The Bay Islands were known as an untouched paradise long before any European laid eyes on them. The Mayans were the first people from a major civilization to visit, and sent trade expeditions during the first millennium. Some of these merchants took such a shine to the islands that they decided not to return home, a feeling many among the ex-pat community here must understand.
When Christopher Columbus sailed on his fourth and final expedition to the New World, he met the descendants of these Mayan settlers on Guanaja, his first contact with an advanced American civilization. Although he didn't stay long on the island (his notes reveal he was afraid the locals were cannibals), he later claimed that Guanaja's rivers contained the sweetest water he'd ever tasted.
As the trickle of Spanish settlers became a flood and gold began to pour out of the Americas, the Bay Islands became a base for pirates. At one point, Port Royal was home to as many as 5,000 of the buccaneers, including the Welsh privateer Henry Morgan.
The pirate presence was largely wiped out by a Spanish attack in 1782, but in 1797 the British arrived with a new addition to the ethnic mix. On April 12 of that year they dumped thousands of black Carib rebels on Roatan. Many died, but others survived and mixed with the original inhabitants, giving birth to the islands' Garifuna population.
The Bay Islands remained under British control until 1859, when they were ceded to Honduras. This has led to Spanish education, but thankfully this has yet to effect the islanders' dulcet Caribbean accents.