Getting around
Getting Around Honduras: Shuttles by Day, Ferries to the Islands
Honduras is travelled on a few highways, two short sea crossings and a web of small planes. Copán in the west, Lake Yojoa in the centre and the Caribbean coast all lie within a few hours of San Pedro Sula, the hub of the northern roads, and shuttles and direct coaches link them. La Ceiba, on the coast, is where the mainland meets the Bay Islands: the ferries to Roatán and Utila sail from it, and small planes fly from it to all three islands. Every road journey is planned to end before dark, and that sets the pace of a trip.
Updated 2026-10-04
Arriving by air: San Pedro Sula, Roatán and the capital
Three airports take most international flights. San Pedro Sula's Ramón Villeda Morales airport, on the northern plain, is the gateway for Copán, Lake Yojoa and the coast. Roatán's airport, beside Coxen Hole, receives international flights straight to the Bay Islands, so a trip can start on the mainland and end on the island without doubling back. International flights to the capital land at Palmerola, in the Comayagua valley north-west of Tegucigalpa, while Toncontín, inside the city, handles domestic flights. La Ceiba's Golosón airport is the hub of the small planes to the islands.
Arriving overland from the neighbouring countries
Long-distance coaches connect Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula with Guatemala City, San Salvador and Managua. For Copán, the crossing that matters is El Florido on the Guatemalan border, about 12 kilometres from Copán Ruinas: tourist shuttles from Antigua Guatemala come this way, and many travellers see Guatemala and Copán in one journey.
Coaches and shuttles between the tourist places
Between the places of a first trip, visitors travel by direct coach or by tourist shuttle. Direct coaches with reserved seats run between Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba and Copán Ruinas, and shared tourist shuttles, booked ahead, go door to door between San Pedro Sula airport, Copán Ruinas, Lake Yojoa, La Ceiba's hotels and its ferry dock. The ordinary public buses that stop anywhere along the road are another matter: they are often poorly maintained, overcrowded and recklessly driven, one of the risks on Honduran roads.
San Pedro Sula sits at the centre of these routes. From there, Lake Yojoa is about an hour and a half south on the highway to the capital, Tela about the same to the east, and Copán Ruinas and La Ceiba about three hours each; Tegucigalpa is about four hours away, past the lake and Comayagua. Taken in the order of a mainland loop that ends on the islands — Copán, the lake, the coast — each leg fits into one day's daylight, and the run from Copán or the lake to the islands is best broken with a night in La Ceiba.
Ferries from La Ceiba to Roatán and Utila
The ferries to the islands leave from a dock outside La Ceiba, a taxi ride from the town centre. The crossing takes about an hour to Utila and about an hour and a half to Roatán, over open water that turns rough when the wind is up, so travellers prone to seasickness take something before boarding. On Utila the ferry docks in the town, within walking distance of the dive schools; on Roatán it docks at Dixon Cove on the south coast, a taxi ride from West End and West Bay. Neither ferry calls at Guanaja.
Domestic flights and small planes
Domestic flights are short hops, many of them on small propeller planes. From La Ceiba they reach the Bay Islands, and Roatán also has flights from San Pedro Sula and the capital. For Guanaja the small plane is the usual way in, and on the long diagonal from Tegucigalpa to the north coast or the islands a flight replaces most of a day on the road. The smallest planes carry little baggage, which matters to divers travelling with their own equipment.
La Mosquitia, beyond the roads
La Mosquitia, the forest, river and lagoon country of the far east, has no paved road from the rest of Honduras. Small planes and boats are the way in, and visitors go on an organised trip with a guide — in remote areas, travelling with others or with a tour is also the safer way.
Taxis and tuk-tuks in the towns
In Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and the other main towns of the mainland, visitors use radio-dispatched taxis or a taxi called by the hotel, even for short distances. In smaller places such as Copán Ruinas, and on Utila, three-wheeled tuk-tuks cover the short runs. The price of a ride is agreed before setting off.
Driving yourself
Hire cars are available at the international airports, and traffic keeps to the right. Drivers stay on the main roads between the cities and the tourist places, where travel is generally safer, and finish each day's driving before dark: driving standards are poor, many vehicles run without lights and animals wander onto the road.