So back in the beginning of 2019 my husband, our 3 kids and my mom wanted to do a Big Family Vacation that would be fun for everyone involved. With 3 kids and Safta (grandma in Hebrew) we knew we wanted to do either an all-inclusive resort or a cruise because Mommy was not interested in being a cruise director. I wanted someone else to be a cruise director. So we decided on…a cruise! And we were so glad we did. One of the best family vacations we’ve ever been on, for SO MANY REASONS. We sailed onboard Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas, (stay tuned for future blog posts about this trip) and I could spend days on all the reasons we loved this vacation. But just one of those reasons was our excursion to Little French Key when we stopped in Roatan, Honduras for our day at port.
King Triton, defending us vacationers from who knows what – maybe Urusla
After a couple of days at sea, our first stop was to Roatan, Honduras. Roatan is a little island off of the mainland. We wanted to go somewhere really special and after a lot of research decided on Little French Key. Now you can’t book Little French Key through the cruise lines, and a lot of cruise lines will try to scare you away from booking excursions not through them. They will frighten you with stories of people not getting back to the boat on time and yes, try searching on YouTube for “missing cruise ship at port” and you will find plenty of footage of people who for one reason or another literally…miss the boat. Not fun and I don’t recommend it. However the people who run Little French Key have been doing this for almost two decades and they have the process down, and that’s what makes this place so special. The cruise ships like activities that can handle a huge volume of people, which is fine if you’re going to a big place that can handle that amount of people. We’ve done plenty of shore excursions through the cruise ships directly and they can be great! However this place operates more like a luxury boutique hotel and if the capacity wasn’t limited, it would ruin the experience.
So we got ourselves breakfast on the ship, and then headed out to meet our shuttle to LFK’s little port. As soon as you disembark from the ship, their drivers will be there waiting for your arrival outside the ship terminal. To get to their drivers from the Mahogany Bay’s Terminal, walk outside and you see the taxi’s on your left. (If you have difficulty walking any Taxi will bring you to the outside of the gate for $2 per person – check with LFK to make sure this is still accurate), if not then please take a left and follow the main road up the hill for few minutes, until you get to the MAIN GATE OF THE PORT (this is important!). Once you pass the guard, keep walking down and look for the drivers on the right side. To get to your driver from the Coxen Hole Port of Roatan Terminal, When you get off the ship, exit to gate 1 for pick-up. You’ll find their representatives, who will supply you with the transportation to their private resort. Their drivers will always be wearing Frenchy’s 44 shirts with the LFK logo.
What’s up with the #44? Click here to find out!
While we were waiting for our shuttle you will definitely see a more “real” view of Roatan ie poor. However it was pretty clean and we didn’t feel we were in an unsafe area. Once we got into our air conditioned shuttle van it was a 20ish minute drive to their port. So LFK is a little island off an island and there’s a flatbed ferry to take you from one side to the other. It’s very stable and is only about a 5 minute ride. From there you get on the island, wait in line to pay for whatever package you decided on (we paid for the package that includes lunch, two drinks (could be alcoholic or if you are me and my mom you ask for two Diet Cokes) and for my husband and our girls we also got them a boat trip to go snorkeling, which they were crazy excited about. LFK also includes paddleboards, kayaks and snorkel equipment (first come first serve) that my girls took advantage of before their snorkeling adventure. My son was 5 ½ at the time and as he was too young for the snorkeling, he was more than happy to splash around in the absolute perfect water and playing in the sand.
My son’s happy place
First experience paddle-boarding!
The water!! Oh my goodness, the water. This was my kid’s first opportunity to experience just how warm the water is and they were like “where have you been my whole life???” We live in the SF Bay Area and go to the beach quite often. The water where we live, is cold. Like I-will-stick-my-feet-in-if-I-have-to-but-it’s-really -freaking-cold and I’d be just as happy not to! My kids will suck it up and get used to it because they love to be in the ocean but it’s NOTHING compared to the water in the Caribbean Sea. So blue, so clean, so beautiful. PRO-TIP: If going with kids to LFK that aren’t strong swimmers, bring their puddle jumper! There are spots where the water is deep enough that you need to swim, there’s fun activities like an “island jumper” that’s basically like having a bounce house in the middle of the water that’s a bouncy platform for the kids to climb on and then jump off and it would have been really nice to have his swimmy, but cie la vie.
I can fly!
