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Cinnamon Mornings and Chocolate Dreams

Whether you're hosting a formal get-together or need a quick brunch idea, this book will spark your imagination and your appetite.

Honduras Travel Guide

For over 20 years, Pamela Lanier's Honduras Travel Guide has been your connection to Honduras's tourism community with invaluable details on local attractions, restaurants, shopping, museums, history, outdoor recreation and more.

History

Roatan

Santa Rosa de Copan

Side Trips

La Ceiba

Roatan

Roatan, the largest of the Bay Islands, is located in the middle of the crescent island chain in the western Caribbean, approximately 40 miles off the northern coast of Honduras. This island group consists Roatan, Guanaja, and Utila, the three small islands of Barbareta, Morat and Helen as well as 65 smaller cays. Roatan and all the Bay Islands, with their very unique tropical terrain, are actually the tops of a submerged mountain range that’s called the Bonacca Ridge. The ridge that parallels the Cayman trench has created the second largest barrier reef in the world.

The islands' economy is based mostly on fishing, but tourism is quickly gaining in importance. Roatán is gradually joining Guanaja as a more up-scale retreat. Most visitors head to Roatan’s West End, but Utila remains the least expensive of the three islands. Whichever island you visit, be sure to bring plenty of insect repellent because the sandflies are voracious, especially during the rainy season.

Port Royal, on the mostly undeveloped southeast end of Roatan, is imbued with times past. Punta Gorda was the first permanent settlement on Roatan, which was established by Black Caribs (Garifuna), a mixture of the Island Carib Indians and relocated Africans from St. Vincent Island. Don’t miss the Carambola Botanical Gardens and Nature Trails, where a wide variety of exotic plants are featured, including Roatan's most extensive orchid collection.

There is great snorkeling, diving and swimming around the Bay and Hog islands, and nice beaches around Tela and Trujillo in the mainland For some wonderful hikes, try Parque Nacional Celaque southeast of Santa Rosa de Copán. It has the country's highest peak, a lush cloud forest, the headwaters of 10 rivers and a magnificent waterfall. Parque Nacional Pico Bonito has trails around the fringes of the 500 sq. km (195 sq. mi.) unexplored reserve and a challenging peak for mountaineers.

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Honduras City Guides:
Roatan Santa Rosa de Copan Tegucigalpa	Tela Trujillo

Bed and Breakfasts in Honduras

Elegant Small Hotels