Roatan is Becoming an Important Transportation Hub

Roatan’s airport upgrade is just in time, as by 2030 Roatan’s airport passenger traffic is expected to expand to 260,000 domestic passengers and to 730,000 passengers flying internationally. “The aim is to position the airport as a modern, efficient, and safe terminal that boosts the economic and tourism development of the island region,” said Nadia Sagastume, communications manager at Roatan airport.

The budget for airport work is around 800 million Lps. ($30 million). “Honduran Company of Infrastructure and Airport Services (EHISA) acts as the contracting and managing entity, responsible for the supervision and comprehensive management of the transformation plan,” said Ayala.

This is the second time the Roatan airport received a major makeover. In 2013, InterAirports, a subsidiary of Honduran conglomerate Grupo Terra, completed an expansion and upgrade of the Roatan airport facilities. The expansion included a larger check-in area and an expansion of the customs and security areas.

The upgraded facility has a waiting area for 1,200 people, a new check-in lobby and 128 new parking spaces. The current airport was opened in 1995 and was designed to handle about 250,000 passengers. By 2025 it was handling twice that number.

The expansion should eventually include a new control tower and a new airport fire station. The runway expansion, to allow for bigger airplanes to land on the island, is being studied.

The very first flights to Roatan began arriving from La Ceiba in the 1930s. One of the oldest living islanders, Mrs. Amylee Elizabeth Collins Bennett, born May 14, 1927, in Thatch Point, remembers the first flight that arrived on Roatan’s Spring Garden not far from where the current airport terminal now is. It was around 1935; the plane was a TACA Stinson airplane capable of taking three to four passengers on a flight to La Ceiba.

There were regular flights to Roatan since 1964, but the unpaved runway had no airport building, just a wooden rain shelter. In the early 1990s, a Spanish consortium began work on building the Roatan airport that eventually opened in 1995. It also featured a 2,090-meter-long and 45-meter-wide asphalt runway. In the mid-1990s, the island was just beginning to be recognized as an international tourist destination, and there were few cruise ships.

Roatan’s airport has become a hub for international travel to the Bay Islands and the Honduran coast. There are daily maritime connections from nearby Dixon Cove that take passengers to Utila, Guanaja and La Ceiba. There are seven international airlines coming to Roatan: American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta, Avianca, Sunwing, TAG, Cayman Airways and Tropic Air. It is conceivable that RTB’s traffic can eventually match that of the Cayman Islands, which has half the population and over a million air passengers a year.

The theme of the Roatan’s TEDx was “Island Mosaic” and focused on island’s diversity of cultures, languages, and values. The organizers wanted to present the island as a diverse mosaic of peoples, languages, cultures and traditions. The event was an opportunity for both islanders and foreign island residents to talk about their passions and concerns.

TEDx first speaker was David Dashner, a developer of Kimpton Grand Roatan and founder of Abundant Life Foundation. He spoke about aligning purpose with enterprise to create a vibrant, strong individuals and projects.

Aligning purpose with enterprise.

West Bay’s Jay Jeter, an electrical engineer turned dive shop owner and underwater photographer spoke about his 15-hour-long dive marathon along Roatan’s western reef.

Kelvin Martinez – AKA DJ Galán, a Garifuna DJ and lawyer spoke about culture, creativity and legal systems create an environment susceptible to economic growth.

There was over two dozen TEDx event already organized in Honduras and several Roatan based individuals had presented their work. A 2012 TEDx event in Tegucigalpa featured Roatan residents Jenny Myton and Ian Drysdale who spoke about their Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) – Roatan based environmental non-profit. In 2017 Karl Stanley, a submariner and explorer, has given a presentation at San Pedro Sula TEDx about his extraordinary adventure of hiking up to Pico Bonito mountain. There is no license fee for any public, community-based TEDx event.

Cecil Kern Hyde Elwin was born on January 16, 1942 in his French Harbour parent’s home. Mrs. Dora Cooper, of Oak Ridge assisted with the birth. Little Kern was the third of four children. He had two older brothers: Mead and Allan, and a younger sister Judy Ann.

Kern, like other students, would walk barefoot to Mrs. Vera’s school, where he completed five grades. He would also attend the Honduran government school in the mornings. At 13, little Kern was sent to study in La Ceiba at “Los Hermanos Unidos en Cristo” that would later become known as Bethel Institute.

Mr. Kern spent time in La Ceiba when the town was thriving as a banana company town, one of the biggest such towns in Honduras. In the 1950s, La Ceiba was small, colorful and full of life. Standard Fruit company created its own self sufficient world with schools, churches, and a bowling alley.

Wednesdays and Saturdays were the mail delivery days.

At the time, the only link between La Ceiba and the rest of Honduras was the narrow gage Standard Fruit railway that weaved its way to Tela. Travelers venturing further would spend the night there and continue via the narrow gage of United Fruit railway to San Pedro Sula. These railways offered first and second class seating.

Back in Roatan, young Mr. Kern started helping his father with the family business – sea fright. The family’s workhorse vessel at the time was Judy, an 85 foot schooner built by Hersel Elwin. She would sail loaded with coconuts from French Harbour to Bonacca, pick up more coconuts there, and continue on to Miami. Sometimes the boat would go only seven miles an hour, arriving in the US after four or five days. On the way back Judy would bring US produced supplies for supermarkets in the Cayman Islands and finally return to French Harbour. The cycle would repeat itself every three weeks from August to January, when coconuts were most plentiful.

While working on Roatan Mr. Kern enrolled in a correspondence course at the American School in Chicago. He completed 16 educational units and received a coveted high school diploma.

The postal system was the lifeline for islanders back then. The mail offered a way to stay in touch with family in the US and communicate with businesses on the mainland. In the 1950s, the important title of French Harbour postmaster was carried by Tyson McNab. He had a room in the back of his home that would serve as the post office, available to weigh letters and sell stamps. Wednesdays and Saturdays were the mail delivery days, when a boat would arrive from La Ceiba. Mail was both efficient and affordable. An airmail letter mailed on Monday in Florida would arrive on Saturday on Roatan.

Mr. Kern’s passion and adventure with a video camera began when he was on a visit to Tampa in 1960. He purchased an 8mm Bell & Howell movie camera. From then on he began documenting the family and island life.

At 19, in 1961, Mr. Kern was appointed a captain on Judy. Not long after Mr. Kern switched to captain, the 120 foot long boat Altier that was both bigger and faster than Judy.

