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Guanaja Island, Honduras

Pawel Jaworski
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This small island used to be famous for its pine, ceiba and fruit trees and its lush jungle - sights that greeted Columbus when he landed there in 1502. But after Hurricane Mitch camped over it for 39 hours with wind gusts as high as 178 mph/287 kph, practically an entire town as well as trees and buildings were no more. The island has recovered remarkably well, however. The town of Bonacca, Guanaja's only settlement of any size, has been almost completely rebuilt. The small airstrip on the island is open, and flights to and from La Ceiba, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula operate regularly. As before the storm, there are no roads on the island, so transportation is by canal boats and on foot. Roughing it can be a great adventure, if you feel safe and comfortable doing so.

Guanaja primarily caters to divers, and more than a dozen dive resorts are found there. The 40 or so dive sites around Guanaja are rich in coral, seafans, tropical fish and deep channels lined with sponges. (Approximately 10% of the coral reef was damaged by the hurricane - mostly in shallow water - but only a few dive locations were lost.) Out of the water, hiking is popular, especially to the island's waterfalls. Although the tall pines for which Gunanja was known are gone, things grow rapidly in the tropics, and the island is once again lush and green.

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There are water taxis too - - you don't HAVE TO rough it! - - -There are no longer "more than a dozen" dive operations but the ones that are left are very good and offer personalized dives.

guanajamama, 2006-05-28 07:20:43