Mahogany Bay cruise port guide
Roatán, Honduras · from RoatanThings, the offline iPhone guide
Where ships dock
Mahogany Bay cruise pier
Carnival's Mahogany Bay Cruise Center at Dixon Cove. Shops and Mahogany Beach are inside the gate; taxis wait outside. West Bay is about 35–45 minutes by taxi, French Harbour about 15. Agree the fare — per person or per car, one way or round trip — before you get in.
Ships usually dock ~7–8 AM and sail ~4–5 PM · Honduras keeps Central Standard Time (UTC−6) all year — check whether your ship keeps a different time
All-aboard is in ship time. Check the daily programme and be back at the gangway 30 minutes early.
Top places near the pier
Walking times come from the app: straight-line distance plus 30% for streets, at an easy 4.5 km/h. Places further than an hour on foot show the distance instead.
Banja-Frans Mulder · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Mahogany Beach
The cruise centre's own beach, on a small bay over the hill from the pier: calm water, loungers, a bar and a chairlift that carries you over the hill from the shops.
French Harbour
The island's working fishing town and business hub, with the malls, banks and supermarkets and a harbour full of shrimp and fishing boats.
Little French Key
A small private cay off French Harbour run as a day resort, with a beach, bar and pools, reached by a short boat hop.
The Black Pearl Golf Course
The 18-hole course at Pristine Bay on the north coast near French Harbour.
Arch's Iguana and Marine Park
A family-run iguana sanctuary at French Cay, near French Harbour, where hundreds of iguanas live around the family's home by the water.
Hole in the Wall
A bar and restaurant over the water in Jonesville, reached by boat through the mangrove channels.
Cory Doctorow · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Oak Ridge
A fishing village on the south-east shore built around its harbour and cays, with houses on stilts and mangrove channels you can explore by boat.
Punta Gorda
The oldest Garifuna community in Honduras, on the north coast. The British deported the Garifuna from St. Vincent to Roatán in 1797, and some stayed to found Punta Gorda; the language, drumming and dance are alive here.
Port Royal National Park
Protected forest on the island's eastern ridge above Port Royal, the old harbour where English pirates and the Royal Navy once anchored.
Camp Bay Beach
A long, quiet beach near the far east end, with shallow water behind the reef and far fewer people than West Bay.
Ready-made port days in RoatanThings
Each is a timed plan in the app, starting and ending at the ship (10 in all for this port).
- Gumbalimba & West Bay
From the Mahogany Bay pier, the long run west: monkeys and macaws, then the island's famous beach - An Easy Mahogany Day
No taxi, no traffic: the chairlift, the beach and the shops, steps from the ship - Iguanas & the Keys
A short hop east from Mahogany Bay: the iguana sanctuary, then an afternoon on a cay - Punta Gorda & Oak Ridge
The Garifuna community of 1797, lunch in the village and a boat through the mangroves — a long day - Iguanas, Monkeys & Sloths
French Cay's animal parks, 20 minutes from Mahogany Bay - Little French Key Morning
A private cay a short boat hop from French Harbour: beach and pools
Getting around: what the app tells you
- Settle the fare first — all of it
- Before you get in: the price, per person or per car, one way or round trip, dollars or lempiras, and — if the driver waits — the pickup time and place. Write it down or take a photo of the driver's car number. Pay at the end, not at the start.
- Set an alarm on ship time
- Honduras is on Central Standard Time all year. Ships often keep a different time. Before you go ashore, check the ship's clock and set your phone alarm by that — the ship will not wait, and West Bay is 35–45 minutes from Mahogany Bay.
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