Imagine a group of relatively unknown islands sculpted by white sand beaches and swaying palm trees. Imagine a place where orchids grow wild and fresh water flows from natural mountain springs. Imagine peaceful islands surrounded by a barrier reef and cooled by a gentle seabreeze. Tucked in the Western Caribbean 840 miles southwest of Miami and 30 miles off the coast of Honduras lie the Bay Islands: an archipelago of seven islands and 50 small cayes which stretch for 70 miles in a northeasterly arc.

Diving Highlights: Visibility throughout all of the Bay Islands ranges up to 150 feet, with little current and very calm seas. Roatan boasts 85 species of coral and over 800 species of fish. Guanaja’s dive sites run the gamut from wrecks to underwater volcanoes. And the seamounts of Utila attract great pelagics.

Weather: The rainy season runs from May until October. The rest of the year, the interior and Pacific coasts are relatively dry. The lush Caribbean coast gets more average rainfall year round.

Average Air Temp: Day: 80° F Night: 67° F

Water Temp: 78° - 84° F

The Bay Islands are culturally worlds apart from the mainland. The islands are characterized by the warm, friendly disposition of its people toward visitors, and to life in general. This, combined with the relaxed, enchanting beauty of the Caribbean make the Bay Islands a true tropical adventure and a joy to experience. The Spanish-Caribe islanders have shrimping and lobstering as their main industries. No wonder incredibly delicious seafood meals are the standard cuisine at all the resorts!

The Bay Islands are a peaceful and casual destination where one can experience the way the Caribbean used to be. Topside, these islands are what every romantic would envision as paradise – lush, vibrant jungles filled with colorful parrots, mangrove cayes and remote palm-fringed beaches and lagoons, all caressed by an aquamarine sea.

Underwater, the Bay Islands provide many dramatic seascapes. Pinnacles, deep crevices, ledges, undercuts, tunnels and caves are prevalent along massive dropoffs often beginning in less than ten feet of water.

It is this unique reef structure that is one of the trademarks of this marvelous diving destination. Visually, the underwater topography is stunning and photographers will have a field day with their wide-angle lenses, while the shallower reefs are loaded with an amazing variety of corals, exotic invertebrate life, and an inexhaustible array of tropical fish. Roatan, Guanaja and Utila can easily be combined into an unforgettable two-week vacation. Your adventure-seeking aspirations will be well-rewarded when you immerse yourself in these enchanting islands.

Guanaja
From the pages of a Robinson Crusoe adventure, Guanaja island has something few destinations can offer. If you want to escape to natural beauty and great diving, Guanaja has both in abundance. There are 35 moored dive sites, featuring everything from shallow reefs to wrecks, caves, canyons, underwater volcanoes, and walls plummeting from 20’ to 6,000’. The variety of corals, sponges, and marine life is mind boggling. Turtles, eagle rays, Jew fish, and literally hundreds of tropical fish species abound. Indigenous toadfish, octopus, and huge coral crabs are visible at night. Dolphins, whale sharks, reef sharks, black tips and hammerheads can also be spotted.

Roatan
Only 33 miles long and three miles wide, Roatan is the largest of the island group. This is an island which caters to sun worshippers, nature lovers, adventurers and those seeking the diverse pleasures of her warm, clear waters. This is the place to visit if your goal is to be blanketed in quiet tranquility, in a very natural setting, on the edge of the world’s most incredible unexplored dive sites and watersports environment! See 85 of the 100 species of fish, one of the most diverse populations in the Caribbean.

Utila
The smallest of the three Bay Islands, Utila is only eight miles long and three miles wide. Ultra laid back, this island offers true barefoot living and superb diving. It is not uncommon to see schools of jacks, snappers, spade fish, and every species of grouper found in the Bay Islands at just one dive site. Look for resident hawksbill or green turtles, spotted, green, and goldentail moray eels, and balloon, porcupine, and webbed urrfish puffers. The largest fish in our oceans, whalesharks, feed year-round off the coast of Utila. Growing as long as 60 feet, an opportunity to swim with this animal is awe-inspiring.