The Parie House- Waterfront, Beach, Dock in Roatan/Bay Islands

Peaceful, Private, Well Worth It

treepouch (Seattle, WA)
Review submitted: March 11, 2013   Date of arrival: March 3, 2013

Pairie house was amazing. We stayed there for 8 nights and had a blast. There were four of us. Quiet, private setting, great view, and great snorkeling right off the reef at the entrance to the bay/lagoon. When you get to Pairie House, the turnoff to drive onto the property is quite hidden. We rented a car,not doing so would have been quite inconvenient.The house is beautiful. The main deck has a nice hammock. We ate most of our meals outside. The mosquitos and gnats can get bothersome around dusk. The house is fully equipped with everything, including stove/oven, toaster oven, blender, microwave, utensils, pans, coffee maker. The TV has a bunch of channels. Nice bathroom. A/C is optional but costs more; they put these locks on the plug-in and you can only plug it in after you've gotten the combination and paid the additional fee. There is a nice outdoor shower and a washer/dryer downstairs.There were lots of cool critters to see, like lizards, geckos, iguanas, birds (including pelicans that fished in the water), and fruit bats. None of them bothered us.The access to the reef was the best part. While you really can't snorkel off the dock because of the shallow and muddy bottom, you can either swim or kayak out to the reef, where the snorkeling is amazing. It rivaled some of the snorkeling adventures we had paid for before discovering this reef. I swam the distance several times from the dock while a friend paddled out with me on one of the kayaks. We all at some point swam the distance, which is probably about 1/3-1/2 mile, totally doable with a snorkel, mask, and fins. Once you get about 3/4 of the way out there, the water gets deep and clear and you can snorkel alongside the reef and see tons of cool stuff. You can also kayak out there and either tie up to a buoy or let it drift. We never ventured out into the channel past the break, but we saw dive boats just on the other side of the reef from us, so it's nice enough to attract divers. Other stuff....the caretaker, David, lives on the property but his house is near the entrance and he can't look into your house nor can you see him. The house is also close to the West End. You can take a cab for 50 lempiras ($2.50) or drive and park in the lot just before the entrance for 20 lempiras/hour. It's a five minute drive. It's also not too far from West Bay, which has postcard quality beaches and great snorkeling.All in all, this place was great for the price, and I highly recommend it!

Recommended for: adventure seekers, families with young children, families with teenagers, girls getaway, romantic getaway

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