Roatan Shore Excursion: Hanging Bridges Eco Tour and Beach Break

Roatan, Honduras

While in port on Roatan, take an eco-walk across eight amazing suspension bridges in the Caribbean jungle. This half-day shore excursion includes a one-hour guided nature walk through the forest as you take in gorgeous views of island palms, tropical flowers, ‘Tarzan’ vines, birds and iguanas. Then, head to West Bay Beach for two to three hours of leisure time – the white sand, clear blue water, ocean breezes and welcome beverage will transport you to paradise! Receive personal attention on this small-group tour, limited to 10 people.

USD $50.00

Traveler Reviews

Review by:   nfc404,    March 2018
The eco tour is quite short, 30 minutes top, and really not much to see. I can't say anything about the beach, as I did not go to the beach. Instead, I paid extra for the zip line, which is quite good. My advise is to skip the eco tour and go for the zip line.

Review by:   luvaview,    March 2018
It is about a 1/2 hour shuttle trip to the excursion. That was good in that it gave us a glimpse of life on Roatan. The excursion itself was a pleasant, easy hour-long walk through a tropical jungle. Our guide kept up a patter about the wildlife and the plants including information on how some of the plants had medicinal qualities.

Review by:   Jesus V,    March 2018
For Naturalist we were looking forward to seeing birds, snakes, and other numerous wildlife. The area is surrounded by the many tourist zipping across overhead, screaming at the top of their lungs. The guide was very knowledgeable of the plant life in the area, I would assume of wildlife if there was any. One small red butterfly the whole tour._br/_ Now the swinging bridges are well maintain and we enjoyed them, except the broken serenity of tourist screaming over head and destroying the chance of seeing any wild-life..

Review by:   Debbi P,    February 2018
Pick up booth was easily located, personnel helpful and informative. They have it down to a system. Enjoyed being taken care of and not worrying how to get around an island that had some political issues brewing for Saturdays protests. 87 steps on the way back up so participants need to be very mobile. Bus ride was along a potholed highway so those with back issues should not participate. The staff did inform us that due to the zip lining activity above the bridges the animals were no longer that visible and were in hiding. We did see 1 iguana high in a tree. Enjoyed the informative flaura and fauna information from the tour guide, leaves that seep milk, bat poop, poison and healing medicinal leaves and herbs. Buses brought us to beach for hours of beach fun that you can do at a separate cost to the beach vendors such as snorkeling, massages, etc and then back to ship in a timely fashion.

Review by:   Kathleen M,    December 2017
Very knowledgeable friendly helpful guide! We enjoyed the stroll through the jungle. The only problem I personally had was with many steps. If you truly have problems with stairs this tour is probably not a good choice.

Review by:   Kathleen O,    December 2017
had to wait 40 minutes before tour started after arriving at location. Not enough staff available. Hanging Bridges was just ok. Beach was wonderful and how driver to the beach and back to shore was great.

Review by:   John W K,    December 2017
Rained most of the time .... making the wooden areas a little slippery .... gotta be careful, but the experience above the trees was exciting. Really neat to over look the trees to the depth below .... I recommend this excursion.

Review by:   gibranger,    December 2017
We had 4 of us that booked this instead of getting paying exorbitant prices for a cruise ship excursion. The meeting point was basically right off the boat in port, and we were on our way within 10min. We had our own private guide for this excursion, and she was amazing! She took her time guiding us through the jungle showing us all the beautiful trees and plants, and the medicinal properties that the locals use them for. Absolutely fascinating! After that, we hopped on an open air truck back to the original starting location and grabbed a cold, local beer on top of the mountain while we waited for our driver. The 2nd part of the excursion dropped us off at a beautiful resort with a picture perfect beach, complementary lounge chairs, full use of their restrooms/showers, and a restaurant we enjoyed for lunch not included. Absolutely LOVED Roatan and can't wait to come back here for a proper vacation. Highly recommended!!!

Review by:   yheadford015,    April 2017
I must admit i was nervous as i don't like heights and i have arthritis and i had read there was a lot of steps....no fear as the journey starts at the top and the steps going down are in stages with transport at the very end to bring us back up. As the eco forest is quite dense you can't tell how high you are .. good, so i was able to look at things our lovely, informative guide had to tell us, this is where experience counts as her eyes were all over pointing out things we would never have seen. The bridges were very supported and not bouncing all over like i expected, so we could all stand on together ...10 of us, and have a good look around. Our guide was very patient, didn't hurry us and answered our many questions, pointing out individually so we could all see things in trees etc. The directions were spot on from the cruise ship. The whole experience was relaxing and unrushed...thank you.

Review by:   Miranda,    April 2017
Our guide was very knowledgeable. She took her time as we walked through telling us about the different plant and wildlife located throughout the jungle. It wasn't a difficult walk. Zipliners were going overhead so she said that usually scares off some of the animals but not seeing snakes was ok with me anyway : If you had anyone in your party wanting to zipline but you didn't, they are located at the same place so easy to split a large party but yet still be together.