Young and handsome, Mr. Kern married Ruby Nood, a young lady he met at the Blue Wave bar on the Bonacca Cay. He was 21 years of age. The couple built a home in French Harbour and had four children together: Lisa, Jed, Joni and Jenna.

At 23, during Christmas 1964, Mr. Kern found himself with Altier in the Bahamas delivering a cargo of yucca. His crewmen were using gasoline to clean an area when a spark ignited a fire. The fire quickly spread through the entire ship. As the floor of the burning Altier gave way, one of the shipmates caught the arm of Mr. Kern and pulled him up to safety. The young captain almost lost his life.

The Hyde family was always looking to expand their family business. The year 1965 provided an opportunity to get into the shrimp business that was booming in Western Caribbean, and the family purchased two shrimp boats to get their feet wet. Their business peaked in 1978, when the Hyde family managed a fleet of 23 fishing boats.

Mr. Kern remembers the first investors who saw their future on Roatan: Roy Anderson on the far East end of Roatan, Harvey Mayer who opened an ice plant in Oak Ridge, and Mike Hold bridge in French Harbour.

As an energetic octogenarian, Mr. Kern spends his time between Roatan and Florida. Since 2010 he has worked at Hybur, the Hyde family business, in an advisory capacity. Mr. Kern feels most proud to have worked with his family.

In July Roatan Turned into a Fashion Runway Again

Several local families took part as models in the fashion event. First on the catwalk were Alejandra and Guillermo Colindres and their two children. “We decided to participate because we thought it would be a great opportunity to connect with the community and for our children to start experiencing how amazing the Roatán community really is,” said Guillermo Colindres.

Another modeling pair was Gary Chamer and his daughter Emily. “What surprised me most was how challenging modeling actually is and how much confidence and courage it takes,” said Emily Chamer. “It’s not just about walking down a runway, you have to focus on your posture, facial expressions, poses, and overall presence.”

It’s not just about walking down a runway.

Honduran fashion was represented by Dave Bodega, Abraham Pacheco, Bélgica Suárez, Rosyl Mejía, Vanessa Vallecillo, Kiandra Dixon and Roatan Vibes Boutique. There were also clothes from abroad — several Colombian fashion houses: Quimera, Eriko, Bless and Dulce Menta.

The catwalk took the models around the large infinity pool. All in all, 38 models participated in the two-day event.

The organizers of the Roatan Fashion Show were Patricia Valle Guilliams, the founder, and its director Margarita Gardeazabal. Guilliams organized the first edition of the event last year after moving to Roatan with her husband to retire in 2021. “My background in fashion is going shopping to the mall,” says Mrs. Patricia, who was born in San Pedro Sula and had a career as an educator in Missouri. “I love Honduras, I always wanted to move back,” said Patricia.

About 300 people attended the show at Watercolors, a 25-acre condominium and villas development on a property of rolling hills facing the Caribbean sunset coast at West Bay beach. “It was a first-event at Watercolors,” said Matt Cameron, owner of the development.

The following day, Sol y Mar became a fashion venue. The theme of the show for 2026 was “Fashion with Purpose” as it raised awareness and funds for Bay Islands Wings Foundation. The theme of the first edition of the event in 2025 was “Fashion Dressed in Solidarity,” raising funds for Clínica Esperanza.

Island Housing Development’s Past and Future

The business of developing housing units on Roatan is booming. Roatan is already dotted with housing developments, as from the tip of West Bay to the end of Camp Bay there are over 70 housing communities. While the biggest ones like Coral Views Village, Parrot Tree Plantation and Lawson Rock have over 100 house lots each, there are plenty of small developments with as few as three houses.

Housing developments on the island come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Mostly they are residential housing communities, but there are also condominiums, residential resorts and subdivisions. The construction trend is picking up. According to Steve Hasz, owner of Roatan Life Real Estate, there are approximately 12 new developments that broke ground since 2023.

While many of those are luxury and high-end projects, many are affordable and middle income. In general, gated housing communities in Honduras are not only for the wealthy and foreigners. In large urban areas like San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa and La Ceiba, all sorts of housing developments are surrounded by walls and their entry points are guarded. Roatan now has several affordable gated communities that were developed over the past few decades: Roatan Uno and Los Sueños are examples of some of those.

Henwood’s project didn’t provide underground utilities and didn’t have Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs), a Home Owners Association or gated access. Brick Bay Colonia served as an example for others that came later.

These days a housing community being “gated” could mean many things on the island. A couple dozen communities indeed have a gate and a guardhouse at points of entry. Many, however, just have a watchman, or a watchman who doubles as a gardener, a pool boy and a beach cleaner. “Often a gardener would also clean the beach and take care of the pool. I’d call those ‘gated’ communities,” says Steve Hasz, owner of Roatan Life real estate brokerage.

The reality of living in Honduras is different than in the U.S., but increasingly less so. “In North America, I wouldn’t live in a ‘gated’ community. Here I have and do,” says Hasz, who has been living on the island since the mid-1990s. “Since the taxes are so low, the municipality doesn’t provide the same level of infrastructure and security that is provided in North America. Having good services and someone keeping an occasional eye on the neighborhood is a good thing and gives me peace of mind.” What attract people to the island is the climate, nature and culture, but what makes them build a home is the security.

In the mid-1990s Roatan was a different place. The beaches were virgin, forests unspoiled and plentiful. What were not so plentiful were paved roads, or heavy equipment and materials to construct them.

It took a few years for things to fall into place, but the island gradually became an attractive place not only for adventurous home buyers, but for more mainstream foreign and mainland homeowners. Roatan got its daily ferry connection with La Ceiba in 1994, an airport was opened in 1995, the road to West Bay was cut in 1992, and around 1996 Honduras’ National Port Authority (ENP) inaugurated a dock that could be used by cruise ships.

The mid-1990s was also the beginning of the housing boom for the island, and the first movers had an uphill battle. Housing developers that came to Roatan at that time were American, Honduran and Canadian. Those development pioneers were John Edwards with Parrot Tree Plantation and Mayan Princess, Ricardo Maduro with Big Bight Resort and Villas, David Sellon with Lawson Rock and Kent Owenby with Palmetto Bay Plantation.

Historically, many Roatan developers were not professional developers but people from all kinds of different backgrounds — doctors like Dr. Henwood and Dr. Don Goin, a retired surgeon; architects like David Sellon and Gary Chamer; Herb Morici, a telemarketing executive; and Kent Owenby, a banking executive. Hasz says that developers on Roatan come from many different backgrounds. “You have a mix of North Americans, Europeans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans, and mainland Hondurans,” says Hasz.

