NORTHERN HONDURAS

Caribbean Coast

Honduras' Caribbean coast is mostly a narrow coastal plain backed by mountains. The north coast is home to the Garifuna people. It's worth exploring the area's main towns - Puerto Cortés (main port), Tela, La Ceiba and Trujillo, all of which have miles of beaches. West of La Ceiba is the Cuero Y Salado Wildlife Refuge. Its main attraction is the system of canals and estuaries that form the Cuero Y Salado Rivers, home to endangered aquatic mammals of tropical America such as the manatee, white face and howler monkeys, toucans, parrots and caiman. Another protected area is Punta Sal National Park, north west of the port city of Tela, which is full of high cliffs, groups of saltfish lagoons and the only continental reef in the country.

Just twenty minutes drive from La Ceiba is the national park of Pico Bonito. Unquestionably one of the most diverse parks in Honduras (encompassing 7 different ecosystems), the Pico Bonito Cloud Forest covers an extension of land that goes from sea level to as high as 7,300 feet. It is also home to the only luxury jungle lodge in Honduras.

The Bay Islands

Fifty kilometres from the north coast are the three Bay Islands - Roatan, Guanaja and Utila. Prime attractions for visitors, they are blissfully free of high rise hotels. Geologically they're extensions of one of the longest fringing barrier reef systems in the world. Roatan is our favourite, a typically caribbean island with a verdant interior surrounded by perfect white palmfringed beaches with crystal blue waters. The pace of life here is very slow, so it is the perfect place to flop at the end of your trip as there are some wonderful places to stay. Even better is the fact that this is one of the very few places in Central America where you can actually snorkel the reef right off the beach. And the diving is out of this world!