Activities in Honduras
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FEATURED
Roatan Shore Excursion: Zip 'n' Dip Canopy Tour
4 hours (Departs Roatan, Honduras)
by Viator
Roatan is mostly known for two things -- beaches and adventure. On the famous Zip 'n' Dip Canopy Tour, you can enjoy both of these and make the most of your…Not LP reviewed
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Alton’s Dive Center
Longtime local shop – ‘Alton’ is Alton Cooper, Utila’s mayor until 2010 – with good equipment and a laid-back atmosphere. Courses include four night’s accommodation – in little, basic, cold-water rooms right at the shop – and two fun dives. The service can be a bit hit and miss. It also offers NAUI courses.
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Canopy Tours
Canopy Tours provides a canopy tour with a 20-cable system about 500m past Sambo Creek, east of La Ceiba. The 20-cable tour (two to three hours) starts with a 35-minute horseback ride up a steep road to the first station and includes a stop at a natural hot springs where you can smear yourself with the possibly therapeutic, definitely sulfur-smelling mud there. Any east-bound bus from La Ceiba can drop you at the entrance; a cab there will cost around US$30.
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Honduras Caribbean Tours
Has tours similar to Garífuna Tours, but also sportfishing (per boat L$5491), trips to Lancetilla (L$550), Pico Bonito (L$1045) & Cayos Cochinos (L$1121) and rafting on the Río Cangrejal (L$1121). Enquire at Casa Azul Caribbean Café.
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La Moskitia Ecoaventuras
Run by Jorge Salverri, an expert birder and one of the most knowledgeable guides to La Moskitia. Call ahead.
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Diving Sites
Roatán has dozens of dive sites and most shops do a good job of making sure divers who buy multi-dive packages don't end up going to the same place again and again. If there's a site you are keen to try, don't be afraid to ask. At the same time, weather and water conditions dictate most site selection, and some dives aren't practical or diveable for days at a time.
Some favorites - among many, many others - include: Mary's Place: fissures in the coral form a deep, sheer-faced maze at this one-of-a-kind site. Winding through, you'll likely see jacks, lobsters and crabs, and huge schools of silversides; near the mooring, keep an eye out for seahorses. Mary's Place is near…
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Roatán Institute for Deepsea Exploration
The Roatán Institute for Deepsea Exploration is the fancy name for an American kid with a homemade submarine, which he uses to take tourists into the deep-sea trenches just off Roatán’s north shore. This is one of only two operations in the world that take Joe Public deeper than 91m. And the Idabel, as the sub is called, goes much deeper than that – more than 610m down, for as long as seven hours. There is no vegetation after 91m (and no light after 520m) and only the strangest of life forms: bioluminescent sponges, swimming sea cucumbers, six-gilled sharks, all amid huge limestone boulders and fossilized coral formations. The sub’s creator, Karl Stanley, got into…
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Finca el Cisne
Finca El Cisne is the well-run tourism arm of a century-old family farm, located 25km north of Copán Ruinas; trips combine beautiful scenery with an inside-look at a working finca and include horseback riding through coffee and cardamom fields, swimming in the Río Blanco, soaking at Agua Caliente hot springs and a stop at the coffee-processing plants (February to October). Lodging is in a homey solar-powered cabin. Per person costs (minimum two people) are: day trips L$1000; overnight L$1300; and two-night stays L$2100; they include transportation to/from Copán Ruinas and meals. The finca shares an office with Basecamp tours, opposite ViaVia Café in Copán Ruinas.
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Hiking
A loop starting in West End heading to Flowers Bay, then continuing south almost to the tip of the island, over the ridge to West Bay and back up the beach to West End, makes a good five- to six-hour hike. Tack on a couple of hours enjoying the beach at West Bay, and it's a whole day's excursion. For a shorter trek, simply do the West End-Flowers Bay leg - when you reach the ridge, look out over both sides of the island.
In either case, bring plenty of water to stay hydrated and adequate repellent to ward off the numerous ticks and sand flies.
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Captain Morgan’s Dive Centre
Small operation with an office at the intersection, but its dive shop and lodging are on Jewel Cay (Upper Cay), a 20-minute boat ride from Utila. Three to four nights of lodging are included with your Open Water course in the clean and comfy lodge – a good bet if you want to get away from the Utila scene.
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Cross Creek
Owned by the Utila Diver Center, Cross Creek is a bit more expensive, but has friendly multilingual staff and professional instruction. Breakfast and accommodation are included with an Open Water course, and the rooms are some of our favorites on the island. All guests can use the big, shared kitchen and lounge.
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Yaragua Tours
Just east of Parque Central, the reliable Yaragua Tours offers various excursions, including tubing and horseback trips along the Copán River, bird-watching, waterfall hikes and coffee plantation tours. Ask for Samuel Miranda.
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Omega Tours
Located along the Río Cangrejal on the way to the town of Yaruca.
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Cabañas
Just a few minutes east of Copán is the cheerful little farming community of Cabañas. Peace Corps volunteers have helped community members organize a day-long rural tour; highlights include hiking or horseback riding through coffee fields and tiny farming communities, visiting traditional houses 'painted' with colored mud, a 25m waterfall, and lunch at a campesino home. Visitors can also stay overnight with a family in Cabañas. There's even a website with hotels and descriptions.