Historically, developers have financed their projects themselves, with family capital or savings. They would start with their own money, then look for a Honduran bank to loan them additional funds. Subsequent phases of housing projects would be financed by sales of lots and condominiums. “Lawson Rock Phase 1 is an example of that, where all the first amenities were put in place at the developer’s cost, and then 40 of the first lots sold in less than two years,” says Hasz, who also lives and works in the development. “That system works much better because a buyer is not waiting on promised amenities like underground power, paved roads, pools, docks, etc.”

Mid 1990s was the beginning of the boom.

Hasz says that housing developers on the island can be divided into three groups: landowners trying to monetize their land, hospitality operators adding residences, and investors reacting to demand. Developers thrive, or fail because of financing. Many times, developments are financed by the developer initially putting in some funds and starting the development, then proceeding in phases and making improvements based on income from sales of lots and condominiums. Some developers who arrived on the island in the last 10 years are better funded and build infrastructure prior to first sales.

Over the last 30 years the success of developers of gated housing developments on Roatan depended on several factors. Sometimes it was just the timing of the project as far as the economy in the U.S. or a political events in Honduras. The 2008 economic crisis in the U.S. and the 2009 Honduran coup put a nail in the coffin of several housing projects. The government-imposed lockdowns of 2020 weren’t much help either, and many developers struggled. So it is sometimes luck, and often the skill and determination of the developer to handle adversity and stress over the long process of developing a project.

One of the more successful longtime Roatan developers is Henrik Jensen, a Dane who has lived and developed projects in Cayos Cochinos, Utila and Roatan since the mid-1990s. With Adam Gram, a fellow Dane, he developed Coral Views Village, a gated community that launched in 2014. His 120-acre, 240-house-lot project overlooks French Key and is by far the biggest such project on the island. Coral Views lots were originally sold for between $39,000 and $150,000. “First year alone we sold 80 lots,” Jensen recalls of the sales boom. He believes that the key to his success was not taking bank financing for the development.

Jensen is currently developing the Sanctuary project near Crawfish Rock and Sea Cliffs, a 120-lot development on Utila’s northern shore. As one of the veteran developers on the island, Jensen sees housing developments on the island evolving to offer a different product. “It will be smaller land lots, but high-end facilities,” says Jensen. “The infrastructure costs are too expensive.” Roads, culverts and underground power cost much more to bring to lots that are 0.15 acres than 1 acre.

Over the last 30 years a typical house lot in a development has gotten smaller. Since the 1990s land prices have risen dramatically, and that is reflected in the size of lots offered by developers trying to make a profit and keep lot prices affordable. There are some island developments that offer lots as small as 0.1 acre and as large as one acre. “Realtors typically recommend not going below one-fifth of an acre (0.2 acre), since lower density puts less pressure on our infrastructure,” says Hasz. The smallest lots barely leave enough room for a septic system.

While location is very important to the success of a development, island developments vary greatly in this regard. Some housing projects have been built on beaches at a considerable distance from main roads. Other projects are bisected by the main island road and are built on steep 45-degree slopes. Some offer sea views from home sites while others are more urban and offer limited views.

From a homeowner’s perspective, “a successful development will foster an environment of peace with little conflict and a sense of community for the neighborhood,” says Hasz. To attract home buyers, larger projects provide a host of amenities: beach access, community pools, a restaurant or a gym.

Many housing developments, to keep things orderly and preserve home values, have organized themselves into homeowners associations. “In general, developed HOAs here are not a profit center, but are a way for the residents to share costs to get better services,” says Hasz.

The basics, such as community wells, paved roads and underground electric power, come at a price, and homeowners have to pay a monthly fee — somewhere between $200 and $350 — to pay for security, water and maintenance.

There are also many island developments that have very low HOA fees, or even no fees at all. The homeowners in a community pay to fix roads or make improvements by contributing to a fund as those expenses arise.

After the initial wave of developments in the mid-1990s, a second wave of developers came to the island in the mid-2000s. The island was already on the map of international airlines, and cruise ships were starting to come as well. These included Keyhole Bay, Oceano, Westin and Nikki Beach. In some ways those projects struggled more than projects that were started in the 1990s. The 2008 financial crisis and the 2009 Honduras political upheaval took their toll on the island economy.

One issue that proved to be the downfall of several large housing developments on the island was almost predatory lending practices by some Honduran banks. The high interest rates, quick repayment requirements and use of land as collateral created a situation where half-built projects were taken over by the banks that made loans that were almost repaid. Those banks are under little pressure to sell those assets, and after decades without proper maintenance, several once-luxury projects deteriorated to the point of being uninhabitable, leaving investors who had purchased units with nothing.

Developers thrive or die because of financing.

Banks like Atlántida and FICOHSA now own large failed developments such as Big Bight Resort, Oceano and Westin in Neverstain Bight. These parcels of land, sometimes partially developed, tie up the best seafront land on the island. They temper, for better or for worse, the development of the island. The banks hold on to several hundred acres of some of the best land on Roatan and don’t feel much pressure to sell, holding on to them for decades.

The key to his success was not taking bank financing.

Maduro’s Big Bight

There were a handful of Honduran developers associated with the Big Bight Resort and Villas, but the most famous was Ricardo Maduro, president of Honduras’ Central Bank at the time and future Honduran president.

The north-side project broke ground in 1996 and sold 11 lots before going bust. Lot prices started at $35,000 and were generous in size — from a quarter-acre to two acres. The project had a boat harbor, a marina restaurant and a tennis court. Two homes were constructed, but Honduran politics had an impact on the project. When Maduro became the country’s president in 2002, the project took a back seat to his other priorities.

A quarter-century later the wooden structures fell apart or were taken by locals as building materials. The asphalt tennis court and the harbor are holding on, however. FICOHSA bank owns the property and is currently looking for a buyer.

A quarter-century later the wooden structures fell apart or were taken by locals as building materials. The asphalt tennis court and the harbor are holding on, however. FICOHSA bank owns the property and is currently looking for a buyer.

Lawson Rock

The original 133 acres of Lawson Rock was purchased for $2.5 million by developer David Sellon and his Colorado Springs associates Jon and Scott Campbell of Campbell Homes. The project took off in the late 1990s, and by the 2000s Lawson Rock was considered one of the more exclusive developments. Lawson Rock is set in Sandy Bay’s rolling hills on 107 acres. It has 103 land lots, eight sea lots and 23 condominiums. Many people consider it to be the best-designed development on the island.

