How Long Can You Stay in Honduras?

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This is a question that I often get. The answer is up to a total of 120 days or 4 months. This is how long you can stay in Honduras!

The CA4 Treaty.

But there is a catch to this. You see, Honduras is part of regional treaty known as the CA4 Treaty. The CA4 treaty includes four Central American Countries: Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. The CA4 treaty allows citizens of these four countries free transit within the region.

The above means that if you are a citizen of the before mentioned countries, the only travel document you need is your voter ID card. This is convenient for citizens and legal residents. But does it affect you as a tourist traveling through the region? The answer is yes, it does and you should know all about it when making your travel plans to Central America!

You see the CA4 Treaty limits the total time tourists can stay in the CA4 region. This means that you have 120 days in total between your stay in all four countries. If you plan on staying more than the total 120 days in the CA4 Treaty region, you will need to exit the region after 120 days. After that, you can get another 120 days. But first you must be out of the CA4 Treaty countries for at least 72 hours. If you are in Nicaragua or Guatemala, this is simple. All you need to do is to visit Costa Rica to the South if you are Nicaragua. If in Guatemala, go to North to Mexico or East to Belize.

Your Alternatives if You Are in Honduras

If you are in Honduras, most tourists end up visiting Belize. This because Belize is closer and more affordable than travel to than Costa Rica. There are two alternative ways to do the above. You can fly with Tropic Air from San Pedro Sula or Roatan to Belize. The second, more affordable alternative is to take the D Express Ferry between Puerto Cortes and Belize. The ferry operates twice a week, and will allow you to be away from the CA4 Treaty region for the required 72 hours.  Under good weather, the trip will take about 2 hours from Puerto Cortes to Dangriga, and another hour to Placencia.

The D Express Ferry is not a fancy boat, but it is fast and seaworthy.  I hope this short note answers the question: How long can you stay in Honduras! I also hope that you understood how the CA4 Treaty affects you as a traveler in Central America.