Guanaja is one of the

Bay Islands Bay Islands may refer to: * Bay Islands Department, Honduras * Southern Moreton Bay Islands, Queensland, Australia See also * Bay of Islands * Bay of Isles * Island Bay, Wellington * Little Bay Islands Little Bay Islands is a vacant town in ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

and is in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

. It is about off the north coast of Honduras, and from the island of Roatan. One of the cays off Guanaja, also called Guanaja or Bonacca or Low Cay (or just simply, The Cay), is near the main island, and contains most of the approximately 5,538 people who live in Guanaja. The densely populated cay has been described as the

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

of Honduras because of the waterways that run through it. The other two main settlements on Guanaja are Mangrove Bight and Savannah Bight. Smaller settlements includes Pelican Reef, East End and North East Bight. The primary source of income for the islanders is fishing and shrimping. Tourism is confined to a handful of small resorts that cater to divers, snorkelers and adventure travellers. The island's warm, clear waters support an extensive

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

that is part of the

Mesoamerican Barrier Reef The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS), also popularly known as the Great Mayan Reef or Great Maya Reef, is a marine region that stretches over along the coasts of four countries – Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras – from Isla Con ...

and second only to the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, A ...

off the coasts of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. Currently, there is still access to fresh water on Guanaja, and several waterfalls can be seen. Since 2021 the entire island and its cays have been designated as a protected

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

History

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

landed on Guanaja on his fourth voyage in 1502. Notably, this was the first time he came across cacao, which is the core of chocolate. He landed on Soldado Beach on the north side of the island. In later years Cayman Islanders settled in the Bay Islands, which explains the diffusion of Spanish and English language. Homer Hickam, author of Rocket Boys/October Sky, was one of the first scuba explorers of Guanaja, first visiting in 1973. Along with a team of other scuba explorers, he extensively mapped the reef system around the island for sport divers. He still owns property on the northeast end of the island. In late October 1998, most of the buildings and homes on the island were destroyed by

Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch is the second-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, causing over 11,000 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately 7,000 in Honduras and 3,800 in Nicaragua due to cataclysmic flooding from the slow motion ...

. The islanders have since rebuilt, and although there are still repercussions to the economy from Mitch, tourism has been recovering. The majority of the

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

and pine forests, which were destroyed as a direct consequence of the passage of the hurricane sweeping across the island for two days, are slowly making a comeback. Guanaja was also known as: * Caguamara (1600) * Isla Pinos (1600) * Guanaca (1601) * Guanaia (1657) * Guanaja (1749) * Bonaccao (1771) * Bonacca (1779) Inhabited by the Payans Indian,

landed 30 July 1502, Pedro Moreno landed in 1524, Spanish slaves raids 1516–1526, buccaneering during 16th and 17th century and removal of Indians to Golfete Dulce. British Colony of Bay Islands 1852. Ceded to The Republic of Honduras 1861.

Traditions on special holidays

The residents of Guanaja also have a different culture, so each important date in the year should be highlighted; for example, on September 15 (independence from Honduras), October 31 (Halloween), December 25 (Christmas) etc. What they call Old Junk or Junkanoo (old garbage) is a group of people in masks wearing old rags even up to palm trees and running through the streets of El Cayo or The Key they consider it something very fun to be part of their culture and something that has been done for years.

Settlers of Guanaja

In 1502,

came to this island. He called it ''Isla de Los Pinos'' (Isle of Pines) although it was already known as ''Guanaca'' by its inhabitants. This name appears as early as 1511 on a map drawn by Peter Martyr, but it later was modified by English pirates, privateers and settlers and was pronounced ''Bonacca''. There has been other names for the island over the years before the Bay Islands were turned over to Honduras as the English, the Dutch and the Spaniards modified the name to their liking. Upon gaining possession of the Bay Islands the Honduran government made ''Guanaja'' the official name of the island but the residents kept the old name for as long as they could and older inhabitants throughout the islands still call it Bonacca. The main settlement is called The Cay, an abbreviation of Lower Cays, the original name. It was first settled by the Haylocks who had moved to the two little cays that lay about a half kilometre off the south shore of the main island to get rid of the flies that plagued them during calm nights. They eventually stayed and later deeded the southernmost cay (Hog Cay) to the Kirkconnells. Many other families, among others the Boddens (later a portion of Boddens were renamed Bordens), the Phillips and the Woods, came later and by the 1880s a thriving community had developed. Bonacca AKA Guanaja 1842

The village of Savana Bight was founded by families from

Olancho Olancho is the largest of all the 18 departments into which Honduras is divided. The department covers a total surface area of 24,057 km² and has an estimated 2015 population of 537,306 inhabitants. The departmental capital is Juticalpa, w ...

