A Cutting-edge Cruise Line Is Helping Travelers Explore the Secret Side of the Caribbean
Staff Author, Qin Xie
November 29, 2025 at 2:07 PM
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"Welcome to Cayo Chachahuate," Roger Alvarez announced with an easy smile. As I stepped ashore, I couldn't help grinning back: for the first time in three days, it had finally stopped raining. Alvarez, our Honduran guide, was happy to be standing on this speck of an island, which lies nine miles north of the mainland of Honduras. With the sun fully out, tropical colors seemed to reenergize the landscape. Turquoise water ran out to the horizon; coconut palms towered over the latte-colored sand.
Alvarez took us through the small settlement on crescent-shaped Chachahuate. The island is one of the Cayos Cochinos, photogenic coral islets that form part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. But our small band wasn't there to snorkel or swim -- we wanted to learn more about the Garifuna. This community of people has mixed Indigenous Caribbean and Black African heritage and was collectively exiled by the British from their home island of St. Vincent in 1797. Many settled on the coast and islands of Belize and Honduras, where Garifuna continue to live today.
"This island is an extension of a bigger village on the mainland," Alvarez explained. Many of the 100 or so full-time residents of Chachahuate are fishermen, and living conditions are primitive: there's no running water, and everyone has to evacuate whenever a bad storm comes around. But the Garifuna have built a community there: a nursery for children, several convenience stores, rustic bars, and even a basic bed-and-breakfast for the small number of backpackers who come over to the island on rudimentary speedboats.
I, on the other hand, had arrived on Le Bellot, a 92-suite Ponant expedition ship. With its chic pool deck, stylish lounges, multiple bars, and high-end restaurants, Le Bellot was the antithesis of the pangas bobbing in the harbor. Designed for small ports, the ship was also the perfect platform from which to explore a part of the Caribbean Sea that few cruise passengers visit. What's more, Ponant was the first cruise line to visit many of the ports we saw during our 10-day tour.
The trip was full of fascinating excursions, including one to Guanaja, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras, and its satellite islet Bonacca. Guanaja is densely covered in fir trees, fringed by mature mangroves, and sparsely populated. By contrast, Bonacca is packed with homes, many of which are built on stilts over the water, which is filled with tropical fish.
At times, the weather played havoc with our plans, like a scheduled visit to Cuero y Salado National Park, a wildlife refuge along the Honduran coast. The idea was to spend the day looking for caimans, white-faced capuchins, and the many species of birds that live in the area, but high winds created waves that proved insurmountable, even for Le Bellot's fleet of Zodiacs.
Fortunately, there was plenty to do on the ship: talks by our team of expedition leaders, including Alvarez, and dance lessons from the performers who would entertain us with live music in the evenings. I also joined trivia sessions to meet my fellow cruisers, most of whom were French-speaking. (Though Ponant is headquartered in Marseille, the onboard staff were bilingual and the cruise was conducted in both French and English.)
After several days on the coast of Honduras, we sailed back toward Belize City. En route we anchored off Placencia, a resort town set on a skinny peninsula, where I spotted manatees and iguanas hiding in the mangroves and bottlenose dolphins frolicking in the harbor. We also paid a visit to Half Moon Caye, an island 50 miles east of mainland Belize that's part of the Lighthouse Reef. There I lost track of time while snorkeling in impossibly clear water. Eventually I made my way back to shore, only to find magnificent frigate birds playing out their mating ritual: the vibrant red throat pouches of the males were, like so much else I'd seen, dazzling to behold.
A version of this story first appeared in the December 2025/January 2026 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline "The Secret Side of the Caribbean."
Read the original article on Travel & Leisure