GUANAJA

Guanaja is one of the three Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras.  We went to Utila, Roatan and now we sailed eastbound from Roatan to Guanaja which meant motoring directly into the 10-15 knot wind and current.  We manage a 4.9 speed average and made it in 6 hours.  We tacked a couple of times which really helped our VMG (Velocity Made Good).

As we approached the anchorage, the whole feel of the area felt quite different and new to us.  We passed a large white hotel built on a rock named Dunbar Rock Dive Resort.  There was also a dome like house built on a small piece of coral built by an American engineer.  We were told it was the only structure that survived with no damage from hurricane Mitch in 1998.

DUNBAR ROCK RESORT

YUP, THE RESORT HAS A HELICOPTER PAD.  THE PILOT IS A CANADIAN

THE 'DOME' HOUSE WITHSTOOD HURRICANE MITCH IN 1998

When Christopher Columbus landed on Guajana, he described it as being forested by pine trees, and with lots of very fresh water which still exists today.

The main town, Bonacca, is on a tiny island about 1 mile from the shore simply called "The Cay".  The population of all of Guanaja approximately 10,000 people of which most live on Bonacca.  The densely populated Cay has been described as the "Venice of Honduras" because of the waterways that run through it, but it’s hardly Venice.   There are no roads, just narrow pathways, therefore there are no cars and no bicycles.  Some residents use wheelbarrows to move things around the Cay.

BONACCA "THE CAY"

ANOTHER VIEW OF BONACCA.  PHOTO:  COURTESY OF S/V MAILAKA

A CANAL IN BONACCA

The Cay is packed with homes close to each other, and when the Cay had no more room, homes were built on stilts in the water.  Once a week, a boat arrives with fresh produce from Roatan.  It has a bank, post office, clinic, a 2 man jail, a few churches, a kids library, one school for grades 1-5 and another for grades 6 to 12 and a few stores.  The oldest house is over 100 years old.  Newer homes are built from concrete.  The island is about 50% English and 50% Spanish.

SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH

THIS IS BEHIND THE SCHOOL. IT IS THE WISH OF SOME LOCALS THAT A PLAYGROUND BE BUILT

A SCHOOL ROOM

THERE IS A SECTION OF BONACCA  THAT WAS BUILT DURING THE VIETNAM WAR AND THERE WERE DISPUTES OVER THE LAND SO THEY NAMED IT "VIETNAM"

The Cay is home to “Island Fisheries” whereby boats with very large freezers leave the Cay to hunt for lobster in the Hobbies cays about 100-150 miles away.  During lobster season, thousands and thousands of lobster tails are packed here and shipped to the "Red Lobster" restaurants.   "Red Lobster" also gets their lobsters from Spanish Wells Island in the Bahamas.  They probably get lobsters elsewhere also.  Funny thing is, the "Red Lobster" logo has a picture of Maine type lobsters with claws however the lobsters in this part of the world are spiny lobsters with no claws.

THEY DID NOT ALLOW ME TO TAKE PICTURES INSIDE THE PROCESSING PLANT, NOT SURE WHY, AS IT WAS SQUEAKY CLEAN

Guanaja has 45 dive sites and the highest peak is 1,400 feet.  It’s a small island being only 3 X 11 miles.  The other two main settlements on Guanaja are Mangrove Bight and Savannah Bight. Smaller settlements include East End and North East Bight.  I heard a story whereby an American lady bought some land after hurricane Mitch and gave lots to some locals who had lost their homes in the hurricane.  The town is called Mitch and is across from Bonacca on the mainland of Guanaja.

Transportation is sparse in Guanaja, and as of 2006, there were only three cars on the island, but by the end of 2011, there were roughly 40. While there is only one road, about 2 miles long, from Mangrove Bight to Savannah Bight, the most common means of transportation are boats. 

Hurricane Mitch in 1998 devastated the island and ripped all the trees from their roots.  A replanting project took place after the hurricane however there are still areas where trees never grew back.  A book that was highly recommended to me a few times is titled “The ship in the storm" by Jim Carrier which is a story about a ship caught in the hurricane.

We had the great pleasure in meeting and having drinks with Klaus, the owner of the Manati German restaurant in the anchorage.  He left Germany with his wife and 2 children approximately 20 years ago and now calls Guanaja home.  He cooked us delicious German sausages with salad and spätzle.  We sat with Klaus and his bartender friend Aaron until midnight swapping stories over German Dunkel beers.  I had so much fun !  We couldn't believe our tab:  2 dinners, 8 or more beers (we were there for 6 hours after all) for 400 Lempiras, about $17us.

From El Bight, we dinghied 6 miles thru the canal onto the north side of Guanaja.  The canal is quite large and this is where the airport is.   This is the first airport I’ve ever seen that has its own dinghy dock. 

THE CANAL BETWEEN BOTH SIDES OF THE ISLAND

THE AIRPORT HAS IT'S OWN DINGHY DOCK

THESE KIDS WANTED $1 FOR THIS PICTURE. I ASKED 'HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SPLIT IT 3 WAYS ?', NO ANSWER

Once on the North side of Guanaja, we hiked up to a lighthouse which is no longer in operation however someone is living there.  The story goes, someone wanted to make a restaurant out of the lighthouse but it didn’t work out.  