Review by:   padaven3,    March 2017
The Bridges walk was fun and interesting. The bridges were not quite as high as I expected, but they were in the middle of the canopy. There were zip lines above us, so if you want to be above the canopy, you could buy that tour instead. After the bridge walk, we went to a private resort beach, and at the far end of that beach you could walk into the water and snorkel through some very close parts of the coral reef. We saw boats nearby that had brought groups a little further out to do a snorkeling excursion. Walking off the beach to snorkel was great, and the snorkeling was as good as another tour we paid for in Cozumel, since we were so close to the coral coming right off the beach. On the Cozumel boat snorkeling, the coral was sometimes 30 feet below us.

Review by:   Gyptuckian,    March 2017
Not a great tour regarding the Hanging Bridges part, with no real feeling of being in a jungle because of the screaming zip liners whizzing through the canopy near to the trail. Not too much to see, and if you have been in the jungle before, nothing new to see._br/_ On a safety note, having guests sit in the back of a pick-up while returning to meeting point is an absolute no-no. The tour operator was lucky that that my wife, nephew and I were willing to do so, while older and somewhat disabled guests rode inside the King Cab._br/_ The beach part was OK, with a free drink included and sun loungers on the beach. Overall, no real value and disappointing. Give it a miss.

Review by:   TÖYRYLÄ ILKKA M T,    March 2017
A peaceful walk in the jungle with a duration of ca. one hour. There were several hanging bridges on the way.

Review by:   tmeshmesh1,    March 2017
The Beach Break is great.......wonderful location and facilities. The Bridge tour was interesting to do once.

Review by:   lfwolf,    February 2017
Tour bus time from cruise pier, ona narrow rutted road took almost as long as the actual tour, about 45 minutes. Hard to hear the tour guide due to the zip line noise. The zip lines were only a few feet feet away. Beach break consisted of visiting a semi-run down beach resort with a 15 foot wide beach. The water was practically touching the restaurant/bar area.

Review by:   Paige H,    February 2017
I chose this trip based on the other reviews....The bridges are in great shape and very safe. The hike is a decent one, not for the disabled or sedentary in any way. I was very excited to learn about the plants and animals...we got an understudy for our tour...had to drag the little information we got, out of him...he was very nice and took pictures for us though....It had rained the night before so most of the birds were in the top of the canopy not down in the middle where the bridges are...so if you can choose attendance based on weather.....The proximity of the zip lines and the noise that accompanies them may also be a deterrent for those looking for fauna. Our driver was super nice and very informative.

Review by:   melynda,    February 2017
Roatan is crazy! The hawkers are on you immediately. We are not told which port we are at when docking so the directions are confusing. We eventually did find our way. The jungle walk was interesting. We learned quite a bit about the local flora and fauna but the bridges were just man made objects, put in to make money from the cruisers. The second stop was quite odd. The beach was packed. Hawkers strolled the beach, every chair was taken by the time we got there, and the worst thing was that we were given only one ticket for one drink, either a local beer or a bottle of water. No other water was offered on this trip and it was very hot on the jungle walk, bring your own _br/_ for sure. We were unsure of prices to purchase other drinks or food as they seemed to offer three packages only. 10.00 got you the use _br/_ of a beach chair, if you could find one, another package got you a bit more and for 65.00 you could get food and unlimited drinks, but for us arriving at 1:00 and leaving 3:00 that was not an option. Overall, we were not impressed, did not go into the water at all, no snorkelling gear provided. Would recommend another tour.

Review by:   Peter H,    January 2017
The hanging bridges tour was interesting, although relatively short - about 30 minutes. The guide was knowledgeable about most of the plants and trees we were seeing, and their potential uses, both medicinal and culinary. Majority of the people who came off the ship were doing the zip-lines at the site, which took somewhat longer, so the tour operators provided separate transportation for the four of us to the beach. The beach was clean, with plenty of lounge chairs available, and what looked like good food we did not have any from the restaurant. Sandy beach did not offer great snorkelling, but that is no what we came for. Refreshing dip after the tour was great. _br/_ The tour provided three separate departures for the ship for those that wanted to stay longer or less. We took the early van, since we wanted to walk the town a bit before boarding the ship._br/_ The reason for 4 rather than 5 stars is that the Hanging Bridges tour could have been more in depth, with more thorough explanation of the jungle flora we were seeing, and more leisurely rather than the fast run through. There was plenty of time.

Review by:   Bonnie M,    January 2017
This tour is well worth doing. I was told the zip lining was good too. We skipped the beach and went right back to our ship._br/_ We love being on the ship while the majority are off doing their thing. Our guide spoke very fast and sometimes switched languages. The only part I didn't appreciate was at the end when she explained that she has to get up at 4:30 every morning and has 4 kids to feed and would appreciate a nice tip. On the other hand, there are probably people who think that they didn't need to tip I spose.

