The real Caribbean

There aren't many truly unspoilt parts of the Caribbean left, but Roatan is the real deal, says Dan Walsh in the Sunday Times. No "airbrushed travel brochure", this Honduran island pretends to be modern, with its ATMs and internet, but when it rains, the power fails and it's back to the 19th century.

The beaches are beautiful, "but they bite back, alive with sandflies the size of blackheads with Great Whites' jaws". Once populated by Mayans, then farmers who were taken as slaves, Roatan, for a time, was also a safe haven for pirates. These days, the people are "English-speaking - with a heavy Carib accent, me darlin' ", and a "rum-and-reggae" attitude.

After a week, you struggle to leave. This is "a place to fall in love and a place to fall in love with".

Journey Latin America (020 8747 8315) can tailor-make trips. ·