~ Central America Trip Ideas ~
I thought I’d augment a recent Central America trip report with my take on all the fun stuff to do. This is all from a road trip I took in 2018, so it’s possible a few things are out of date, but most are still around I’m sure.
🇧🇿 Belize 🇧🇿
Most tourists just head to one of the Cayes (islands), but the mainland has a lot to offer imo.
Ambergris Caye: This is the bigger of the two popular islands with more of a party vibe. They have the usual drinking, eating, snorkeling, diving, swimming with (nurse) sharks. The nearby Blue Hole is one of the wonders of the natural world. Plan to spend a long, hot, not cheap day getting there and back. I heard mixed reviews on whether diving the Blue Hole was much better than snorkeling. The stone crab claws at a restaurant called Caramba restaurant were the best meal I had the entire trip, which is amazing considering this trip included Central Mexico.
Caye Caulker: The smaller island that doesn’t allow cars, which creates an entirely different super slow vibe. Their motto is “Go Slow”. Go here if you want to decompress for a few days. They also had stone crab claws, but not quite as mouth-gasmic as Caramba.
Belize City: Not a whole lot to see here but some old colonial mansions and an interesting little national museum. Don’t go walking around south of the river.
San Ignacio: Fun slightly gritty town that we fell in love with. Also the best overall restaurant of the trip (again amazing considering the rest of the top 10 were all in Mexico) Ko-Ox-Han-Nah — try the pork tacos, but everything was excellent. From San Ignacio is an easy trip to the Xunantunich Maya ruins, which we found low key and contemplative, at least until the howler monkeys started up.
Not as easy of a trip, but still worth it imo, is the Lamanai ruins. The tour starts as a river nature tour, then the Lamanai ruins, which are strung along a river lagoon. Along the river, you might see some Mennonites working in the fields. The starting point is much closer to the town of Orange Walk, but after driving through it, we didn’t see anything that looked remotely touristy. So we did the long haul from San Ignacio instead. In nearby Bullet Tree Falls, if you can find an AirBnB with caretaker Ernesto in the listing, grab it. Best AirBnB ever.
From San Ignacio, you’re really close to the Tikal ruins and the town of Flores in Guatemala.
🇬🇹 Guatemala 🇬🇹
I’m doing this in the same order I did in my trip, so I’m starting in Northern Guatemala. But Guatemala is almost like two countries split by a central mountain range. A trip to see Tikal is more convenient from Belize than it is from Guatemala City.
Tikal/Flores: Tikal is the biggest ruins by far I saw on the trip. It’s like the size of a large zoo or amusement park. Sometimes people say take a day for stuff and I’m good with a few hours. But you really need a day for Tikal. Or one of the packages where you see the sunset and stars and then sunrise. I wish we’d have done that. At least as of 2018 you could still climb on most of the buildings in Tikal, which sets it apart. Get ready to sweat. The colonial town of Flores sits on an island in nearby Lago Petén Itzá. We found it charming, especially after we almost stayed a very rustic place along the lake with a creepy slasher vibe.
Cobán/Central Mountains: The biggest attraction here is Semuc Champey, a series of neon-blue-green mineral pools. We didn’t have a full day so we opted to check out the Caves of Candelaria instead. You have to find one of the four different parks that make up the caves, which isn’t super easy, and they’ll arrange a tour. We also checked out a bustling Maya market in a town called Tactic that was really cool.
Guatemala City: I’ve only spent a couple nights here. Stick to one of the business/tourist Zonas at night. I can’t explain it, but I’ve never felt more perfect weather. Something about the soft breeze.
Antigua: Probably my favorite place on the whole trip. I think it’s one of the world’s (mostly) undiscovered gems. The American missionaries who come down to work and preach in the Maya villages sure know about it, but the rest of the world doesn’t seem to have caught on. I ended up spending over a month while connecting with friends on the trip, and could have spent much more.
Look for places on the outskirts away from the tourist center. I really like the southwest corner of town, near a bar called Reilly’s. I had my Spanish school, my favorite taco place, my gym, my coffee place and my sports bar all on the same block. Heaven. You can also arrange to hike the nearby volcanoes. The two day hike is brutal, but you get to look down upon constantly-erupting Volcán de Fuego at night, which is insane.
