Travel in Central America – Unlisted prices
My wife and I took our honeymoon to Central America in the summer of 2010. The first half of the trip was only vaguely planned (if at all) and we flew by the seat of our pants. I documented as much of the costs for travel that I could because we had a hard time figuring out a lot of the costs during our planning of the trip. Most things just weren’t listed anywhere. So this list is in chronological order of our trip. Any place where no local currency is listed, it means we paid in US Dollars. Feel free to make any corrections or share your own experiences in the comments.
| Local | in Dollars | Distance | Time | |
| San Pedro Sula Airport to Puerto Cortez by taxi * | $50 | 34 mi | 1 hour | |
| Puerto Cortez to Puerto Barrios by taxi *2 | $60 | 65 mi? | 2.5 hours | |
| Puerto Barrios to Rio Hondo by bus | Q.40 | $5 each | 99 mi | 3.5 hours |
| Rio Hondo to Chiquimula | Q.10 | $1.25 each | 29 mi | 1.5 hours |
| Chiquimula to Salvador Frontera by van taxi *3 | Q.15 | $1.80 each | 30 mi | 2 hours |
| Frontera to Metapan by bus | $0.50 each | 7 mi | 1 hour | |
| Metapan to San Salvador by (nice express) bus | $2.50 each | 70 mi | 4.5 hours? | |
| San Salvador to Belize City – Taca Airlines *4 | $400 | 272 mi | 1 hour | |
| Dangriga to Placencia by plane | $46 each | 31 mi | 15 mins | |
| Placencia to Independence by water taxi *5 | B$10 each | $5 each | 3.5 mi | 10mins |
| Independence to Punta Gorda by bus (James line) | B$10 each | $5 each | 62.5 mi | 2 hours |
| Departure Tax *6 | B$37.50 each | $18.75 each | ||
| Punta Gorda to Puerto Barrios by boat | B$50 each | $25 each | 31 mi | 1.5 hours |
| Puerto Barrios to Frontera by van taxi | Q15 each | $1.80 each | 25 mi? | 1 hour |
| Frontera to Puerto Cortez by bus | L20 each | $1 each | 40 mi? | 2 hours |
| Puerto Cortez to San Pedro Sula by taxi | L600 | $30 | 34 mi | 45mins |
| Hotel Terrazas *7 | L400 | $20 | ||
| San Pedro Sula to Airport by taxi | L200 | $10 | 20 mi | 30mins |
| Total *8 | - | $797.20 | 853 mi | 25.2 hours |
* – $50 was a bit steep, but they kind of have you at a disadvantage because you’re at the airport outside of town and you just want to get going.
*2 – A guy named Flash drove us all the way to Puerto Barrios. Great nice guy. Was a little pushy when selling us the trip, but in the end it was direct and he was leaving right away. Spoke great English and was very funny. It really allowed us to ask a lot of questions about Honduras as we drove through the countryside.
*3 – What we didn’t realize was that the Salvador border (Frontera) was the end of the line for the day and would not have any hotels, motels or hostels… at all. We asked the young guys at the border gate if any more buses were coming that night or if there was any place to stay and they said no to both. But they understood the predicament we’d gotten ourselves into and they opened up the holding cell [video] across the street for us to stay in. It had a bare mattress and a toilet. Also there was a family cafe nearby that allowed us to purchase a late meal and pretty much sit down to eat dinner with their family long after official cafe hours were over. We conversed in broken Spanish while a game of soccer played on a fuzzy television in the corner.
*4 – After about 12 hours of traveling on hot crowded buses the day before, we weren’t very excited to do it all again and potentially miss the start of our “Relaxation Phase” of our trip. So we bit the bullet and got a flight to Belize. Taca is one of the only airlines that flies between destinations within Central America. So they don’t really have reason to try to accommodate anyone with lower prices or specials.
*5 – The Hokey Pokey was our water taxi. And they actually do have some information on this site: http://www.guidetobelize.info/en/travel/belize-water-taxi-timetable-guide.shtml#independence-belize-placencia-watertaxi
*6 Required departure tax when leaving Belize
*7 Great Value Hotel in San Pedro Sula [video]. A guy we met on one of the many buses we rode, Jose, suggested this hotel and it was great. I don’t think you can find it online anywhere (not that I’ve found yet), but it was a great deal.
Hotel Terrazas
6a Av entre 4a & 5a Calle
Phone: +504 550 3108
L400 ($20) / night
Internet, TV, A/C
We heard there was great breakfast at the restaurant on the first floor too, but we didn’t check it out.
*8 – Totals are not necessarily perfectly accurate. And the time does not include waiting during bus changes, overnight stays, etc – Just travel time.
