What to do in Honduras?

May 3, 2007 10:22 AM

HondurasFilter: What to do in Honduras during July?

My girlfriend and I are thinking of going to Honduras for 10 - 14 days this July. The idea would be to fly into and spend some time in Tegucigalpa. We would then bus it up to San Pedro Sula where a Honduran colleague of mine will hook us up with an old friend of his to stay with, and, after a few days we'd head to La Ceiba and on to the Bay Islands. We'd then flight out of San Pedro Sula.

Although I have this itinerary worked out, I'm wondering what MeFites who've traveled to Honduras would specifically recommend we check out while in or around Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba and the Islands. Or what we can see to break up the trips between those places.

Specifically we're interested in two things: 1) cultural/religious festivals, markets, or other places where lots of people interact with each other, and 2) beautiful natural ares (Lago de Yojoa is a good option, i know).

posted by jk252b to travel & transportation (4 comments total)

Whilst hanging out in Guatemala, many people told me of some Honduran island that was the cheapest place in the world to learn to scuba dive.

And go to Copan.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 10:58 AM on May 3, 2007

Copan! Even though it's quite far, the ruins are OFFSCALE (2nd only to TIKAL south of mexico). Go to the museum on site (great reproduction of temple in painted glory). The town of copan is like a little antigua (Guatemala) - gringotenango, but utterly charming. Go to the buttefly farm and the bird sancturary at the edge of copan.


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As far as the islands go, I recommend going to Utila for cheapies accomodation. free-$15/night if you're learning to dive, $10-30 if you're not. Go to the Jade Seahorse (amazing! bar made of 1000's of pieces of sculpture from trash - spectacularly beutiful). Go and check out the north of the island: v. desolate, and you can rent an ATV for half a day to drive around: if you like iguanas, go and see the iguana breeding station.

Snorkelling isnt so great, but those who could dive (unlike me, who popped an eardrum trying to learn) say its amazing: you can learn to dive for ca. $200 for the week inc. certification. Don't sign up with the first dive school you see: read about them online. Basically, the island revolves around people learning to dive: if you're not diving, the place can get old in 2 days.

If you can be there (utila) for 4th august, and like techno/trance go to sunjam. Private
rave on an idyllic carribean island reached by boat. Bear in mind that the accomodation prices around sunjam get jacked and it's hard to fins somewhere to rent.


Also bear in mind that the locals are a little dismissive of the non-islanders: there's a little tension at night....no real violence, but you may get called names!

I have no experience with roatan, but hear it's more expensive all round.

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While it's improving, San pedro Sula had a nickname "San Pedro Sewer" for a while.
posted by lalochezia at 12:09 PM on May 3, 2007

Definitely do Copan. It'll take a full day to get out there, see everything, and get back (at least from San Pedro Sula), but it's definitely worth it.

I really enjoyed the old San Fernando fort at Omoa near Cortes. There wasn't a guided tour or anything, but it was a cool place to walk around and take pictures.

We spent a weekend on Roatan and had a blast. We stayed on the less touristy side (I believe that's the West end of the island, but this was six years ago and I had a native guide, so I wasn't much paying attention). There's a bunch of little restaurants and bars there and most of the people that live there are retired pot-loving scuba divers. I didn't bother with the scuba, but the snorkeling around there was actually very nice. Damn fine conch soup too.

Also, if you get the chance, do *not* pass up the chance to go to a soccer game. Mexico happened to be in SPS for a World Cup qualifier while I was there and it was one of the craziest/coolest experiences of my life. Probably my fondest memory of the trip.

Also, you've probably been informed, but it bears repeating: even though you'll be there in July, you'll need to wear jeans/pants and a collared shirt most of the time. The only places that it's okay to dress down are the touristy spots (Copan, the islands, etc.) You can't even get into a movie theater in SPS without jeans and a polo at least.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:20 PM on May 3, 2007

Copan Ruinas is great. La Ceiba is a hive of scum and villainy (or was when I went through in 1996...). Go to Utila and do some diving.
posted by Mocata at 4:06 AM on May 4, 2007