Need advice on safety on travel in all Central America

Hi

with 8 months Mexico traveling experience under my belt with 17 months of Asia, I even feel very skeptical about traveling through Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

I will travel using bus from country to country. Not on plane.

My concern, is it safe to go on bus through isolation in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador?
Will bus be easy target for cartels?

which town in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador that I need to be more alert?

I will only be carrying my digital camera, nothing so fancy. Simple clothes.

I read the news recently that Honduras have the highest murder rate in the world with approximately 40 murders in 100,000 while Mexico got only 18 out of 100,000. It prompt me to be more of concern about those three countries. I am confident that Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama will be fine unless you say it otherwise but please list them here.

Thanks for your time!
Allan

If you have been traveling for 8 months in Mexico just carry on as you have been.

All capital cities in CA are a bit dodgy with Belize City, Guatemala City & San José CR being the cesspools of the world.

Riding buses in CA is likely safer than in the US.

Add San Salvador to that list. <its positively dangerous during the night.

I had no problem with Honduras, but then, I only stayed in Copan and Utila. There didn't seem to be anywhere else of interest to me there. I tire of poor villages quickly unless I have a reason to be there. Tegucigalpa is a city you try to avoid as much as possible, which i did. Perhaps i stayed long enough to take a bus to Utila, and that was it.

Copan is quite nice. I have nothing but good things to say about it. the site itself is amazing, and deserves a second and third look.

El Salvador, well, the coast is fairly safe if you stay out of the big cities, and it is pretty. There is nice surfboarding there. it is the pacific, and you can't wade out past your thighs without getting tumbled down and taken for a rough ride where i was.



Still, not a lot to stick around for.

San Salvador is no more dangerous than Detroit or lots of other US cities at night & likely safer than the day.

The surfing beaches in the La Libertad area rank in the worlds top 10. There's hiking, volcanoes to climb, lots to keep one occupied for a couple weeks.

We´ve been over this before.

I've been in Chicago at night, no problems. I've walked home in dangerous parts of southWest Philadelphia to my home at night, no problems(though not at 2 am..I went out of my way NOT to walk home at that point.)

I've been to places all over the world, but San Salvador was the only place where there was a man sitting outside a 7-11 with a mac 10 automatic pistol on his lap, ready for anything after dark. Everywhere with any kind of wealth had armed guards and high walls. The city shut down at night.

Guat city is no better overall, at night, especially in Zone 1.

Thats why, if you stay there, you should spring for a pricier hotel and stay in at night, unless you take taxis to and fro your destination, which should never be zona 1 at night. Most people who have lived in guatemala a while, including myself, take a bus Antigua and sleep overnight in antiqua, taking a day bus to guat city, then going back before the night comes.

Bottom line, add San Salvador to the list of Central American capital cities that can be dangerous at night. We had no problems during the day, when we ran to get a bus to the countryside and the surfboarding, which is supposed to be quite good.(I don't surf, I can't tell you that from experience)

I went to Copan solo, then took a variey of transport methods, but mostly bus to Flores, all in one long day, had no problem, then traveled over by tuk tuk and back by collectivo in San Carlos where about the time i was there someone was beheading about 28 poor Guatemalans, then i went down a river and spent 3 days in the jungle with a guide and his assistant, and had no problems. I'm in my mid 60's and pretty large and tall though not fat, carry everything I need in a carry-on pack, carry around an expense looking SLR and take lots of pictures, wander around the markets and just don't have any problems, but I stay out of the bars (don't drink) and at night, stick to the well lit streets if out, and if sketchy people are hanging around I head the other way. I also keep my eyes out and am situationally aware at all times as to who is doing what to who.

I think the thing with most of this violence is it is the gangsters killing each other, so as long as you stay out of their turf areas and mind your own business you will be alright.

Oh wow an armed guard outside 7-11 in San Salvador? What street was that on?

I know this has been discussed before & no one has ever provided proof that it is any more dangerous than most US cities.

As I said San Salvador is dodgy however NOT in the same league Guate, Belize or San Jose!

San Pedro Sula, San Salvador*, Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa, Belize City, and Managua are all nasty cities with rampant crime. Exercise common sense, keep your bags with you on buses, and you'll be very unlikely to have any problems.

*Ignore busman on this - he's a nasty and subliterate misanthrope whiner who shits his pants any time someone says anything about El Salvador.

Just happen to live 1/2 hour from San Salvador so of course I wouldn't know anything about it

busman7 wrote:Just happen to live 1/2 hour from San Salvador so of course I wouldn't know anything about it

I lived IN Southwest Philadelphia for 3 years, and I'd still say its not entirely safe at night. Living ne3xt to a place doesn't mean its safe, only you've learned to discount the danger level from proximity.

either way, Felix is right about the abovementioned cities. All can be dangerous, and all can be navigated properly if one does the right things, like taking a taxi straight to the bus station and getting the heck out..

Ddrezner wrote:I lived IN Southwest Philadelphia for 3 years, and I'd still say its not entirely safe at night. Living ne3xt to a place doesn't mean its safe, only you've learned to discount the danger level from proximity.

either way, Felix is right about the abovementioned cities. All can be dangerous, and all can be navigated properly if one does the right things, like taking a taxi straight to the bus station and getting the heck out..

Lots of Philly isn't safe in the daytime!

Living near & doing business in a city means you've learned the danger level NOT learned to discount it.

As Felix can tell you & you should have figured out if you were at all observant in CA, an armed guard is a fixture of any business, doesn't mean it's unsafe to patronize that business. So not sure where you go from the bus station to avoid them? Back to Philly

Felix nice to see you have discovered smilies

I take more of a middle ground on San Salvador. Find a local (via couchsurfing) to show you around and confine your nighttime activities to the wealthy areas and you'll be fine.

The worst city I encountered in Central America was Santa Ana, El Salvador. By far the highest ratio of armed guards to stores in any city in Central America. And all the businesses shut down by 6pm and the streets became deserted.

Anyway, for the most part, if you exercise common sense you'll be fine in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Guatemala has the most backpackers of the three countries, El Salvador the least.

EMH wrote:I take more of a middle ground on San Salvador. Find a local (via couchsurfing) to show you around and confine your nighttime activities to the wealthy areas and you'll be fine.

The worst city I encountered in Central America was Santa Ana, El Salvador. By far the highest ratio of armed guards to stores in any city in Central America. And all the businesses shut down by 6pm and the streets became deserted.

Anyway, for the most part, if you exercise common sense you'll be fine in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Guatemala has the most backpackers of the three countries, El Salvador the least.

There's a person that has actually visited San Salvador/El Salvador with their eyes open.

Wonk Wonk. The Blowhard Barks Again. There are safety issues in San Salvador, as all hub cities in CA. And SS has more than some. Forget the wanker. My advice is to bypass the city if you can, even if flying into it. Even if all in the city merely want to stroke you with Ostrich feathers, there's nothing to hold you there. In most countries, in my experience, the real heart of the country isn't in it's big city, but in it's small town.