La Ceiba Honduras Excursions
Planning a visit to La Ceiba and interested in the different La Ceiba Honduras excursions available?
La Ceiba is known as the eco tourism capital of Honduras, and it truly deserves that entitlement! Located on the Caribbean coast, La Ceiba is the capital of the department of Atlantida, an upcoming tourism destination that offers a total of 7 national parks or protected areas within its territory, plus an eighth protected area, the Hog Keys or Cayos Cochinos, which are most easily gotten to from the Garifuna community of Sambo Creek, just a few kilometers outside of the La Ceiba urban expanse.
From La Ceiba, you can easily visit, in less than 45 minutes a total of four protected areas, which provide the backbone of the La Ceiba Honduras excursions list. Topping the list is the white water rafting in the Cangrejal River. The river is the natural boundary between two different National Parks: Pico Bonito National Park and Nombre de Dios National Park. The Cangrejal River offers World Class category III and IV rafting, providing a truly scenic background with huge building size boulders that form drops and pools that will challenge you throughout the tour.
The Cangrejal River Valley offers a great option for La Ceiba Honduras excursions. Within a short walking distance from the different hotels in the area, such as La Villa de Soledad, you can do white water rafting, zip line canopy tours, hiking in the rain forest and outstanding birdwatching. Also available in the area are horseback riding and mountain biking tours. Last, but not least, a new tour, which includes rappelling down waterfalls located deep into the forests of Nombre de Dios National Park can provide for a unique adventure and experience that you will not find elsewhere in Honduras.
Nearby, the Garifuna community of Sambo Creek serves as a venue for the tours departing to Cayos Cochinos. These magnificent small islands are a true Caribbean gem, and offer some of the most pristine coral reefs in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef system, which is the most bio-diverse barrier reef in the World. A short 35 minute boat trip gets you from Sambo Creek to the Keys, where you will have a truly different and very authentic Caribbean experience. This is without doubt one of the top La Ceiba Honduras excursions to be enjoyed by you! The tour will give you a chance to meet and interact with the Garifuna Culture, declared by the UNESCO as intangible World Heritage.
Back in Sambo Creek, there are a couple of unique La Ceiba Honduras excursions that you should not miss out on! The Sambo Creek hot springs, located in the mountains behind the community, offer some lovely natural hot springs that cascade down the mountain, providing natural pools where you can relax your muscles while you enjoy some spectacular views of the Caribbean Sea and Cayos Cochinos on the horizon. The tour includes a relaxing massage and a mud bath to rejuvenate your skin. If you are into something a bit more adventuresome, the zip line canopy tour located here offers the longest cable in the area, a whole mile long! There are a total of 14 cables on this tour and you will have the time of your life flying from tree top to tree top!
Nearby is the Cacao Lagoon, a small coastal lagoon that is surrounded by a mangrove forest that is home to several troops of both howler and white face monkeys! Your chances of seeing monkeys while you paddle through the mangrove canals within the lagoon are actually very high!
In the opposite direction of La Ceiba, that is heading east, you will arrive at the Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge. This unique area was once part of the Standard Fruit Company (Dole) plantations. Access is via an old, funky, railroad that is certainly part of the Banana Republic heritage of this part of Honduras. Cuero y Salado offers one of the best La Ceiba Honduras excursions into a natural protected area which you should not miss! Here you will see alligators and crocodiles, howler monkeys, many different species of marine and coastal birds and if you are truly lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the Antillean Manatee, the marine mammal for whom the wildlife refuge was established and who lives within the reserve!
As you can see, there are many different La Ceiba Honduras excursions to choose from. Your hosts at your hotel can help you arrange those that are more interesting to you. Don’t forget that the Cangrejal River Valley offers several unique hotels and lodges, within national parks that can provide for the best experience. Most of these, such as La Villa de Soledad B&B have many great reviews from guests who have chosen to stay in the area. Check them out on tripadvisor!
