| The Bay Islands of Honduras
Roatan, Utila, Guanaja, where the living is easy
and where we delight in making your vacation your best one ever.
Roatan
Roatan is the largest, most developed and most
frequented of the Bay Islands of Honduras.
Essentially a long, forested ridge rising from the Caribbean sea, it
retains much of the original landscape that the Buccaneers knew in
the 16th century.
Roatan, like the rest of the Bay Islands,
provides visitors with an unspoilt vacation
alternative and is said to be much like the eastern Caribbean was
before commercialization took place.
The island has an incredible amount to offer guests; superb
scuba diving and snorkeling,
tours of the island, hiking, kayaking, horseback
riding, exploring vast mangrove alleys, pirate history tours, water
sports and stunning beaches like West Bay.
There are restaurants, hotels,
resorts and vacation rentals to
suit every type of traveler and
all of these make certain that every guest is treated to a wonderful
island experience.
So, whether you're visiting us as a diver, explorer, party animal
or simply
just to be, we're certain that you are going to have the
best vacation ever.
Utila
Approximately 18 miles from the northern coast of Honduras, Utila
is the flattest of the Bay Islands, and is accessible by small
aircraft or by a one-hour ferryboat from La Ceiba.
Utila's English-speaking inhabitants first moved to the island in
the early 19th century, emigrating from British islands in the
Caribbean.
Almost the entire population of Utila lives in East Harbour, the
main town on a protected harbor on the southeast corner of the
island. Because the town is quite spread out, visitors may find it
useful to rent a bicycle for the frequent trips back and forth
between hotel, dive shop, restaurants, and bars. A couple of hundred
islanders live out on Pigeon Cay, just off the main island.
Word has gotten out that Utila has the least expensive dive
certification courses on the planet, and it has become something of
a Mecca for young international travelers, seeking high quality dive
training at a really good price. A healthy competition between over
a dozen small dive shops has been responsible for this, but it has
never compromised the quality of the courses and services offered by
the islands.
True to its reputation, most of the hotels on the island also
cater to the budget traveler, although high-end alternatives are
available. Utila is one of the best places in the world to see whale
sharks, the world's largest (yet harmless) fish.
Although the diving is spectacular, Utila offers travelers a wide
choice of things to do, and is definitely a good place to chill out
and have some fun.
Guanaja
Guanaja, the eastern-most of the Bay Islands, has spectacular,
wide-open beaches on its northern side, magnificent reef on all
sides, and a population of quirky, English-speaking islanders.
Christopher Columbus christened what is today Guanaja as the
"Island of Pines" when he landed here on his fourth and final voyage
to the New World in 1502. Although there are a few patches of pine
on Roatan, Guanaja is the only island whose vegetation is dominated
by conifers. Michael Rock Peak (1,350 ft.) makes Guanaja the tallest
of the Bay Islands, and this makes for incredible hiking and views
of the Caribbean Sea. .
What makes Guanaja island special is its seclusion. There is only
one small road on the island linking the towns of Mangrove Bight and
Savannah Bight, so nearly all transportation is done over water. The
majority of Guanaja's population (10,000) live on Bonacca Cay, about
300 meters off the main island.
Most of the island's upscale, dedicated dive resorts are located
on isolated points around the island, which are accessible only by
boat. This makes the Guanaja experience uniquely private and
relaxing.
When it comes to activities, Guanaja has a lot to offer. The
islands' 45 dive sites are known for healthy reefs, pinnacles and
volcanic caverns, wrecks and the newly inaugurated Mestizo Reef.
The new dive site, called the Mestizo Reef, is located in 65ft of
water and includes two life-size head-and-shoulder statues of
Christopher Columbus and Lempira (local Indian chief), a partial
shipwreck and is surrounded by genuine artifacts such as Spanish
cannons, a 16th century bell and a number of vases and other objects
from that period.
Other activities include hiking and exploring, kayaking,
snorkeling, playing in enormous waterfalls, discovering ancient
Mayan artifacts and relaxing...
Cayos Cochinos
The Cayos Cochinos Islands, also known as the
Hog Cays, is a small archipelago and is located
just 19 kilometers off the northern coast of Honduras.
The two larger islands are covered with thick
tropical forest and are ringed by white
sand beaches. The Cayos and surrounding
waters were declared a marine reserve in 1994, with
the help of the Smithsonian Institute, protecting
all marine and terrestrial flora and fauna within a 460-square-km
area from fishing, development or any other harmful activity. The
reserve extends eight kilometers in all directions.
Because of the reserve, and more importantly because only a few
people live on the islands, the surrounding reef is in fantastic
shape and is teeming with colorful marine life. All in all, the
Cayos are one of the most spectacular collections of islands,
beaches, and reefs in the western Caribbean.
The archipelago has only two small, upscale
resorts, and so its reefs are little used; though
many resorts on Utila, Roatan and
Guanaja like to make occasional day trips
to these tropical island jewels. The Cayos
Cochinos reef system is particularly prized for its lush
macro life, the Caribbean's most diverse.
Budget travelers often make trips out to these islands by way of
an early morning boat from the mainland Garifuna
village of Nueva Armenia, an hour's drive east of
La Ceiba. They stay in small huts or in hammocks on
tiny Chachauate Key where there is a semi-permanent
Garifuna fishing settlement. |
