Areas of Roatan
Punta Gorda
A Garifuna town on the north shore, founded in 1797, with its own food, music and history.
Punta Gorda sits on Roatan's north shore, east of French Harbour. It was founded by Garifuna people who were landed on the island on April 12, 1797, after the British deported them from St Vincent, and by local tradition it is the oldest continuously inhabited community on Roatan. It is still a Garifuna town today.
Visitors come for the food, the punta music and dance, and a side of the island most tours skip. The anniversary of the landing is celebrated here every year on April 12.
Come here if
You want to experience Garifuna culture, try food you won't find on the west side, or see the quieter north shore.
Read before you go
Four hundred years of visitors, from privateers to cruise shipsHow the Garifuna came to Roatan in 1797 and founded Punta Gorda.
Things to do in Roatan: the island from West End to the East EndWhere Punta Gorda fits in a day on the East End, with Oak Ridge and Camp Bay.
Port Royal, when Roatan was a pirate harborPort Royal, where the Garifuna were first landed, and its pirate past.
Lionfish in Roatan: the beautiful invader, and how the island hunts itThe first lionfish confirmed in Honduras was speared on the reef off Punta Gorda in 2009.
On the ground
- Settlement Day
- April 12 marks the 1797 landing every year, with music, dance and food.
- The food
- Garifuna cooking is built on coconut, seafood and cassava. Order a seafood soup and take a table with a view of the sea.
- Getting here
- Punta Gorda is on the north shore of the East End. Plan on an hour or more from the west end, by car or with a driver.
- Cash
- Bring lempira for small restaurants and shops out here.
Checked November 2026. If something here has changed, tell us and we will update it.