These environments attract a multitude of other plants and animals, including a vast variety of brightly colored tropical fish. Not only are these structures incredibly beautiful, but they are also crucial to the survival of life on Earth. In this article, you can discover five more fun facts about coral reefs and view some photos of our snorkeling & diving adventures around Roatan island.

1. Coral reefs protect wildlife

‘Barrier’ reefs get their name because they protect shallow warm waters from the open sea. This protection creates an important habitat for many types of tropical fish and rare plants.

2. There are three different types of coral reef

Coral reefs can be divided into three types: fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls. Fringing reefs are close to shore, whereas a barrier reef will lie further out to sea. Often, atolls will be mistaken for islands because they are so large and generally appear on the rim of a lagoon.

3. Coral needs sunlight to grow

Coral needs sunlight to grow, which is why they thrive in shallow water. As a result, you’re unlikely to find a coral reef deeper than 45 feet. Furthermore, they also tend to prefer tropical seas, as the seawater is warmer and clearer.

4. They also clean the water

Coral reefs also promote better water quality. The plants, animals, and organisms act as a filter, trapping debris that makes the surrounding environment cleaner. Subsequently, coral reefs tend to grow larger in areas with stronger currents as the wave patterns deliver more nourishment to the ecosystem.

5. Coral reefs can treat cancer

Scientists have discovered that organisms within coral reefs can be used to treat cancer and other illnesses. For example, by studying coral reefs, scientists have been able to develop proteins that attack cancer cells.

Roatan Coral Reef

Check our shore excursions section: Click Here also please check our reviews at TripAdvisor and if you want to learn more about the wildlife experience we are ready to customize your day by adding more fun activities.

The post 5 fun facts about Roatan coral reefs appeared first on Roatan Five Stars Tours.

There are more shipwrecks around Roatan island, but in this article, we will focus on the “Snyg” shipwreck. This shipwreck is located on the north shore of the island, below we will give you some history and what our shore excursion includes.

The island is beloved for its stunning beaches and superb marine life thanks to being located along the second biggest barrier reef on earth. If you are considering this place as your next tropical getaway, let us take you to those uncommercial areas and enjoy a local snorkeling experience.

Happy guests enjoying the Shipwreck Snorkeling

History of the “Snyg” Old Steamer Shipwreck

It was the night of August 18, 1899, and a northwestern wind had been blowing on Roatan for over three days. On the north shore of Roatan, a 100-foot metal boat Snyg battled the seas seeking shelter from her journey from Florida to La Ceiba. Snyg was a steamship and like many boats of that era had a secondary means of power: a mast and two booms. Snyg was flying a Greek flag and carrying live cargo: mules and oxen destined to work at the banana plantations of northern Honduras. Her captain and part of the crew were Greek.

The inhabitants of the village of Crawfish Rock were woken up in the middle of the night by lights and sounds of distress. There were oxen bellowing and mules kicking. Snyg was in trouble and its crew was trying to find the channel entrance across the reef. This proved not to be an insurmountable challenge. Boat navigation and weather were quite different 120 years ago.

“Back then the only way to navigate was to use a sextant. You had to locate a celestial body and a horizon line. That was often not possible,” said Charles Osgood, 69, a retired boat captain and a boat engineer from Roatan. “We used to have northern [winds] that would blow for four, five days. The island would run short of food. The weather patterns have changed now.”

George Edward Osgood, from Coxen Hole, was asked to help the distressed Snyg. “She was billed, and way on top of the reef,” remembers Charles Osgood, grandson of George Edward. George Edward was in his 30s at the time and ran a boat repair business on Osgood Cay.

The Cay was strategically placed just south of Coxen Hole and it used to be named Bennett Cay, then Big Cay, then Osgood Cay, and now it is called Maya Cay.

The Cay belonging to Guillermo Bruchard was eventually purchased at a government auction in 1912. George Edward held it in family hands for a hundred years.

What is included in this snorkeling tour?

