Taxi
Sanctioned, zone-priced, USD
The two piers publish separate official rate sheets in USD. From Mahogany Bay: roughly $15 per person to West Bay or West End (2-pax minimum), $20 per cab to Coxen Hole or French Harbour. From Port of Roatán (Coxen Hole): about $20 for one passenger, $25 for two, to West Bay / West End / French Harbour. Confirm the number out loud before you get in; drivers may quote above the sheet, and the sheet wins. Stick to pier-sanctioned taxis, not flag-downs off the road.
Currency
Honduran Lempira; USD accepted
The local currency is the Lempira (HNL), but U.S. dollars are accepted by every taxi, dive shop, beach bar and shop a cruise passenger is likely to use. Bring small bills — change often comes back as a mix of USD and lempira. Card acceptance is patchy outside larger resorts; cash is faster everywhere.
Day trip
Stick to the tourist corridor
The Bay Islands are the safest part of Honduras and have visible tourist police, but the U.S. State Department keeps Honduras at Level 3 overall. In practice: West Bay, West End, Mahogany Bay and organized excursions are routine; wandering Coxen Hole on foot, hitching, or heading inland on your own is where advisories start to apply. Don't display valuables, and be back aboard well before dark.
Dock
Two piers, very different days
Carnival, Princess, Holland America and other Carnival Corp brands dock at Mahogany Bay (recently rebranded Isla Tropicale) — a private, fenced port with a beach, shops, restaurants and a chairlift. Royal Caribbean, NCL, MSC and most independents dock at Town Center pier in Coxen Hole, which is a working town pier with shops at the gate and taxis waiting outside. Both are walk-off; neither is tender.
Dive sites
Mesoamerican Reef wall dives
Roatán is on the same barrier reef as Cozumel and Belize — the second-longest in the world. Signature sites cluster off the west end (Mary's Place, West End Wall, Hole in the Wall) and run drift and wall dives in the 60–100 ft range. Multiple PADI dive shops in West End and West Bay run 1- and 2-tank cruise-day trips; cruise-line excursions also bundle pier-to-boat transfers.
Beach clubs
West Bay is the beach
West Bay Beach is the half-mile of white sand most cruise passengers come for, with a string of beachfront resorts and restaurants that sell day passes and chair-and-umbrella rentals. The reef is snorkelable directly from the south end of the beach. At Mahogany Bay, the on-property "Mahogany Beach" is a smaller private alternative reachable by chairlift or footpath from the pier.
