Chachahuate Cay

November 19, 2015

Best of Atlantida, Best of La Ceiba, tourism in Honduras, Tours in La Ceiba, World Heritage sites in Honduras Cangrejal River Valley, Chachahuate Cay, Garifuna, Nombre de Dios National Park, Pico Bonito National Park

Community Tourism in La Ceiba, great alternatives at a magnificent value!

Few Central American destinations offer such a great variety of options for community tourism as does La Ceiba! You see, La Ceiba is right on the Caribbean Coast of Central America, and is the gateway to the Bay Islands of Honduras. La Ceiba is the capital of Atlantida, the new up and coming destination that offers the most extensive alternatives for Honduras Travel!

The Garifuna culture is one of the brightest highlights in Atlantida, and for that matter, all of Honduras. This unique, Afro Antillean culture has been given the status of Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO. There are several places within the destination where you can experience the Garifuna community tourism in La Ceiba: The Garifuna villages of Corozal, and Sambo Creek are located only a few miles east of La Ceiba. You can easily drive to these communities and experience first hand the highlights of Community tourism in La Ceiba. For a more complete experience, consider traveling to the Cayos Cochinos Marine Reserve, a unique National Park that offers a pristine Caribbean setting with the added benefit of boasting the most authentic Garifuna community in the World: Chachahuate.

This small community lives on a tiny cay, with the same name: Cayo Chachahuate of Chachahuate Cay, a sand bar where you will find rustic cabins made of wood, thatched palms and a lively Garifuna community all set in a white sand beach completely surrounded by the turquoise blue Caribbean Sea!

For those looking for a full immersion in the Garifuna culture, you can even plan on staying on the very primitive and Spartan accommodations in Chachahuate, or you can also plan on staying at the Cabanas Laru Beja in East End, another small Garifuna community in the Cayos Cochinos, which offers much better facilities.

Cayos Cochinos is located a few miles off the coast of Sambo Creek, and can easily be seen from the mainland. Travel time to Cayos Cochinos is a mere 40 minutes is a motor boat, making a trip to the Hog Cays very easy!

Other options for community tourism in La Ceiba can be enjoyed in the Cangrejal River Valley, in the vicinity of the community of Las Mangas. Here you can visit a small rural community, sleep in their community owned cabins, and enjoy a series of hiking tours around Pico Bonito and Nombre de Dios National Parks. Visit a grass roots community organization, Guaruma that offers computing and environmental education to local kids, who will personally give you a tour through some of the trails they maintain!

Community Tourism in La Ceiba truly offers many different alternatives! Come and stay with us at La Villa de Soledad B&B and have a memorable experience interacting with the local communities!

March 13, 2015

Best of La Ceiba, National Parks, Tours in La Ceiba Chachahuate Cay, Garifuna, Sambo Creek

Have you heard that there is an idyllic Caribbean Paradise off the coast of Honduras called Cayos Cochinos Islands?

Cayos Cochinos Islands, also known as the Hog Cays are a group of two small islands and 13 tiny white sand cays. The Cayos Cochinos Islands were declared a National Marine Monument, by the Congress of Honduras several years ago, and are part of the National Park system in Honduras. These lovely, paradisiacal islands are managed by and NGO called Fundacion Cayos Cochinos, who are responsible of the proper management and protection of this National Park of Honduras.

Cochino Menor, which is the smaller of the two larger islands that form part of Cayos Cohinos Islands, is the operation base and scientific center of the National Park. It is here were scientists who are studying the reef system and the unique eco system of the park are stationed, and this also where the park rangers are headquartered. There is no other community on Cochino Menor. This is where all the tours must first arrive to register and pay the entrance fee, which is $10 US dollars per person.

Cochino Mayor the larger of the Cayos Cochinos Islands, is nearby, and this island houses an small hotel called the Turtle Bay Eco Resort, an exclusive dive resort on the Cayos Cochinos Islands that offers quality service and great diving. Nearby is one of the two Garifuna communities that exist on the Cayos Cochinos Islands: East End. This small community has a couple of community owned and managed cabins, where you can stay at a fraction of the price you pay at dive resort. The cabins, called Cabanas Larubeya can be booked through Reservaciones Turisticas La Ceiba.

