While I prepared my trip, I was a bit hesitating whether I would stop in Tela or not. I had read a lot of reports from other travellers saying Tela was unsafe, and indeed robberies at knife’s point and rapings especially on the beach at night have been reported.
Still I decided to go for it, and I’m not sorry about that decision. I dare say that Tela was one of the highlights of my stay on the mainland, so I think it’s a must for anyone travelling to Honduras.
How to Get There
From San Pedro
From SP, there are several options:
Either you take the bus to La Ceiba, and you hop off on at the main road at the intersection to Tela. From the you take a short taxi ride. They’re pretty cheap. Either you take a bus to El Progreso (or a taxi for 200 L).
From El Progreso you take a bus to Tela. This will take 2 hours and costs about 20 L.
If you prefer to take a taxi from SP all the way to Tela, expect to pay about 600 L.
During tourist season, Garifuna tours also has minibuses which will bring you there pretty fast and more comfortable than the public bus. Price is about 14 US$ (minimum 3 persons, don’t count on this in low season).
The airport in Tela doesn’t take commercial flights for the moment, but they are woking now on the airport in view of development of the “Tela Bay project”.
From La Ceiba
From La Ceiba, you can take the bus. The 98 km stretch will take more then 2 hours, since the bus stops at least every 1 km.
Where to Eat
A must for breakfast is Tuty’s just in front of Garifuna tours. Their breakfasts and juices are excellent.
Hotel Sherwood has a cosy terrace with restaurant, and great Pina Colada (38 L), but the food could be a bit better.
Nextdoors Cesar Mariscos had better food, but was deserted when we were there during low season.
Where to Stay
We stayed at Villas Telamar, which is the best place in town. In fact, it’s kind of recreational park right at the beach with a lot of smaller or bigger bungalows. There is also a bigger block near the swimming pool with double rooms. It served as a holiday resort for the expatriates working at the banana plantations.
Advantages of this place are it’s excellent beach and swimming pool, tennis courts, smaller shops on the premises. The rooms are big, clean (although they had a small problem with ants, and the water can be brown in the beginning) and have AC. Hot water is not always available, you have to ask them to put on the boiler.
Disadvantages are the fact that they’re pretty far from town (a taxi costs only 8 L pp though), and they’re not really cheap at 720 L + 16% tax in low season and 900 L + 16% tax in high season.
Hotel Sherwood is a good alternative. They are much closer to town (walking distance), right at the beach and also with swimming pool. They have smaller rooms at 400 L (480 L in high season) a double and bigger ones at 650 L (870 L in high season) a double. All rooms have AC, bathroom and hot water, and have at least a small seaview. The restaurant is OK, the Pina Colada there is excellent. The son speaks perfect English and German.
Next door is Cesar Mariscos. They don’t have a swimming pool, so the rooms are a bit cheaper at 300 L (400 L in high season). They were presently building new rooms. The restaurant is better here then at Sherwood, but not so cosy. There are several cheaper places in town which I didn’t visit.
Another place recommended by a Canadian family is Hotel Maya Vista. It’s kept by a Canadian family and the hotel is perched on a hill overlooking town at 2 blocks from the beach. The have a great lookout tower above the restaurant. They also have appartments for 4 people at 50 US$ per night.
What to Do in Tela
If you want to plan any trips to the nearby nature parks, you’ll probably end up at Garifuna tours.
For the moment they have a monopoly on these trips, but I must say they’re doing a good job. Their trips are not really cheap, but they offer good quality. There equipment is OK (4 x 4 Landcruisers…), and the guides speak English very well. All their prices include taxes, and you can pay with credit card at no extra charge, lunch is not included. They also have a website.
Here are the trips you can choose from:
Punta Izopo
This is a nature reserve at the east side of Tela. With a 4×4 Landcruiser, you drive to the Garifuna village Triunfo el Cruz. From there you get into a kayak (either 1 or 2 people) for about 2 hours. The kayaking is not too tough, and you’ll go through the mangrove forest which is pretty spectacular.
Don’t expect to see that much animals. You’ll probably see some birds, you’ll hear some monkeys, and if you’re extremely lucky, you’ll see a crocodile. You can take your camera, but the kayaks are not really stable, so you take them at your own risk.
