Roatán: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Little is known about life on Roatán before the arrival of European explorers in the 16th century, but the island was surely inhabited by AD 1000, and perhaps as early as AD 600.

English, French and Dutch pirates (including English buccaneer Henry Morgan) established hideaways here and used them as bases from which to launch raids on Spanish cargo vessels bound for Europe laden with gold and other treasures. By the mid-17th century as many as 5000 pirates were ensconced on Roatán.

In March 1782, after many attempts, the Spanish captured the town of Port Royal, killing most of the pirates and selling the rest off as slaves. Roatán remained unoccupied until 1797, when British marines dumped over 2000 Black Caribs there, the surviving participants of a massive uprising on the island of St Vincent. That group became known as the Garífuna, and Punta Gorda, where they settled, the first Garífuna village.

The island was controlled by the British until 1859, when it was finally ceded to Honduras.

Modern History

While some descendants of early British and Irish settlers still remain, the tourism boom attracted mainly Spanish-speaking Hondurans from the mainland. Developed as a holiday and dive site in the 1970s, Roatán has a bit of everything: budget and luxury hotels, independent dive shops and all-inclusive resorts, tangled mangroves and eco-parks, as well as activities for divers and non-divers alike. Beneath the clear turquoise waters is a trove of unbelievable riches: vibrant coral, massive sponges, multicolored fish and large pelagic species like manta rays, sea turtles and whale sharks.

Recent History

Historically, the reefs around the Bay Islands have been healthy and pristine, thanks to the low number of divers and inhabitants on the islands. But both of those numbers have increased dramatically in recent years, and the coral has begun to show signs of damage. So much so that, in 1998, the Honduran government invited the nonprofit Coral Cay Conservation to study the reef and propose solutions to sustaining it. Initiatives have now been adopted by island communities and businesses to secure the reef's health. So far, the effort is slowly working. It remains crucial - especially with even more divers expected (not to mention legions of snorkeler-toting cruise shippers) - for everyone to help preserve the coral reef.

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