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Cayos Cochinos

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Two wooded islands and a spray of coral cays off La Ceiba, a marine reserve with no roads, a research station and two Garifuna fishing villages.

Fly to Cayos Cochinos All of Honduras
Arrival
Golosón International, La Ceiba · LCE
To the cays
About 1 to 1½ hours by boat from La Ceiba
Private jets
Customs and jet fuel at La Ceiba
Best time
April to May

The city

A reserve of 460 square kilometres.

Cayo Grande and Cayo Menor are the two islands that matter, both wooded, with small sandy cays scattered round them. Together they hold about two square kilometres of land inside a marine reserve of 460, run by the Honduras Coral Reef Foundation with help, since the 1990s, from the Smithsonian. Commercial fishing and nets are banned; the Garifuna who live here may still fish with hand lines.

There are no roads, cars or bicycles. People live in two Garifuna villages, Chachahuate and East End, and the scientists on Cayo Menor. Most visitors come for the day, by boat from La Ceiba or from the fishing villages of Sambo Creek and Nueva Armenia, and pay the park fee at the research station.

  • Chachahuate A Garifuna fishing village in the reserve, where snorkelling tours stop for lunch.
  • Cayo Grande lighthouse trail A hiking path on the larger island, home to a pink boa found nowhere else.
  • Cayo Menor research station Where the reserve is studied and where visitors pay the entrance fee.

Arriving

By sea from La Ceiba.

The cays have no airstrip. Golosón International, on the western edge of La Ceiba, is the nearest airport; the cays lie about 30 kilometres north-east of the town, and the crossing takes an hour or more depending on the tide.

Business & First Class Scheduled flights Cayman Airways flies to La Ceiba from Grand Cayman, and Aerolíneas Sosa from Roatán, San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa. Dive boats also make day trips from Roatán, which has direct flights from the United States. Business & First fares Private Jet Private aviation La Ceiba suits a jet: a 2,950-metre runway, customs, jet fuel, and a tower open from 6 am to 8 pm. Boats leave from the town, or from Sambo Creek and Nueva Armenia further along the coast. Charter a jet
Approximate flying time by midsize jet
  • Nassau 2 h 10
  • Mexico City 2 h 10
  • Barbados 4 h 05
  • Marrakech 10 h 40 long-range jet
  • Munich 12 h 15 long-range jet

When to go

April to May.

These are Roatán’s averages; the island lies about 41 km to the north. Expect 28 to 32 °C on the cays and water between 26 and 29 °C. April and May are the months to come, with about 80 mm of rain each, against more than 400 mm a month from October to December.

  1. 28° J 277 27°
  2. 28° F 182 26°
  3. 30° M 115 27°
  4. 30° A 76 27°
  5. 31° M 81 28°
  6. 31° J 139 28°
  7. 31° J 202 28°
  8. 32° A 168 29°
  9. 32° S 192 29°
  10. 30° O 444 29°
  11. 29° N 448 28°
  12. 28° D 399 27°
Best months weather2travel.com, long-term averages for Roatán

Elsewhere in Honduras

More reasons to come.

All of Honduras

Flying to Cayos Cochinos?

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A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.

Business & First Private Jet