Puerto Cortes Honduras
Frequently Asked Questions
In a working port — Central America's largest for containers. Cranes, freighters and tugs make up the arrival scenery. You leave by shuttle or taxi: walking is not permitted inside the port zone.
No, and that plainness has its merit: the call shows Honduras as it actually lives. The town centre, gridded and unpretentious, takes little time: a shaded central park, a modern church, fruit markets.
The San Fernando fortress at Omoa, about twenty kilometres west: the largest colonial military work in Central America, with low, thick walls in an arc. Allow half a day for the round trip including the visit.
To protect gold and silver shipped to Cádiz from pirates and the British fleet. You can walk the ramparts freely among cannon aimed at a sea that has retreated from the glacis over the centuries; the small museum covers the sieges and the great British assault of 1779.
A people born in the 18th century from the meeting of shipwrecked Africans and island Caribs, who have kept their language, their drums and their cooking. The villages of Travesía and Bajamar, a few kilometres from the centre, are the nearest.
A dance driven by fast percussion that accompanies every celebration on the Garifuna coast. With luck, a demonstration takes place when a group passes through Travesía or Bajamar.
Fried fish with plantain and coconut rice, facing the sea, in a Garifuna village. It is the best souvenir this stretch of coast can give you.
Yes, on the calm palm-fringed shores at Omoa, which suit a few hours in the water after visiting the fortress.
The lempira. Bring small notes, in lempiras or US dollars: local shops struggle to make change for large bills.
It is the simplest option for Omoa and the Garifuna villages: tourist infrastructure is thin and ships rarely call here. Otherwise, negotiate a taxi for the round trip with waiting time included.
