Cayos Cochinos Reefs (Pelikano Uno, El Jardín, Wilfried's Bell)
Reef diving around the two main cays of the Cayos Cochinos marine protected area, off the coast of La Ceiba: Pelikano Uno near Cayo Mayor (saddle-shaped reef with dense soft corals from about 4 m), El Jardín (pinnacles, sand eels, swim-throughs), the small-aircraft wreck El Avión, Wilfried's Bell (a Bell helicopter placed on the reef in 2008) and the larger Roatán Banks reef at about 30 m. Most dives are 5-20 m; the waters are described as among the healthiest in the Bay Islands, with limited diver numbers per site.
Facts
- Region: Honduras – Utila & Cayos Cochinos
- Area: Cayos Cochinos & seamounts
- Depth: 4–30 m
- Level: intermediate
- Current: low
- Type: reef, wreck, marine sanctuary
- Coordinates: 15.97222, -86.47898 (approximate)
- Highlights: healthy hard and soft corals, groupers, jacks and barracuda, sand eels, wreck of a small aircraft, helicopter dropped on the reef
- Permit: Cayos Cochinos is a protected marine area managed by the Honduras Coral Reef Fund (Fundación Cayos Cochinos, HCRF). Visitors check in at the Welcome Center on Cayo Menor (open 8:00-17:00), watch a five-minute introductory video, check in and pay the entrance fee, listed on the foundation's visit page as US$5 for Honduran residents, US$10 for non-residents arriving with a certified tour operator and US$20 for private non-residents (plus tax). Dive operators normally include the fee in the trip price. Commercial fishing is prohibited; do not touch coral and keep a distance from marine life.
- Issuer / contact: Honduras Coral Reef Fund | Fundación Cayos Cochinos (HCRF)
- Phone: +504 9515-2137
- Email: info@cayoscochinos.org
- Website: https://www.cayoscochinos.org/visit
- Fees from cayoscochinos.org/visit; phone, e-mail and La Ceiba address (Col. Villa Neem, La Ceiba) from cayoscochinos.org/contact. Older third-party guides quote different amounts, so confirm when booking.
- Unverified: No individual site coordinates are published; the position is the archipelago reference point.
- Tips: Position is the archipelago reference coordinate (Wikipedia), not an individual site; the named sites lie around the cays. Day trips run from La Ceiba (about 1-1.5 hours by boat) and from Roatán/Utila charters. Typical visibility 9-15 m in February, 30-35 m earlier in the year in good conditions; Roatán Banks is best February-May.