March
6, 2004 is not that far away -so
if you have been thinking of coming, it's time to
start booking your accommodations for this Spring Tri-vacation.
Traveling
Tips - Tip #1:With
Thanksgiving around the corner, and Christmas right
after it, January will be here before you can say 'Roatan'.
By late December, I suggest you have your rooms reserved. You
can always get your money back in case you can't make it for
some reason. Hotels on the island are normally
almost full during the month of March, whether we
come or not.
Tip
#2: Steps to help you decide how to get there -
1.
Decide how many days you can stay based on your budget and
available days off. Use our Comparative
List of Hotel Prices to make this choice easier.
2.
Choose the airline that will take you to the port that
connects with Honduras. Miami, Houston, New Orleans, LA, San
Francisco, Washington D.C. Airlines are Sol
Air, Taca, Continental, American Airlines, Iberia. I
suggest you book this portion on your own for better prices.
3.
Book your rooms.
4.
Register
5.
Book your flight to Honduras.
Send
your reservation
requests at info@bayislandstriathlon.com
and copy my partner Sandra at info@tropicalrez.com.
I'll be the
backup reservations contact from now until you get to Roatan.
It doesn't cost you a penny extra to go through us (and I'm
not making a penny either). *This provides us with a very good
feel of how many people will be arriving daily. *We can
contact the local airlines and advise them to have an extra
plane on a certain day to accommodate the additional traffic.
*We also advise the taxi service to keep the larger vehicles
(to carry our bikes) at the airport during the hours our
guests are expected to arrive. This is a free service we
provide in order to make your travel experience more
enjoyable.
Tip
#3: Remember you can call me at 888-634-8776 to answer any
questions you might have, ask for Leslie. This is the number
to our fitness equipment store, Palmetto
Fitness, we're open 10-6 EST. After hours call my
home-office: 803-957-3347.
Tip
#4: Airline Fares - I've been checking the Internet
for fares within the U.S. to any of the cities with connecting
flights to Roatan like MIami, Houston, LA, New Orleans,
Washington D.C., and others. Prices are very reasonable
when compared to the fares we had at this time last year.
On the other hand, my educated guess is that they
might still drop a little more after January 1st.
If you plan to use U.S.
Air, remember you get an extra
15% Off when you reserve 60 days before your travel date. This
means you need to reserve close to the end of this year, or
very early in January to get the additional 15% Off. Some
fares I saw are around $235 or so. Subtract your discount and
you're below the $200 mark - Pretty good I'd say! The code you
need to give to U.S. Air is 83682886.
Packages!
- By popular demand, I have put some packages together
so that you can budget your trip with ease. Disclaimer:
Please
realize I'm not a travel agent, I'm a race director. However,
I know it's confusing, and want to make your decision a lot
easier. We'll be glad to customize any of these sample
packages. See our 4 night, 5 night, 7 and
8 night stay
packages.
These are
all flexible schedules which can be modified to suit
your needs. To simplify things I have assumed a
departure from Miami, Fl. I realize there are many people
arriving from the West Coast Look at the options and we'll help you
figure the rest. Packages do not include travel within
the U.S., but I list some of the fares I saw this week. Click
here for Packages.
Sponsors - It looks like we might be
the "Port Royal" Bay Islands Triathlon. Port
Royal Beer will likely be the naming sponsor of the
event, if not they will be one of the main sponsors .
At least I can guarantee we'll have lots of this
precious liquid before and after the race. Powerade
will also be a sponsor, providing this other important
drink to the Bay Islands Triathlon.
Are
you a Pro?
- We
are expecting a good group of professional athletes to
this ITU sanctioned race for 2004. The
ITU 2004 Calendar is not up yet, but we have submitted
our race to be part of the 2004 International Race
Circuit. With the cutoff for the Olympics in May, the
Bay Islands Triathlon will be among a handful of
events offering ITU points in 2004.
Our
prize purse is expected to be $8,000 (not huge, I know
but growing each year), and with the presence of
athletes ranked within the 20 top spots in the world
rankings; we expect to improve the Quality of Field
Factor (QFF) for this event. In addition you need to
realize this is a small race, so the possibilities of
improving your standings is high.
Managers
and Trainers - If you would like to find out more
about our race, and how we are assisting some
professional athletes, contact us at info@bayislandstriathlon.com
SOL
AIR - Bikes Fly FREE! - Yes,
you read that right. Bikes fly FREE on Honduras'
premier Airline and our Official Event Airline. Taxes
not included.
Miami
- Roatan, direct: $199
Miami
- San Pedro Sula - Roatan:
$250
IMPORTANT
SOL AIR SCHEDULE INFORMATION: Please
click here for information on Sol Air's schedules to
Roatan. Some schedules have changed.
Bike
Transportation - I'm offering this to a limited amount of
people. First come first served. IF you can get your
bike to me in Columbia, SC; I will transport it to Roatan for
$45/bike, insurance not included. For more info email me at
info@bayislandstriathlon.com
Registration
- The 2004 race will have 3 prices as follows: $95 for
Individual entries, $65 if you live in Honduras,
Central America or Mexico, $60 if you registered for the 2003
inaugural race. Mail-in registration is open. On-line
registration will not open until January 1, 2004. I suggest
you register the old way, through regular mail. We are getting
registrations weekly, and we expect to cap at about 300
athletes this year. Give-Away
- Our 3 night stay and 1 entre fee give-away will be processed
Monday Dec. 2. I will be posting it on our website and sending
an email to those on our list. Get
fit early, and start winning early. After
Roatan, No hill will ever be too
tough! If you plan going to St. Croix's Triathlon, this would
be a perfect warm-up race. |