Palmetto Bay

In 1996, Palmetto Bay was called Plantation and was developed by Kent Owenby. Bill Brady, a North Carolina architect who has lived on Roatan since 1972, laid out the community’s first roads and designed several of the first homes there. “I’ve never seen so many snakes and scorpions in my life,” Brady recalls his initial work in Palmetto. In 1998, a group from Denver, Colorado, headed by architect Gary Chamer bought out the 14-acre project and things picked up even more. Chamer purchased two adjacent land parcels and the community gradually grew in the 2000s.

Palmetto Bay’s remote location, at the end of a dirt road accessible from Sandy Bay and French Harbour, was marketed as ecological and authentic. That location also filtered and attracted potential home buyers. Those who did purchase the large, minimum half-acre lots there were people who had a sense of adventure and pioneering in their hearts. There was a British polar explorer, a windsurfing pioneer, retired Vermont farmers and a rock-and-roll musician who was arrested following the Jan. 6, 2021, events at the U.S. Capitol.

Since 2019 the community has had a paved road and is thriving. Currently Palmetto Bay has 61 house lots and 27 bungalows, with another 14 bungalow homes planned for a total of 102 residences.

Developers on Roatan come from many different backgrounds.

Las Palmas

Las Palmas was developed by Kent Owenby in the late 1990s. Eventually Banco Atlántida took over the project, and for a decade or so it lay in limbo. Now, like Roatan Uno, the property is owned by Italian businessman Massimo Mazzone. Mazzone is based in San Pedro Sula and owns Central American Consulting & Capital. Las Palmas also has a small hotel, is an almost daily cruise ship destination, and 50 luxury homes are being planned for development.

Mazzone is also the person behind Honduras’ second ZEDE project — Ciudad Morazán, a manufacturing and housing project outside of Choloma, Cortés. It was the second of three ZEDE projects set up in Honduras, after Roatan’s Próspera and before Orquídea, an agro-industrial ZEDE located in Choluteca.

Keyhole Bay

When it broke ground in 2003, Keyhole Bay joined some of the first gated communities. There were only a handful of those 20 years ago. Dan Taylor was Keyhole Bay’s developer. “A lot of people come here and are looking for like-minded people. People of similar interests, someone who can help them,” said Taylor. Keyhole Bay had 23 roughly one-third-acre lots and Taylor eventually built 20 of a planned 56 condominiums.

As developer of Keyhole Bay, Taylor had to ensure that standards of design and construction were being met. “The first house was so poorly built that it was torn down before it was finished,” says Taylor. “It was condemned.” This decision ensured that the following homes were built well, and their owners had confidence in preserving value of their investment.

The 2008 economic crisis and the Zelaya presidential coup of 2009 hit the island hard. Things got difficult financially for many developers. In 2012, Keyhole Bay was taken over by Atlántida Bank.

Looking back, Taylor, an owner of four engineering service companies on Roatan, thinks he made some key strategic mistakes that cost him his development. “I was foolish,” says Taylor. “I put in my money and kept reinvesting every bit of profit instead of taking money out as profit.” He feels he overexposed himself in one investment.

Santamaría

This housing community was launched in 2004. While never meant to be a gated community, it was nonetheless a tight-knit neighborhood with its own consensus built rules and ethos. The originator of the project was Elmer Santamaría, a teacher and currently a municipal councilman at the Roatan Municipality. Santamaría contacted FUNDEVI, a nonprofit that helped finance low-income housing on the Honduran mainland. He found a 10-acre piece of land in Dixon Cove, and the site was divided into 138 home sites. The 10-meter-by-12-meter lots with a small house structure were sold for $3,000. Now some of them cost almost that much per square foot.

Pristine Bay

Roatan’s first golf course community was developed by Guatemalan-based North Shore Development Company, headed by Victor Enrique Toriello and Luis Pedro Toriello Passarelli.

While initially the development was going well, it stumbled and was taken over by Atlántida bank in 2018. A couple of years later it was purchased by Próspera. Even with those changes, house lot prices in Pristine Bay have not held up well. The original million-dollar house lots from 2008 are sometimes selling for around $300,000.

Flowers Bay, too

There is one gated housing community in Flowers Bay and it is unique on the entire island. Los Sueños is an affordable income housing development that provided an opportunity for working-class Hondurans to own a piece of the island.

The community is a project of David Dashner, a Texas entrepreneur who developed the Kimpton Grand Roatan. In order to launch the project, 180 families were interviewed for the first 25 houses. While the 500-square-foot houses were appraised at $30,000, the families only had to pay a fraction of that sum over 20 years. The project formally opened in 2022.

Los Sueños has its own gated security and is also a good neighbor to the people of Flowers Bay. It offers them free access to a children’s playground, a basketball court and a library.

Northview

NorthView is an example of one of the new projects that have launched on the island in the last couple of years. The plan is to create a community of 250-300 homes on 100 acres centered around a beach and a nine-hole, par-3 golf course. The project is being built by Grupo Innovar, a Siguatepeque-based development and engineering company. Innovar is one of several mainland developers that have come to Roatan since 2022.

In 2026 there is plenty of room for developing housing communities on the island. Roatan offers an environment that more developed Caribbean destinations don’t have. They either never had it or lost it. Some became overdeveloped like Cancún, others lack authenticity like the Cayman Islands, some are politically untouchable like Cuba or Nicaragua, or unsafe like Jamaica. “Typically, our buyer demographic is people who are moving away from areas like Cancún and Miami and are looking for a more old Caribbean island experience,” says Steve Hasz.

There are some obvious opportunities and large niches in housing development. One local developer is looking to create a “Blue Zone” development — a housing project that integrates ideas of longevity, active movement, community connection and purpose. “This development could be a type of eco-development with solar power, native landscaping, passive cooling, and low-maintenance materials,” says Hasz.

Roatan is ready for more and better-planned communities that fit the island’s geography and demographics. There is room for several niche housing communities — people of similar interests, similar value systems, and older adults who want an alternative to what they can find in the U.S., Canada or Europe.

Developers on Roatan come from many different backgrounds.

Another niche still unexplored on the island is an assisted living housing development. As the level of health care and health services for the elderly has improved, the island has become a place where people in their late 70s and 80s can consider living.

The audios were published in April 2026 by website hondurasgate.ch and Spain’s Canal Red. The audios are conversations between eight Honduran political figures — current and former Honduran presidents, a Liberal Party leader, a congress president and others.

