Traveling in Costa Rica on a Budget

Budget Travel

Is it possible to travel in Honduras on a budget? Learn how much it cost me to backpack in Honduras — along with my favorite tips & highlights.

Overview

Honduras has a reputation for being dangerous, and it can sometimes live up to that reputation. But that doesn’t necessarily make it dangerous for travelers. While I was there, shocking things did happen. The local news was full of uncensored video of chicken-bus drivers who had been shot for not paying protection money to local gangs, or drug related shootings at public soccer matches.

But just like in other countries (including the USA), these acts are related to gangs & drugs. Someone traveling through the country really has nothing to be afraid of (unless you happen to be involved in the drug smuggling business). I met many friendly people in Honduras, and would happily recommend it to travelers who are looking to get off the beaten tourist path.

I would have liked to spend even more time in the country, but needed to get to a volunteer project in Nicaragua that I was already late for.

Honduras Travel Costs:

Honduras travel budgets can vary greatly. Here is a breakdown of how much money I spent over 3 weeks of travel there.

• Food & Drink: $194 US (groceries, restaurants, water, alcohol)
• Accommodation: $362 US (hostels, hotels, camping fees)
• Transportation: $144 US (buses, taxis, boats)
• Activities: $246 US (entrance fees, rentals, classes, tours, etc.)
• Miscellaneous: $29 US (laundry, sundries, souvenirs, visas, etc.)

TOTAL DAYS = 22

TOTAL SPENT = $975 US

DAILY AVERAGE = $44.32 US

Budget Notes: My daily average was a bit higher in Honduras than in previous Central American countries, but this was mainly because of a PADI scuba diving course I took. Subtracting the course, my daily average is: $33.48 US

Highlights

– Slowing down in the sleepy town of Comayagua
– Learning to scuba dive on the island of Utila
– Hiking to a plane crash in the jungle

Lowlights

– Getting hassled on the street in Tegucigalpa

Surprises

– I didn’t get robbed or shot

My Honduras Slideshow

Stories & Adventures from Honduras

Planning to travel to Honduras soon? Browse all my blog posts from Honduras to get ideas & recommendations for your own adventures.

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Final Thoughts

Yet again I’m learning that places are not as dangerous as people make them out to be. The rumor that a particular country or city is overly dangerous gets passed on from traveler to traveler, without many facts or first hand experience to back it up.

For example, there was a mugging that happened in the Honduran city of La Ceiba while I was there. This sensational piece of news quickly spread throughout the backpacking community. It made the city seem unsafe. But of course, if you think about it logically, there are muggings every day in New York City. But that doesn’t stop school busses loaded with American children from visiting NYC on field trips!

Unreasonable fear is a common problem for people traveling in countries that are not their own.

Additional Examples?

My last trip to Honduras was in 2011. Prices have probably changed a bit since then. We don’t all travel the same way either. So to help you get a better picture, here are a few Honduras travel budgets from others:

• Honduras Travel Costs from Johnny Vagabond
• Honduras Travel Costs from Nomadic Matt
• Honduras Travel Costs from Alex in Wanderland
• Honduras Travel Costs from the Travel Chica

Have you ever traveled to Honduras? What did you like or dislike?

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Packing Guide

Check out my travel gear guide to help you start packing for your trip. Pick up a travel backpack, camera gear, and other useful travel accessories.

Book Your Flight

Book cheap flights on Skyscanner, my favorite airline search engine to find deals. Also read my tips for how I find the cheapest flights.

Rent A Car

Discover Cars is a great site for comparing car prices to find the best deal. They search both local & international rental companies.

Book Accommodation

Booking.com is my favorite hotel search engine. Or rent local apartments on Airbnb ($35 discount!). Read my post for tips on booking cheap hotels.

Protect Your Trip

Don’t forget travel insurance! I’m a big fan of World Nomads for short-term trips. Protect yourself from possible injury & theft abroad. Read more about why you should always carry travel insurance.
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This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.

Travel Tips for Visiting Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Tegucigalpa may not have the best reputation among travelers in Central America, the capital city of Honduras does have a bit of charm with old colonial buildings, cobbled streets and hidden parks.

When I began this little travel adventure of mine, I told myself I wanted to see everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Curiosity is part of my DNA. Happy places are only one part of the whole story.

I was enticed by the mountainous terrain and bustling city streets, but after hearing rumors that Tegucigalpa was a dangerous city, I wanted to learn more about it first-hand.