; they were the Escalantes, the Peraltas, and the Zunigas. Later the Watlers from the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

took up residence there as well. Later on, and also from

Grand Cayman Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territory's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles (1 ...

, came the Tatums, the Merrens, the Bennetts, the Forbes and others, who set up residence east of Savana Bight, calling the area East End, while the Parchmonts settled in some of the upper Cays. The first families to settle in North East Bight were the Ebanks, the Hydes and the Greenwoods. Angelo Elwin, son of the first magistrate of the Bay Island who resided in Roatan, was the first person to settle on the upper north side of the island. Elwin's bride was a Moore and three or four of her brothers followed her from Barbarat to Bonacca. The Moores like the Elwins had come to the Bay Islands from

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...

. Unlike other settlers, Angelo Elwin was in possession of a deed signed by the authorities in Roatan which granted him the land between Michael's Rock and the lower end of the Bay. The Moores acquired properties from Elvin and built their homes in what is now called Mangrove Bight. They were joined later by the Powerys and much later by the Johnsons and the Jacksons. On 2 October 2021, a fire at dawn grew out of control and swept through the island, engulfing some 200 structures. The Honduran military was called on to help with the rescue, dropping water onto the flames and extinguishing it. There were no casualties.

Climate

Demographics

At the time of the 2013 Honduras census, Guanaja municipality had a population of 5,445. Of these, 70.19% were

Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...

, 12.18% Black or Afro-Honduran, 9.91%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 3.22% Indigenous (2.66% Miskito) and 4.51% others.Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), bases de datos en línea
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Caracoles

The Caracol people are an English-speaking people who have been established in Northern Honduras (specifically, the Bay Islands) since the early 19th century and are mainly of African descent with some European admixture. They are originally migrants from the English-speaking Caribbean who came to work on the construction of railroads as well as on banana plantations for the United Fruit Co. Caracol is a Spanish term that literally translates as conch, snail or shell and relates the people of the Bay Islands to their unique environment and their seafaring culture. English is the first language of all native islanders regardless of race, and Spanish is spoken second, whereas mainland Honduras is primarily Spanish-speaking. This comes as a result of the island's past as a British colony. With the steady influx of mainland Hondurans migrating to the islands an increase in Spanish has arisen, but because of the tourism and cruise ship industry that support the islands, English continues to be the first spoken and dominant language among native island peoples. Over time the form of English spoken by the Caracol has changed. The language differs mostly in morphology but also in pronunciation and accent and, to a lesser extent, in syntax and vocabulary, from the English of the other British Caribbean colonies. Evidenced by the usage of the wide variety of old standard English terms and words that are used throughout the islands. They are similar enough to be mutually intelligible and understood throughout the entire Bay Islands. The language can also be learned, although it is not taught in the general sense, whilst the accent derived from the wide variety of expatriates living and working on the Islands from North America and Europe.

Transportation

Transportation is sparse, and , there were only three cars on the island, but by the end of 2011, there were roughly 40. While there is only one road, from Mangrove Bight to Savannah Bight, the most common means of transportation are boats. A channel locally known as "The Canal" allows access from the south to the north side of the island without having to go all the way around. Guanaja is served by the Guanaja Airport (GJA). , access to Guanaja is only by air flights from the Honduran mainland town of La Ceiba and a twice-weekly ferry from Trujillo. Along with private boats and charter planes, there are now flights from Roatan to Guanaja daily. Travel between Roatan and Guanaja is now also possible by the Galaxy ferry on select days of the week. Currently, the main transportation is limited to boats. There are some cars and small motorcycles for rent, but the road is only two miles long.

References

External links

Guanaja Island
at

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{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q60294317 Municipalities of the Bay Islands Department Caribbean islands of Honduras Bay Islands Department Lighthouses in Honduras Ramsar sites in Honduras