Health & safety
Travelling Safely in Honduras: How and When to Move
In Honduras, how and when a visitor moves around decides most of a trip's safety: by day on the roads, by taxi in the main towns of the mainland, with cash drawn in small amounts and valuables locked away, on the Bay Islands as on the mainland. The current travel advice of the traveller's own government is read before the route is settled.
Updated 2026-10-07
Towns, stations and tourist sites
In Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and the other main towns of the mainland, visitors avoid walking around the streets and keep away from isolated areas; for short distances they take a radio-dispatched taxi or one called by the hotel. Particular care is needed at bus stations and airports, at tourist sites, on isolated beaches and on public transport. Valuables stay locked away.
Cash machines and changing money
Much of a trip in Honduras runs on cash in lempiras, and drawing it calls for care. Withdrawals are made by day and in small amounts, from machines inside shopping centres. Money is changed in hotels or banks, not with unofficial street changers. On Roatán, ask the hotel which machines to use.
Roads, buses and driving
Road travel in Honduras is done by day: after dark, visitors stay off the roads, whichever way they are getting around the country. The main roads between the major cities and the tourist destinations are generally the safer ones. Public buses are often poorly maintained, overcrowded and recklessly driven. Driving standards are poor, many vehicles run without lights and animals wander onto the road; drivers keep the doors locked and the windows closed and pick up no hitchhikers. In remote areas it may be safer to travel with others or to join a tour.
Mosquitoes and medical care
Dengue and malaria occur in Honduras and Zika is a risk, so protection against mosquito bites matters throughout a trip. State-funded hospitals are underfunded and short of medicines; private clinics are the better choice, but they are found only in the major towns. On the Bay Islands, emergency medical facilities are extremely limited, though divers have a recompression chamber on Roatán and recompression facilities on Utila. Travel insurance that covers medical treatment and the journey home is part of the preparation.
Hurricanes and earthquakes
The hurricane season normally runs from May to November, and storms can affect the Bay Islands, so anyone travelling in those months follows the forecasts. Earthquakes are a risk in Honduras as well.