Honduras is a small country. At about 112,500 Km2, it's about the size of Portugal and almost the double of Switzerland, it would fit four and a half times into Spain. Yet it is packed with so much natural, cultural and archaelogical diversity, we like to describe it in terms of three distinct and diverse "WORLDS".

Tropical Nature, Maya Renaisance and Caribbean Charm

We hope you will agree that

The wild tropical forests, the ancient civilizations brought to life and the spicy Caribbean flavor of this unique country, and a world of friendly people awaits your arrival in Honduras.

Tropical Nature

Our first world is the world of Tropical Nature, and Honduras was blessed with the incredible natural diversity that Central America is famous for.

The highest peaks in our mountainous central highlands are capped with the mysterious and beautiful tropical cloud forest. Called the "weeping woods" for the constant dripping of condensed fog from the ever-present clouds, this is a lush, dense forest in which every branch and trunk are covered with mosses, bromeliads and orchids.

Our north and south coasts are lined with towering, old growth mangrove swamps and coastal lagoons rich with life. And our entire northeast corner is a vast, trackless wilderness called La Mosquitia, also known as the "Mosquito Coast". Huge and remote, it is part of the largest intact rain forest north of South America. Accessible only by air or by small boats, La Mosquitia is home to several indigenous tribes that live as integral parts of their diverse tropical rainforest home. For these reasons we call La Mosquitia "Central America's Little Amazon."

Caribbean Charm

The third and most exotic of our three worlds is the world of Caribbean Honduras.

In the wetlands near the charming coastal towns of Puerto Cortes, Tela, La Ceiba and Trujillo you can explore the overgrown canals, blackwater lagoons and secluded tropical beaches of several wetland national parks and wildlife refuges.

The ordered layout of the banana towns gives way to relaxed, beachside Garifuna fishing villages strung out along our entire north coast, home to one of the Caribbean's most interesting cultures. The Garifuna, whose fascinating history leads back to the wreck of a slave ship carrying slaves captured in Africa, conserve a unique language and culture, and maintain exotic chants, music and dances with the energy and rhythm of that distant continent.

Conveniently, La Ceiba is also the gateway to the Bay Islands, and divers can make day trips for rafting the Rio Cangrejal, hiking in the rainforest, or exploring the winding canals of Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge searching for monkeys, alligators, manatees and dozens of water birds.

The Bay Islands is a collection of three large islands and over 60 islets and keys located some 30 miles off the coast. Utila is the closest to shore, smallest and flattest of the three. It maintains the most authentic Bay Island culture, is one of the best places anywhere to see whale sharks, and it offers some of the most economical dive certification courses on the planet.

Roatan is the largest, most developed and most frequented of the Bay Islands. Essentially a long, forested ridge rising from the Caribbean, it retains much of the original landscape that the Buccaneers knew in the 17th and 18th Century.

Both the northern reef and southern fringing reef boast around 40 dive sites each, characterized by plummeting walls, crevices and caverns, and excellent shore diving.

Half a millennium ago, Columbus christened what is today Guanaja as the "Island of Pines", when he landed here on his fourth and final voyage to the New World.

Although there are a few patches of pine on Roatan, Guanaja is the only island whose vegetation is dominated by conifers. Michael Rock Peak (1,350 ft.) makes Guanaja the tallest of the Bay Islands, and good hiking with great views can be had up in the pine-scattered hills.