Welcome to Tegucigalpa

Safety In Tegucigalpa

With a dark history of corruption and poverty, Tegucigalpa is known for being one of Central America’s most dangerous cities.

In my experience, most “dangerous” rumors are exaggerated quite a bit, but that doesn’t mean one should completely forgo basic common sense.

Many poor Hondurans living in the countryside migrate to Tegucigalpa searching for work. Often there is none available for them. This is a big reason why the crime is so bad.

Although you will find a lot of information about gun violence in the city online, most of the gun crime in Tegucigalpa generally happens in specific areas outside of the city center.

River of Trash

Not Exactly The Nicest City

Gang-related shootings are common in the sprawling suburbs, but much like Mexico, tourists are generally not targets for this type of crime.

Here are some travel safety tips and common travel scams to help minimize your chances of something bad happening to you or your belongings during your travels in Tegucigalpa.

Despite my preparations, I still stood out like a sore thumb in this city. Everyone was staring at the bald-headed gringo wandering around alone through the streets on foot!

Taxi cabs began pulling over even though I hadn’t flagged them down. The drivers couldn’t possibly understand why I’d want to walk when they had a perfectly good car ready to take me anywhere!

High Security Everywhere

Things To Do In Tegucigalpa

One of the main advantages of traveling in Tegucigalpa is that it is the cheapest city in the region, with tours and activities half the price of some of the surrounding areas.

1. La Tigra National Park

In the concrete jungle of Tegucigalpa, this expansive national park is a tropical paradise, filled with native wildlife. Established back in 1980, this was the first national park to open in Honduras, covering an area of 238.21 square kilometers.

2. Museum For National Identity

Located within a 19th-century building, this museum is a must-visit for anyone who wants to find out more about the history of Honduras & its people. Its exhibits include the “Virtual Copán” room, which illustrates the history of the region’s gods and kings, as well as rooms exhibiting busts of Honduran national heroes.

READ MORE: Motivational Quotes To Inspire You

Cheap & Delicious Fruit Stalls

3. Christ At El Picacho

Standing tall above the city at 4,353 feet above sea level, the Christ statue on the hill of El Picacho can be seen from all over the city, especially at night time. The hike to the top of the hill is worth it for the incredible views over the city.

4. Parque Central – City Plaza

This is definitely the place to go if you like to do some people watching. With benches scattered throughout the plaza, take a seat and listen to the locals, watch as the crowds gather for the street performances and feel the real hustle and bustle of one of the cities busiest streets.

5. Sabor Cubano

This popular Cuban restaurant turns into one of the cities top bars and dance venues when the sun goes down. Expect live music, salsa lessons and locals dancing the night away out on the back patio.

Cathedral of San Miguel

Where To Stay In Tegucigalpa

There isn’t a lot of infrastructure set up for budget travelers in Tegucigalpa, but it is possible to find a few cheap motels. In recent years a number of hotel chains have opened in the city center, with average prices ranging from $60 – $70 per night.

Here are some suggestions for good places to stay in Tegucigalpa:

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Tegucigalpa Travel Tips & Advice

• If you are visiting from another city in Central America, A bus trip from Managua, San Salvador, or Guatemala City will cost you between $20-40. One of the most popular and reliable bus companies is Ticabus, they offer very comfortable seats and you have the added bonus of being able to book online.
• If you are arriving at night, make sure you have accommodation pre-booked and don’t wander the streets after dark.
• If you are looking for the hot weather, the best time to visit Tegucigalpa is during the spring and summer months (April to August), however, the average temperature stays pretty consistent throughout the year.
• There is plenty of public transportation available, but the safest way to travel is with a trusted taxi company. Ask your hotel receptionist about reliable taxi companies in the area and how much a typical journey should cost.
• This is not a common tourist destination so most locals don’t speak a lot of English. Take some time to learn the basics of Spanish before your trip. It will also help to ensure you don’t stand out like a sore thumb!
• Exploring the city on your own is possible, just be careful and be smart. Going as a group is probably safer. These safety tips will help you to avoid any trouble on your next trip to Tegucigalpa.

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Packing Guide

Check out my travel gear guide to help you start packing for your trip. Pick up a travel backpack, camera gear, and other useful travel accessories.

Book Your Flight

Book cheap flights on Skyscanner, my favorite airline search engine to find deals. Also read my tips for how I find the cheapest flights.

