Honduras Travel

The Bay Islands of Honduras have always been knwn as one of the world’s most inexpensive places to learn to dive. Don’t think that because it’s cheap, it’s any less amazing.

The Meso-American Barrier Reef System, begins off the Honduran coast, and then continues past Belize to Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. It is the second largest barrier reef, and much more accessible than the first largest, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

The Bay Islands can be considered sea-life central. People dive alongside whale sharks, hammerheads, dolphins, manta rays and beautiful vibrant corals, all in abundance. The islands have a very Caribbean feel to them, even though they are considered Latin American. Roatan has indigenous Garifuna tribes, who are of African descent, and English is primarily spoken.

“Get down!” our rafting guide shouted as our boat passed through a labyrinth of towering rocks about the size of a two-story house. I myself was a river guide, many years ago and the razor-thin passageways along the “Rio Cangrejal” (Cangrejal River) in La Ceiba, Honduras were bringing back memories of nasty flips and scary swims.

“Get up!” Our guide yelled right before entering a passageway. I sprang up, ready to paddle. “Forward! Forward! Go!” I quickly dove my paddle into the water, and found I was competing for space with the towering rock wall. Suddenly, the rock walls fell away and we entered a technical rock garden with no end in sight; but I couldn’t have been happier with the less-claustrophobic challenge ahead.

It’s a miracle that earth has such beauties in its lap. It is simply impossible to create a wonder like the ones which are naturally made. If we see the planet from space, and take a glance towards America, then you can see a bridge that connects North America with South America. Honduras lies on that particular bridge which we can see from space. It’s amazing to feel the glory of nature, especially when we stand at a place which is surrounded with the greenery, and colorful natural beauties.

Honduras’ Bay Islands – the large islands of Roatan, Utila and Guanaja, plus Cayos Cochinos and the Swan Islands – sit about 40 miles off the coast of the mainland in the Caribbean Sea. While the islands are as beautiful as any others in the Caribbean and offer long sandy white beaches, turquoise water, and lush jungle landscapes, the biggest draw for most visitors is the area’s superb and low-cost diving.

The whole purpose of this trip was to show people that, despite the travel advisory warnings on Honduras by many of the Western nations, it is actually a very safe place to travel.

There has been some unrest in the capital city, but there wasn’t a military coup as the Western media says. Also, anything that is going on in the country is happening in Tegucigalpa, and though that is very little, it certainly has no effect on tourists to the country. Most of the country has carried on with their every day lives. As we traveled around the country, I was shocked by how few people there were … the restaurants were empty, the hotels were unoccupied, the beaches were bare.

“The president’s been arrested already this morning,” hotel owner Jeff Kuken told me and my wife one Sunday morning in late June.

We had spent months planning a vacation across Honduras, but now Latin America’s first military coup in decades was unfolding on the third day of our trip. Not exactly part of our plans, and definitely not included in guidebooks that painted Honduras as the Next Big Destination for affordable eco-tourism.

“The military flew him out of the country at gunpoint,” said Kuken, a Boston native who owns Casa Calico on this beautiful island known for its scuba diving and snorkeling.