What to do and How to Arrive to Guanaja, Honduras

Guanaja is the easternmost of Honduras’s Bay Islands, which also include Utila and Roatan. While Guanaja Honduras is the least touristed of the Bay Islands trio, it’s the most distinctive in many ways, not least when it comes to looks—the island is a tall, mountainous land mass covered in Caribbean pine, split in two by a man-made channel, and surrounded by glowing water.

Guanaja’s main community, Bonacca, is actually a tiny, crowded cay right off the main island. The cay has been called the “Little Venice of the Caribbean”—it’s crisscrossed with canals that teem with colorful boats and canoes, navigating Bonacca’s packed streets.

Most budget hotels are located in Bonacca. However, Guanaja’s most spectacular attractions are its forests, rivers, and miles of unspoiled beaches, so it’s worth paying a little extra to stay on the main island, at least for a night or two.

Guanaja is clearly the island least visited by tourists. Many yachtsmen also choose to bypass the island in favor of the more developed Roatan.

However, Guanaja Diving Resorts are very cozy and offer magnificent views and world class Honduras Diving with some outstanding open water experiences to enhance your Honduras Travel.

Banking is limited on the island of Guanaja. There is only one bank, Banco Atlantida, and no ATMs. It is recommended you carry cash, as traveler’s checks are not accepted, and cannnot be changed at the bank. Almost all establishments do not accept credit cards.

What to Do:

Sunbathers, rejoice! Guanaja has a number of beautiful beaches. One of the island’s best stretches of sand is owned by The End of The World Resort, while the West Peak Inn borders the largest. Guanaja’s resorts are often smallish, family-run enterprises, offering everything from inland treks to snorkeling and scuba diving in the Bay Islands’ famous reefs.

More than anything else, Guanaja scuba diving is underscoring the island on travelers’ maps. The second largest barrier reef in the world begins near Guanaja and extends north towards Belize and the Yucatan.

Non-divers can hike between Mangrove Bight and Savannah Bight, Guanaja’s second-largest settlements, or trek inland to behold sparkling waterfalls among the trees—90 percent of Guanaja is a forested National Reserve. Travelers can also rent bikes or sea kayaks and explore the coast.

How to arrive:

You can arrive to guanaja from tegucigalpa or san pedro sula by airplane in Aerolinea sosa (https://www.aerolineasosahn.com) From Tegucigalpa about $ 100 round trip.

Fastest - Fly to Roatan and then charter a boat or flight directly to Guanaja on the weekly Saturday flight from Roatan (see details below).
Second Fastest - Fly to Roatan and then take two 15-30 minutes flights: one to La Ceiba on the mainland and then another to Guanaja

Flying from the US to Roatan or the mainland: 

Keep in mind because there is only one flight to Guanaja a day that you may not be able to connect the same day.

To Roatan - You can fly the following airlines: Continental, Delta, Taca. Continental flies into and departs Roatan on Thursdays (During Peak Times), Saturdays and Sundays

To La Ceiba - I am not aware of any direct flights from the US to La Ceiba. You must fly through either Roatan, Tegucigalpa, or San Pedro Sula then onto La Ceiba. Since Sosa Airlines is the only one currently flying to Guanaja, you have to connect through La Ceiba

To San Pedro Sula - American and Continental fly to San Pedro Sula. From here take Sosa Airlines to La Ceiba then onto Guanaja

It`s the paradise on earth!!! Just go, relax and enjoy this beautiful and cheap place in Honduras. Another beaches on the caribbean are not prettier than Guanaja, but more expensive by sure. You can invest in this island, living for some months or just going to relax some days.

THE PARADISE ON EARTH: ROATAN AND UTILA IN HONDURAS

UTILA, SCUBA DIVE!!!

Yesterday i was in a reunion with friends from Argentina, and one of them asked me about Honduran coast, he said that he wanted to go to Honduras because he have heard about the scuba diving options in this country, so i thought, well, maybe a little information about Utila would be great for my blog, so here it is!!

The tropical island of Utila, nestling in the Caribbean Sea and located approximately 18 miles (29 km) from the Honduras mainland port of La Ceiba. Our island is just 11 km long and 4 km at its widest and surrounded by vast coral reefs with prolific undersea life. The smallest of the major islands in The Bay Islands group, we are renowned as being one of the least expensive and most beautiful places in the world for a scuba diving vacation.

From the Payan Indians, through the years spent as a British Colony, to the present day as part of Honduras, our island provides a rich and diverse cultural experience with it's unique blend of British, American and Spanish heritages making this an authentic Caribbean Island which, even today, is still a largely undiscovered and unspoiled tropical island paradise.

On the island of Utila, which borders on the Mesoamerican barrier reef system, (the 2nd largest reef in the world after the Australian Great Barrier Reef), you will discover some of the most beautiful beaches, coral reefs, and tropical island sunsets in the world.


With over 60 different scuba diving sites to choose from, including caves and numerous wrecks (such as the famous Halliburton), scuba diving is always interesting and never crowded.

Utila is also famous for divers encountering the Whale Shark migrating through the waters of Utila. The Whale Shark is the world's largest fish. The slow moving Whale Shark is a harmless zooplankton, snapper egg and shrimp eating fish which grows up to 12-18 meters in length.

At the south-west end of the Island are the Cays (or Caylitos), a small collection of tiny islands, some just 100 feet across and 1-2 feet above sea level. The 2 main Cays, Suc-Suc (Pigeon) and Jewel Cay, are inhabited by local fisherman and the descendants of the original settlers who arrived here from the Cayman Islands in 1836.


Most of the other Cays are privately owned but several are open to visitors, especially Water Cay, the definitive deserted tropical island, which is uninhabited and has no buildings or construction on it. It is possible to hire a water taxi for the 30 minute journey from the town center to Water Cay and spend the day enjoying the isolation and the fabulous snorkeling that can be found there. Water Cay is also home to the famous Sun Jam, a 2 day music and dancing fiesta held at Water Cay every year during the 1st weekend of August.

Getting there is easy, there is a regular passenger ferry, the Utila Princess, which runs 2 times a day between the mainland port of La Ceiba and our Municipal Dock arriving in the centre or "El Centro" of the town. Our small Airport receives several flights a day from Aerolineas SOSA and Atlantic Airlines. Most people here speak English and you can use USA Dollars as easily as Honduras Lempiras.

You will not find International or even National chain restaurants and hotels in Utila. All businesses are run by local families or people living here. There is a range of lodgings and accommodations available to suit all budgets and all tastes, from shared dormitory-style rooms from as little as $2 per night to luxury private houses and inclusive resorts. You can even rent and stay on your own private tropical island (Little Cay, Sandy Cay or The Rocks Cay) for as little as $US100.00 a night!

Hope you enjoy your trip to Honduras, and specially to Bay Islands.

Here´s also a video of Utila and its attractions:

Source: http://www.aboututila.com