Rent A Car

Discover Cars is a great site for comparing car prices to find the best deal. They search both local & international rental companies.

Book Accommodation

Booking.com is my favorite hotel search engine. Or rent local apartments on Airbnb ($35 discount!). Read my post for tips on booking cheap hotels.

Protect Your Trip

Don’t forget travel insurance! I’m a big fan of World Nomads for short-term trips. Protect yourself from possible injury & theft abroad. Read more about why you should always carry travel insurance.
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Any questions about things to do in Tegucigalpa? Do you have other suggestions? Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to share!

This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.

Sunset in Comayagua’s Market

When traveling long term, sometimes doing nothing can be a healthy change of pace. It’s easy to try and fit too many activities into each week, leaving you exhausted and sometimes even sick.

They made a 15-minute walk seem like a day-long trek!

I traveled to the sleepy city of Comayagua in the center of Honduras with the specific goal of doing absolutely nothing. The city was once the capital of Honduras but in 1880 it was abandoned in favor of the current capital of Tegucigalpa (try saying that name 3 times fast!).

Cathedral & Central Park

Taking a Break to Relax & Recharge

For five days I wandered around the city, spent hours sitting on park benches, ate baleadas & ice cream, drank freshly squeezed sugarcane juice, shopped for fruit in the market, went jogging, and slept in late.

Sometimes I’d bring my camera out with me, but most of the time I didn’t.

Shooting photos with my blog in mind is harder work than you might think, and I didn’t really feel like doing anything for a few days. It felt great! :)

Packin’ Heat in the Streets

Friendly Taxi Drivers?

There are way too many taxis in Comayagua, it’s a bit ridiculous. At first, I thought the population couldn’t possibly be big enough for all of them to have enough work.

But then I learned how lazy people here are about walking anywhere… Locals were astonished when I told them how far I was walking to get back to my hotel. They made a 15-minute walk seem like a day-long trek!

But the taxi drivers here were some of the most polite I’ve seen anywhere. They would actually stop to let you cross the street. This threw me off a bit because normally I’m used to waiting until there is a big enough opening to run through the traffic.

A Tranquil Town

Playgrounds Make Great Gyms

A few times I woke up late in the morning to go running on the outskirts of the city with my friend Richard Garcia of The Primal Playground. We found an old, rusty, unused playground and turned it into a makeshift gym.

You can really get a great workout using only a swing set, some old tires, and giant rocks.

Overall the city of Comayagua is very relaxed and charming. There’s really nothing that special about it, just an ordinary town in the center of Honduras. But sometimes it’s nice to visit an un-extraordinary place.

It was the perfect location for a little vacation from my year long… vacation. ;)

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Good Place to Sleep: Hotel Quan
Good Place to Eat: Casa Castillo

Packing Guide

Check out my travel gear guide to help you start packing for your trip. Pick up a travel backpack, camera gear, and other useful travel accessories.

Book Your Flight

Book cheap flights on Skyscanner, my favorite airline search engine to find deals. Also read my tips for how I find the cheapest flights.

Rent A Car

Discover Cars is a great site for comparing car prices to find the best deal. They search both local & international rental companies.

Book Accommodation

Booking.com is my favorite hotel search engine. Or rent local apartments on Airbnb ($35 discount!). Read my post for tips on booking cheap hotels.

Protect Your Trip

Don’t forget travel insurance! I’m a big fan of World Nomads for short-term trips. Protect yourself from possible injury & theft abroad. Read more about why you should always carry travel insurance.
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This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.

Incriminating Evidence on the Airstrip

Utila, Honduras

In 2009 a cargo plane loaded with 1.7 tons of cocaine crashed on the Honduran island of Utila. A group of us decided to bushwhack through the jungle and find it.

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UPDATE: The airplane wreckage was removed from the jungle a few years ago, and is no longer there.[/su_note]

Not wanting to embark on a mission like this alone, I recruited my new friends and fellow travelers Robert & Pookie, from Austria and Thailand, to help me with the quest.

We began our search at Utila’s desolate island airstrip, known as an occasional refueling station for Colombian cartel planes loaded with drugs.

Armed with some basic directions and a compass, we entered the wild Honduran jungle. Keeping an eye out for giant spiders & snakes as we pushed our way through its thick tropical foliage.

The ground was rocky, made of razor-sharp coral and covered with hermit crabs of all sizes. Some of these were even climbing trees with their little shells strapped to their backs!