Around noon, you return to the village where you can get a meal (not included in the price), prices are reasonable. Service can be slow, the restaurant is right at the beach, take your swimming gear. Price is 240 L (5/2000)
Punta Sal
This is a nature reserve at the west of Tela. I didn’t do this trip, so I can only tell you from what I’ve heard. The people I talked to liked the trip. You’ll go there by boat from Tela. A the park you’ll go for a walk, you’ll go snorkelling and anlso go for a boatride. The trip starts at 9 am and finishes at 3 pm. Price is 270 L.
We did the punta sal trip with Garifuna Tours, they picked up at hotel and their boats leave from Mango Cafe (which is also theirs and a neat little place itself) which is by the bridge and on the lagoon. they serve some meals out on the porch by the water (some had breakfast there before leaving. They have computers for internet and they have a museum upstairs. This is just a wonderful little 2 steps above a shack type of place! The boats are oversized canoe type with a plastic cover on top.
They have 2 outboard motors. 1 guide and the “captain.”leaves (finally) at 9:00 a.m. goes out into sea thru the little channel by the bridge – being pushed by anyone around (it is shallow) including some of us from the boat. the start of the adventure. it takes about 1 hour to go out to the point. a beautiful ride. arrives at the national park and about a 30-45 min. trek thru seeing various birds, plants and a family of the howling monkeys.
The guide was good (re: rainforest: everything is relative. the people who had never seen anything resembling a rain forest were overwhelmed. We have visited the Amazon so we had a different perspective).
We then circled the area by boat and went to a small beach where there were some (4 or 5 ) Garifuna huts and families. They prepared a lunch that was quite nice (additional 50 limbs or $3.00) fresh fish pan fried, rice with black beans, fried bananas. the boat had brought along cokes, etc that could be purchased.
There were some primitive type board tables with benches and it had a thatched top for eating. so although hot it was comfortable. there is a lovely bay and reefs and pure green water. great for snorkeling.
We had about 1 1/2 hrs to do whatever on the beach. inspect spray is a must! We returned to Tela about 3:30 and the same process on the return with locals swimming nearby and us getting the boat thru the shallow channel! Everyone on board considered it a great trip. The cost was approx $20 – a real bargain.
Los Micos Laguna
This is another trip we did, and I can definitely recommend this one, especially if you like to take pictures of photogenic beaches, houses and people.
The trip starts at 9 am from Tela by 4 x 4 Land cruiser. You drive to Tornabé, and from there further to Miami. The trip between Tornabe and Miami is really spectecular and worth the trip on its own. At the end of it, you’re driving on a sand stretch of 50 metres with sea on right side, laguna on left side amidst palm trees.
The last part is only negotianable with a 4 x 4 (the bus going to Miami stops 500 metre in front of the village). The village itself is one of the most beautiful and untouched villages I’ve seen.
People are incredibly friendly, and some even ask you to take a picture of them. They live in small huts, we saw no concrete or corrugated iron there. This combined with the setting is marvellous.
We had lunch there too, and you can go for a swim. Before lunch, you’ll go for a boatride on the laguna, sometimes through the mangrove. You’ll see plenty of birds, some monkeys also. Price is 400 L, return is between 3 and 4 pm.
Miami
If you want to go to Miami yourself, it’s possible, but not really easy.
Here are your options:
Rent a bike in Tela (Mango internet café rents them for 59 L per day), and do the 20 km stretch by bike. Just before Tornabé, the laguna almost reaches the sea, and during rainy season this part can be flooded. There is a small ferry service. Otherwise just continue.
In Tornabé, there’s one place to stay, the “Last Resort”. During low season it must be pretty lonely there I guess. From Toranbé onwards, the track gets rough. I’ml sure that if you go by bike, you’ll have a tough time, and you’ll have to walk a lot since part of the road are very sandy. Take a bus or taxi to Tornabé. From Tornabé, there’s a bus going to Miami, but I don’t have any details on schedules.
Lancetilla Botanical Gardens
These are beautiful, if you like plants and nature.
Getting Away
Tela has a small bus station with buses going to San Pedro, La Ceiba and Puerto Cortes. Buses leave frequently. The bus to La Ceiba takes 2.30 hours to cover the 98 km and stops at least 100 times (I lost count after 30 stops).
Check out my other guides to popular destinations in Honduras:
• Bay islands travel guide
• La Ceiba travel guide
• Copan travel guide