Lake Atitlán: Probably the biggest tourist draw in Guatemala. We spent a day touring around and going to a few towns by boat, which we arranged in Panajachel. San Pedro was the party town. There was a huge party boat that dumped 100 people into the bars, then picked them up again in an hour. The people in our coffee shop looked like they were on the raggedy end of an all-nighter, and were visibly relieved when the loud party boat finally steamed off. Next we stopped at the tiny village of San Juan, where a tuk tuk took us around to various craft places and a honey farm with stingless bees where they make honey beer (the honey was tasty, the beer not so much). Finally we stopped at San Marcos which had the weird juxtaposition of half-naked, dread-locked hippies mingling with Maya women in traditional dress.
🇸🇻 El Salvador 🇸🇻
For such a tiny country, El Salvador has a lot of touristy things to do. They also do a really good job of promoting their attractions and putting ample signage along the roads.
El Tunco: Fun surf town. We stayed at La Guitarra, an iconic compound in the middle of town. Get the pupusas at Mamaguaya — best street food of the trip. From here you can arrange a day trip to see nearby Vulcán de Santa Ana, which was a lot of fun.
Ruta de Los Flores (route of the flowers): A series of cute little towns up in the cloud forest, that made a nice cool relief from the steamy beach town. Ataco and Juayua were highlights. I also stayed in the sleepy town of Tacuba, which is well off the beaten path. There I arranged a trip into the nearby Parque Nacional El Imposible. You need a guide. If Mama y Papa’s hostel is still going, they can arrange it. I really enjoyed being the only gringo tourist in Tacuba.
Perquín/El Mozote: In 1981, over a two-day span, the US-backed Salvadoran army executed 1,000 men, women and children in the town of El Mozote and the surrounding villages. One woman in the whole village survived by hiding between two trees, and afterward risked her life to tell the story to anyone who would listen. Until recently, other women have carried on her tradition of giving tours to the massacre site. It’s one of those things like visiting a Holocaust Museum where it’s not pleasant, but it sure gives you some historical perspective and a visceral empathy for the victims. In nearby Perquín there’s a fascinating museum dedicated to the rebels that the Salvadoran Army were fighting.
🇭🇳 Honduras 🇭🇳
Honduras is another country where most gringo tourists just go to Roatán or Utila island. But it’s a beautiful country with a lot more to see. I never had any issues with safety. The Mara gangs don’t really go after tourists, and it’s easy to stay out of the bad parts of the two major cities.
Copán: The Copán Maya ruins sit near the charming colonial town of Copán Ruinas. Confusing? Yes. Copán has been called the most artistic of all Maya ruins, and it was really impressive. Rosalila temple is one of the best preserved and most beautiful ancient structures in the world. You might want a guide. Outside the excellent museum, the ground are not overflowing with interpretive signage. For context, the book Jungle of Stone is a great read. It’s the story of the first Westerners to discover Copán and a bunch of other Maya ruins, and ultimately help reconnect the local Maya with their lost heritage.
Lago Yojoa: A lake in Central Honduras with lots of activities. There’s an iconic hostel named D&D Brewery that’s a must stay if you go. I found it one of the most social places on the entire trip, where all ages mingle and go on hikes and other activities. And they make beer!
Pico Bonito: A jungle eco-park in northern Honduras where you can do white water rafting and a bunch of other activities. We stayed two nights at Omega Tours and Eco-Lodge and loved it.
Utila Island: One of my other favorite places on the whole trip. Another island with no cars, which I quickly realized I needed to seek out wherever possible. Utila is all about diving, so if you’re not into that at all, it might not be as fun. We stayed at Alton’s dive shop and found them super professional. We also dived with Trudy’s next door, which had a younger more party crowd. Captain Morgan’s closer to the pier seemed a little too party-vibe-ish for us. But if you’re young and want to get wasted every night, go there. There are a dozen other dive places, so there’s one to fit everyone. Try the banana bread and check out Treetanic B&B and restaurant, an insane psychedelic labor of love built with millions of mosaic pieces that is like if Pee Wee’s Playhouse was set in the Flintstones universe.
🇳🇮 Nicaragua 🇳🇮
My trip in Nicaragua was truncated a bit by the uprising against Ortega in 2018. I got trapped with my car on the Carribean side of the country, and ultimately had to talk my way out through a bunch of roadblocks manned by bandana-clad student revolutaries armed with homemade rocket launchers. Good times. But in general, Nicaragua is one of the safest countries in Central America. Also the poorest, and the saddest governmental situation. Nicaraguan history is one heartbreaking tragedy piled on top of another. Fascinating country though with amazing people. In Nicaragua every child is assumed to be a poet until they prove otherwise. Parents call their kids poeta or poetisa as a term of affection.
