Honduras

The Bay Islands

Off the northern coast, Roatán, Utila and Guanaja form the Bay Islands, a chain of reef-fringed islands in the Caribbean. English-speaking communities, descended from Caribbean settlers, give them a culture different from the Spanish-speaking mainland.

A Reef Seen from Below

Every camera in Honduras is underwater, at Utopia Village on the south coast of Utila. Two watch the reef at the front and the back of the resort's dock, another a sandy channel between coral heads, and two more the top and the edge of the reef wall, where the shallows give way to the blue of open water. Parrotfish, angelfish and schools of grunts cross the frame, and the light shifts with every cloud that passes overhead.

Reefs and Whale Sharks

Utila is one of the cheapest places in the world to learn to dive, and whale sharks can be seen in its waters at any time of year. Its reef is part of the second-largest barrier reef system on Earth, which runs some 1,000 kilometres from Mexico to Honduras.