Review by:   bbp12,    December 2016
We had a great time walking the hanging bridges. Our guide was excellent....very friendly, knowledgeable, and paced the walk just right for my husband and myself... seniors who love to walk. There was only one other couple in our group. Nice!_br/_ The beach was gorgeous, food was great, reasonably pric

Review by:   Pamela I C,    November 2016
I enjoyed this tour. Small group makes the travel faster and personal. Guide was knowledgeable and attentive to all in the group. Observing rainforest from the walks was great and we were not hurried. Quite a few stairs going in and out but manageable even for two in our group who where challenged in this way. Would recommend, especially if some in your group are doing the zip line associated with this tour and you do not want to do the zip line.

Review by:   Marian I,    July 2016
We thoroughly enjoyed this excursion. However, know in advance that there are lots of steps. We were told that there were 197 steps going down and 187 going up. Of course, they are not all at once! We really liked having the time at the beach at a small resort afterwards. Just wish the excursion was longer, as we had such fun.

Review by:   Mike,    June 2016
We rode to the area where the tours start in a decent air conditioned minivan. Our guide was great. She was knowledgeable, took photos for everyone, and pointed out interesting plants and animals along the way. However, they packed all 15 of us plus the tour guide into a pickup truck for the ride back to the tour start point. We sat in the truck bed and there was not one inch of spare room. This was so uncomfortable, not to mention unsafe. It was a short ride, but I don't see why they couldn't have more than one truck or drive the minivan. We waited for a few others 10 minutes to ride over to the beach break portion. The beach is part of the Maya Princess resort property. It's a beautiful beach and was not crowded on the day we went. We were able to get beach chairs and enjoy the water. You get tickets for 2 drinks, which can be soda, water, imported or Honduran beers. The resort will not provide towels for you, so be sure to bring your own. There are no lockers, so try not to bring valuables or have someone to watch your things. We got back to the port with time to do some shopping. Overall, it was a good experience, although we wanted more time at the beach and will consider doing only the beach day if we return.

Review by:   Richard K,    May 2016
Nothing special....a taxi to some eco-site would be better

Review by:   primepretty,    April 2016
The tour was what we expected, our tour guide was knowledgeable and thorough while being friendly and attentive, I wish I remembered her name. Alex our driver was excellent and made sure we were ok the whole time. The beach vendors were persistent but you could still tell them no or bargain if you wanted to. If you want something easy going and like to enjoy nature and learning homeopathic remedies then this might work for you.

Review by:   DIANA MORRIS,    April 2016
Booked 3 excursions with Viator for our NCL Star vacation. I'm glad we did because with the cruise line was way too expensive and this one was definitely the best. I want to thank Charles and Ever, for_br/_ all their attentions through the whole day. The beach was the most beautiful of all the ports we visited clean and crystal clear. Would love to go back.

Review by:   Zhuo Z,    March 2016
Pro: The Hanging Bridge tour had a great guide and met my expectations.

Review by:   Merryl Y,    February 2016
Alvin was the van driver and narrator of Roatan while he drove us to the Hanging Bridges site. He was very humorous and informative._br/_ Ovania was the Hanging Bridges guide. She was an excellent guide and provided much information about the local flora and fauna. She had a lot of personal knowledge of the medicinal uses of the local flora. Overall, she was a very informative and enthusiastic guide in Roatan. The Hanging Bridges walk is only strenuous at the END of the tour when you walk up 80 steps to meet the transportation back to the Hanging Bridges/Zip-line center._br/_ The Beach Break portion was to the West Bay Beach, a private club, ocean front. We were offered a complimentary beverage when we arrived. Use of lounge chairs on the beach was complimentary. The beach itself was very nice with clear waters and fine white sand. Easy to swim, no large waves. _br/_ There was a shaded bar and lounge if you didn't want to go to the sandy beach. Drinks at the bar were reasonable - 3 USD for beer and 6 USD for an exotic drink.

Review by:   Butchie,    June 2015
Gr8 tour! Our guide was extremely knowledgable of all tropical plants, even those used for medicinal purposes, and so courteous! Excellent time!

Review by:   Leonard L,    June 2015
The Hanging bridges in Roatan was one of our cruise highlights! The guides were knowledgeable and courteous. I recommend this excursion for everyone. The beach break was very nice and offered a variety of options. My friend and I paid 20 each for a snorkling boat ride with guide out to the barrier reef. This was FANTASTIC!

Review by:   mpschull,    May 2015
This tour was great. Our tour guide Lonnie was wonderful. He took time to make sure everyone heard what he was pointing out. He also would send each couple ahead of him and take pictures of us with our cameras. He has s great sense of humor and is really knowledgeable about the area. The beach club we were taken to was very nice. Don't miss this tour if you are going to Roatan.

Review by:   T. G,    March 2014
Really enjoyed the walk. The tour guide told us about the various trees and what medical properties they had. Highly recommended.

Review by:   paul w,    November 2013
Exellent excursion very interesting and enjoyable , we had 1 guide to the 2 of us she just went through a bit fast.

All Traveler Reviews...