Tela

Tela sits on a wide bay on the Caribbean coast with long beaches running both ways and a national park at each end. The town itself is modest, built by the fruit company and still showing it in the old plantation quarter, but the position is the point: Jeannette Kawas to the west, Punta Izopo to the east, Lancetilla garden inland, and Garífuna villages such as Triunfo de la Cruz and Miami along the shore. The bay is calm and swimmable and the sand is honey-coloured.

History

The conquistador Cristóbal de Olid founded the town on 3 May 1524 near the indigenous town of Tehuacán, ruled by the cacique Cucumba, and named it Triunfo de la Cruz for the feast of that day. Garifuna exiled by the English to Roatán in 1797 later moved along the coast and in 1808 settled at Tela, founding their own communities; from 1880 the economy rested on bananas, and in 1914 Tela became an important port as headquarters of the Tela Railroad Company, a subsidiary of the United Fruit Company, whose Honduran headquarters stayed here until 1970 (Wikipedia, Tela).

What you'll find

• The bay beaches - long sand running east and west from the town.
• The Garifuna villages - Triunfo de la Cruz and others along the coast, with their own food and music.
• The old company quarter - the fruit-company town plan and buildings inland from the beach.
• The two parks - Jeannette Kawas west and Punta Izopo east, both reached from town.

When to go

February to May is the driest window. This coast is wet from September to January. Semana Santa fills the town completely and Garifuna Settlement Day in April is worth timing for.

Practical notes

The beach in town is not the cleanest and the better sand is out of town in either direction. Tela is a working town rather than a resort and the infrastructure reflects it. Visits to Garifuna villages should be arranged with the communities rather than treated as a drive-through.

Nearby

Jeannette Kawas is west, Punta Izopo east, and Lancetilla is five kilometres inland.

Key facts