Guanaja, Honduras
Coming to Honduras would not be complete without a visit to one or more of the Bay Islands. The three islands of Roatan, Guanaja, and Utila are some of Honduras’ prime attractions. The Bay Islands are the abovewater expression of the Bonacca Ridge, an extension of the mainland Sierre de Omoa mountain range that disappears into the ocean near Puerto Cortes. These islands have one of the most varied reefs because of its location on the edge of the continental shelf, at the transition between shallow water and deep-water habitats.
This morning we reached the island of Guanaja. Some of us decided to visit the colorful town, which proved to be full of smiling people, bright colored houses on stilts, and a maze of alluring narrow streets which I am sure could tell a lot of stories. Later, most everyone chose to go snorkeling on the Soldado beach, using a man made canal, which crossed right through the island. Snorkeling proved to be quite good: barracudas, trumpet fish, various types of corals, and volcanolike crab mounds on the whitesandy bottom. After several hours of snorkeling, we returned to the ship for another wonderful meal.
We repositioned the boat to the Northern side of the island onto a lonely beach. After looking around for a while, we finally found a channel through the Sargassum banks onto a wall and into the best snorkeling yet of the trip. We met with schools of blue tangs, a lonely eel, lobsters, rays, someone saw an octopus, flowerlike corals, thin-membraned invertebrates, and a large array of fish clad in bright blues, blacks, yellows, and reds, big eyed squirrel fish hiding within purple, green, red or brown sponges. It was nothing but phenomenal! On another adventure, the scuba divers came home completely in awe! A nurse shark at least seven feet long completed their day.
We all came back “home” sunbathed, suntanned, exhausted, but delighted with our underwater experiences.
Coming to Honduras would not be complete without a visit to one or more of the Bay Islands. The three islands of Roatan, Guanaja, and Utila are some of Honduras’ prime attractions. The Bay Islands are the abovewater expression of the Bonacca Ridge, an extension of the mainland Sierre de Omoa mountain range that disappears into the ocean near Puerto Cortes. These islands have one of the most varied reefs because of its location on the edge of the continental shelf, at the transition between shallow water and deep-water habitats.
This morning we reached the island of Guanaja. Some of us decided to visit the colorful town, which proved to be full of smiling people, bright colored houses on stilts, and a maze of alluring narrow streets which I am sure could tell a lot of stories. Later, most everyone chose to go snorkeling on the Soldado beach, using a man made canal, which crossed right through the island. Snorkeling proved to be quite good: barracudas, trumpet fish, various types of corals, and volcanolike crab mounds on the whitesandy bottom. After several hours of snorkeling, we returned to the ship for another wonderful meal.
We repositioned the boat to the Northern side of the island onto a lonely beach. After looking around for a while, we finally found a channel through the Sargassum banks onto a wall and into the best snorkeling yet of the trip. We met with schools of blue tangs, a lonely eel, lobsters, rays, someone saw an octopus, flowerlike corals, thin-membraned invertebrates, and a large array of fish clad in bright blues, blacks, yellows, and reds, big eyed squirrel fish hiding within purple, green, red or brown sponges. It was nothing but phenomenal! On another adventure, the scuba divers came home completely in awe! A nurse shark at least seven feet long completed their day.
We all came back “home” sunbathed, suntanned, exhausted, but delighted with our underwater experiences.
