I quickly realized I preferred spending as much time as possible underwater. I'd already planned a boat snorkeling excursion with Jenny in the afternoon, but managed to squeeze in an early morning dip in West Bay. The fish relaxed quite quickly, surrounding me tightly; in fact, I think one bit me.

Back in West End, Jenny informed me she'd found some weed. Also, we were hungry. So there were a couple things to take care of before heading out snorkeling again.

With everything in Roatan being a bit pricier than I'd like—especially since I missed my man and couldn't resist sending him overpriced emails—it seemed the most inexpensive option was the beach bar Sundowners, which offered a limited menu of items actually cooked in a shack across the lane. At 95 lemps for a well-made cheeseburger and 25 lemps for some ice-cold beers, it was definitely reasonable for the Caribbean.

Colorado-based Jenny was a few years older than me, yet had never left the States before this trip. After three months of wandering alone through Central America—a brave prospect for a newbie—she had learned a great deal about herself and now knew she wanted to spend her life traveling. It was a vastly different travel conversation than I'd had with Ken but still quite enlightening to hear her point of view.

At Sundowners, a young jewelry seller approached Jenny...but he was easily distracted by her sunglasses

Jake was currently "working" (salary-free) at Coconut Tree Divers while getting his instructor's certificate; he'd clued us in that snorkelers could join dive trips for a mere $5. Our boat parked quite far from the coral, which was strange, but maybe it was to give the divers practice at wending through the water.

The reef was worth the cold swim, though: far below the water surface but offering a clear, lovely view and greater variety of sea life. When we compared notes afterwards, it turned out Jenny and I had both spotted the same barracuda. Its stillness was freaky as hell, appearing to be stalking a meal. Jenny was even luckier and saw a squid.

In my underwater reverie I managed to miss the return signal—always a worry for me with boat snorkeling. I suddenly looked up and realized the boat was very far away—but before I could entertain thoughts of being stranded, I noticed it was heading toward me. I was so late the crew actually came to pick me up. I was surprised that we'd only been given an hour; I always thought of dives as half-day affairs.

We met up with Jake and headed back to Sundowners for a final-night drink. I hadn't been in Roatán long enough to get sentimental by any means, but Jenny had been on the road a while and Jake clearly developed a thing for her since meeting in Guatemala.

View from Sundowners

It felt silly being back at Sundowners so soon, but the sunset was as beautiful as claimed, and the happy hour prices were fantastic. Ken snuck up while I chowed down on a large grilled chicken sandwich. It turned out Robin and Sheldon were there as well, and they'd decided to all go to dinner. I liked them so much I wanted to join, even though I'd already eaten; but then Jenny and Jake found another cache of weed. Fuck it, I was on an island, I could either bond with some really sweet people or just take down their email addresses and get stoned on the pier with the young male locals. I chose option B.

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