Clamshell City

Roatan Island in Honduras is beautiful. So is Mahogany Bay beach. But when we reserved two beach chairs and a clamshell, I had visions of Florida in my head. Last September in Florida we had two beach chairs, an umbrella, and a cooler full of drinks. We could put it anywhere we wanted. If someone came and pitched camp in front of us, we were free to move.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I call "Clamshell City". I thought I was going to sit on my beach chair, shaded by my clamshell and look out over the pristine waters of Mahogany Bay. Instead, what I saw from that vantage point was this:

We were three rows back in the clamshells - clamshell number 57. There were a few rows of beach chairs in front of the clamshells. Obviously, the beach was a bit more crowded than I thought it would be. I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm not sure how many passengers were on the Caribbean Princess. I think it has room for several thousand but I don't think it was filled to capacity. And then there was another cruise ship in port before we got there. Of course it was going to be crowded.

I will say that the chairlift to the beach was cool. Much easier to get on and off one of those things when you're not wearing skis.

I won't make the same mistake again. The saving grace was that it wasn't particularly expensive. And for $20 more than what we paid, we could have had a floating clamshell. If I ever go back, that's what I'm going to get.