My husband and our girls jumped off the ledge, me and our son…not so much
There’s a great spot to jump off a platform into the water and my son would have felt much more confident had we brought his swimmy. It’s not like a water park where there are life vests all over the place, you need to bring your own. Oh well, live and learn. Still, we all loved the water and exploring the part of the island we were on, there’s benches over the water you can swim/walk to, swim up bars, over the water hammocks to lounge around on, even see-saws in the water. Fun!
I tried to convince my kids to pose for Instagram but they were too busy swimming
That water – unbelivable
While my husband took the girls on their snorkeling adventure, my mom and I stayed back to relax on the chaise lounges – I mean supervise my son. Our waiter was just amazing and took such great care of us. Once my husband and our girls got back from snorkeling (which I was told was AMAZING! We saw so many FISH!! I was like a MERMAID!!!) everyone was hungry and we got our lunch, which was beyond delicious. We got a combo plate with chicken, rice, fries and plantains. If you are gluten free or vegetarian/vegan not to worry, just tell your awesome waiter and he or she will take care of you. While you are visiting, of course there are souvenirs to buy. I had a friend who had gone on a trip to Israel and brought me back a hamsa refrigerator magnet (I have a collection of hamsas) so I of course needed to find her just the perfect refrigerator magnet, which you can see here for yourself:
Tell me you wouldn’t want someone to bring you home this
This is what your kids look like after a day at the beach
LFK has easy to spot signs that show the island time vs ship time and what time you MUST leave to get back in time for the ship. We could have stayed longer than we did but we wanted to play it safe. So after a day of enjoying paradise we knew we needed to pack it in and head back to the boat.
We really can’t wait to go back. (Although at the time of this writing we’ve been stuck at home because of Covid for 3 months so I’d be happy to go literally anywhere at this point, but I digress). They have actual scuba diving, horseback riding, an animal sanctuary, swimming with the pigs and more. I would highly recommend LFK if you want to enjoy a day of paradise with everything you could want for the day. LFK is probably not the cheapest excursion you could do on Roatan but we felt it was great value for our money and we will definitely return for more time in paradise.
What’s your favorite thing to do at the beach? Swimming in the ocean? Lounging on a chaise? Kayaking? Tell me in the comments below? What would you see yourself doing at Little French Key?
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I love love love the crystal clear water! I can totally see myself hanging by the beach all day, everyday haha. Would totally love to kayak and paddle board there!
You would love it! Thanks for reading 🙂
the watersports look like so much fun, but I would be like you and not have the guts to jump from that ledge!!!
That warm water does look SO inviting! I might take up paddleboarding if I visited Little French Key!
This looks like such a fun place! I’m laughing so hard about your kids not wanting to pose on the swings haha. They’ll understand in a few years!
I would love to stay here!! It looks so unbelievable. The clear water is so incredible!
It’s beyond heaven. I hope you can enjoy it one day. Thanks for reading!
This sounds like the perfect family fun! And what a beautiful looking place.
It truly is! This place has great options for so many people, I plan on writing a blog posts about having your wedding on the island! So beautiful <3
This resort looks and sounds amazing. I want to try out all the activities and love that you can jump in the water from above the coffee hut! The water looks so beautiful too! Wow.
Thank you for this post. This place looks pretty cool especially with kids. The warm water is tempting. Did you try the paddle yourself or was it just for the kids ;)? Do you know where the name Little French key is coming from ;)?
I’ve been dreaming of visiting Roatan, I hear such good things about it! It looks like you’re family had an incredible time there which tells me that once this pandemic is under control, I need to book a Roatan trip. Thanks for this inspo!
Beautiful water! It looks like a dream right now!
I certainly would LOVE to be there right now!! Thanks for reading!
That clear water is absolutely incredible!! This really does sound like the perfect place for the entire family to find things they enjoy doing!
Absolutely! So many options, there’s something for everyone. Thanks for reading!
Sounds like you had a fun, adventure filled trip! You’re making me put this beautiful destination a little higher up on my list! I’ve been dying to swim with cute piggys, I didn’t know they had that there!
Aren’t the pigs adorable??? I hope you can visit one day. Thanks for reading!
What a wonderful little excursion! I’m not really a beach person but this looks like a lovely slice of paradise where I could happily spend a few hours! Thanks for the wonderful guide and the inspiration!
Love that Caribbean water! And thanks for the confidence to ignore the cruise lines’ fear-mongering. I’ve been hesitant about it but heard it’s often worth it.
It’s definitely important to do your research and I’m not knocking the cruise lines cruise excursions but there’s plenty of options not through the cruise lines that are great. Thanks for reading!
A round of applause for you, for choosing a cruise instead of trying to plan a vacation that would make the whole family and grandma happy! It sounds like this was a much more relaxing option for everyone.