The leaked audio files come from messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram, as well as two phone calls. They were supposedly recorded between January and April 2026, but it is not clear who managed to intercept these conversations. The ability to capture audio from not just one, but several encrypted messaging systems belongs in the sphere of large national players. Clandestine services that have the interest and capability to conduct such operations are national security agencies such as the NSA, CIA or Mossad, or a combination of those. China’s MSS, Britain’s MI6 or Russia’s FSB don’t have a stake in this game.

While at least two of the people in the recordings denied having those conversations, an audio analysis of three of the audios done by Earshot concluded that they are likely authentic. It could also be true that only some of the recordings are authentic, in part or entirely falsified. That is part of the clandestine statecraft conducted by players who choose political candidates on the left and right.

It is also quite possible that JOH himself, prompted by his handlers, recorded and distributed those audios as part of a destabilizing, manipulative PSYOP aimed at chilling, desensitizing and bringing a sense of inevitability to the Latin American public.

That is part of the clandestine statecraft.

The methods described in the audios are disinformation campaigns targeting the leftist governments of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. The recordings have JOH telling President Nasry Asfura about setting up a disinformation strategy coordinated by Washington and funded also with Honduran money and funds from Argentina’s Javier Milei. “We’re going to set up an informational cell from the USA. Dossiers are coming against Mexico, against Colombia, and against the Zelaya family,” says JOH in the audios.

Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro and Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum have commented on the recordings, treating them as legitimate. The first results of targeting the leftist presidents are already in. On June 21, Colombia’s Petro lost his presidential reelection bid to Abelardo de la Espriella, a pro-Israel and pro-U.S. Candidate.

The Hondurasgate audio transcripts include explicit references to using violence and “eliminating” political opposition, with Hernández describing the operation as an effort to “extirpate the cancer of the left.” These tactics are akin to Operation Condor from the 1970s and ‘80s. JOH is only in a position to undertake these actions because he is not in jail serving a 45-year sentence for his drug smuggling crimes. According to the Hondurasgate recordings, Trump’s pardoning of the former Honduran president was orchestrated by Israel.

This would make sense, as Hernández has proved himself Israel’s staunch backer by moving the Honduran embassy to Jerusalem, buying millions in Israeli arms and, in 2015, telling an audience of the World Jewish Congress that “as long as I am president, Honduras will stand behind Israel.” Also, according to El Heraldo, just prior to his extradition to the U.S. on drug charges in 2021, JOH and his family converted to Judaism. The timing of this conversion, prior to his trial and conviction, made him eligible for help from the Jewish state. Ultimately, and according to his words in the recording, he received it.

JOH’s relationship with Israel began when, as a young man in the early 1990s, Hernández traveled to Israel under the auspices of Mashav, the Israeli Agency for International Development. Since 1957, Mashav has trained around 350,000 professionals from over 140 countries. This cadre of officials can be counted on for help when Israel needs it. Facts and leaked recordings suggest that Hernández has become an Israeli asset in Honduras and now in Miami.

Another interesting portion of the Hondurasgate audios refers to the use of Honduran Evangelical churches so that “people forget the past.” The CIA, and more recently Israel, has promoted Evangelical churches as a tool in fighting communists and liberation theology Catholics since the 1950s.

Not that Catholic Hondurans have been particularly resistant, either. Israel has captured — or at least kept silent — even the leaders of Honduras’ Palestinian community. The top presidential candidates in 2025 Honduran elections were both Catholic Palestinians. While President Nasry Asfura’s and Salvador Nasralla’s grandparents hail from or around Bethlehem, both politicians have remained silent on Israel’s genocide in Gaza, killing of their Christian kinsmen, and the destruction of churches in the West Bank.

The audio files also refer to allowing for the enlargement of U.S. military presence and handing over some Honduran infrastructure to multinational companies such as General Electric. Multiple fronts of interest for the U.S. and Israel are mentioned in the Hondurasgate audios: the U.S. Palmerola military base, the dry canal and Roatan’s ZEDE. “We’re going to create another Palmerola in Roatan,” a voice attributed to President Asfura is heard in one of the recordings. Indeed island of Roatan is a growing battleground in this operation. Roatan’s Próspera and its Satuyé Port in La Ceiba have a legal and fiscal framework that exempts them from some Honduran national laws. This is a significant asset for Próspera and its funders at Pronomos Capital.

Pronomos Capital billionaires Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen are bankrolling several charter city projects around the world — Paxis in Greenland and Itana in Nigeria, for example. Not by chance, Pronomos Capital was named after a mythological satyr and servant to Dionysus, the Greek god of ritual madness. Thiel’s and Andreessen’s objectives align with those of the Dionysian figure of Trump and with Israel. Pronomos Capital, like Pronomos the satyr, ultimately serves more powerful individuals and interests. Their individual projects in biotech, AI, crypto and trans humanism are aligned with those of the oligarchs and take advantage of the usefulness of physical space that Próspera, and by extension Roatan, offers.

Hernández has become an Israeli asset in Honduras and now Miami.

Several things can be expected in the period ahead for the pro-Israel Honduran president. Honduras will not vote against Israel in any U.N. resolution. It will escalate purchases of Israeli military hardware and implement Israeli training of its military and police. Through that training, Israel’s aggressive treatment of Palestinians will look less and less like an outlier.

It is Israel, not China or Russia, that is turning into a Latin American hegemon, using the U.S. as a proxy and its clandestine agencies as its tools. The domino effect of Israeli politics has had its first dominoes fall, with Honduras, Argentina, Guatemala and Panama. It certainly appears that governments not supportive of the joint Israeli-U.S. interest in Latin America are to be undermined and eliminated. Cuba and Nicaragua are on that list as well.

A more recent example of this type of operation is the kidnapping and deposition of Venezuela’s anti-Zionist, pro-Iran president Nicolás Maduro. In Honduras, the unfortunate “not pro-Israel enough” candidate Nasralla fell victim to that dynamic in the November 2025 electoral coup.

The Honduran public is largely oblivious and at best confused regarding Israeli plans for their country and the region. The controlled mainstream press remains mostly silent about the recordings, which are a major story either way — whether they are authentic, partially authentic or a fabrication by bad actors.

In 2026, around 11 million Hondurans live in the country, and another 900,000 live abroad, primarily in the U.S. and Spain. About 154,000 Catrachos are born each year, and while the Honduran median age has fallen drastically, it still stands at 25. Both Honduras and Roatan have a youthful, energetic population.

Several demographic models project that by 2050, Honduras will have around 17 million people. That population increase, especially in an aging developed world, will give Honduras significantly more clout and geopolitical influence.

