Central America clearly covers a number of different countries, but all our featured destinations – Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Yucatan Peninsula of America and Cuba – are safe to travel around and present minimum risk to visitors.

As we specialise in private tours of our featured countries, we will always design itineraries that are enjoyable, practical and safe, fully supported by our wonderful local agents.

For our UK clients, country by country information can be found via the Foreign & Commonwealth office website at https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

There are currently no compulsory vaccinations for travelers from the UK visiting any of our featured Central America destinations. Those visiting from an ‘at-risk’ yellow fever country will probably need to provide evidence of vaccination against the disease.

Regardless of the lack of mandatory vaccinations, we strongly advise all our clients to seek expert guidance on recommended vaccinations for their intended holiday destination. In the UK that can be from your GP or https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/

Clearly, every country in Central America will have different rules regarding visas, including different rules for different nationalities. We are happy to provide guidance to UK passport holders on the visa situation for our featured destinations while up to date advice can also be found via the Foreign & Commonwealth office website at https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

Aside from visas, many countries now require all visitors to register online before arrival, often for a fee.

Please note too that, for those visitors travelling to Central America via the United States, at the very least an ESTA will be required, at worst a full visa.

While it may not always be mandatory to have travel insurance when visiting Central America (travel insurance is however compulsory when visiting Cuba), our advice is that it is foolhardy to travel without it. It is also a condition of booking a holiday with Beyond The Ordinary that clients have full travel insurance.

Although the vast majority of visits to Central America pass off without incident, should you have an accident or become ill while on holiday, medical costs can quickly mount. Should your situation require medical repatriation to your home country, the costs involved will be substantial.

While all Central American countries (with the notable exception of El Salvador) have their own national currencies, the US$ still holds considerable weight in the region and can often be used to make direct purchases for goods and services, especially in Cuba, Nicaragua & El Salvador.

Even where it is not possible to pay in US$, if taking cash to change into local currency, the US$ will always be the easiest currency to change and result in the most beneficial exchange rate. We recommend against taking GBP £s to Central America.

While travel within Central America is certainly possible, it is often more difficult than people anticipate.

Cuba – Being an island, and one with very few airlinks, travelling between Cuba and Central America is much more difficult than one might expect. There have long been regular flights between Havana & Panama City as well as between Havana and Mexico City / Cancun.

The Yucatan Peninsula – By air, the Yucatan Peninsula is connected between Cancun and both Havana (Cuba) and Guatemala City (Guatemala) although services are limited and may not be 100% reliable. By land, the Yucatan Peninsula has a border crossing with Belize which in turn connects to Peten province in the north of Guatemala. The land border crossing between Mexico & Guatemala is more problematic.

Guatemala – By air, there are flights between Guatemala City and Cancun, Belize City and San Salvador. By land, it is possible to cross into Belize, Honduras & El Salvador. Please note that, at the time of writing, British passport holders require a full and complicated visa to visit Honduras.

Nicaragua – Air connections between Nicaragua and the rest of Central America are astonishingly limited and are therefore best avoided. By land, it is possible to travel between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras.

Similar to the Schengen Area in Europe, the Central America 4 Border Control Agreement allows for (relatively) seamless travel between Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras & El Salvador.

So, in theory, foreign visitors (citizens of any other country than those listed above) can travel via land between the 4 countries in question for 90 days without the need for further visas. So, if you arrive in Guatemala by air and meet all entry requirements, you are then permitted to spend the next 90 days within 1, 2, 3 or all 4 of the CA4 countries.

We previously used the term, in theory, and that is because, for UK citizens, travel to Honduras still requires a full visa that is largely impossible to secure within Central America. Other nationalities may face similar issues with any of the 4 included countries and should therefore make all the necessary checks.

Credit cards, generally Mastercard & Visa, are widely accepted across much of the upper tier of commercial transactions in Central America. By ‘upper tier’ we are referring to most hotels, chain or upmarket bars and restaurants, large supermarkets, high end shops etc. The one exception to that rule at the time of writing is Cuba where credit cards don’t currently work.

However, and to a much greater degree than in most other parts of the world, cash still matters and is often the only option.

In markets, street stalls, kiosks, small bars and restaurants, as well as in remote locations where there might not be reliable internet access, you will need to be reasonably well loaded with cash, be that the local currency or US$.

Our advice? Always travel with your credit card, preferably 2 or 3 and a mix of Visa and Mastercard. It’s not as if they take up any room and you just never know. At the same time, be aware that you will almost certainly be called on to pay in cash multiple times during your holiday. It has also been known for card machines to not always work so don’t take a credit card symbol in a restaurant or bar as a guarantee of service.