León: Beautiful, bustling colonial city still in rough-restore. Very warm. Look for accommodations with air-conditioning or good ventilation. From León you can do the iconic volcano-boarding, where they send you down the side of a volcano on a toboggan, and you can take trips to local volcanoes.
Laguna Apoyo: Beautiful lake formed in the caldera of an extinct volcano, in the hills somewhat, so it’s cooler. I stayed at a place called Paradiso Hostel, which was very social and fun. But check the bill before you pay. I wound up with a bunch of someone else’s stuff on my bill and didn’t notice until I was long gone.
Bluefields: Gritty town on the Caribbean coast without much tourist amenities, which is mostly a jumping off point to the Corn Islands. But I was stuck there for a week, so it’s near and dear to my heart. Oasis Casino is a great place to stay. If you need to eat while you’re in town, check out the fried chicken at Marbella.
Little Corn Island: The sleepiest island of them all. They don’t even allow motorcycles. The largest vehicle on the island is a hand-pushed flatbed cart. Look for the guy selling delicious pati pastries in the morning. The power goes off from 8am to noon every day. So I arranged a lot of morning dives. Otto beach on the far side of the island was probably the most picturesque, idyllic beach on the whole trip.
Big Corn Island: Less sleepy, I only stayed one night and saw a drunk woman harass some poor guy. Could skip next time.
Touristy stuff I missed: The colonial town of Granada, Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua, and the beach resort-y town San Juan del Sur.
🇨🇷 Costa Rica 🇨🇷
Costa Rica is well-trodden ground by now. So I’ll be brief with the highlights.
La Fortuna: Fun recreational hub in N. Costa Rica. We stayed at a kitsch-themed hostel called Selina that a few too many coked-up bros for my liking. After our exodus out of Nicaragua, this was maximum culture shock. Selina was a chain that apparently went defunct. Not sad.
Tortuguero: Really cool national park on the Caribbean coast. If you time it right the beaches will be full of nesting turtles. Sometimes a jaguar comes out to try to eat one of them.
San José (capital city): I stayed in Barrio Escalante and loved it. Lots of restaurants, coffee shops, etc. Not the main reason most people go to Costa Rica, but after being stranded in Bluefields with limited options, I loved it.
Baldi Hot Springs: Hot springs resort outside of San José that also has some batshit insane water-slides. Do your own safety assessments.
Tamarindo: Fun beach town. The pineapple pie at a restaurant called Nogui’s still lives in my dreams.
Monteverde: Cloud forest recreation hub. We did zip-lining at Selvatura Adventure, which wasn’t the cheapest, but when I saw the clipping-in procedure, I was happy to be at the Cadillac of zip line places. The night nature walk was also a highlight.
🇵🇦 Panama 🇵🇦
Panama City: More culture shock, like driving into the Miami skyline.
Casco Viejo (old town): Restored colonial old town with tons of restaurants and hotels. I watched Panama’s first ever World Cup game here. Hearing the Panamanian national anthem sung out of open windows and doors was pretty cool. The Panama Canal visitor center is really cool. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can volunteer to be a line-handler on a boat going through the Canal. Fascinating and completely disorienting to see everything up close. Just be aware the trip will take two days, and you will probably be on a small, stuffy sailboat — not a luxury catamaran.
Yaviza: We rode down as far as you can go on the Pan-American highway. After Yaviza, it’s only boat and foot traffic through the Darién Gap, until you get to Colombia. The town itself is pretty gritty w/o much to see. But you can arrange for jungle stays and trips to indigenous villages nearby.
Colón: Not much to see. I spent a chunk of time here because I had to arrange to ship my car back to the States. But otherwise, there’s not much to see except the Canal expansion locks visitor center. I got a good deal at the Meliá Panamá Canal resort outside of town.
Boquete: Nice mountain town full of expats where the weather is eternal spring. There’s a very interesting coffee tour of a homemade coffee processing compound outside of town.
That’s about it. Fire away if you have any questions. If there’s interest, I can do another one of these for Mexico.