This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Designing a new itinerary like Ponant’s cruise to Belize and Honduras requires extensive research, but also plenty of discussion and negotiation. Incursion.
November 2023. During the inaugural cruise “Belize and Honduras, unsuspected encounters and nature”, Captain Yannick Simon is everywhere: among the passengers in the inflatable boats, on land during excursions, in the evenings… This trip is the culmination of several months of working in close collaboration with the director of the Expedition Ponant experience, José Sarica.
It was the memory of a cruise taken aboard Ponant’s sailboat in 2001 that made the captain want to embark on the development of an expedition cruise in Central America. Far from mass tourism, these itineraries designed for small Ponant ships are aimed at customers looking for unique experiences.
Yannick Simon quickly realized that certain areas visited at the time are no longer accessible for various reasons. “I continued my investigation because I could see that there was incredible potential in Honduras,” he says, as the first cruise draws to a close. This was confirmed very quickly. I found all the stops in partnership with travel agents and people I met there, with, in addition, searches on Google Earth and nautical charts […]. I compiled [les informations] for several months to create a maritime itinerary that could correspond to seven, eight or nine days, which I subsequently proposed to the management of Ponant. »
Then follows the reconnaissance trip with José Sarica, prepared by the latter, in the company of local tour operators. “We started in Roatán,” recalls Yannick Simon. It took us four days to get across what we were looking for. They showed us all the most touristy sites and the most frequented by big ships, therefore all the hotels and activities aimed at the mass market. »
Guanaja was added to the program on the fourth day, despite skepticism from local collaborators, who maintained “there was nothing to do” there. “We went there with a small boat and we discovered this magnificent island, with so much potential,” says Mr. Simon. That’s when they understood. »
From paperwork to completion
Getting to the Cayos Cochinos proved more difficult. “It was protected and forbidden,” Mr. Simon said. Meetings with the mayor of La Ceiba and the Minister of Tourism ended up bearing fruit. “The maritime authority applied the rule written for the merchant navy, for commercial ships, which are not authorized to anchor in these areas. We had to readjust certain things,” he explains.
Communities have also been reluctant to welcome vacationers. “I think the word “cruise” is very scary,” says Mr. Sarica. This is why today we prefer to talk about a journey of exploration. For them, a cruise meant 2000, 3000 passengers, whereas we have boats on a human scale. »
It took almost a year to obtain certain authorizations. Unlike the behemoths of the seas, the French company’s ships do not stop at the dock. Tourists are transported by inflatable boat. “You should know that, until now, Honduras had not at all developed this kind of eco-responsible cruise concept, where communities are at the center,” explains Mr. Sarica, who has been employed by Ponant since 2009.
And now ?
Every morning during the cruise, the Ponant team goes on a scouting trip to ensure that the expeditions can take place without a hitch. Behind the scenes, the local tour operator also takes care of last-minute unforeseen events. Faced with negative comments from passengers after a stop on a beach littered with waste, a stopover is, for example, changed at the last minute. Since then, the banks have been regularly cleaned before the arrival of cruise passengers, promises José Sarica, who insists on the importance of a long-term partnership.
Departures for late 2024 and 2025 are already posted on the company’s website. Although the attraction of nature remains undeniable, for Mr. Simon, the adventure is first and foremost human. “The main virtue of this cruise, for me, is the meeting with the communities of Honduras and Belize. »
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