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Region

Bay Islands

Fly straight to Roatán, sleep at West End or West Bay, and dive or snorkel in the mornings; add Utila by ferry only if you want a cheaper dive course.

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Key facts · Honduras

Best months
Feb–May
Visa
Depends on your passport
Currency
Lempira (HNL, L)
Language
Spanish
Plugs
A · B · 120 V
Time zone
UTC−6 all year
Month by month here
Rules in force · 6Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua (CA-4) giv…
  • Central America ↗Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua (CA-4) give one shared entry allowance, usually 90 days in total; leaving for Belize, Costa Rica or Mexico and coming back does not always reset it — check with immigration before a long stay.
  • Central America ↗Cross land borders in daylight and early in the day; many posts close or empty of transport by late afternoon, and the approaches are where robberies happen.
  • Central America ↗Several borders charge entry, exit or municipal fees in US dollars (Belize exit, Nicaragua entry and exit, Honduras entry); carry small, clean US notes and ask for a receipt.
  • Honduras ↗Check entry rules for your passport with Honduras's migration authority or a Honduran consulate; the CA-4 agreement with Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua can make your permitted stay count across all four.
  • Honduras ↗Transit San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa by day and with pre-arranged transport; do not use public buses between cities.
  • Honduras ↗Do not travel to Gracias a Dios (La Mosquitia) except with a specialist operator; several governments advise against all travel there.

The Bay Islands are a reef and beach trip off Honduras's north coast. Roatán has an international airport with direct flights from North America, so you can skip the mainland cities entirely. Keep one beach base on Roatán, book taxis, and treat hurricane season as the main planning risk.

Where to sleep

2 places in this region

Sleep base

One or two nights

  • UtilaCity guide

    Dive-course island by ferry from La Ceiba; seas can be rough.

    Best Mar–Jul, Sep

    Open Utila →

Plan the nights

How to split the nights, day-trips and what to do with your bags

Open Plan the nightsClose Plan the nights3 partsNights · Day-trips · Bags

Night sequences

4 nights
Roatán 4, reef mornings
7 nights
Roatán 4 + Utila 3, or Copán first
  • Roatán + Utila + Copán in 5 days is mostly ferries and transfers.

Day-trips door to door

ToFromDoor-to-door p50Last returnNote
UtilaRoatán300 minunknownVia La Ceiba by ferry; check the ferry times and the weather.

Bags between cities

Keep the big bag at the Roatán hotel if you hop to another island for a night.

When to go

Months and weather

Open When to goClose When to go1 partSeasons

Seasons at a glance

From each city's month table

Pick a month to see where to go.

Show all 12 months, country by countryHide the 12-month table
CountryJFMAMJJASOND
Roatán
Utila
Honduras (country-wide)
Go: the good monthsFair: workable, mixedPoor: heat, rain or hazeAvoid: storms, floods, closuresno data yet

Computed from each country’s own data; hover a country name for the source. Advisory countries are left out.

Eat and move on

Regional food and where to go next

Open Eat and move onClose Eat and move on1 partGo next

Go next

Other regions of the country

Copán and the west

planned

2–3 nights

Copán Ruinas town and Maya site; hot springs

North coast

planned

2–3 nights

La Ceiba, Pico Bonito, Garífuna villages near Tela

Bay Islands: what we know, and what is coming

2 of 2 places open

On this page

  1. 2 places with their role: where to sleep, what to do as a day trip
  2. How to split 4 or 7 nights
  3. 1 day trip with door-to-door time
  4. Seasons month by month, from the cities’ own tables
  5. What to do with the big bag between beds

Coming as the guide grows

  1. Climate strip by zone, with the storm and haze months
  2. Get in: airports and stations with door-to-door times
  3. Regional passes and cards, with a buy / skip verdict
  4. Regional food: what, where and when it works

Meanwhile

Planning aids

Built from this guide's own data

Open Planning aidsClose Planning aids3 partsIn numbers · Trips here · Local time

Region in numbers

Where to sleep
1 base
Day trips
1, 5 h
Nights suggested
4–7 nights

Trips that stop here

From the Honduras guide

  • Island week

    7 days · 4 nights here

    Roatán → Utila

  • Copán and the islands

    10 days · 6 nights here

    Copán Ruinas → Roatán → Utila

  • Mainland and islands

    14 days · 4 nights here

    Copán Ruinas → Lake Yojoa → Cangrejal River lodge → Utila → Roatán

All Honduras trips →

Local time

What time it is there now, compared with the clock on your device.

  • Roatán

    …

    Checking your clock…America/Tegucigalpa

Open Roatán Up to Honduras

Ask about Bay Islands

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