Hi
My girlfriend and i are planning a trip around south and central america in may-july next year. i was hoping for advice on places in central america, safety, costs things to do and see. we will probably only be in central america for two weeks. we're quite keen on spending some time diving, surfing, climbing volcanoes, checking out ruins and stuff like that. if anyone has any recommendations that would be great.
cheers
two weeks is a pretty short amount of time for doing all that and seeing central america!
for diving i definitely recommend the bay islands in honduras--especially utila or roatan.
there are mayan ruins in honduras as well (copán), near the border of guatemala. there are more ruins through guatemala and up into mexico too. some pretty good volcanoes in guatemala. i'm not really familiar with surfing in cental america. i know it's big in costa rica, but for your time limit, i would recommend you stay in the guatemala/honduras region.
hopefully that gives you some ideas to start looking into specifics, and maybe someone else has some ideas too.
Your going to definitely be on the go for those 2 weeks to fit all that in - but go for it. Surfing wise, there is quite a lot of spots all along the western side of Central America. Depending on what countries you are going to visit - what did you have in mind more specifically? I was in Puerto Escondido in south west Mexico, and waves were beautiful clean barrels constantly coming in. Surfboards are for hire at several places along the beach - all ya need to do is walk up and down to browse. South America also has several fantastic places to surf, which is where you can find some of the most empty barrels in the world.
Ruin wise, I'd definitely say visit the Mayan, Aztecan or Teotihuacan ruins in Central America (Mexico, Guatemala or Belize) All countries have their pics.
Can you give any more info?
-snip-
[ Edit: Sorry, no promos please. ]
The best surf I've seen is in El Salvador lotsa volcanoes too but mostly extinct.
No ruins of note.
CA is a lot bigger than it looks on a map BTW.
Hey Bronco,
Good to see that you have plans to go to central america. However as other people have said before two weeks is quite short so you might just want to pick one or two countries you like to visit. My personal favourite is Mexico since it has the amazing Mayan culture, the perfect blue caribean ocean, amazing coralwhite beaches and amazing jungle and other nature parks.
In Mexico you can get around by rental car or by public transport which is really comfortable and cheap. If you are in Mexico in the summermonths you should definitely go snorkeling with whalesharks around Isla Holbox in the north of Yucatan. It gives you a great adrenalin rush! If you want to go diving you should go to Playa del Carmen and take a tour to Cozumel where you can go snorkeling and diving right from the beach.
If you have any questions about a good route in two weeks, let me know.
Note that Mexico is in North America-as any Mexican will tell you.
hey Bronco,
I completely agree with Evelyn swimming with the whale sharks in Isla holbox is the most greatest feeling ever and it's only 90usd which is descent price. I recommend you to do it with monkeygroup tour for the whale shark it has no lost its the first one you come across when you arrive the island. you can throw yourself only two time with the tour guy/girl which is only one tour girl and shes a sweet girl by her name of Liz. moreover, you will definitely see the whale shark, I can promise you that. So yeah Mexico is the best part. that's where you can see Chichen and the ruins of Tulum. My favorite one Uxmal or Palenque.If you have any info let me know.:-)
It has been my experience, and I have been told by marine researchers, that whale sharks are pretty elusive. This is why everybody wants to studythem because they seldom get a shot at seeing them up close. I am leery of any claim that states you will DEFINITELY see a whale shark.
As stated, two weeks is not a lot of time....If it were me with that time period and those desires, I would stick to El Salvador/Honduras. El Salvador has the surfing on the Pacific Coast, Some interesting small towns , then head through to Suchitoto on your way to Honduras. Go up to Copan and see those ruins, then head to La Ceiba and the Bay islands for some diving. Fly out of SPS. It's not a short hop from coast to coast, but it's doable if you are dedicated.
Ah...but the coup. This is all contingent on what the coup has done to Honduras tourism.
D
thanks for the tips guys
my trip might have to be shorter yet bacause of work so maybe ill have to just stick to one country, maybe mexico. swimming with the whales sounds pretty amazing, if you can be guaranteed to see whales. is the safety and security situation much the same as northern south america? you never know what to believe as the media portrays central america as a pretty dangerous place?