Guanaja is one of the Bay Islands of Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

, and is in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. It is about 70 km off the north coast of Honduras, and 12 km from the island of Roatan

Roatán

Roatán, located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja, is the largest of Honduras' Bay Islands. The island was formerly known as Ruatan and Rattan...

. One of the cays off Guanaja, also called Guanaja or Bonnaca or Low Cay (or just simply, The Cay), is near the main island, and contains most of the approximately 10,000 people who live in Guanaja. The densely populated cay has been described as the Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 of Honduras because of the waterways that run through it. The other two main settlements on Guanaja are Mangrove Bight and Savannah Bight. Smaller settlements include East End and North East Bight.

The primary source of income for the islanders is fishing and shrimping. Tourism is confined to a handful of small resorts that cater to divers, snorkelers and adventure travelers. The island's warm, clear waters support an extensive coral reef that is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef and second only to the Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...

 off the coasts of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Currently, there is still access to fresh water on Guanaja, and several waterfalls can be seen.

History

Guanaja, AKA Bonacca was discovered by Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...

 in 1502. Notably, this was the first time he came across cacao, which is the core of chocolate. He landed on Soldado Beach on the north side of the island. In later years Cayman Islanders

Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...

 settled in the Bay Islands, which explains the diffusion of Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 and English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

.

Homer Hickam, author of Rocket Boys/October Sky, was one of the first scuba explorers of Guanaja, first visiting in 1973. Along with a team of other scuba explorers, he extensively mapped the reef system around the island for sport divers. He still owns property on the northeast end of the island.

In late-October 1998, most of the buildings and homes on the island were destroyed by Hurricane Mitch

Hurricane Mitch

Hurricane Mitch was the most powerful hurricane and the most destructive of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph . The storm was the thirteenth tropical storm, ninth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the season. Along with Hurricane Georges, Mitch...

. The islanders have since rebuilt, and although there are still repercussions to the economy from Mitch, tourism has been recovering. The majority of the mangrove

Mangrove

Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

 and pine forests, which were destroyed as a direct consequence of the passage of the hurricane sweeping across the island for two days, are slowly making a comeback.

Caracoles

The Caracol people

Caracoles

The Caracol people are an English-based creole speaking people who have been established in Northern Honduras since the early 19th century and are mainly of European British-Caribbean descent...

are an English-speaking people who have been established in Northern Honduras (specifically, the Bay Islands) since the early 19th century and are mainly of European British-Caribbean descent. Caracol is a Spanish term that literally translates as conch, snail or shell and relates the people of the Bay Islands to their unique environment and their sea faring culture. In its current usage, the term caracol refers to all people born in the Bay Islands region, and their descendents. The region of the Bay Islands encompasses the three major islands of Roatan, Utila, Guanaja, and the smaller Islands or keys.

The English language spoken by the Caracol changed over time from the English spoken by the first European settlers to arrive in the Bay Islands. The language differs mostly in morphology but also in pronunciation and accent and, to a lesser extent, in syntax and vocabulary, from that of the other British Colonies, although the languages are still similar enough to be mutually intelligible.

Guanaja is incredibly diverse during the summer, when it receives tourists from all over the world.

Most the islanders speaks Spanish. However, English, especially among younger adults, is taught in schools and is widely known.

Transportation

Transportation is sparse, and as of 2006, there were only three cars on the island. While there is only one road, from Mangrove Bight to Savannah Bight, the most common means of transportation are boats. A channel locally known as "The Cut" allows access from the south to the north side of the island without having to go all the way around. Guanaja is served by the Guanaja Airport

Guanaja Airport

Guanaja Airport is an airport serving Guanaja, located in the Bay Islands Department in Honduras.Guanaja is one of the Bay Islands located in the Caribbean, approximately off the north coast of Honduras and from the island of Roatan.-Facilities:The airport resides at an elevation of above...

 (GJA).

As of 2009, access to Guanaja is only by air flights from the Honduran mainland town of La Ceiba and a weekly ferry from Trujillo. Except for private boat or charter plane, there is no direct transportation, between Guanaja and the other Bay Islands.

Currently, the main transportation is limited to boats. There are some cars and small motorcycles for rent but the road is only two miles long.

It is highly recommended that you hike to the top of the island, where you can clearly see the coast line (on a clear day) as well as getting the full perspective of the entire island and surrounding reef.

External links

• Guanaja Island at NASA Earth Observatory
  NASA Earth Observatory
  NASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing outlet for NASA which was created in 1999. It is the principal source of satellite imagery and other scientific information pertaining to the climate and the environment which are being provided by NASA for consumption by the general public...
  
  
• Guanaja Guide - island travel guide site. Learn more about the island hotels and resorts, real estate, weather, map, location, local news, local information, and things to do like diving on your next vacation.