Jungle Spider the Size of Your Hand

Colombians In A Venezuelan Plane

So the backstory of the crash is that a Venezuelan flagged cargo plane was getting chased by an American DEA aircraft in the middle of the night.

Airplanes loaded with drugs would frequently land on the island of Utila’s remote airstrip under the cover of darkness to refuel for a final journey into other parts of Central America closer to the United States, like Guatemala or Mexico.

The Honduran military was ready for this particular plane though, having blocked the runway with trucks so it couldn’t land and refuel.

Eventually, the aircraft ran out of fuel in the air — crashing hard into the dense jungle nearby.

When the military reached the crash site, they found 3 Colombian men with 1.7 tons of cocaine in the airplane’s cargo hold.

The pilot was dead, and two other men were injured. The plane had broken up into 3 pieces – the rocky jungle floor didn’t make for such a smooth landing…

Hiking Through Dense Jungle

A Difficult Search

Our own search for this locally famous narco-trafficking plane was not looking good. After 3 long hours bushwhacking through an impenetrable tangle of vines & trees, we were almost ready to quit. It was hot, humid, and everyone was getting hungry.

The jungle spiders didn’t look very appetizing either…

Using our compass to determine which direction would lead us back out to the ocean, we decided to head North a bit first, so we wouldn’t backtrack the same way we arrived.

Was it possible we’d stumble upon the crash site while walking out?

Only 5 minutes into the trek back, we had our answer. I spied a large white form hidden behind the dense foliage. I couldn’t quite tell what we were looking at though…

But as we approached, the hidden object slowly revealed itself.

The Drug Plane Crash Site

Discovering The Crash Site

We found it!!! The drug plane was much larger than we’d expected. It was a twin engine Jetstream 30, and it had clear-cut a path through the jungle as it crashed, spinning around and facing the way it came in.

The aircraft was broken up into three main parts, with wreckage strewn all over the forest floor.

We were certain we’d found the correct plane when we discovered a stash of coke in the cargo hold!

Finding Coke in the Cargo Hold

Lost In The Jungle

After inspecting the crash site for a while and posing for mandatory Colombian narco-trafficking aircraft photos, we hiked back out of the jungle getting lost a few times along the way.

It’s a good thing we brought a compass, or we’d be spending the night in there!

Finally breaking through the trees and making our way back to the local airport. As we strolled down the airstrip runway again, we spied a group of tourists at the tiny outdoor terminal, waiting for a plane to take them off the island.

Robert & Pookie in the Cockpit

Aircraft Wing Overgrown with Vines

Sketchy Backpackers

You should’ve seen everyone’s faces as the three of us, dirty and soaked in sweat, emerged from the jungle and walked across the runway towards them.

The heavily armed Honduran soldiers who I’d spoken with earlier just gave us a nod as we approached. I’m pretty sure I knew exactly what this group of airline passengers was thinking.

Who are these dirty hikers and what the hell are they doing in the jungle next to an airstrip?

Everyone was staring at us.

We didn’t say a word as we casually strolled past the group, deliberately increasing our mysteriousness in their minds.

Read an actual news story about the crash here: Venezuelan Narco Plane Crashes on Utila.

The rumored Venezuelan drug kingpin responsible for the operation: Walid Makled aka “The Syrian”. ★

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UPDATE: The airplane wreckage was removed from the jungle a few years ago, and is no longer there.[/su_note]

[su_box title=”Travel Planning Resources For Honduras” style=”noise” box_color=”#333333″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”3″ class=”resource-box”]

Packing Guide

Check out my travel gear guide to help you start packing for your trip. Pick up a travel backpack, camera gear, and other useful travel accessories.

Book Your Flight

Book cheap flights on Skyscanner, my favorite airline search engine to find deals. Also read my tips for how I find the cheapest flights.

Rent A Car

Discover Cars is a great site for comparing car prices to find a deal.

Book Accommodation

Booking.com is my favorite hotel search engine. Or rent local apartments on Airbnb ($35 discount!). Read my post for tips on booking cheap hotels.

Protect Your Trip

Don’t forget travel insurance! I’m a big fan of World Nomads for short-term trips. Protect yourself from possible injury & theft abroad. Read more about why you should always carry travel insurance.
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READ NEXT: Learning To SCUBA Dive On Utila

Are you afraid of giant spiders? Would you have searched for this airplane? Let me know in the comments below!

