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Honduras travel advice Booking flights and arranging travel can be confusing, but the Operation Wallacea team are here to help. There are a number of starting points which Operation Wallacea would recommend based on the experience of the past few years.
Updated 17th October 2011
Start and finish times The expeditions starting in the forest begin on the Wednesday at the Gran Hotel Sula, in San Pedro Sula, where you should be ready for pickup at 7am and if ending in the forest the expedition finishes in San Pedro Sula at 12 noon.
The Marine expeditions start at on Wednesday in La Ceiba at 2pm and end on the Tuesday in La Ceiba at 8am. If you are going to arrive or leave San Pedro outside the start/end times you will need to arrange your own accommodation (please see later section for help with this). Booking international flights
From the UK/Ireland Once you have booked your flights please email your flight itineraries to your local Opwall office. From North America Canadian volunteers can contact Victor Travel by calling toll free to 1-866-699-0199 or emailing opwall@cwtvictortravel.ca and they will send you a flight quote. Feel free to shop around online (e.g. www.expedia.ca) or visit your local travel agent for a quote as well.
For US volunteers check out http://www.statravel.com/opwall or call STA Travel on (877) 777-8717 for some cheap flight deals. However there is no exclusive deal with STA Travel, so you are best advised to shop around for well priced flights. If you find any good deals tell us about them! You can do this by contacting the US office on (973) 920-0487. Don’t forget to post good flight deals on the Op Wall US Facebook Group. Once you have booked your flights please email your flight itineraries to your local Opwall office. Baggage In previous years a few volunteers have lost luggage in transit. On most occasions it was because their connecting flights (usually in Miami or Madrid) were so tight that the passengers made it but some of the bags didn’t. It is a wise precaution to make a description of each of your bags and their contents before checking in as well as ensuring there are loads of identifying labels all over them. Then if a piece of baggage does get lost the desk handling at San Pedro Sula airport has all the information necessary to trace the missing bag and get it to you as quickly as possible. Accommodation Outside Expedition Dates If you arrive or depart either side of the official expedition dates or need accommodation on route, you will need to make and pay for your own accommodation arrangements and also arrange transport to and from the airport. For accommodation on route (e.g. if you need to overnight in New York, Houston, or Miami) you should enquire at the travel agent when you book your flights, as they should be able to organise this for you. San Pedro Sula If booking with STA they can arrange the internal transfers for you at the same time as you book your flights. If not please contact Maya Temple Tours, a bilingual travel agency in San Pedro Sula to arrange for all volunteers and staff members arriving outside of the expedition start and finish times to meet you at the airport and arrange all transfers and accommodation in San Pedro Sula. They will be using either the Holiday Inn or the Grand Hotel Sula (about 400m away from the Holiday Inn) in the centre of the shopping area of San Pedro Sula. The prices for the airport transfer and hotel room (not including Honduran sales tax) for any days before the expedition starts or after it has finished are $90 for a single room, $58/person for 2 people per room, $40 per person if there are 3 in a room and $40 per person if there are 4 people to a room. This price does not include any meals, but there are restaurants in both of the hotels being used and nearby locations to buy inexpensive baleadas - tortillas with refried beans, cheese and other fillings. In order to take advantage of this deal please email Dennis at dennis@mayatempletours.com and he will get back to you straight away with a booking form. You can pay Maya temple Tours directly for the hotels and transfers and this will also save a lot of time at the start of the expedition when everyone is trying to check out at the same time. There is a shortage of hotel rooms in San Pedro Sula in June to August so he has held a number of rooms until 1 May 2010 at these prices. Please contact him as soon as possible so you can secure your place. Dennis can be contacted on +504 556 9457, but don't forget Honduras is 6 hours behind the UK and around 2 hours behind the US and Canada if you are phoning from there! We have purchased Medical and Repatriation cover to a value of £1 million each on behalf of all our volunteers and staff to ensure they are correctly covered. The cost of this is met by us and provided to you free of charge within the overall cost of your expedition. If you want to obtain additional insurance (eg loss of baggage, flight cancellation) then you would need to take out an additional insurance policy either when you purchase your flights or from another insurance provider.
Passport Your passport must have at least 6 months left (counting from your proposed departure date from Honduras) before the expiry date, otherwise you will be refused entry. It is worthwhile carrying a photocopy of your passport with you because if it is lost you will have a much easier time getting a replacement. Also in Honduras it is required that you carry an ID card or passport with you at all times, but photocopies of passports are accepted. If you are flying through the US you must have a machine-readable passport.
Visas British, Canadian, and US nationals can be issued a Honduras visa for up to 90 days on arrival at San Pedro Sula, so there is no need to apply in advance for a visa. This also applies to 16 other European Union member countries, 8 non EU member European countries and 10 south, central and north American countries. If you are a national of another country please make sure that you contact the Honduran embassy or Consulate in your country to obtain relevant visa information, and also contact your nearest Operation Wallacea office.
Transiting through the US
Money
You will need enough spending
money (in Lempira, the Honduran currency) to cover personal on-site
expenditure I.e. phone calls, bar bills, dive equipment hire etc.
Depending upon your location (and how much you want to spend on extra
dive training, at the bar etc), this could range from the Lempira
equivalent of 5 to 80 pounds sterling per week. Credit cards will be
accepted at the Cayo Menor and Utila sites to settle accounts for
additional dive courses and other such unplanned expenditure, though
bring enough cash to cover your dive equipment hire, and first check
with your bank that your card will work in Honduras.
The expedition costs cover all the accommodation and food costs from the start to the end of the official expedition, transfers between sites, on-site dive training and participation in any of the research projects or training courses. The costs paid to Operation Wallacea do not include:
Remember to carry all
personal documents and cash safely in a concealed money belt
Cultural Advice In general, the Central American culture is very relaxed, and Western volunteers should have no problems with the Honduran culture. However, as is the case wherever you are travelling, try to remember that, particularly in remote areas where the locals very rarely see non Hondurans, the impression that you make will likely be a lasting one. Treat all locals with respect and courtesy, and behave in a responsible manner. Excessive drinking is frowned upon, and NO ALCOHOL can be consumed in the Cusuco National Park.
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