Guanaja

Most Guanaja diving is relaxed and boat-led, but the destination quietly punishes sloppy planning. Best practice here means:

• Carry an SMB on every dive.
• Use a torch for caverns, tunnels, and dusk entries.
• Keep profiles conservative on deep walls and wrecks.
• Use Nitrox if you are trained and your itinerary stacks depth.
• Confirm the nearest active chamber plan with your operator before dive day one.
• Skip solo freediving and casual deco thinking.

Many crews know the water intimately, but you are still on a remote island where weather, current, and transfer time matter more than on a high-infrastructure destination.

Guanaja has two main clinics, one in Bonacca and one in Savannah Bight, and they can handle routine island care. More serious complications are normally escalated to mainland Honduras, often via La Ceiba, or to the better-advertised hyperbaric resources in Roatan. Several Guanaja resorts mention chamber access near Guanaja airport, but the most consistently publicized Bay Islands hyperbaric contact is Cornerstone Medical Services in Sandy Bay, Roatan. Carry dive and evacuation insurance, store emergency numbers offline, and do not assume mobile data will be reliable when you need it most.

Guanaja sits within the Bay Islands National Marine Park, and visitors should treat reef etiquette as non-negotiable.

• Do not anchor on the reef. Use moorings or operator-directed anchor points only.
• Do not touch, stand on, or brace against coral, sea fans, or sponge growth.
• Net fishing, harpoon fishing, mangrove cutting, and harvesting lobster, conch, or herbivorous fish are restricted or prohibited in park-managed zones.
• Lionfish removal may be allowed only through the proper managed activity.
• Choose mineral reef-safe sunscreen where possible. Local conservation partners actively discourage petrochemical sunscreens tied to coral and seagrass stress.
• Secure gauges, cameras, and fins in tunnels and swim-throughs to avoid accidental reef strikes.

BICA Guanaja carries out patrols and local protection work, so this is a destination where conservation language is backed by people on the water.