This is a 3 stop snorkeling tour including the following:

• Round Transportation from cruise port, vacation rentals or resorts
• Snorkeling Gear
• 3 Stop Snorkeling: Shipwreck, starfish & coral reef garden
• Tropical refreshment (drinks & snacks)
• Stop for photos
• Local guide
• Stop for local shopping (Optional)
• Check rates & full shore excursion here

When to go snorkeling Roatan island?

The climate in Roatan is tropical. Snorkeling is possible all year-round, except very occasionally when the weather and sea conditions don’t allow it because of the storms or strong winds.

The three months of the rainy season (from October to December) account for as much precipitation as the other nine other months put together (January to September, the summer season).

December and January are the coolest months of the year (about 77°F/25°C), and July and August are the warmest (an average of almost 30°). The water temperature is between 79 and 86°F (26 and 30°C) all through the year, with a peak in August-September.

Check our shore excursions section: Click Here also please check our reviews at TripAdvisor and if you want to learn more about the wildlife experience we are ready to customize your day by adding more fun activities.

The post Roatan Shipwreck Snorkeling appeared first on Roatan Five Stars Tours.

Because leaves are low in energy and nutrients, sloths have evolved large, slow-acting, multi-chambered stomachs filled with friendly bacteria to help break them down. A well-fed sloth’s stomach can make up to two-thirds of its total body weight, and digestion can take a month or more!

Fun fact: three-toed sloths head down to the ground about once a week to “do their business,” often in the same spot, covering it up afterward. While this makes them more vulnerable to predators, it also nourishes their favorite trees and supports the tiny ecosystem that lives in their fur, yes, including moths that complete their life cycle thanks to this quirky bathroom routine!

Important Update – Sloth Handling Policy

Earlier this year (2025), new government regulations were implemented to protect the well-being of sloths in Roatan. As part of these rules, handling sloths is no longer allowed. While many visitors dream of holding these gentle creatures, this change ensures they live stress-free, healthy lives in their natural environment. We can still enjoy watching them up close, learning about their fascinating behaviors, and capturing amazing photos without causing them harm.

More Wildlife Species

At the eco-park, we also learned about capuchin monkeys, colorful scarlet macaws, yellow-headed parrots, and the indigenous Agouti, also known as the Roatan island rabbit. The friendly staff will share extensive information about the wildlife species.

• Sloth at the eco park
• Yellow-headed parrots
• Capuchin monkeys
• Feeding the monkeys
• Having fun
• Scarlet macaw
• Capuchin monkeys
• Yellow-headed parrot
• Local market shopping

About the Sloths

The sloth is so named because of its very low metabolism and deliberate movements, sloth being related to the word slow. This supports their low-energy diet of leaves and avoids detection by predatory hawks and cats that hunt by sight.

Sloths of the present day are arboreal mammals noted for slowness of movement and for spending most of their lives hanging upside down in the trees of the tropical rain forests of South America and Central America. The six species are in two families: two-toed sloths and three-toed sloths.

Baby sloths learn what to eat by licking the lips of their mother. All sloths eat the leaves of the cecropia.

Two-toed sloths have a diverse diet of insects, carrion, fruits, leaves, and small lizards, ranging over up to 140 hectares. Three-toed sloths, on the other hand, have a limited diet of leaves from only a few trees, and no mammal digests as slowly.

They have made adaptations to arboreal browsing. Leaves, their main food source, provide very little energy or nutrients and do not digest easily, so sloths have large, slow-acting stomachs with multiple compartments in which symbiotic bacteria break down the tough leaves. As much as two-thirds of a well-fed sloth’s body weight consists of the contents of its stomach, and the digestive process can take a month or more to complete.

Three-toed sloths go to the ground to urinate and defecate about once a week, digging a hole and covering it afterward. They go to the same spot each time and are vulnerable to predation while doing so. This behavior may be related to maintaining the ecosystem in the sloths’ fur. Individual sloths tend to spend the bulk of their time feeding on a single “modal” tree; by burying their excreta near the trunk of that tree, they may help nourish it. Recent research shows that moths, which live in the sloth’s fur, lay eggs in the sloth’s feces. When they hatch, the larvae feed on the feces, and when mature fly up onto the sloth above.