It is vital that you call in advance, so the trip can be organized. Come the afternoon before, stay the night and start the tour early. Doña Magaly Alvarado, who operates the Comedor Calle…
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Central American Spanish School
Utila isn’t the most logical place in the world to take Spanish classes – most of the locals speak English – but all of the professors at the Central American Spanish School are native speakers from La Ceiba, and there are more and more mainland transplants working and living here. Homestays aren’t available yet, but with a little effort you should have no trouble finding people to practice your skills on. Classes are offered for all levels, usually one-on-one, four hours per day, five days per week. All books and materials are included, along with five hours of internet access per week, and the school can help arrange long-term lodging. It’s opposite Rubi’s…
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Gumbalimba Park
GumbalimbaPark, a family recreation park, has something for everyone: beach, kayaking, canopy tour, snorkeling, SNUBA, nature path, botanical garden, monkey and bird enclosures, and, of course, restaurants and gift shops. Aimed squarely at cruise-shippers, it can still be a fun outing for independent travelers with kids. The park is only open to the general public on days when there are no cruise ships on the island. Even more strange, the park does not have set individual admission prices – they negotiate package deals with cruise ship companies – so be sure to call the day you plan to go to see what the fee is. It’s a 10-minute walk north on the beach from West…
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Eddy & Danny Fishing Charter
At the far end of town, Eddy & Danny Fishing Charter is a friendly family operation that takes groups trolling (for tuna, dorado, barracuda, and sometimes wahoo and marlin in season), deep-sea fishing (for grouper, and snapper) and flat fishing (catch-and-release bone fish). On a full-day trip (L$6650 to L$11,400 depending on the boat), you can combine different types of fishing, and even stop for snorkeling or lunch on a deserted beach. Half-day trips cost from L$3800 to L$6650. At the end of the day, you can have your catch cooked up, along with potatoes, garlic bread and veggies, for an extra L$100 per person.
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CONVERSA Language School
Tegucigalpa's go-to Spanish school offers excellent one-on-one classes that are popular with diplomats, business people and NGO administrators. For travelers, La Ceiba, Western Honduras and the Bay Islands - not to mention Guatemala, the Spanish school mecca - are more likely places to spend a week or two taking language classes.
Three types of courses are offered on a monthly basis: Intensivo (120 hours), Semi-Intensivo (80 hours), and Diario (40 hours). Homestays, all within walking distance of the school, can be arranged .
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Snorkeling
The bay has several good places to go snorkeling. Cayo Blanco and the Banco de Estrellas Marinas (Sea Star Bank) are the best spots, with a healthy coral reef teeming with fish, starfish (of course) and the occasional turtle. The folks at C&R Campamento offer snorkeling trips for up to eight people, equipment included.
Or you can organize it at Casa Kiwi, where guests can rent snorkel gear - walk 2km east along the beach to a sunken boat; its rusted hull sticks partway out of the water just a short distance from shore.
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La Flor de Copán
Fine hand-rolled cigars are produced in La Flor de Copán factory, just 2km from town. You can learn about the entire process – from the trimming of the tobacco to the packaging of puros (cigars) – by taking a tour (L$40, 10am and 2pm); call to reserve a spot. If you want a smoke without a tour, stop by the factory outlet store in town (Calle Centenario near 3a Av Norte), open from 8am to noon and 2pm to 5pm Monday to Friday, 8am to noon Saturday.
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Santé Wellness Center
A great way to pamper yourself is at the SantéWellnessCenter, a day spa located on a tiny, private island about 5km east of French Harbour. Treatments cost anywhere from L$600 to L$1900. If you find it hard to leave, you don’t have to – there is a high-end bed and breakfast (room L$2375) here as well. Base prices include breakfast, but all-inclusive packages including meals, spa treatments and diving are also available.
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Subway Watersports
Subway Watersports operates out of the resort, but is open to the public. Open Water dive courses cost L$7220, while fun dives are L$665. The resort can also arrange sunset horseback rides, which last from 1½ to 2½ hours (advance reservations required), or if you’re feeling brave, try the 1½-hour canopy tour, located near the main road.
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La Ruta Moskitia
One of the most popular operators, sort of ‘tour-lite’: you don’t travel with a dedicated guide, but transportation is prearranged and you are told who to ask for in each town. Every penny goes to the guides, guesthouse owners and boatmen you use, but traveling with this company also means other independent hotel operators, boatmen and restaurants receive fewer visitors.
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International Language Institute
Although it’s mainly dedicated to teaching English to Hondurans, the International Language Institute just up the street from the Casa del Obrero, also offers Spanish courses. Classes are one-on-one and cost L$228 per hour, with a one-time L$190 registration fee. Homestays, including three meals per day, can be arranged for an additional L$237 per day.
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Utila Dive Center
Utila’s first and biggest dive shop, UDC issued more Open Water certifications in 2004 than any other shop in the world. Groups can get big (up to 12 people) but there’s at least one staff member (whether instructor, assistant or divemaster) for every two students. Courses are more expensive, but include four nights at the Mango Inn and two fun dives.
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Utila Water Sports
One of the few locally-owned shops, this operation also manages the Agressor and the high-end Laguna Beach Resort. It has excellent gear and a well-trained and well-supported staff. It offers both PADI and SSI certification. Open Water courses include three free nights in its clean and cozy dorms (some private rooms are available), plus four free fun dives.
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