Ka'imi has been in Guatemala for about 3 months now, and I am just getting around to updating this blog since May. Ka'imi is in the process of getting the back deck done, so we have been very busy. Hopefully the decks will be done in a couple days and we can get the boat back to normal!
Our visit to
Guanaja was really great, but not long enough. We had waited and waited for a weather window that didn't come and we didn't even think we were going to make it this year, but we got lucky and had a two day weather window to get there. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time left in the season to stay as long as we wanted.
Guanaja is 15 miles east/northeast of Roatan and was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502. There are about 10,000 people on the island, with 8,000 of them living on the small settlement (100 acres) of Bonocca, which is a half mile off the mainland. There are no streets, cars, scooters or bicycles on Bonocca only sidewalks and paths. Many of the buildings on the island are built on stilts over the water and up to three stories high. The majority of the people of Guanaja moved off the mainland to get away from the sand flies that are very prevalent when there isn't any wind.
The reefs of Guanaja are beautiful, but the dive spots were not easy to find. We finally took the dinghy out 3 1/2 miles to a little cay and had a great dive. The visibility was not that great, but the coral was beautiful. When we came up from the dive we found that the winds had picked up...A LOT. We had quite an bouncy ride on the return trip. The waves had gotten to be about 2-3 feet so we were bailing water out of the dinghy as we were going.
Below are some pictures of Bonacca. We went on a Sunday so not a lot of the shops were open. We did manage to find a bar and a bank and someone was going to open their restaurant for us, but we weren't hungry. The people were very friendly and the kids were having a blast!!
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
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| Bonacca |
We anchored out at El Bight which is just northeast of Bonacca. It was a very protected anchorage There wasn't a whole lot around there, a couple of restaurant and a hotel. We explored the island by dinghy and were even able to go to the north side through a canal to Pine Ridge Bight. It really is beautiful.
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| El Bight |
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| Bonacca, Ka'imi is the boat to the right. |
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| El Bight |
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| El Bight, hummingbirds |
We had a wonderful stay and hope to make it back there next season! We headed back to West End Roatan for the remainder of our time for some more diving!
Cheers Kim and Mike
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