Cayos Cochinos Islands

This last two-week trip to Honduras I had been VERY busy working on our Monte Real del Bosque project, meeting with locals, getting the word out to local media and so much more. The last Sunday of my trip,my partner Dan and I decided to take a fishing boat out to Cayos Cochinos Islands... we have never seen them and only have heard how beautiful they are. Site seeing a new beautiful place and fishing? Perfect way to end our crazy busy work trip!

The fishing boat owner informed us that it was too late in the day, but we decided to go anyway.
We take off with our two guides who speak no English and us with little Spanish, headed to Cayos Cochinos, assuming they decided to go there anyway. Our first stop is a tiny island closest to the main land. The two guides jump off with nets and leave us, and said nothing. We laughed and thought that it was kind of rude, but we cut up some live bait and started to fish. I immediately caught what the guide referred to as a bambino which we released. The two guides returned with a bunch of minos they were catching with their nets to use as bait for us.

After this, they were very attentive to our fishing and we decided they were good guys after all! We all caught several bambinos but no orcas that day and into the night.

We headed back toward the lights on the main land in our small local style fishing boat taking on ocean spray all the way but laughing the whole time. As we got out of the boat soaked in the black of night, we said that was a riot lets do that again but start earlier in the day, but still come in late at night.

Cayos Cochinos Islands are indeed beautiful, much of the area is nature preserve and it is famous for the diving and its reefs.

Images from the Honduras Coral Reef Fund.

Adios until next time Cayos Cochinos Islands. . .

- Wayne