This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.

Scuba Diving on the Island of Utila

Utila, Honduras

The island of Utila in Honduras is one of the cheapest places in the world to get your PADI diving certification. Here’s how I did it.

Many travelers & backpackers learn to SCUBA dive in Utila. It’s smaller and cheaper to visit than it’s bigger next door neighbor, the island of Roatán. Because of it’s popularity, there are many dive shops on Utila, and it can be hard to choose one.

That’s why my buddy Richard and I teamed up to check out a bunch of different Utila dive shops and find the best deal for an Open Water Diving Course. This way we could cover more ground.

Heading to My First Dive

Choosing A Dive Shop

After interviewing staff at a few different places, we decided on Parrots Dive Center. This is the criteria we used for choosing a dive shop:

• Are the employees energetic & friendly?
• Is the instructor experienced?
• How many people will be in a class?
• How many instructors are there per class?
• Are there additional “fun” dives included?
• Is accommodation included? How many nights?
• How nice is the accommodation?
• What’s the quality of the equipment?
• What time is class in the morning?

The employees at Parrots seemed laid back, professional, & fun. The shop was locally owned too, another important factor. We even received 5 free nights in a double room away from Utila’s noisy main street, when most places only offered 4 nights in a busy hostel environment.

Two free fun dives were included with the course as well.

There were 6 of us in the SCUBA class. Our 4 day course started with our instructor Alan teaching us basic diving principles of depth, pressure, & breathing air underwater. In the mornings we sat in a classroom, in the afternoons we practiced our new skills in the bay.

Dive Master Alan

SCUBA School

Learning How To SCUBA Dive

Some of the underwater skills we needed to learn: equalizing the pressure in our sinuses, clearing a flooded mask, sharing air with another diver, and proper timing of our dives at different depths to avoid Nitrogen Sickness (aka “The Bends”).

For one of the tests the instructor turns off your air tank underwater! This important test is to simulate running out of air. You don’t want to panic in a real emergency, so this experience lets you feel the effect due to an equipment (or human) error.

When the air is turned off, it takes a second to notice. The effect isn’t instant. You will slowly begin to have trouble breathing.

When this happens, you get the attention of your buddy with hand signals in order to share his/her air supply with a backup regulator mouthpiece that every diver carries.

So now I know what it feels like to run out of air deep underwater…

Open Water Diving in Utila

Weightless Underwater

The real fun started when we finally went diving for the first few times. Slowly sinking 60 feet down to the ocean floor is an incredible experience. But it keeps getting better!

Once at the bottom, you press a button on your BCD diving vest and inflate it with a bit of air from your tank.

Because you’ll be wearing a weight belt (mine was 14 pounds) to help you sink, adding this air to your vest will level you out. This makes you weightless underwater. You won’t sink to the bottom, or float up to the top.

It lets you hover at one depth, neutrally buoyant.

Underwater World

Superhero SCUBA Powers

I ❤ SCUBA Diving!

I thought I knew what weightlessness would feel like, but I was wrong. True underwater weightlessness is an amazing experience! You can control your body just by breathing.

Want to go up a bit? Breath in a bit deeper. Want to do down? Breath out a bit longer.

Hang completely upside down, swim sideways & backwards while spinning, or do 20 somersaults in a row. We removed our fins to engage in Matrix-style movie stunts, jumping at each other feet first, followed by backflips.

We’re all just a bunch of grown-up kids down there. ★

[su_box title=”Travel Planning Resources for Utila, Honduras” style=”noise” box_color=”#333333″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”3″ class=”resource-box”]
Company: Parrots Dive Center
Cost: $260 USD

Packing Guide

Check out my travel gear guide to help you start packing for your trip. Pick up a travel backpack, camera gear, and other useful travel accessories.

Book Your Flight

Book cheap flights on Skyscanner, my favorite airline search engine to find deals. Also read my tips for how I find the cheapest flights.

Rent A Car

Discover Cars is a great site for comparing car prices to find the best deal. They search both local & international rental companies.

Book Accommodation

Booking.com is my favorite hotel search engine. Or rent local apartments on Airbnb ($35 discount!). Read my post for tips on booking cheap hotels.

Protect Your Trip

Don’t forget travel insurance! I’m a big fan of World Nomads for short-term trips. Protect yourself from possible injury & theft abroad. Read more about why you should always carry travel insurance.
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This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.