What do we do when vacationing from the Caribbean and Island Life? Go to other islands like Cayos Cochinos, or the Hog Islands in english. I know, life is tough for us. So this is how we spent our Christmas holidays.
After desperately awaiting a break in Utila’s east tradewinds, and the rainy weather, my hubby planned a trip to Cayos Cochinos (The Hog Islands). We left late, and departed Utila around 7:30am, arriving at Cayo Menor (Small Cay, even though it’s one of the larger of the archipelago) around 9am where the Cayos Cochinos Research Station is located. There you make the park check-in and pay your park entrance fee. It’s about $12 for foreigners, and $3 for local Hondurans. There’s a little theatre where you sit and watch a movie about the islands and the foundation. It’s very ‘quaint’.
It’s gorgeous on Cayo Menor with tons of iguanas hanging around and scurrying about the pile of palm trees covering the sandy beach. The huge dock leads right up to the building where you check in, with a bucket placed on the ground outside for rinsing your feet before you enter.
Cayos Cochinos is a Marine Reserve, and has been since the early 1980’s. One of my favorite dive sites called Roatan Banks is a little ways outside of the Cays. You can literally see thousands upon thousands of fish! This is a video I made in our other life: Diving Cayos Cochinos
So after checking in, we headed over to Cayo Grande (Big Cay) where we were going to chill out. And guess what made a surprise play date?! SPINNER DOLPHINS!
There was a small baby about 3 ft long with a pink underside and about 7 or 8 other adults dolphins. The baby was absolutely adorable! The dolphins frolicked in the wake of the bow of the boat forever! The kids laid down on the bow of the boat as we steamed around the bay giggling and screaming. Everyone got great photos of them… except for me! This photo was from Miss Julie Whitefield.
So after that exciting experience, we cruised over to Cayo Grande where we spent the day just around the corner from Turtle Bay Eco Resort. What an amazing day, just snorkeling and eating, and drinking! The hubby brought some awesome beef filet and pork, and we bought a fresh-caught fish from a local fisherman that was hooked about two hours before it was placed on a plate! Yum yum yum! And I did some drone practicing. You can check it out one day on YouTube whenever I have time to make the video! Haha. I’m spending too much time running around the islands! In fact, we went back yesterday! And took these pics of Chachahuate, the Garifuna Village. And we also had Coco Locos, which are fresh cut coconuts mixed with rum! Don’t forget the lime! I couldn’t stop singing “put dee lime in da coconut” – See the Youtube video of the song by Harry Nilsson.
All the huts are built on sand. When entering the homes, the sand just continues right on through. It’s pretty awesome. It’s great when you get to hear them perform their Garifuna singing and dancing. Not only is Chachahuate an amazing historic experience, but the scuba diving is amazing around here too! This is a video I made awhile ago: Cayos Video
Snorkeling around Cayos with friends, and watching our kids doing the same with their friends just tickles me pink! I think it’s great that you can ask my kids what type of fish they saw, and they usually know the names. And our 14 year old is just about to take her Rescue Scuba Course! She wants to talk to PADI about doing her Divemaster course. She thinks that 18 years old is way too old. Heck, you can drive a car at 16, right?!
We all snorkeled for hours, hung out on noodles in the water, or simply sat on the dock. I saw a Spotted Moray, Channel Clinging Crab, a school of Dory’s (Blue Tangs), Queen Angelfish, Parrotfish and a pile of other creatures!
If you make it to this part of the world, make sure you get to Cayos Cochinos! You won’t be sorry! Now I gotta get to editing my video of Cayos Cochinos! Stay tuned!
And if you want to hear more about how difficult it is to live in the tropics, check out my blog here: Utila Island Life Blog