Thank you! I loved it. I can’t wait to go back again and hope you can get back to traveling too. Thanks for reading!
This place is so beautiful. The color of the water. I liked the teeter totters in the water. Lots of fun.
They were fun! I wish I could have gotten a photo of me and my son with them. Oh well! Thanks for reading!
Wow this looks like so much fun – a great beach with some fun activities to do so it’s not just lounging around. Lots to do for the family!
The swings off of the dock look so fun! Great photo spot!
They were! I should have forced my kids to take a photo lol. Thanks for reading!
Look at that clear water! I think visiting Honduras with my family is a great idea. Will add this on my bucket list.
You will not regret it! We had the bet time. Hope you can go one day and thanks for reading!
Wow, that sounds like a big family vacation! The water looks absolutely beautiful and perfect for little ones to swim, especially in the tropical temperatures! I’d definitely like to visit Honduras one day.
It was such a fun time. I hope you can go one day! Thanks for reading.
This looks like such a fun day! I visited Roatan about 15 years ago before any tourists were there. It was just beach huts and was like camping at the beach. So peaceful and excellent diving!
haha wow it’s really grown since then. I hope you can return one day to compare and contrast. Thanks for reading!
Wow, that crystal clear water is so amazing! And I love destinations that give you so much choice for what you can get up to at the beach – it sounds like this was a really fun-packed trip! Thanks for sharing.
It really was a great day. It’s so nice when you have a multi generational group that there’s lots of options. Thanks for reading!
Major travel envy over here. This location is completely stunning and looks like so much fun!
I too have travel envy of my past self lol I can’t wait to travel again and hope you can soon too. Thanks for reading!
The water looks amazing. Sounds like you had a great time.
Thanks! It was a lot of fun. Thanks for reading!
Omg you are on point – the waters are AMAZING! And that photo of you flying into the water cracks me up, boy it looks like SO MUCH FUN!
haha not me, that’s my oldest daughter!! But I have been told she is a mini-me 😀 Thanks for reading!
I’ve never been on a ship and this certainly makes me want to!! Beautiful pictures looks dreamy!!
Thank you! I hope you can go one day. It’s truly beautiful!
This looks awesome!! Seems like a hidden gem!
This looks gorgeous! I have stopped at Roatan on a cruise before as well but did not make it over to the Little French Key. Would love to go back and go snorkelling here and enjoy the beach! It was raining the day we stopped unfortunately.
Wow, the water looks incredible! I never knew it could look like this in Honduras. Beautiful!
This place looks gorgeous! And seems like your kids had fun, too. 🙂
This looks like an incredible place for a family vacation. That water is glorious! I will definitely have to put this on my bucket list. What a great post and the photos are amazing!
It really is! It’s great when you can find something for everyone. I hope you can visit one day and thanks for reading!
Great post! It looks gorgeous! I love your photos by the way. 🙂
Thank you! We truly had a fabulous time 🙂
The water looks insane! #beachgoals! I love paddle boarding, it is what me brought to wanting to surf!
Very cool! Paddle boarding is a lot of fun. Thanks for reading!
Just love this crystal clear water! It reminds me of French Polynesia haha I could definitely spend several days there!
The water alone makes this place heaven 🙂 Thanks for reading!
That water is so beautiful! I don’t usually like jumping in, but I love that it’s so clear!
The water is so amazing and inviting! Thanks for reading 😀
Oh boy, this article was so tempting! Would love to visit the place! What a stunning location!
Thanks! It’s truly a beautiful place. Thanks for reading!
I loved Roatan! It was such a cute little island. I love the King Triton Statue and I would love to learn to paddleboard.
Squeeeee that water looks amazing, and I LOVE the flying photos with you guys jumping! 😀
Would you be tempted to go back on a cruise once covid-19 is over? I guess I would have to think reeeeally carefully before going on that kind of holiday, but this does look like great fun for kids!
So to be honest, we’re booked to do a short 3 night cruise on Royal Caribbean in the Bahamas. If we can go, we’ll go! But we’ll have to see if they (finally) open up the ports. But we seriously need a vacation!
Ahh, paddleboarding! I’d love to do that again someday!! <3 I live in the SF bay area too so I'm absolutely with you on appreciating water that isn't super super cold. The water looks beautifulllll. I hope I get to go here someday!! <3
lolol the water here is soooooo cold hahah it really makes you appreciate the warm tropical water even more! I hope you can visit someday and thanks for reading!
Such a dreamy place! Definitely adding it to my bucket list!