So you are on your way to the lovely city of La Ceiba, capital of Atlantida on the Caribbean coast of Honduras! Looking for the best options to spend the perfect week in La Ceiba? Here is our suggestion, which of course can be modified according to the number of days you will actually be in La Ceiba and the order of the activities, depending on your priorities.
The perfect week in La Ceiba starts with selecting the proper place to stay in. Perhaps you can even consider dividing your week long stay in two different hotels, to make the best of your vacation. Personally, I would start with 4 nights at the Cangrejal River Valley. Staying in a lovely guest house. The Cangrejal River Valley is ideal, and there is no better place than La Villa de Soledad B&B, rated number one by tripadvisor in 2014 to stay in! The first four nights of your vacation in search of the perfect week in La Ceiba should no doubt be spent at La Villa de Soledad B&B.
Day 1. During your stay at La Villa de Soledad, you should definitely take advantage and do white water rafting. The Cangrejal River is the only river in Honduras where rafting can be done any day of the year, and is the ideal way to start the perfect week in La Ceiba! Experts consider this one of the best rivers to do white water rafting in Central America and the Caribbean!
Day 2. After your rafting experience, you will want to relax and remember the fun moments of this adventure and get ready for the next adventure, which I would suggest should be a hike up to the El Bejuco Waterfall, a unique view of the Cangrejal River Valley can be enjoyed from this vantage point. You will enjoy a magnificent second day of your perfect week in La Ceiba. The trail to El Bejuco waterfall begins only 200 meters away from La Villa de Soledad B&B. Nothing like easy access to your activities!
Day 3. For the third day, you should plan on a unique adventure that will be hard to equal elsewhere, A water fall descent. The jungles of Pico Bonito and Nombre de Dios Mountains hide many secrets, and you will find hundreds of unique waterfalls, some are actually quite accessible if you know where they are… Come and enjoy canyoning at its finest with Honduras Waterfall Descents! https://www.facebook.com/HondurasCanyoning/info
You can continue spending all week at La Villa de Soledad, however you might want a change of scenes, and going from the lovely jungle mountains to the Caribbean Sea just might be just what you need at this point. If this is the case, pack your bags! And take a short 30 minute trip to Sambo Creek, where you can choose from several small beachfront hotels. Check out the options on tripadvisor! May I suggest Paradise Found or Hotel Villa Helen?
Day 4. Once on the beach, the perfect start for the last half of your perfect week in La Ceiba should be a trip to Cayos Cochinos. The Hog Cays are a unique unspoiled piece of paradise in the Western Caribbean. You will be hard pressed to find a site as beautiful and pristine as this anywhere else in the Caribbean. The trip includes time for snorkeling, a visit to the Garifuna Village at Chachahuate Cay and a walk into the forests of Cayos Cochinos to find one of the endemic pink boas that live on the island!
Day 5. After a week of much activity, enjoy a zip line canopy tour in the morning, and then a relaxing bath in the amazing hot springs in the mountains above Sambo Creek, just a few minutes from your hotel. While you are here, enjoying a much needed massage, you can reflect on the many adventures of this, the perfect week in La Ceiba. You have had so many experiences, met so many people, and been in the tropical rain forests of Central America and in a pristine island in the Caribbean. You have even interacted with the Garifuna Culture, which is an intangible World Heritage! Truly the perfect week in La Ceiba!
Day 6. Today is time to enjoy some of the intricate canals within the mangrove forests. These unique habitats are along the coast, and usually surround small lagoons, estuaries and canals, providing a perfect setting for wildlife, such as monkeys, crocodiles and even manatees. As you paddle through the canals at the Cacao Lagoon, you will hear the ferocious howler monkeys in the treetops, warning you to stay away from them! You of course will paddle towards them and get a closer look at them, while they menacingly howl at you from a safe distance up in the treetops. The friendlier white faced monkeys will curiously look at you, but they will do so only from the safety of the treetops. The crocodiles will simply look at you with those big eyes and will warn you not to jump in the lagoon to swim around them. What a perfect way to close the perfect week in La Ceiba! Tonight as a farewell, you should plan on having dinner within the Garifuna community of Sambo Creek. A seafood meal, a couple of shots of guifity, the local alcoholic beverage and the beating of drums will make a perfect farewell to fantastic week that you will never, ever forget.
The perfect week in La Ceiba… So much to do, so much so close and easily accessible. What a dream vacation!