Experience the best of La Ceiba

La Ceiba sits on the north coast of Honduras, between the Caribbean Sea and the steep, forested wall of Pico Bonito, a national park with peaks above 2,400 metres. The city has a seafront and a busy waterfront, and it is the mainland port for the Bay Islands, with ferries and small planes leaving for Roatán and Utila.

The Cangrejal River runs out of the Pico Bonito mountains, with white-water rafting among boulders and swimming holes. West of the city, the Cuero y Salado wildlife refuge protects mangrove channels and wetlands where manatees, monkeys and many birds live. Garifuna villages line the coast, keeping their own language, drumming and dance.

Tapado, a coconut-milk stew of fish, shellfish and plantain, is a Garifuna dish, and cassava bread and baleadas fill the market stalls. In May a carnival fills the streets with floats and dancers. Rain is heaviest at the end of the year, and spring is the drier season.