Got 6 weeks up your sleeve and want to see what Central America has to offer? You've come to the right place, our 6 week Central America itinerary packs a whole lot in. 


For such a tiny part of the world, Central America is packed full of all kinds of natural beauty and great activities. From zip lining past sloths in the cloud forests of Costa Rica, to boarding down volcanoes in Nicaragua, to scuba-diving shipwrecks in Utila and snorkelling with whale sharks off Belize, Central America really has it all.

We have been through Central America twice now. We've gone North to South and then South to North and both times we've done loads of things and seen some truly amazing places.

Now to truly see and experience everything Central America has to offer we're recommend at least 2 months. However you can still see lots of places and visit multiple countries with less time as travel between countries is quick-ish (emphasis on the ish) due to the small size of them. If you don't have endless time then 6 weeks in Central America is definitely enough time to pack a whole lot in!

Now although Mexico is technically part of North America we're going to include it in this itinerary because it's an easy base to fly in and out of AND it's an awesome country with LOADS to see and do (you could easily spend months just in Mexico and only scratch the surface)
​
Without further ado, here is our 6 week Central America itinerary.

​If heading Nth → Sth: Fly in to Mexico City or Cancun (usually via LA if you're coming from Australia/NZ) and fly home from Panama City or San Jose. If heading Sth → Nth then reverse the itinerary! This Itinerary could take you anywhere from 2 to 4 months.. Or even longer! This is an itinerary combining our two trips to the region. It is by no means exhaustive, but we hope it is helpful in planning your own little jaunt.

• Mexico
  • Yucatan Peninusla: (If flying in to Cancun)
    • Cancun
    • Isla Holbox
    • Playa Del Carmen
    • Isla Mujeres
    • Tulum
  • Central Mex: (If flying in to Mexico City)
    • Mexico City
    • Oaxaca
    • San Cristobal
    • Palenque
    • Puerto Escondido (Only if surfing)
  • All of Baja Mexico but further away, probably best to do on a separate trip unless you have loads of time

 

• Belize
  • Caye Caulker

 

• Guatemala
  • Flores (Tikal Ruins)
  • Semuc Champey
  • Lake Atitlan
  • Antigua

 

• El Salvador
  • El Tunco

 

• Honduras
  • Utila (Only if scuba diving)

 

• Nicaragua
  • Leon
  • Granada
  • Corn Islands
  • Isla Ometepe
  • Popoyo (Only if surfing)
  • San Juan Del Sur

 

• Costa Rica
  • Monteverde
  • San Jose
  • Manuel Antonio
  • Nicoya Peninsula
    • Montezuma
    • Sata Teresa
  • Corcovado National Park
  • Puerto Viejo

 

• Panama
  • Bocas Del Toro
  • San Blas Islands
  • Panama City

​

MONTEVERDE

Where to Stay:​

• Pension Santa Elena

What To Do:

• ​Canopy Tour
  • ​Ziplining & Tarzan Swing
    
  • Bird watching
    
• Butterfly House

After travelling through 3 countries in one day we finally made it to La Ceiba, Honduras. 
The only reason we spent the night here was because we missed the last ferry of the day to Utila. In saying that we had a great night of dinner and drinks with some friends we'd made the journey from Belize with, and had extremely cheap and pleasant accommodation. 

We rose early the next morning to get the ferry to Utila, one of the Bay Islands.
On the ferry a lot of people got sick as it is quite a rocky journey and there are not many windows in the seated area. 
We've since heard they call that ferry the vomit comet. And we can definitely understand why.

Once on Utila we made our way to Alton's Dive Centre, as we had been recommended it by a fellow traveller. Sean and I signed up for our advanced diving certificate, settled into our room (free with dive course) and went off to explore the streets. The island had a great bakery with tasty baguettes and HEAPS of dive schools. Utila is seriously dive city, and whilst it is a fun backpacker vibe kinda island, if you're not a diver there isn't a whole heap to do there. That night it was Superbowl Sunday so we went to a place called RJ's and watched the game with a hearty meal of rice, chicken, beans and salad. The Central American standard (no complaints here). 

During our dive course we got to visit shipwrecks, dive at night under torchlight seeing illuminated coral and glowing octopuses, and dive down to 35m. That's deep! The course took 2 days and BOOM we were accredited. 
It is easy to see why Utila is so popular with scuba minded backpackers. The water is warm, clear, full of fish and coral and due to the abundance of dive schools in close proximity to one another, prices for courses, tanks and boat dives are extremely competitive. It's a wonderful place to visit on a budget and to catch the diving bug if you haven't already!

Whilst on the island we'd heard stories of a local bar called Skid Row. Rumour was if you could down 4 shots of the bars homemade spiced rum, you'd get a free singlet letting everyone know how tough you were (Ha!). So off we went with a couple of guys we'd been hanging out with and we attempted the challenge. I don't remember much of the night after the first shot challenge but I know I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and TWO skid row singlets. 

By this stage of our trip we'd realised we had seriously underestimated how long it would take us to get to Panama, and we decided if we were going to make our flight home, we'd have to bypass mainland Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. So we booked a flight from Roatan (the other Bay Island) to San Jose 2 days later.

Next stop Costa Rica..