Tuesday, September 11, 2007

PHOTO GALLERY














































GETTING THERE










You can get there easily by boat ROATAN or the mainland (La Ceiba) or from any of the other Bay Islands. Daily snorkel/dive or adventure charters to the Reserve from Roatan. For more info contact vernalbert@yahoo.com, SROMY@aol.com

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

HISTORY OF CAYO TIMON & ZACATE







































Re-planting Coconut trees lost in past storms
Making Timon green again














DIVING THESE MAGNIFICENT WATERS & OTHER WILDLIFE


Clearly some of the world's most spectacular dive sites can be found right here in this archipelago. One of the best kept secrets of the entire Mayan Riviera stemming from Mexico to Panama. Another notable mention is that several months of the year you can dive with the whale sharks off Utila, a small island only about an hour away by boat. Seeing these magnificent gigantic creatures up close is a sight to remember.
Unspoiled, undisturbed, undiscovered but not unprotected
Cayos is home to the "almost extinct" pink boa
HAWKSBILL TURTLE
Highly Protected

Saturday, August 11, 2007

MEET SOME OF OUR NEIGHBORS AT CAYOS COCHINOS ARCHIPELAGO








CAYO CHACHAUATE (Garifuna Island) Is the most cultural traditional island) Here we come to eat the freshest seafood meal you will find anywhere, enjoy their drumming and dancing, or just mingle with the locals and watch the children surf on 2'x 10' planks between the shallow of the two islands.


CayosCochinos is a small archipelago off the northern coast of Honduras & a highly protected Marine Reserve.
Located in the northwestern Caribbean just south of Belize, they lie at approximately 15 55' N, 86 30'W. These privately owned jewels are composed of two hilly, lush islands (Cochino Grande and Cochino Pequeño) and 14 small coral cays. On old British maps, they are called "The Hog Islands" and lore has it that British pirates (Henry Morgan and the likes) "planted" hogs on these cays so they would have meat on their return trips.

Considered part of the Bay Islands, the cays are the hardest to get to, even though they are closer to the coast than Roatán, Utila, and Guanaja. Situated about 18 nautical miles north northeast of the old banana port town of La Ceiba, Cayos Cochinos can only be reached by boat.

Cayos Cochinos forms part of the second largest barrier reef system in the world known as the Meso-American Barrier Reef System and have been identified by the Smithsonian Institute, TNC, WWF, and World Bank as one of the key sections of the Barrier Reef to preserve. In 1993, the Honduran government designated these cays and surrounding sea a Marine Biological Reserve. Marine Biological Station














Saturday, August 4, 2007

ABOUT CAYOS COCHINOS ARCHIPELAGO







The Cayos Cochinos Islands, also known as the Hog Cays, is a small archipelago and is located just 19 kilometers off the northern coast of Honduras.
The two larger islands are covered with thick tropical forest and are ringed by white sand beaches. The Cayos and surrounding waters were declared a marine reserve in 1994, with the help of the Smithsonian Institute, protecting all marine and terrestrial flora and fauna within a 460-square-km area from fishing, development or any other harmful activity. The reserve extends eight kilometers in all directions.
Because of the reserve, and more importantly because only a few people live on the islands, the surrounding reef is in fantastic shape and is teeming with colorful marine life. All in all, the Cayos are one of the most spectacular collections of islands, beaches, and reefs in the western Caribbean.
The archipelago currently has only two small, upscale resorts, and so its reefs are little used though maany resorts on Utila, Roatan and Guanaja like to make occasional day trips to these tropical island jewels. The Cayos Cochinos reef system is particularly prized for its lush macro life, the Caribbean's most diverse.
Budget travelers often make trips out to these islands by way of an early morning boat from the mainland Garifuna village of Nueva Armenia, an hour's drive east of La Ceiba. They stay in small huts or in hammocks on tiny Chachauate Key where there is a semi-permanent Garifuna fishing settlement.

ABOUT THE OWNERS


STEVE ROMANIA

Fondly known as "Romy", he is from Oregon. He is the former owner of Romania Auto dealerships in Eugene, and currently a partner in Infinity Bay & Spa Resort located in West Bay Beach, Roatan. He is also a partner in a new Hotel, Resort & Marina complex in West End, Roatan yet to be named.

VERNON ALBERT
Fondly known as "V" is also from Oregon and is the former owner of Mobile Advantage Company based out of Eugene. He is also a partner in Infinity Bay & Spa Resort located in West Bay Beach, Roatan. Another development project that "V" is working on is a luxury hotel villa complex at Far Flung Heights, Roatan, Bay Islands of Honduras.