My girlfriend and I visited Roatan for the first time about two weeks ago and absolutely fell in love. The island, the culture, the food, the weather (yes even the humidity lol)… but most importantly - THE PEOPLE. In just one week we met some of the most amazing people, both locals and expats, who were so generous with their time and knowledge. Our trip was part vacation and part exploratory - Roatan was on the short list of places that we wanted to move to. So we saw everything from new builds in the West End to older houses that were fixers, houses on the beach, no beach… we were very busy. One thing we really hadn’t considered seriously was building ourselves. That all changed when we toured the lots at Mariposa! We found the perfect lot about 50’ from the water in Caribe Pointe. It is on the hillside so we will have amazing views of the bight and hopefully the ocean! We are so excited!
Which leads up to the big move! We are moving down to Roatan, full time, in the first week of June! We are furiously tying everything up in Phoenix (if you know anyone in Phoenix that needs furniture, clothes, dishes… we are selling it all lol). We are planning on shipping our Jeep Cherokee (it’s paid off) and a few things we can’t live without. We are considering bringing our patio furniture because it’s extremely light but in good shape. It’s a powder coated steel frame though so I’m worried about rust. We are excited about tearing through our closet. I’m going to have a slacks/jean burning party I think haha.
I’ve been all through this forum for moving tips and there are some great ones. I didn’t find any concrete leads on shipping a car though, so that will be something I’ll collect information on and post here. If anyone has any advice on whether or not to bring the patio furniture that would be great. Also, what do most people do for furniture on the island?
Both my girlfriend and I are planning on staying active in the job market. Not sure exactly what that means yet lol, but I thought I’d throw out our backgrounds in case anyone has any opportunities. I’ve been a computer programmer for the last 22 years since leaving the Army. I’ve focused mostly on the web app languages and database backend - LAMP, php, sql, jquery, javascript, html, css, ajax, oracle. I’ve built commercial websites and internal applications. I’ve done everything involved with websites - domain registration, hosting setup, DNS management, etc. I also have many years on the hardware side as well - building PCs and servers, creating and managing storage solutions, creating and managing cloud solutions, networking, etc. Oddly enough I also put a good amount of time in on the sales front too haha.
My girlfriend is a retired music teacher of 28 years. If it makes sound, she can teach it haha. She ran one of the best marching bands in the largest division in Arizona for the past 10 years, taught jazz, orchestra, guitar, and chorus early on in her career. She has also been very active in the pageant community, holding multiple titles and volunteering/mentoring adults and kids for many years. She’s an amazing woman!
Any leads would be amazingly appreciated! We are so excited to get to the island and become a part of the island community!
My wife and I have visited a few times also, but haven’t taken the real estate acquisition plunge yet. 
We too are convinced that the geography/topography, climate, food, housing and people of the island make it as close to being an idyllic landing zone as one could hope to find in the Caribbean. We therefore encourage you to follow your dreams of residency and new construction with the selfish motivation of wanting to follow your progress and to gain insights and courage to do the same as a result. All the best.