But influx of north coast Hondurans has swelled the island population to some 25,000 people today. Too many people in too small a space is a recipe for big trouble, and Roatan has big trouble. The need for building sites, roads and firewood has resulted in most of the trees being cut down. The loss of trees and other ground cover has destroyed the potable water aquifer. The water table has dropped like a rock.
Smart people buy their drinking water in plastic bottles.
Resort developers with absolutely no understanding or appreciation for the natural treasures they were destroying, have ruined vast areas of the shoreline and the tidal plain by dredging. The south side of the island from Port Royal to West End has been wrecked by blankets of the sand and silt put into the water by indiscriminate dredging activities. Raw sewage is still going directly into the sea, as it has forever, but with the vast increase in population the damage to submarine life via pollution has multiplied exponentially. As a result, divers and snorkelers get to share the sea with kitchen garbage and human excrement. Then we flew to Laceiba, for another immigration and customs procedure.