With 2.4 children per Catracha, Honduras stands in stark contrast to the collapsing native populations of Europe, the U.S., Japan and South Korea. South Korea now has a birth rate of 0.8 children per woman. The average in Spain is now 1.1 children, and U.S.-born women have an average of 1.7 children. These numbers are well below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman.

Also the divergence in birth rates dynamics is staggering. An average age of a first time mother in Spain is 32, while in Honduras it is 20. Western World birth rate implosion phenomena created an opportunity for Honduras and Roatan. At the same time the island grew, developed and has become an attractive place to live.

The definition of a “native” Roatan islander has evolved.

Roatan has relied on migrants and immigrants for economic growth and to maintain the skill sets necessary to do so. The proximity to mainland Honduras, with its 11 million people, created coast-to-island migration from departments of Atlántida, Colón and Yoro. The higher-skilled management positions on the island are filled by natives of Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba. That is where the majority of the island’s service-sector managers, doctors and lawyers hail from.

While historically islanders have been looking for job opportunities in the U.S. or at sea since the early 20th century. Many have left the island and settled in the U.S. or worked for banana companies on the mainland. That has changed. Roatan will likely continue demographic trends that have appeared here over the past 25 years and have strengthened in the past five.

Given wage disparities and job opportunities, mainland Hondurans have been moving to Roatan in significant numbers since the 1990s. The boom in the construction sector, tourism and service industries, security companies employing thousands of workers, and even seafood processing plants has attracted mainlanders to Roatan with the prospect of a better economic future.

What Roatan’s population will look like in 2050 is starting to emerge. The growth will continue, or more likely, it will oscillate, much as it has over the past 25 years. Roatan had three periods of stagnation this century: the 2008 U.S. financial crisis, the 2009 Honduran presidential coup and its aftermath, and the 2020-21 COVID-19 lockdowns. It also suffered under some incompetent, corrupt mayors in both Roatan municipalities who made many poor policy decisions and practically brought the island economy to a standstill.

I estimate that around 115,000 people live permanently on Roatan for six months or longer. This estimate is based on observations of RECO peak power demand, overall business trends and population shifts. The estimate is not scientific, but it is meant to be an educated guess. Since the government does not conduct such surveys, and its once-a-decade censuses are tragically inaccurate, I did my best to provide a rough estimate.

The island population will likely continue to grow by around 2.5%, or 2,870 people a year, or eight people a day. That would put Roatan’s population at 190,000 by 2050, assuming growth barely one percentage point above Honduras’ national average of 1.5%. If that percentage rises to a realistic 3%, we are looking at 210,000 people living on Roatan, Santa Helena and Barbareta. By that time, the currently uninhabited island of Morat might even have a few residents.

The ethnic demographic trends will likely continue as they have over the past years. The number and percentage of mestizo mainlanders will continue to grow, and they probably account for about 50,000 to 60,000, or half of the island’s current population.

The Garifuna population, now about 4,000, will grow slightly but lose its percentage share of the island’s total population. The Black, English-speaking islander population, currently about 30,000, will likely continue growing slowly. The White native islander population, now about 3,000, will likely maintain its numbers.

Roatan had three periods of stagnation this century.

The populations moving to Roatan in the greatest numbers are from the Honduran mainland. While Hondurans from all 17 mainland departments live here, some departments and populations are heavily over represented. The population of about 7,000 Miskito Indians living on Roatan, also known as Waikna, will likely double. That is due to two factors: Miskito birth rates of about three to four children per woman, which exceed those of other ethnic groups, and continued migration from Gracias a Dios Department to the island.

The Miskito live in Honduras’ most economically challenged and undeveloped department. They are also hardworking, skillful workers. They work in security, service and construction. They do not expect high living standards, as they come from very basic circumstances on the Miskito Coast. They also help one another and readily offer a place to stay to cousins who come to Roatan looking for work. In fact, the Miskito language on Roatan surpassed the prevalence of the Garifuna language several years ago and is now the third-most widely spoken language on the island.

The foreign population residing on Roatan will likely grow due to migration from the U.S., Canada and, increasingly, Europe. These island residents of European descent currently number around 6,000, but that figure will likely double. Their numbers are growing by a couple hundred each year. As life in many parts of Europe and North America becomes increasingly uncomfortable, and life on Roatan more comfortable, that migration trend should accelerate.

The “retirement” and “adventure” immigrants come here in their 60s. The vast majority of them don’t have children on the island and return to their country of origin in their late 70s and 80s. While many will likely eventually return to their country of origin, Roatan will increasingly offer hospice and home hospital care for those who decide to live out their old age here.

The definition of a “native” Roatan islander has evolved for centuries. From about 1,000 AD to around 1650, native islanders were the Paya Indians. Today, most people living on Roatan do not even know who Paya were.

Then, for about 50 years, from 1797 through the 1840s, the “native” islanders were the Garifuna. From the 1840s to the 1990s, Roatan’s “natives” were island-born White, Black and Garifuna residents. In the 1990s, mestizo migration from the Honduran mainland took off, and by around 2015, “native” islanders had become a minority. One thing that never changes on Roatan is that the island constantly evolves.

Kilotonnes of Seaweed become a Curse to Many, a Resource to a Few

You can look at the Sargassum overabundance as a curse, and you can also look at it as a blessing. In February, when millions of cubic meters of Sargassum washed onto beaches and mangroves along the Roatan shoreline, many islanders took action. Others did nothing at all. After two months, the results are in.
The winter of 2026 broke records, creating a Sargassum bloom never before seen at this scale in the western Caribbean. The 2025 Sargassum biomass was estimated at 37 million tons, but this year will surely smash the record once the tally is in.

The extraordinarily large bloom is attributed to wind-driven upwelling in the Atlantic, which brought extra nutrients to the Sargassum belt.
On Roatan, two species of Sargassum have wreaked havoc: Sargassum natans and Sargassum fluitans have been washing up. Sargassum is a type of brown macroalgae, or seaweed, that grows in the Atlantic and is pushed eastward by wind onto the shores of islands and continents. Things get out of hand when Sargassum quantities become 50 or 100 times greater than in a typical year.

The Sargassum Impact

Sargassum disrupts ecosystems, creates a foul odor and traps tiny fish. The seaweed depletes oxygen in the surrounding water. As it breaks down and decomposes, Sargassum produces hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, resulting in a low pH level. This further harms the aquatic environment and the animals that live there. The result is the creation of dead zones under and around floating, decomposing Sargassum.

