Country Article / Postcards

Last Remaining Unspoiled Caribbean Isles

Date: 02/23/2005

To visit Guanaja is to experience one of the last remaining unspoiled islands in the Caribbean. Here there are no roads, no crowds, no miles of beaches lined with hotels. Instead, you'll find the highest peaks and the only natural waterfalls in the Bay Islands...hillsides covered in Caribbean Pine and lush jungle fauna...an ample supply of fresh drinking water...cays... pristine seas...and coral reefs offering world-class scuba diving, snorkeling, and bone fishing. If you want to escape to natural beauty, Guanaja is the place. Far removed from the known Caribbean, this island and her inhabitants jealously guard their secret.

The population of Guanaja is approximately 10,000, most of whom live on Bonacca (known locally as the Cay), the largest town, located east of the main island. Bonacca is a unique community with a lot of local flavor. Colorful houses, friendly people, small canals where you travel by dugout canoes, and an infrastructure of pedestrian streets give it a unique, distinctive personality. Here there are banks, grocery stores, hardware stores, Internet cafes, the municipal offices, the electric company (much more reliable than that on Roatan), the police, the fire department, and almost anything else you need for everyday living. Farther east, on Mangrove Bight and Savannah Bight, are farming and fishing communities. Life here is simple.

The resorts around Guanaja are not large. They're usually family-run, and hospitality is the name of the game. Our favorite is Graham's Place, on one of the small cays. Graham offers three comfortable rooms, a bar and grill, free yacht mooring, a natural aquarium, and walk-out bone fishing.

There are several daily flights to Guanaja from La Ceiba, on Honduras' north shore. Once you get to Guanaja all transportation is by boat…so if and when you build your dream home here, build the dock first and the supply boats will deliver right to it.

Little Guanaja is catching the attention of people in need of somewhere to escape such nuisances as the paparazzi. The time is right for investment here. We're investigating specific opportunities. Stay tuned to this space.

Janine Goben
For International Living in Honduras