Go with the Flow!
A Turquoise Bay Cocktail

By Sandra Scott

On our recent visit to Roatan Island, one of  Honduras’s Bay Islands, my husband, John, and I decided to "go with the flow." We visit Honduras on a regular basis and over the past 12 years we have seen many changes, but the greatest changes have taken place on Roatan. After a week driving around the Honduran mainland we were looking forward to kicking back on Roatan Island, the most developed area of Honduras, but still "primitive" by Caribbean standards. We remember when Roatan’s West End was a sleepy place with just a few small basic hotels. Now condos, expensive homes, and upscale hotels dot the shoreline. We thought the island paradise was gone. Then we discovered a new resort, Turquoise Bay Dive and Beach Resort. Located in Milton Bight on the undeveloped northeast shore of the island, we found the perfect place to kick back.

The resort dots the side of the hill with a panoramic view of Turquoise Bay, which really is Turquoise in color when the sunlight is just right. A reef protects the picture-perfect bay, arms of mangroves extend to the reef, and the beach is long and sandy.

The resort had many nice personal touches. There are Koi fish in a small pool. Lenca pottery, along with other Honduran artifacts, are on display in the reception area, and the grounds are well landscaped.

Scattered on the hillside are five buildings, which house the 26 rooms. The names of the buildings reflect the décor, all celebrating Honduran nature and culture. Our room was in Africa House decorated with zebra prints, but the best part was the balcony looking out to sea.

We spent the next few days relaxing, and going with the flow - in more ways than one. Our friendly waiter, Marty Forbes, is a budding musician and "Flow" is his stage name. We found it the perfect mantra for our visit – "Go with the Flow." When Flow suggested we try one of his special cocktails before dinner we "went with the flow." He presented us with his creation of vodka, tequila, rum, freshly prepared fruit punch, and triple sec garnished with fresh fruit.

"It is beautiful and delicious! What is it called?"

In his typical good nature, he suggested, "Flow!"

After thinking about it a few minutes, we realized it was a great name because that was exactly what we were doing… relaxing and going with the flow. We let Roatan decide what we should do. One morning there were a few showers, so we sat on our balcony and read. When the sun came out we went swimming then sought shelter from the strong tropical sun under the thatched palapas. The day it was cloudy, we took out a kayak and paddled around the mangroves and down shoreline to check out the fancy homes, some of which belong to well known personalities who have discovered Roatan. The hotel has a dive shop but we prefer to snorkel, so one morning we went out with the dive crowd to snorkel along the world’s second largest barrier reef.

While dining one evening on fresh caught fish, we admired the colorful wall mural in the main dining area. Flow said, "Glad you like it. The one in the center is my sister." It seems that everything at Turquoise Bay has a personal touch. Each evening, with our Go-With-the-Flow cocktail in hand we sat on the deck and admired the sunset. Our lazy days passed too quickly. We were thankful to find a quiet place on Roatan to go with the flow, meet Flow, and sip our Go-with-the-Flow cocktail.

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