The dirt road continues past Camp Bay over the hills to Port Royal, once the site of English pirate camps, now the site of luxury homes for wealthy Hondurans and retired expatriates. Named for the famous port in Jamaica, Port Royal was long the favorite anchorage for marauding pirates because of its protected, defensible harbor.
It was chosen by the British military as its base in the 1740s for the same reasons. The British built two small forts to guard the harbor: Fort Frederick on the mainland, with one rampart and six cannons, and Fort George on the cay, with one rampart and 17 cannons. In spite of their heavy armaments, the forts didn’t see much service before their destruction in 1782 by a Spanish expedition. The remains of Fort George can still be seen, while the foundations for Fort Frederick now hold a private home.
Currently, no lodgings or restaurants exist in Port Royal, but the mega-resort Princesa de Roatan is under construction.
Old Port Royal, farther east, is thought to be the site of the ill-fated Providence Company settlement, dating from the 1630s and 1640s. This is the deepest harbor on the island, though it’s no longer used for commerce.
The hills above Port Royal were declared the Port Royal Park and Wildlife Refuge in 1978 in an effort to protect the principal watershed for eastern Roatán [1] and several species of endangered wildlife. The refuge has no developed trails for hikers.
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/honduras/the-bay-islands/roatan