And the winner is... Roatan!

The Island of Roatan Won Our "Favorite Caribbean Diving Spot" Poll. 

West End, Roatan, Honduras

The amazing Honduran island of Roatan is the winner of the GPSTravelMaps 2014 Favorite Caribbean Diving Spot Poll. This island lies on the southern edge of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the second largest in the world. The splendors of nature found here no doubt played an important role in our readers voting this their favorite diving spot with a whopping 66% of the vote. 

Adventure and leisure activities on Roatán include scuba diving, snorkeling, eco-tourism and adventure sports like ziplining, sport fishing, para sailing, paddle boarding, underwater submarine tours and glass-bottom boat trips. Boat charters are also available weekly from West End & West Bay to Cayos Cochinos and Utila.

Dolphin Dive

There are two outer banks on the south side of the island a few miles off shore from the airport called Cordelia banks but affectionately known as "big bank" and "little bank" that feature coral formations and species of diverse marine life that are exclusively found in Roatan.

Underwater Museum Snorkeling

Island tours via independent tour operators or transportation provided by the hotels is popular among visitors with local island drivers providing a narrated tour of the island. Most tours often pass through the historical island towns (including Punta Gorda which is the oldest settlement in the Bay Islands), the Carambola botanical gardens, and the Arch's iguana farm. (Read more about Roatan here.)

Take your fellow readers' advice, and plan your next diving vacation on Roatan!

Before You Go...

Pick up our Honduras map. This GPS map will give you turn by turn directions to your destination using a point of interest (POI), city point, and/or latitude and longitude, with the ability to preplan driving destinations before getting into your car.

The easy to follow instructions allow you to download and install the map into Garmin BaseCamp desktop software and transfer it to your Garmin GPS in minutes. This installable map is compatible with ALL Garmin GPS units .

It's like having your own personal travel guide with you on your trip!

Screen Capture from our Honduras GPS Map

Screen Capture from our Honduras GPS Map

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Vote on Your Favorite Caribbean Diving Spot

Get Ready for Diving, Snorkeling, and Other Underwater Sports!

Reef and sponges seen while diving Bonaire,
photo by Randy Harwood, linked from
www.uwphotographyguide.com

Early summer is the best time for Caribbean diving; the winds are calmer and visibility is outstanding. With this in mind, we started looking at recommendations for good Caribbean diving spots this year. After searching far and wide, these five are the most mentioned diving spots we found:

1. Grand Cayman

2. Bonaire

3. Turks and Caicos 

4. Roatan

5. St. Croix

A variety of factors goes into each guide's selection, but we want to keep it simple. We'd like to find out what your favorite Caribbean dive spot is. Vote below!

Before You Go...

Our Cayman Islands GPS map was updated just last month. For only
$19.95 you can make sure you always arrive where you want to go, and travel just like a local. 

We also have excellent maps for each of the other locations listed above, just click on the names above!

A screen capture from ourCayman Islands map.

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You can also connect with us on Google Plus, see our travel guide pictures on Pinterest, and view some of our videos on YouTube.

My Travel Bucket List

Have you caught spring fever yet? I am just aching for a change of scene and variety, and that's when I start thinking about all of the places on my "must see before I die" bucket list. Here are a few of the destinations on my list. What places are on yours?


#1 - Hiking Dominica
I admit it was an episode of "Man, Woman, Wild" that first introduced me to the breathtaking beauty of Dominica, but I have learned more about it in my work with GPSTravelMaps.com. When I learned about the Waitukubuli National Trail from our Dominica GPS map I knew I had to get there someday. With 114 miles of trail there is something for everyone as far as scenery and hiking difficulty. Waterfalls, ruins, jungle, and more await discovery. This tropical paradise includes plenty of locations for beach relaxation as well as outdoor adventure and wilderness solitude. It's the perfect vacation in my book. Our GPS map includes the Waitukubuli National Trail, thousands of POI's, and road coverage for easy turn by turn navigation so don't start your travels without first purchasing the Dominica Garmin GPS map from GPSTravelMaps.com .

Hiking in Dominica

#2 - Machu Picchu 

Who doesn't want to visit this place, really? I have since I was a kid, but I learned a few years ago through our Peru GPS map how I wanted to visit it. There are multiple trails leading to the famous ruins and each passes through its own unique vistas and places of interest. I have one of the "alternate trails" in mind for my visit. Read up on these trails here and then buy our Peru map to help you navigate your trail of choice.  

Machu Picchu

#3 - Roatan, Honduras
I spent a week in Honduras a few years ago, but never made it to Roatan.  We had an amazing time along the north coast zip-lining over hot springs which we later soaked in, and snorkeling and hanging with the Garifuna people in Cayos Cochinos , but all that only upped my desire to get to Roatan one day. Scuba diving and snorkeling at a coral reef to rival Australia, shopping, white sandy beaches, turqoise waters, and luxury at more than half the cost of most other tropical vacations - what's not to like? If you make it to Roatan there is so much on the mainland of Honduras you won't want to miss either like the Copan ruins, the Pulhapanzak waterfall,  and Punta Sal.  With our Central America map bundle which includes a map of all of Honduras (even Roatan) you can be assured you won't have to miss out on any of it. For the price of one map you get maps for several other Central American countries too so why not explore them all?

Roatan from the air

Honduras Paradise

#4 - Surfing in Costa Rica
I love water and I'm a decent swimmer so surfing has been on the to-do list for awhile, but even when I've made advance arrangements and traveled across several states to get to the coast, it just doesn't work out for me to try it. Which of course just increases the allure of the sport for me. I've wanted to visit Costa Rica ever since my high school's environmental science class went I did not, so when I learned that not only were rainforest exploration, volcanos, tree frogs, and huge iguanas all famous in Costa Rica but also surfing?! Well, it immediately became a bucket list item. If any of that sounds like the vacation you are looking for start planning your trip to Costa Rica.  And I guarantee you won't want to leave without our Costa Rica GPS map.  It is detailed and up to date with all the data you will need to get to where you want to go so you can do what you want to do.

La Fortuna Waterfall, Costa Rica

#5 - Guna Yala, (formerly known as San Blas) Panama
Guna Yala is a 120 mile area stretching along the eastern coast of Panama and includes remote islands off the coast as well. Not only are there pristine white beaches, coral reefs, and everything else to make it a tropical paradise, but this is also the one and only place you can experience the colorful culture of the indigenous Guna people. Once I've had my fill of snorkeling on my own private island and exploring the thatched roof shops of the Guna, I'll would definitely take in the rest of the Panama destinations that are on my bucket list like the Panama canal, the Pearl Islands, and the Baru Volcano. Our Panama Garmin GPS map which can be purchased in our Central America map bundles will get me and you to all of these locations and more.  Send me an email at support@gpstravelmaps.com and I'll get you a coupon code that will allow you to purchase the bundle for the price of just 1 map! You'll get Panama plus Nicaragua and Costa Rica all for $49.95

One San Blas Island in the Guna Yala region

I'm not sure if my spring fever is worse or better after pondering all of these amazing destinations, but regardless I'll keep day dreaming anyway. Let me know what bucket list destinations we have in common below in the comments. Did you add any from my list to yours? And PLEASE share all the other locations I need to add to my list so I can day dream about those too.

-Nicole.

Many new map updates

In the recent months, we have updated many maps and added new maps to our portfolio of offerings. The maps updated are:

Guatemala

Honduras

Costa Rica

Belize

El Salvador

Nicaragua

Dominican Republic

Haiti

Barbados

Nevis & St. Kitts

Egypt