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"Hog Islands" of Honduras
"Scuba Diving in Honduras as well as snorkeling, hiking and bird watching are but a few of the options available to the nature lovers who visit the Hog Islands and their keys known as "Cayos Cochinos". The Garifuna inhabit the surrounding area and cultural activities can be enjoyed such as dancing, fishing, local art and food. Each Hog Island is a true paradise that fortunately is being preserved for future generations to enjoy."
| People planning to visit the Hog Islands will obtain a well-rounded perspective on what to expect by reading the following visitor's experiences. Hog Islands Visitor CommentsI recently had the opportunity to spend a week in the Cayos Cochinos, a handful of small islands off the coast of Honduras in the Caribbean, as well as the larger island of Roatan. These islands are a divers and snorkelers paradise. Magnificent corral reefs surround them, and they've become a popular destination for fishermen, divers, and snorkelers. |
For good reason. During the days we were there, we saw teeming schools of electric-colored fish, sea turtles, squid, barracuda, kingfish, and lobster. It was as if we were dumped into an aquarium.
Cayos Cochinos is clearly the island for the most pristine Honduras Diving with some outstanding open water experiences to enhance your Honduras Travel. Cayos Cohinos Divng Resorts are very cozy and offer magnificent sunsets.
"The fishermen hated it at first," says long-time island resident Roger Remington of the Plantation Beach Resort. "They said it was going to put them out of business, ruin the sportfishing industry, and kill tourism. But now, five years later, they think it's the best thing ever. The fish are bigger, we're drawing more and more tourists both to see the fish and dive, and it has been the best thing they could have done to help our local economy."
We had planned to sail about 5 hours to Cayos Cochinos, which is a Honduran nature reserve. It is a chain of 12-13 cays. We planned to spend Friday night in Cayos Cochinos and then go onto Guanaja.
After a very rough day of sailing, about 6 hours to be exact, we arrived at the chain of Islands known as the Hog Islands. We moored in an area next to "Cochino Grande" where the water was 5 different shades of blue. This was an absolutely gorgeous setting and we where the only ones around. This was by far the best snorkeling experience that we had on our visit to the Bay Islands.
We were able to identify over 50 different varieties of fish, with the highlights being two very large Queen Angelfish. We also spotted a good size lobster, but because we were in the nature reserve we were not allowed not catch it. The visibility underwater was excellent, which made for very good video footage of the reef and its inhabitants.
After snorkeling, we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset and a great meal prepared by Captain Kenny of the Island Time. We had an amazing experience and recommend it to everyone.