In other words, Sargassum degrades water quality and makes the marine environment inhospitable. The number of species and the density of marine life drop. Once Sargassum leaves the island’s coast, the true scale of those negative effects can be assessed. When Sargassum envelops mangrove areas, it also stifles local fish species that use mangroves as nurseries.

Another negative effect is the microplastics that are brought in by the Sargassum. The pieces of Sargassum float hundreds of meters from beaches, and swimming or snorkeling can be a less pleasant experience.

There are a few benefits of this seaweed for critters that feed on it. Sargassum provides a rich environment for organisms such as bacteria and fungi, which grow on decomposing plant matter, breaking it down and turning it into nutrients. Some fish, including juvenile triggerfish and filefish, feed on the invertebrates that live with the Sargassum. Tiny amphipods and isopods graze on the decaying Sargassum, and those, in turn, become food for crabs and fish.

There are examples of such events in the recent past. In 2018, Mexico’s Caribbean coast was so inundated with Sargassum that it caused a die-off of dozens of animal species. This year, Sargassum has overwhelmed Roatan’s beaches, and the island’s marine life has been hit hard.

While Roatan is about 42 kilometers long, its meandering shoreline stretches well over 160 kilometers. Tens of millions of cubic meters of Sargassum have washed ashore on Roatan.

WEST BAY UNDER SARGASSUM SIEGE

On Feb. 9 and 10, the situation got out of control. As rainy weather kept most West Bay tourists from going to the beach, Roatan’s premier beach shore was packed with Sargassum. West Bay, the jewel of Roatan tourism, has been affected as never before. The 1,000-meter-long beach was surrounded by a belt of Sargassum that was 100 meters wide and half a meter thick.

Local authorities became preoccupied with solving the immediate problem of Sargassum affecting the beach experience for thousands of tourists visiting the jewel of Roatan. They felt they needed to act quickly, and that solution was to truck the Sargassum to dumping sites across the western side of the island and bury the rest under the white beach sand with heavy machinery and plenty of manpower.

Sargassum has been racked by hand by dozens of municipal workers, wheel barrowed onto trucks and dumped by the side of West Bay Road and at the municipal dump. Paya Magazine calculates that more than 300,000 cubic meters of Sargassum were removed from West Bay Beach in the winter of 2026.

While covering tons of Sargassum directly beneath two meters of white West Bay sand seemed to solve the aesthetic problem in a matter of days, as with many quick decisions, the unintended consequences might take several months or years to be realized. “Burying the Sargassum on a white sandy beach like West Bay can result in changing the color of the sand over time,” said Darrell Humphries, HOA manager at Palmetto Bay since 2016. “If you start placing Sargassum there, you can end up with darker, browner-colored sand eventually.”

According to Humphries, turtle grass and spaghetti grass, with their high calcium content, eventually turn into sand, but Sargassum turns into a solid, darker material. “Sargassum is a darker type of product once it is broken down,” Humphries says. “It’s empirical, a lot of observational stuff we have learned over time.”

Another potential unintended consequence of burying Sargassum under a relatively narrow and steep West Bay Beach is the potential to speed up beach erosion. While burying Sargassum along West Bay Beach has given beach users a wider and taller beach, that effect could be only temporary.

Sargassum blocks sunlight reaching both coral and sea grass.

The higher beach will erode more quickly from currents and storms in the coming months, and perhaps a year or two. The waterlogged, spongy Sargassum will eventually be compressed into a minuscule layer of brown solids. When the currents finish their equalizing work and the Sargassum compression process ends, West Bay Beach might be narrower and lower. The beautiful beach might be less wide after Sargassum floated into West Bay in February 2026.

BEYOND WEST BAY

While the attention of Roatan Municipality authorities focused resources and manpower on tourist areas such as West Bay and West End, the rest of the island was left to fend for itself. The communities of Punta Gorda and Brick Bay were particularly affected by the tons of decomposing, foul-smelling seaweed.

Some places have had it worse than others. In the Brick Bay community, the Sargassum has been accumulating and decomposing for more than six weeks. Several hundred people live in this densely populated south side seaside village.

As older seaweed decomposes, new waves of Sargassum wash ashore, replacing it. The stench of rotting Sargassum is similar to that of a failed septic system. While no one has become ill, constant exposure to the stench of decomposing Sargassum has been stressful and miserable. “People are getting accustomed. In their homes, the smell seems less strong,” said Ricardo Hernández, a longtime Brick Bay resident.

The Honduran Navy has considered bringing in a floating barrier to prevent more Sargassum from floating into Brick Bay. The most likely outcome is that the problem will solve itself naturally. Nature will take away what nature has created. “We are waiting for a northern that would move the Sargassum out to sea,” says Hernández, whose Brick Bay home is 15 meters from the sea.

SARGASSUM AS A RESOURCE

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, goes the proverbial phrase. The ideal situation would be to treat Sargassum as a periodic resource: a fertilizer, a building material for roads and landfills, and even an element for creating building blocks.

In Mexico, local entrepreneurs have found a way to turn Sargassum into a construction material. They gather Sargassum from beaches, and then wash it with fresh water to remove the salt. Next, the Sargassum is dried and shredded, and a cement mixture is added. The rectangular Sargassum building blocks are then dried in the sun. The resulting Sargassum-cement blocks are strong, fire-resistant, thermally massive and inexpensive.

On Roatan, some islanders have been using Sargassum as fertilizer for well over a decade. They pick up the seaweed from the beaches, rinse it with fresh water, and then spread it around the base of their fruit trees. “We let it dry out and put it all over the plants,” said Richard Anderson, a hotel owner from West End. “It’s like Popeye when you give him spinach.” Anderson rinses the Sargassum and then dries it out before using it all over his property.

There are also islanders who use Sargassum as a construction material and landfill material. Over the years, the Palmetto Bay maintenance staff has become expert at quickly gathering Sargassum from the beach and using it for improvements in community areas.

Islanders have been using Sargassum as a fertilizer.

Palmetto Bay maintenance staff has been using washed-out Sargassum, turtle grass and spaghetti grass to construct a walking trail and road system in its low-lying Bird Sanctuary community area. This project began in 2014, so the Palmetto Bay HOA staff has gained extensive experience handling Sargassum and using it in careful, strategic ways.

Palmetto Bay maintenance staff have been using Sargassum as a natural, free fertilizer for some of their plants. “It’s a great fertilizer; it’s great for mixing in with regular soil,” says Darell Humphries, manager at Palmetto Bay.