Further along is Michael’s rock with absolutely gorgeous beaches and crystal clear water.  There was absolutely nobody there and no houses.  This place is truly paradise. 

A DOCK TO NOWHERE

FRESH WATER FLOWING INTO THE SEA

BEACH ALL TO OURSELVES

TOTALLY ENJOYING BEING ALONE WITH TIM

The main reason for us going to the north side was to hike the waterfall, name unknown.  We parked our dinghy at the Green Flash restaurant and hiked about an hour or so thru the jungle climbing over slippery boulders and crossing the river several times.  The waterfall was extremely refreshing being that we hiked thru the very humid jungle.

Our thirst from the waterfall hike lured us into the Green Flash restaurant & bar where Stephanie served us beers with a smile and talked about the times she visited the United States in the cold fall.

GREEN FLASH RESTAURANT

We also visited some of the cays on the east side of Guanaja.  We first went to Graham’s Cay which is owned by of course, Graham whom we had the pleasure of meeting and had loads of laughs.   Twenty years ago, Graham, who is originally from the Caymans, purchased the island just before hurricane Mitch destroyed much of it.   He rebuilt the whole island, adding a pipeline from the mainland to his island for fresh water, built up sea walls, added cottages and rooms to rent, and built a restaurant/bar.  Graham isn’t doing all this for money, it’s like a hobby for him, in fact, he doesn’t even advertise that there are rooms and cabins to rent.  Graham and his son Ken also built a large pen with about 11 turtles; a Leatherback, Green turtles and Hawksbills to stop the locals from eating all the turtles. They breed the turtles and once they hatch, they return them to the sea.  In the pen is also a huge grouper, a type of snapper, southern sting ray, and more.  Ken said, after they feed them, we could go snorkeling in the pen if we wanted to.  I’m sorry but after being bitten by a moray eel, I won’t take a chance and get bit again.

PORCUPINE FISH

We also visited Jones Cay which has a fly fishing operation (www.flyfishguanaja.com).  We had a great time chatting with Steve the owner who comes from Colorado & his wife Becky who owns a fly fishing outfit in Fernie, British Columbia.  Steve is currently trying to get enough funds to help produce a movie called “Over the horizon, fly fishing” (something like that).  They are planning on filming on an island near the Hobbies Cays in Honduras.  Linda & Wade were guests of theirs from a little town between Calgary and Edmonton.  I invited Linda on our boat since she’d never seen the inside of a sailboat before.  In return, Linda played and sang guitar for me and wow, what a voice she has !  I sure hope they come and visit us in Colorado.

FLY FISHING LODGE ON JONES CAY

FLY FISHING

LINDA PLAYING WONDERFUL SONGS FOR ME

                       CRUISERS & TRAVELERS INFORMATION:

GUIDE:  Go to the Manati German restaurant and ask for Roland.  He’s the owner’s son.

BEER:   Klaus told us the local beer called Port Royal was actually made by a German.

GUIDE ON BONACCA:  Hondo will give you a tour and talk about the history of Bonacca for a tip.  He was born on Bonacca and educated in New Jersey.  He’ll most likely find you!

WATERFALL:  There are several waterfalls on Guanaja one of which is on the north side by the Green Flash Bar and Restaurant.  Park your dinghy at the restaurant and walk left along the shore. A small path becomes visible, take it.  Look out for a large opening to the right with white painted arrows on the trees.  It’s about an hour’s hike.  It’s an easy path to start off with but then you’ll be climbing over slippery boulders and walking thru the stream.  Bring bug repellent, running shoes that you don’t mind getting wet and of course your bathing suit, or not. 

NORTH SIDE of GUANAJA:  You can dinghy 6 miles from the El Bight Anchorage or you can anchor on the North side, in good weather of course.

FUEL/WATER:  There’s a gas station with a dock for your big boat on Bonacca that has fuel, diesel and potable water (the potable water pump wasn’t working when we were there but you can jerry jug some).

ATM:  There is an ATM on The Cay (Bonacca).

GROCERIES:  The vegetable & fruit boat goes to Bonacca each Wednesday in late afternoon.   We went late Thursday and there was plenty left.  There are a couple of basic grocery stores on the main street.

LAUNDRY:  We heard that the Manati German restaurant has laundry service.

AIRPORT:  There’s a small airport on Guanaja.  Airport code:  GJA

CLINIC:  There’s a basic clinic on Bonacca.

GRAHAM’S CAY:  They welcome cruisers.  Spend the day visiting their turtles & parrots, lounge on their beach and have lunch at their restaurant.  They have a NO DOG rule.

CHECKING OUT OF HONDURAS AT BONACCA CAY:  First go to immigration.  He’ll want a copy of your boat registration and a copy of your passports.   No fee.  This process took about 30 minutes.

Then go to the Port Captain.  He’ll want a picture of your boat.  We had a picture on our phone and he took a picture of it with his camera.  He also required copies of our passports and boat registration.  No fee.  The Port Captain then faxed some form and within an hour we had our zarpe.

We heard that if could take several days to you check in & out of Coxen Hole in Roatan.