A third, less expensive, but extremely basic option is to stay in the huts at Chachahuate Cay, with the Garifuna community there. Bare in mind that there is no running water nor electricity in the community, so conditions are primitive, to say the least!

The easiest way to get to Cayos Cochinos Islands is to book a tour through the Turicentro Sambo Creek, located at the Garifuna Community of Sambo Creek. If you are staying at La Villa de Soledad, we can assist you in arranging for the transfers from our bed and breakfast to Sambo Creek and making the proper reservations for the regular tour that operates from the Turicentro Sambo Creek.

The lovely La Villa de Soledad Bed and Breakfast is only a 45 minute ride from Sambo Creek, and offers the perfect setting for a relaxing stay in the jungle and easy access to many different activities. Friendly staff and great food will make of your stay in the La Ceiba and Cangrejal River area an unforgettable experience you will cherish for a lifetime! Book now for some truly unique vacations!

February 25, 2015

Best of La Ceiba, Tours in La Ceiba Cayos Cochinos, Chachahuate Cay, Garifuna Communities

The Hog Cays are the most popular day tour for visitors in La Ceiba

The Hog Cays are a group of islands located off the coast of La Ceiba in Honduras. They are part of the Bay Islands of Honduras and offer a unique view of what a pristine Caribbean island should look like! The Hog Cays are located only 30 kilometers, 18 miles off the coast of mainland Honduras. Although the closest point in the mainland to the Hog Cays is the Garifuna Village of Nueva Armenia, most of the day tourists visiting the Hog Cays or Cayos Cochinos, as they are locally known do so from the town of Sambo Creek.

The Hog Cays is actually a small archipelago, consisting of 2 small islands and 13 very small sand cays, of which some are inhabitated by Garifuna natives, others are privately owned with a home on them and others are simply pristine and natural.

Cochino Pequeno, or small Hog Island is all a protected area, and other that a small research station, there are no people living on it. All tours to Cayos Cochinos, or the Hog Cays start here, where you must register and pay the entrance fee to the park, which has a status of Marine Natural Monument. The larger island, known as Cochino Grande, or Big Hog is home to one of the only two communities in the Hog Cays, East End. This small Garifuna community, whose main source of income is fishing has a nice community owned hotel called Cabanas Laru Beya. On this larger Cay you will also find the only dive resort on the Hog Cays, Turtle Bay Eco Resort.

Without doubt the most picturesque community in the Hog Cays is Chachahuate Cay, which is inhabited by a Garifuna community. Chachahuate is the most densely populated Garifuna community, and although it retains the character and feeling of an authentic Garifuna village, the truth is that most of the community has given up the fishing lifestyle that they once had to survive and now offer food and handmade artifacts to the many tourists that visit the Hog Cays.

The easiest way to get to the Hog Cays is via Sambo Creek, located about 18 kilometers east of La Ceiba on the CA13 highway to Trujillo. From here, there are several different options, some community owned, and others privately owned that offer tours to the Hog Cays. Without doubt, the most professional are Tourist Options, who operate daily tours from Sambo Creek to the Hog Cays at a very reasonable price. Although there are several hotels in the Sambo Creek area, the village is close to La Ceiba, and many tourists actually prefer to stay in the Cangrejal River Valley and take the 40 minute trip from there to Sambo Creek and back. The tour usually departs at 8 a.m and returns at 3 pm, so the transfer is easy, pleasant and affordable.

At La Villa de Soledad B&B we offer round trip transfers to our guests that are interested in visiting the Hog Cays for a very reasonable $50 US round trip per group of one to four persons. We are happy to serve and early breakfast and have you in Sambo Creek with plenty of time to take the tour, which is currently only $40 US dollars per person, making this a very affordable day trip to enjoy from La Villa de Soledad B&B. Yet another reason to stay at La Villa de Soledad and Relax in Nature.