Hiking -- Base Camp Adventures (tel. 504/2651-4695) has 2-, 4-, and 6- to 8-hour hikes (L150-L665 per person; minimum two people) that bring you to places tourists don't normally get to visit in the area, including to isolated Chortí villages and to waterfalls. Interaction with the local communities is the key feature of these trips.

Horseback Riding -- If you want to explore some of the nearby Chortí villages in the mountains, a horse is your best option. Contact any local tour agency such as MC Tours (tel. 504/2651-4453; www.mctours-honduras.com), Yaragua (tel. 504/2651-4147), or Xukpi (tel. 504/2651-4435), which all have guides and horses on hand.

Hot Springs & Health Retreats -- The Luna Jaguar Spa Resort (tel. 504/2651-4746) was opened in January 2007 by an Italian company where a simple hot springs facility once stood. While they have a simple pool area you can enjoy for L60, the only real reason to make the trek all the way here (24km/15 miles) is to enter the Acropolis (L200 adults) just across a hanging suspension bridge over the river. It has a somewhat Disney-esque feel to it with statues and stelae, sort of like a small Xcaret, though there is nowhere else in Honduras like it. Once you cross the bridge into the Maya netherworld, you enter a place of lush rainforest intersected by stone paths and gurgling streams that cross in and around dozens of small steaming pools of varying temperatures with waterfalls trickling in and out of them. In comparison to most other hot springs in Honduras, this one has the most creative and intimate setup. The centerpiece of the Acropolis is a several-story thatched-roof building looking out over a series of waterfalls where a few massage tables sit (L400 for 25 min., L800 for 45 min.). Colectivos there cost L40, and the last one leaves at 4pm. From their office in their hotel in town, they offer packages that provide transportation to the spa.

Spa Ixchel (8km/5 miles south of Copán at Hacienda San Isidro; tel. 504/2651-4114; www.spaixchelhonduras.com), a coffee finca, offers mud baths, skin treatments, meditation sessions, massages, and Mayan Temescal treatments. Call ahead for reservations.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.