Punta is a type of music found primarily in Honduras and Belize.

According to certain scholars, punta is the contemporary electronic offshoot of an ancestral rhythm and dance of the Garifuna people of Central America, performed during celebrations or festive occasions, with links to West Africa and an ancient rhythm called Bunda , or "buttocks" in the Mandé language.

Musician and visual artist Pen Cayetano and the Turtle Shell Band introduced this new genre to the world in 1978, at #5 Moho Street, in Dangriga Town. Pen fused traditional Garifuna instrumentation including the garawon (drum), rattles, and turtle shells with modern electronic instruments. His lasting legacy, however, lies in his lyrics, which gave the political, social and economic issues of the Belizean Garifuna people a global platform, and along the way inspired a new generation to apply their talents to their own ancestral forms and unique concerns.

Today punta musicians in Central America, the US, and elsewhere have made further advances with the introduction of the piano, woodwind, brass and string instruments.

See also

• Garifuna music
• Punta rock