THE LARGEST PORT IN GUATEMALA PUERTO BARRIOS Izabal, Amatique Bay The Caribbean 😱🇬🇹
Puerto Barrios is a city in Guatemala, located on the Gulf of Honduras. It lies on Amatique Bay. Puerto Barrios is the departmental capital of the Izabal Department and the administrative seat of the Puerto Barrios Municipality.
It is Guatemala's main Caribbean port, along with its more modern twin port city, Santo Tomás de Castilla, just to the southwest. According to the 2018 census, Puerto Barrios' population was 100,593. Puerto Barrios is located 297 kilometers (185 miles) northeast of Guatemala City. It is the terminus of Highway CA9, which begins in the Pacific port city of Puerto San José and crosses the country via Guatemala City.
The city's population is largely a mix of Garifuna, Mayan, Afro-Caribbean (such as Afro-Jamaicans), and other Antillean groups. Its heyday came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following the construction of a railroad connecting the large banana and coffee plantations with the shipping docks, all controlled by the International Railways of Central America and the Great White Fleet, both owned by the United Fruit Company.
Puerto Barrios is divided into several neighborhoods, including El Rastro, Las Champas, Los Tanques, La Veinte, La Veintedos, La Catorce, La Trece, and El Estrecho.
Although the town is small, due to its port nature, many of its visitors are ship workers who frequent the nightlife.
Puerto Barrios is beginning to receive more visitors in the new century, as the nearby town of Santo Tomás de Castilla has begun receiving cruise ships. The Puerto Barrios airport was remodeled and now receives regular flights.
Among the many nearby tourist attractions are the Mayan ruins of Quiriguá. In 1910, the United Fruit Company purchased Quiriguá and all the surrounding land for banana production; they set aside 75 acres or 30 hectares around the ceremonial center as an archaeological park, leaving an island of jungle between the plantations.
Near the Quiriguá ruins is the Quiriguá Hospital, established by the United Fruit Company in 1910 and considered the finest tropical hospital in the Americas at the time of its operation.
On the hospital grounds is the Quiriguá Hospital Cemetery, where some of the UFC and hospital workers who died in Guatemala are buried.
The Castillo de San Felipe de Lara, a former Spanish fort on the Río Dulce, guards the entrance to Lake Izabal.
Another popular attraction is the lively town of Livingston, where you can experience Garifuna culture, with its Punta and Yankunu dances.