The steps in producing this free plant stimulant are minimal. Workers gather the Sargassum with a tractor, place it on a trailer, and dump it in an area where rain rinses it down. Then the Palmetto Bay staff places the broken-down Sargassum at the base of plants and trees. “Peppers and other vegetables do very well with Sargassum,” says Humphries.

The maintenance tractor operators try to avoid picking up Sargassum that has rolled around in the water and become entangled with a lot of sand. They try to keep picking up Sargassum and keeping the entangled sand to a minimum, somewhere around 5% to 10%.

As a youth, Henry signed up to be a seaman. He was running bananas from the border of Nicaragua and Honduras to Tampa, Florida. Mr. Henry worked at SS Caravelle, an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) ship from World War II. Eventually he worked as a seaman on a shipping vessel hauling cargo between Tampa, Havana, the Isle of Pines, and Haiti. “We were picking up chicken feed from Haiti,” remembers Mr. Henry.

Mr. Henry’s wife Mrs. Sula, was born in Utila Cays on July 11, 1941 to Henry Rose Suniga and Evelyn Mae Howell. The two met at a dance at Wilson Hotel. “We mostly danced boleros,” remembers Mr. Henry. In 1961, they married. “Every one damn thing is different. They are hard to get along with,” says about the Caytons Mr. Henry.

Mr. Henry learned how to shrimp in Texas in Port Isabel and became a shrimp boat captain in Western Caribbean. “I was the first one to fish [shrimp] out of Puerto Barrios, Guatemala,” says Mr. Henry. “I’ve been a shrimper all my life.” He was also shrimping out of Nicaragua and Louisiana. Back in the Bay Islands, he shrimped out of Mariscos de Bahía in Oak Ridge.

While he was at sea, Mr. Henry and Mrs. Sula communicated via single side band radio. Every day the young captain would call home to Utila to check how things were. The couple had eight children; five chose to live on Utila.

I’ve been a shrimper all my life.

Mr. Henry was the first shrimp captain to open shrimp grounds near Tela and Puerto Castilla. “I shrimped till I lost my eye,” said Mr. Henry. He lost his right eye in a fishing accident while motoring between Utila and Roatan. Mr. Henry took his dory and departed solo for Roatan to take part in a surprise birthday party. He had placed fishing lines trailing in the water, and three miles outside of West End he caught a fish that was hard to handle. After a struggle, a line slipped and bobby from the fishing rod hit Mr. Henry in his right eye. “Utila was so far I thought I was going to bleed to death,” remembers Mr. Henry. “I was bleeding like a hog.”

He was closer to Roatan and decided to just keep going. “I am going carry you to Anthony’s Key, there is a hospital there,” a Roatan fisherman he encountered off West Bay told him. The Good Samaritan towed Mr. Henry’s boat to Sandy Bay and likely saved his life. Since then, Mr. Henry had seven operations on his eye. The accident marked the end of his fishing career.

Utila was so far I thought I was going to bleed to death.

An old parrot and two small dogs keep the couple company. Mr. Henry and Mrs. Sula smile and hug one another as they swing on the porch of their tidy hillside home surrounded by a spotless garden. Mr. Henry feels most proud of “the days we spent together with his wife.”

There are about nine ambulances providing emergency transport from accident scenes to emergency centers around the island. UNIMED has two; AirEvac in West Bay has one; Woods Medical Clinic has one; there is the airport ambulance; the Red Cross and COPECO have one ambulance each; and the Roatan Fire Department has two ambulances.

The islanders relied on their neighbors and enterprising businessmen to help with emergency transport until the late 1990s. That changed in 1998, when Hurricane Mitch battered Roatan and the Fire Department received its ambulance. It was based at the Coxen Hole fire station and staffed by Fire Chief Elton Woods.

Emergency dispatching takes place via WhatsApp groups, where someone posts an emergency and another person reads it and says an ambulance has been contacted. It is a poor man’s emergency dispatch system, but it works.
Some believe it could work better. “It is a shame Roatan still doesn’t have an emergency dispatcher,” said Ana Svoboda, president of the Honduran Red Cross Bay Islands Council from 2016 to 2021. “This would reduce anxiety; get emergency services to accident scenes more quickly and ultimately save lives.”

It is a poor man’s emergency dispatch.

Roatan is now dotted with private clinics offering emergency ambulance services. West End-based UNIMED has two ambulances and provides services to tourists and locals. Their ambulances provide BLS, or basic life support, and DLS, or advanced life support. They have systems to treat heart failure. “Our doctors provide treatment on-site, not at the clinic,” says Daniel Cartagena, UNIMED’s manager since 2018. “We do the first assessment on-site, and if it is a motorcycle accident, we take them to Satuye Hospital.”

UNIMED is strategically located in West End and offers emergency transport, 24/7 emergency care, lab tests, X-rays, general surgery, air ambulance services, and an array of specialist doctors. UNIMED began in 2015 with a wheeled ambulance based at Coconut Tree in West End. “We assisted with many emergencies at that time,” Cartagena says.

In 2019, UNIMED expanded its services to provide a stabilization facility and care for minor emergencies. UNIMED is part of a chain of clinics and urgent care centers in Latin America. UNIMED is a sister company of AirEvac International and is owned by Raul Mendoza, a California businessman.

There are several other private clinic ambulance providers for cruise passengers in case of emergency. One of them is the island’s oldest private hospital, owned by Dr. Jackie Woods.

Dr. Woods opened Woods Medical Center, or WMC, on Main Street in Coxen Hole in 1999. From the beginning, the center has operated as a 24/7 emergency facility. Since 2023, it has had its own ambulance. “We only use the ambulance for cruise ship patients,” said Dr. Woods, owner of Woods Medical Center. In 2025, WMC has an intensive care unit, or ICU, that is able to stabilize a patient. “We can treat trauma,” Dr. Woods said.

The biggest necessity is the blood bank.

Other elements of good emergency treatment include the availability of emergency blood centers and 24/7 laboratories. The key is Coxen Hole’s Satuye Hospital, which stores Roatan’s blood supply. The typically stored supply of 10 to 12 pints of blood is small and easily depleted. “The biggest necessity is the blood bank, 10 to 12 pints of blood, and those can be drained with just a couple of motorcycle accidents,” said Jackie Woods. While the island’s Red Cross has a list of several donors with AB blood type, the price per pint is $60 to $70.

After operating for years at the mall in French Harbour, CEMESA is currently closed. CEMESA purchased a house from the former Roatan mayor at the intersection of Jackson Road and Main Road in Brick Bay and is working to open sometime in 2026.