated that he was a bit scared), and soon my heartbeat slowed from the rapid pounding and I began to really enjoy the bird’s eye view as we cruised along the west coast of the island.

Eventually, they reeled us towards the boat, and let us dip down to touch the water with our feet, before lifting us back up again and reeling us the rest of the way into the boat.  Getting back on board was smooth and easy, and we got unclipped and seated for the ride back to shore.  Hopped off the boat, and stayed at West Bay for awhile to enjoy the beautiful snorkeling from shore- another day in paradise!

 

Taking the Plunge

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In the morning, I awoke to the sound of rain teeming down.  Uh oh- not a good sign for a wedding day!  Most of the year, we have incredible weather on our sunny Caribbean island of Roatan, and a destination wedding at Barefoot Cay normally means a backdrop of beautiful blue skies touching down to a sparkling blue ocean.   However, we wouldn’t have such a lush, green island if we never got any rain!  But not to worry, we frequently have night/morning showers that clear up early in the day to beautiful sunshine.  I headed in to work and straight to the computer to check on a weather site.  Not looking good- 60% chance of rain for the afternoon.  The other days during the week also had a fairly high chance of rain: a bit better odds than the current day, but definitely not a guarantee.  

I set out in search of the bride and groom to discuss options with them- different date, different site?  In North America, changing a wedding date on the day of the wedding might be impossible, but here in Roatan, it can usually be done if needed: musicians, photographers, pastors are accommodating.  They decided that they would stick with the original day, and try to aim for the beach that was originally intended, with a back-up of the palapa if it looked like it was going to pour. 

The decision, and the attitude of James and Sherida when they made it, reflected a lot about their personalities and their ability to cope with problems that inevitably arise in life and marriage.  The rain and clouds weren’t in their plans for their wedding day, but they chose not to let it get them down, and just slightly alter their plans and keep moving forward.

The rain stopped in the morning, and though there were clouds overhead, it looked like any more rain would hold off.  Our Barefoot Cay wedding team got the beach beautifully decorated with a bamboo arch draped in white, navy and lime green, and the aisle sprinkled with hibiscus.   Champagne was iced down and ready to be popped.

The hairdressers arrived, and headed over to the bride’s beachfront bungalow to start coiffing her locks.  The kitchen staff prepared the wedding table in the Lookout Lounge, and the getaway barge got decorated and ready to whisk away the newlyweds.

The pastor arrived, followed by the photographer and the videographer.  The bride slipped into her dress and gotten buttoned up by her mom.  Meanwhile, everyone gathered down on the beach, where the clouds miraculously held tight onto their raindrops.

The guitarist was strumming softly as Sherida made her entrance.  On her father’s arm, she walked the aisle up to her position next to her future husband.  The pastor started with traditional vows, and then they exchanged vows they had written themselves, and I passed out kleenex  

Husband and wife joined with family and friends and toasted to their new lives together.  Then, while everyone else went to enjoy a few appetizers and reggae music by the pool,  James and Sherida went to pose for photos.  A few raindrops started to fall, and then stopped!  Menacing clouds loomed overhead, but refused to open.  The rain held off, not just for the ceremony, but also for the rest of the evening.

After dinner, everyone danced by the pool, and the grand finale was when James and Sherida took the plunge- literally  

Congratulations, guys!  Thanks for sharing your special day with us.