Honduras for sun and fun!

The best three places to celebrate and enjoy the sun in Honduras are Ceiba, the bay islands and the lesser known Amapala. Naturally, there are countless small communities and cities along the north coast that offer more security and or less traveled options, yet I find the islands the best experience, while Ceiba well worth the danger. Of the islands, I find Roatan worth the price & more stayed atmosphere, except if you are going to party and dive. The pacific coast of Honduras offers you something the north does not, empty beaches & islands with better cross country travel.

First let’s look at the continental options for sun and fun!

Ceiba is located on the north coast between porte cortes and Trujillo, which represent the largest port and a big crime center, and a colonial or pirate port town with an impressive history. Still, Ceiba is by far the better location with cayos cochinos not far off, which are worth the boat ride to meet the few locals that maintain a peace corps funded rustic cabins on the island with only islanders. These cays are less visited, which allows their coral reefs and fish to thrive. Also the local flair really makes it a different experience. If you want to see the best kept secret and corals, you will take advantage of these islands.

If you want to stay in the city be careful, as walking on the beach at night is strongly discouraged by locals, who come running to tell you that tourists have been robbed often in many places of the city. Thus, taxis are probably your best bet after 8pm, along with being aware of your surroundings and not too dumb, while walking. Still, the city offers zona viva or the lively district, which is bumping on a Monday night or even a Sunday night, while is out of control Thursday-Saturday. The largest carnival in Central America occurs here in mid May. Impossible to miss from Ceiba is pico bonito or pretty peak, which is easily hiked from the base to the top in a day. They take you up a ways, yet you still cross through some 5 different flora types as you climb to above 2,000 meters. Many have told me that the rafting is amazing and worth the trip, which is offered as an excursion as well. Ceiba has by far the most excursions of any city, while being itself a party, the girlfriend of Hondurans, and being very full of life itself.

While not exactly an excursion but worth mention, Trujillo is famous for its history being the first landing of Columbus on the Continent in 1502, along with being the Spanish fort attacked and continually overrun by pirates, and finally the execution of William Walker & his grave. These make this city worth visiting to see how vibrant and important this rather tranquil city really is. The trip to Trujillo would lead you to want to visit the jungle and once famous kingdom basically at your footsteps. It is hard to get to the thanks to god Mosquitia, where you will find people speak English mixed with dutch & a native language. The only problem is that the area is off limits to pcvs, which highlights the rise in drug related crime and poor access to hospitals throughout the trip. Still, if you want to travel through an uninhabited jungle with monkeys, crocodiles and little Indian kids playing in the waters, this is a must, albeit be careful.

Ceiba has plenty of hotels priced reasonably, a nice park, a hostel and the ferries. The only hostel is banana republic, which is normal Honduran fare with water being turned off and other inconveniences, yet any trip to Honduras must deal with water, lights, and buses being late, hotels being less than expected. Thus, I recommend, if you like 3-4 star hotels, only go to the best here, which usually will not cost more than $100, even in capital cities. Otherwise, enjoy your semi warm water, occasional inconveniences and life in a banana republic, along with a hotel for under $30.

The ferry leaves late after 9, yet the buses usually arrive slowly or late from San Pedro, which is the common entrance into the country. As Tegucigalpa has one of the scariest airstrips and worst airports in the world, currently 2nd,, I would recommend San Pedro or Roatan or Ceiba. However, both cities rate in the top 5 for violent crimes, so arrive and be very safe. Usually, the only place safe to enjoy the large cities is the malls, while they are not completely safe. Never take a city bus, which are robbed daily for gang taxes. The taxi ride from the airport to the bus station in San Pedro, one of the largest and best in LA, is long & pricey.

Take a nice intercity bus, as any of the cheap ones leave you dripping in sweat, arriving late, so you have to pay for a hotel in Ceiba instead of arriving at your destination. Be careful, as they over book cheap buses, so be sure to enter first and sit in any seat, as standing is tiresome & upsetting. I do not recommend Hedelmans, as it is overpriced, and rather find the other luxury ones to offer better service, a lower cost, and are less often full. Hedelmans pays more for advertisement, yet is overall worse in quality for money.

The bus station has plenty of banks, while the islands and ferry dock have limited cash and often run out. Thus, I would recommend getting cash for at least the first week, as lines on the island tend to last an hour and are very common, due to atms running out of cash, banks unable to provide services etc. Just hide the money well, distribute everything everywhere. Try to keep all luggage on you, as the cheap buses, sometimes take a tip from your stored luggage or even just take your luggage outright; require a stub of something, if you do leave something above or below.

You trip to the islands will be rough, so take the free sea sickness pills, as most tell me it is the worst ride of their lives, yet I found it nothing worse than Colombian waters off Cartengena, where they had dancing competitions to entertain the passengers and dancers sea legs, hilarious. Neither ferry needs a reservation, as one must obtain the ticket a day earlier, which allows your reservation to be bought by someone else a day earlier with you waiting. Thus, if there is any danger of overbooking come a day early to buy your ticket outright.

Ceiba is a great city to branch out of to other places. Most hotels offer guides and tourism is very common. What do you think of Ceiba? Do you want to go to Trujillo? I think Pico Bonita is a must, your thoughts?

Do you think that Honduras’s crime is a factor or just something news overplays?