Travel FROM Belize TO Utila and Bay Islands, Honduras

This is actually pretty easy and straightforward trip. You may still see references in guidebooks on pick up trucks between border and Corinto- this is outdated; buses are the normal mode of transportation now. (Also see our more detailed page, FROM Utila TO Belize).  There are actually 2 main to do this trip now- 

1) either by bus most of the way with a short ferry ride from Punta Gorda Belize to Puerto Barrios Guatemala or

2) by taking the Belize ferry for a good portion of it- either from Dangriga or Placencia Belize to Puerto Cortes Honduras

Note: The below is still in rough form- I’m meaning to clean it up a bit, but I’m out on some extended kayak trips, so this should get you all to Utila at least!

Sample Itinerary Belize TO Honduras via BUS:

 Day 1:

• Take a bus south to Punta Gorda from all points in Belize,  or fly down to Punta Gorda from Belize City (note there are also flights from Belize City to San Pedro Sula).
• Take the ferry  from Punta Gorda to Puerto Barrios (leaves at 9:30am and 12:30 noon and 2pm)
• Stop at immigration before boarding ferry- its right at the dock. There is a checkout fee.
•  On arrival in Puerto Barrios, check in with Immigration (no fee)- it’s a block up from dock
• Take collective mini-van or private taxi from Puerto Barrios  to border (Frontera); will stop at Guatemalan customs for you to check out (no fee, but need to stop)
• Mini-van will drop you off right at border- walk to the Honduras Immigration for check in
• From Frontera border, take a bus to Omoa and spend the night (or if its early enough, continue on to Puerto Cortes and transfer to or SAP or possibly on to La Ceiba.)

Need some R & R while travelling between Belize and Honduras? Take a look at Coral House Inn, Punta Gorda

Day 2

• Out of Omoa, head back to main road and catch regular buses to Puerto Cortes
• Get off  bus at highway entrance to Puerto Cortes- cross street- and take regular mini-vans back to San Pedro Sula.  (You can take the bus all the way into Puerto Cortes, but there is no need- just get off at the highway entrance and cross street for busses to SAP)
• From San Pedro Sula Terminal, catch regular bus to La Ceiba
•  Catch the 4pm Princess ferry to Utila (insert link)

 UtilaGuide.com Tips:

* If you catch the 9:30am ferry from Punta Gorda, you can make it to La Ceiba that same day and catch the 9:30am ferry to Utila the next day

* If you catch the 2:00 pm noon ferry from Punta Gorda to Puerto Barrios, you can get back to Omoa around 5pm and stay the night there (or to SAP). Then the next morning you can bus all the way to La Ceiba and catch the 4pm ferry to Utila.

* You don’t need to stay in Omoa- most folks just find it much more calmer than Puerto Cortes or San Pedro Sula.  We stay at Suenos Del Mar in Omoa when we go. Check our links for hotels in San Pedro Sula or hotels in La Ceiba. 

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More details that you want for the above overland route for Belize TO Honduras

Take bus South to Punta Gorda (PG) Belize . Within Belize, there are regularly scheduled buses from Belize City, Dangriga, Independence / Mango Creek, and other spots to Punta Gorda. From Dangriga to PG, its about 3 hours, and if you leave on the 3:15pm bus, you get to PG right at dark at 6:30pm (can also connect from Placencia via Indepence, where the bus leaves at about 4:45pm).  If you want to fly, Maya Air is a good option and contacts are above or click HERE.

Places to Stay in Punta Gorda:

• • St. Charles Inn: 23 Kings St. Just off the main street, this is a clean  spot with private bath and cable. $30 BZE Single / $40 BZE double.  Owners mind the store below.
  •  Graces / Pavonis hotel: Basic clean rooms with private bath in center of town.
  • Natures Way Guest House:  Simple very basic rooms with shared bathroom $33 BZE for dbl
  • There are a few up scale and cute places available in Punta Gorda that cost a bit more. For more information take a look here:

 TO EAT: Snack Shop, Gomier- organic meals Front Street, 100 m N of Sea Front Inn, or a few Chinese restaurants

 Ferry from Punta Gorda Belize to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. Ferries to Honduras leave at 9:30am with Requenas, 12:30 with Nemos, 2pm with  El Chato. Get there ½ hour earl to do immigration. Its about a 1 hour boat ride to Puerto Barrios; if rough seas expect to get wet and take your seasick pills!:

 From Puerto Barrios dock, need to check in with Guatemalan immigration, and then head to Honduran border. As soon as you get off boat, you will get slammed with taxi drivers to take you to border. There are a few options for getting to the Frontera border (which ever you choose, be SURE to first check in with the Guatemalan immigration office just a block from the dock).