More Wildlife Species

At the eco-park, we also learned about the capuchin monkeys, scarlet colorful macaws, yellow head parrots, the indigenous Agouti or Guatusa, also known as the Roatan island rabbit. The staff at the park are very friendly and will share a lot of information about the wildlife species.

Check our shore excursions section: Click Here also, please visit our reviews at TripAdvisor and if you want to learn more about the wildlife experience, we are ready to customize your day by adding more fun activities.

The post Roatan Sloth Parks: Discover Sloths and Wildlife in Their Natural Habitat appeared first on Roatan Five Stars Tours.

The sloth is so named because of its very low metabolism and deliberate movements, sloth being related to the word slow. This supports their low-energy diet of leaves and avoids detection by predatory hawks and cats that hunt by sight.

Sloths of the present day are arboreal mammals noted for slowness of movement and for spending most of their lives hanging upside down in the trees of the tropical rain forests of South America and Central America. The six species are in two families: two-toed sloths and three-toed sloths.

Sloth Diet

Baby sloths learn what to eat by licking the lips of their mother. All sloths eat the leaves of the cecropia.

Two-toed sloths have a diverse diet of insects, carrion, fruits, leaves and small lizards, ranging over up to 140 hectares. Three-toed sloths, on the other hand, have a limited diet of leaves from only a few trees, and no mammal digests as slowly.

They have made adaptations to arboreal browsing. Leaves, their main food source, provide very little energy or nutrients and do not digest easily, so sloths have large, slow-acting stomachs with multiple compartments in which symbiotic bacteria break down the tough leaves. As much as two-thirds of a well-fed sloth’s body weight consists of the contents of its stomach, and the digestive process can take a month or more to complete.

Three-toed sloths go to the ground to urinate and defecate about once a week, digging a hole and covering it afterward. They go to the same spot each time and are vulnerable to predation while doing so. This behavior may be related to maintaining the ecosystem in the sloths’ fur. Individual sloths tend to spend the bulk of their time feeding on a single “modal” tree; by burying their excreta near the trunk of that tree, they may help nourish it. Recent research shows that moths, which live in the sloth’s fur, lay eggs in the sloth’s feces. When they hatch, the larvae feed on the feces, and when mature fly up onto the sloth above.

Reproduction

Pale- and brown-throated species mate seasonally, while the maned sloth breeds at any time of year. The reproduction of pygmy three-toed sloths is unknown. Litters are of one newborn only, after six months’ gestation for three-toed, and 12 months’ for two-toed. Newborns stay with their mothers for about five months. In some cases, young sloths die from a fall indirectly because the mothers prove unwilling to leave the safety of the trees to retrieve the young. Females normally bear one baby every year, but sometimes sloths’ low level of movement actually keeps females from finding males for longer than one year. Sloths are not particularly sexually dimorphic and several zoos have received sloths of the wrong sex.

The average lifespan of two-toed sloths in the wild is currently unknown due to a lack of full-lifespan studies in a natural environment. Median life expectancy in human care is about 16 years, with one individual at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoo reaching an age of 49 years before her death.

Check our shore excursions section: Click Here

The post Learn about the Sloth in Roatan appeared first on Roatan Five Stars Tours.

Mangrove leaves, nectar and fruit, feed a variety of animals above the water, Decomposing leaves in the water feed an entire different ecosystem. Mangroves serve as important nursery grounds for many marine animals, including valuable species like bonefish, snappers, lobsters, conchs, and shrimps.

These trees have the ability to survive in the salty inter-tidal area by the seacoast. Red mangroves colonize the seaward fringe. These give way to muddy zone of Black mangroves and eventually stretch to the land where White mangroves and Button wood dominate.

They have developed remarkable strategies to deal with their hostile environment. How do they cope with salt water, when they actually depend on fresh water for their survival? Some mangroves have mechanisms for concentrating the salt into their sap. Others remove the salt and store it in old leaves which are ready to fall. Still others actively secrete salt through glands on their leaves or roots.

Roatan Five Stars offers this great experience enjoying the mangrove tunnels in multiple sites in the east end of Roatan, please visit our all day packages section (Mangrove Tunnels Tours) for more details.

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