I just came back from a week long trip to La Ceiba in Honduras and stayed at the nearby beach town, Corozal at the Villa Rhina Club and Mountain Resort. It was a perfect place to go with so many activities to do such as white water rafting down the Rio Congrejal, hiking at Pico Bonito, visiting nature refuges at Cuero y Salado, hikes through the cloud forests, canopy tours in the jungle, excellent scuba and snorkeling. The one thing that will stand out most to me is how friendly the people are. The owner at the hotel, Marco, made us feel like a part of his family. From the moment we met when he picked us up from the airport, stopping at various local stands for local fruit and empenados till we left we were treated like family by him and the whole staff. He suggested and booked all of our tours and many times even drove us there. I have never been to a place with such personalized service. The hotel was also beautiful, located on the side of a mountain next to waterfalls, and the food at their restaurant was absolutely delicious. I will definitely go again! Thank you Marco for making our vacation so special!!!!

Hey, J,
My husband and I are looking into a trip to Honduras or Nicaragua in January. I've been to Costa Rica and Belize and Mexico and am used to travelling on a shoestring, w/out an itinerary. My husband is just beginning to travel and I think Nicaragua would be too "rough" for him ... and, as I get older, travelling in comfort is kinda nice! What was the rate for the Villa Rhina Club? Anything else that you would recommend in Honduras? We love to snorkel, hike and drink rum coctails! Anyone else have suggestions for Honduras? Thanks!

Hi, The Villa Rhina Hotel was $42 dollars a night and we had the suite. I think a regular room is $37. Had all the amenities you need, AC, fridge, restaurant, bar. If you type in Villa Rhina you can find the website off the Honduras.com website. www.honduras.com/villarhina.com. There is great hiking at Pico Bonito, or the cloud forest. The best snorkling I've ever done at Cayos Chochinos. We also rented moutain bikes and did a beach ride and rode to different waterfalls and hot springs. There is so much to do and such a variety I can't list it all. You can just tell the hotel what you wnat to do and they'll help you with whatever you need and also have great suggestions. Hope this helps. J.

Thanks! It sounds wonderful! Appreciate the info!

I went snorkeling in Cayos Cochinos and also found it so amazing. I'm so glad we went there and not with the hordes to Roatan.

Just had to reply to SoloNoMo . . . love your name . . . so clever!

Buen viaje,
Sandy (in Denton)

Hi there, We were in Roatan a couple of years ago. I have 2 young daughters - can you tell me did you feel safe here? Were the people frinedly? How did you fly - I believe they told me American carriers - large planes do not fly into Roatan? Thanks!

flycatcher66: American flies large craft from Miami to Roatan in 2 hours.
While it is not a shoestring destination, if you want just great snorkeling and diving Roatan is an ideal destination. You do not have rafting or canopy tours though. But you can take a smaller registered airline to the mainland for 2-3 days for those activities.
We stayed at Anthony'e Key Resort twice in Nov. and early May and it was not too crowded. They offer up to 3 dive outings a day and a large covered snorkel boat goes out, like clock-work, 2 times a day.The rates include 3 meals/day that are good but not gourmet. By the way the dining room is open air. On 2 or 3 nights it was quite warm even at 8PM. The only rate available was with meals. If you go stay ib cabins 48-52 they are well situated, very clean and the A/C works well. A 5 or 6 full days on Roatan is a perfect length and 3 days on mainland if you want rafting, canopy ang some easy jungle walks.

But use Ben's DEET. The mosquitos are everywhere but while Ben's is 90+% DEET for 8-9 days it is safe except for children inder 6 or so. It works wonders. OFF does not have enough DEET to do the job, in my opinion.
Hope this helps.