A couple of doors off Tela’s town square, Garífuna Tours (tel. 504/448-2904, www.garifunatours.com) offers popular day trips to Punta Sal for US$29 per person, including a bilingual guide and boat transport, plus an extra US$3 for the park entrance fee. Sign up the day before the trip, and be prepared to get wet while riding in the boat, although the boats do have a screen for shade.

Tours to Laguna de los Micos and the Garífuna village of Miami (US$29) and kayak trips to Punta Izopo with a stop at the village of Triunfo de la Cruz for a meal (US$24) are also available. The latest addition to the tour list is a night crocodile watch (3:30–9 p.m., US$34). The company also has an office in La Ceiba (tel. 504/440-3252), with river-rafting and trips to Pico Bonito, Cayos Cochinos, and Cuero y Salado reserve.

It must be noted that while some readers have reported good trips with this tour company, others have said that it fell short of their expectations. (For example, will there be a Garífuna dance presentation at Miami, or will you simply have free time for walking around, and so a tour guide is irrelevant? Readers have reported both.)

An alternative is Honduras Caribbean Tours (tel. 504/448-2623, English and Spanish spoken, or tel. 504/3374-9383, German spoken as well, www.honduras-caribbean.com), which offers essentially the same tours, for a few dollars more. Tours to Lancetilla (which include bird-watching, for US$29) or sport-fishing (US$289) can be arranged as well.