•  Private taxi to Frontera right from the dock. Some of the boats also offer private taxi too. It will be about  80  Quetzals ($10 usd per person) for a private ride with 1-2 others. They will stop at immigration a block up to checkin, and then also at the 2^nd immigration office at the bridge near the border to check out.
• After checking in with immigration, walk to the main road or bus station and take a mini-van collective taxi for 20 Quetzals (about $3 usd). They will also stop at the 2^nd immigration office near the border for check out.  They leave about every 20-30 minutes from 6am to 6pm and take about 1.5 hours or less to the border. Their main station is 6aAV, outside the market.  Mini buses from Puerto Barrios stop en route to the border at Guatemalan immigration. 
• Another options is if you are on the 9:30 ferry, you can take a private taxi just to the 2nd immigration office in Guatemala at the bridge near the border (not all the way to Frontera border itself) where you can connect with a direct bus to San Pedro Sula, called Maya del Norte (comes from Guatamala City). This will be about 50 Quetzals and take about 30 minutes. They will stop at immigration near boat first for you to check in.  If you go this route,  you can connect with the direct San Pedro Sula bus SAP bus at the 2^nd immigration office at about 11:30 and get to SAP by 2pm and Ceiba by 6:30pm, and it’s a nicer, direct ride. Price is 200 lempira or about $10 from 2^nd immigration office to SAP. If you miss it, you may also be able to catch it at the Frontera border as it has to stop and everyone has to do immigration.  If you go the route with public busses,  may not get to SAP until like 4pm and you would get to La Ceiba in the dark.
• Direct bus from Guatemala Customs: There is a direct bus Mayan…that stops at the Guatemalan customs at about 11:30am and leaves about 12:15. This gets you back to Frontera about 12:45. There customs is fast and easy; there is a $3usd charge (60 lps). You need to fill out a form for a yellow paper and pay a $3 fee Bus leaves  Honduras Immigration when everyone is done – about 12:45 pm, you go direct pass Puerto Cortes and get to San Pedro Sula Terminal at 2:45p. From there, you can easily catch a bus to La Ceiba; there will be lots of people to direct you. 

Bus from Frontera (Honduran Border) to Puerto Cortes or Omoa. There are regularly scheduled busses which leave from the border to Puerto Cortes, or you can get off in Omoa. They are the yellow school bus type, though they may be painted over.  The last one from the border is about 5:30pm. IF you miss the last bus, there is  a clean hotel at the border- its to the left as you are facing Honduras.

From the border, we’ve heard the buses are hourly, but also just at 6,7, 10am and then 2pm and 3:30 and  5pm.  Plan on 3 hours to Puerto Cortes, and 1.5 hour more from Puerto Cortes to Sa Pedro Sula.

Omoa is a nice spot to stay if its getting late and preferred over Puerto Cortes. Click HERE for some Omoa hotels 

Bus from Omoa or Puerto Cortes to San Pedro Sula.   If staying in Omoa, just come back out to the main highway and there are frequent buses to Puerto Cortes.  You can get off just as you are going into Puerto Cortes and cross street to catch bus back to San Pedro Sula (and the same spot where you catch them back to Frontera).  From Puerto Cortes, buses run about every 30 minutes to San Pedro Sula and  takes 1.5 hour and cost 42 lempiras or about $2.50 us You can catch them in the center of town too; 1 block North of main plaza at 4^th  & c4  (which is near customs). SOME of the buses may not go to the Terminal, as of this writing, only the Impala buses, and the others of Expresos del Caribe, Citul and Expresos del Atlantico (leave hourly). Just go to the station in SAP.  

-If going from Omoa, ask driver to stop at highway junction outside of Puerto Cortes, wehre the direct SAN PEDRO buses stop to pick up passengers.

 Bus from San Pedro Sula and onwards From San Pedro, there is a large bus terminal that you can catch regularly scheduled busses to La Ceiba.  The Utila Princess leaves La Ceiba at 9:30 am and 4pm.

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Connecting up with Belize Ferrys to Honduras

On Fridays Only, D-Express runs a ferry from Independence / Placencia back to Puerto Cortes and Nesymein Neydy runs from Dangriga to Honduras.  See details and contact information at the bottom of our Utila to Belize page.

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Commonly Asked Questions:

Actual Traveller Question: I’m in Caye Caulker now and getting ready to head south to Utila. I’m still undecided as to how to get there …. would you recommend:  Placencia ferry, D-Express, to PCortes on Fridays ??? or Punta Gorda ferry route to Puerto Barrios to Omoa to PCortes to LaCeiba ??? The D-Express sounds like less steps, but i guess my biggest concern  would be staying in PCortes or LaCeiba …. your recommendation to stay in Omoa sounds ‘safer’ ….

UtilaGuide.com Biased Answer:

As far as boats- D-express is a bigger boat than the one that goes out of Dangriga (Nesmyein Nedy), and yes, I have taken them both and would go again IF ts relatively calm.  For D-express, Its a 3 hour ride or so- plus a stop in Independence or an hour or so. When I came back this last time seas were 5ft plus and  local captain told me it would be too rough in his opinion.  IF its rough out, then the bus option is good, just takes a lot longer. I ended up coming back this way the last time. I wouldn’t plan to stay in the city of Puerto Cortes- you get in early enough that you can get to SAP.  There may be a shuttle right off boat- if not, take a taxi (or its like a 10 minute walk) out to the main highway- directo busses pass regularly.  I would suggest stayin at La Posada B and B- you can find it under San Pedro Sula Hotels on this site. They will pick you up for free at the bus station. Tell Alex Utila Guide sent you.
If not early enough to get to SAP (plan on 1.5 hours from Puerto Cortes), then take a bus to Omoa. Catch it at the same spot as above.  I stay at Suenos del Mar in Omoa- $35 usd for a room.  Nice hosts..
La Ceiba is safe enough if you are not walking around-at night. Take a look at the hotels on our La Cieba hotel links.