Route 5- Morat Pond

Approxiamte Time- 1-3 hours

Difficulty- Easy

Guided- A guide will take you from Mango Creek to the island of Morat, bring you to the inner pond and take you for a tour of the small bay outside of the island.

Things to Bring: Bug spray, shoes to walk in, camera, sunscreen

Description- At the easternmost end of Roatan, past the isolated community of Helene, lies the small island of Morat. Barely a mile wide, the island was once home to the Paya (a pre-columbian native american tribe) and was later used as a watering stop by sailors in the area. To this day, there exists a water well that supposedly was first discovered and utilized by the Paya. The island today remains almost entirely uninhabited. The people of Helene claim it as their island (or as they put it, "we island") but choose not to live on it, partially for fear of ghosts called "duppies" that are supposed to haunt it. 

Inside of the island, there is a tidal pool that has two entrances: one on the east end and one on the southern end. For this route, you will travel by boat with a guide up to the east end of Roatan and unload the kayaks at the south entrance to the Morat pond. Passing under the overgrown mangrove branches, you will come out into the pond which is home to a number of species of bird and fish. It is also is home to crocodiles, but are very timid and rarely seen. You can take your time looking around the pond, and even stop at the shore to get out and have a look around through the jungle of palm trees and banana trees that line the shore of the island. Of course, you can even take the short walk to the old well and have a look inside.

Once you've had a chance to take a walk through the island's jungle, you can get back into your kayak and head to the east end of the pond. The water seperates into two thin arms, and you and your guide can paddle down to the end of each where can look out over the eastern shore towards the island of Barbaret. Once you've seen the entire pond, you can come back through the same canal you used to enter the pond.

Once outside again, take a loop out in the shallow bay on the south side of Morat. The gorgeous sandy bottom is one of the most picturesque spots in the entire area and has views of the islands of Barbaret and Guanaja to the east and the village of Helene to the west. What's most impressive is being in such a gorgeous but unspoiled area. Aside from the occasional local fisherman in a small dugout canoe, it's not likely that you'll see anyone while paddling around. When you get back to the skiff, your guide can load your kayaks back inside and you can head back towards Mango Creek, enjoying the beautiful 30 minute boat ride home.