9 Places to Avoid in Central America

I first started my long-term travel adventure more than 4 years ago in Central America.  At the time I had no idea that Central America is considered to be one of the most dangerous regions in the world.  Fortunately, I managed to make it all the way to South America without anything bad happening.

The truth is that most tourists who visit Central America come out of it unscathed, but I have met dozens of others who got mugged or worse.  There are certain things that you can do to stay safe in Central America or anywhere else in the world.  I wrote an article on staying safe in developing countries which goes through all kinds of useful techniques you can use to travel anywhere.

In this article, I list some of the more dangerous places in Central America as well as some other places I just don’t recommend visiting for another reason.  I am a strong believer that almost every single country in the world is safe enough to visit so long as you apply some common sense and avoid the most dangerous areas.

1. San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

This might be a surprise for a lot of people, especially considering that Nicaragua is often considered to be the second safest country in Central America (after Costa Rica).  Also, San Juan Del Sur is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the whole country.  So why do I think you should avoid San Juan Del Sur?

Surprisingly enough, despite the high number of tourists, I have met numerous people who were mugged at knife-point in San Juan Del Sur.  Most of Nicaragua is pretty safe, but San Juan Del Sur and Managua seem to be the exceptions.

San Juan Del Sur is a popular surf/party town.  If you do go to San Juan Del Sur would be to avoid partying and avoid the beaches in the late afternoon.  Most people seem to get mugged when they go to the beach or if they walk home drunk late at night.

2. The Trails in between the villages on Lago Atitlan, Guatemala

Lago Atitlan is one of my favorite places in the whole world so it is a shame for me to say that I have met more people who got mugged here than any other place on the planet.  The good news is that I have never encountered anyone who got mugged (or even pickpocketed) in the towns itself, people seem to only get in trouble when they hike between the villages.

I actually did do some hiking near San Pedro la Laguna after an American expat told me that that particular trail was safe.  I think that certain trails are sometimes safe and bandits tend to focus on certain areas.  But the safe trails seem to change over time so my suggestion is to simply avoid going out on hikes without a guide.

Guatemala is one of those rare countries where the rural areas are sometimes even more dangerous than the cities and towns.

3. San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Up until a few years ago, San Pedro Sula was considered to be the most dangerous city in the world.  I went through the bus station in San Pedro Sula, but I made the right decision and didn’t actually visit the city.

Before getting onto the bus we all had to put our luggage through an x-ray machine.  At first, I was relieved, considering all the stories I heard about buses getting held up, but then when the bus left the station it started picking up people off the side of the road which made the whole x-ray process useless.

There is an absurd amount of gang warfare and other forms of violent crime in San Pedro Sula.  The reality is that there isn’t much in terms of attractions in the city.  Don’t bother going to San Pedro Sula unless you have a very good reason.

4. Belize City, Belize

Belize City just feels scary.  Honestly, it’s probably not that dangerous compared to some of the other Central America capitals, but what are you doing here anyway?  Personally, I love big cities, but with only 60 000 people and a high crime rate, there isn’t really much to offer here.

Most travelers intelligently make a beeline to Caye Caulker.  If you want to enjoy the city life get out of Belize and visit Nicaragua.

5. Soyapango, El Salvador

Soyapango, a city within the municipality of El Salvador, is often claimed to be the most dangerous city in Central America.  Afraid of bad guys knives?  Criminals here have access to grenade launchers and fully automatic machine guns.

El Salvador is certainly more dangerous than some of its neighbors, but that shouldn’t stop you from going.  However, Soyapango just isn’t worth the visit.  Check out some of the beautiful beaches in El Salvador or visit the capital, San Salvador.

6. Managua, Nicaragua

Central America is an amazing region with jungles, volcanoes, wildlife, beautiful beaches, and more.  But, this is one of the worst places in the world to go for city life.  Nicaragua is actually the exception.  Both Leon and Granada are gorgeous cities which are actually worth visiting.  The capital, Managua, on the other hand, has very little to offer travelers.

It is dangerous, chaotic, and expensive by Central America standards.  Both Leon and Granada are superior alternatives.  If you enjoy really really big cities I suggest going to South America or Europe instead.  But don’t forget that there are some nice smaller cities in Central America.

7. Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Not quite as dangerous as San Pedro Sula and there is admittedly a bit more to do here.  I actually spent three nights in Tegucigalpa and didn’t have any problems.  That being said, I was probably lucky because there is a tremendous amount of gang and non-gang related violence in this city.

There were a few museums, some nice architecture, but there isn’t really very much for tourists here.  In Honduras, I enjoyed the small town Copan Ruinas and the smaller city Comayagua.  Many people also have great diving experiences on the Carribean islands Roatan and Utila.

You can visit Tegucigalpa and probably nothing will happen to you, but in my opinion, it just isn’t worth the risk.

8. Guatemala City, Guatemala

Earlier I said that the rural areas in Guatemala are more dangerous than the cities.  This applies to Antigua or to Xela, but it doesn’t apply to Guatemala City.  Visiting Guatemala City when you don’t know what you are doing is very dangerous.

If you take Ubers everywhere and research the safe areas you can do it.  But, my question is, what is the appeal of Guatemala City anyway?  There is so much more to do in this beautiful country.  If you enjoy city life I suggest you check out Xela (Quetzaltenango), which is a very relaxed, cheap, and relatively safe place to visit.

9. The Darien Gap, Panama

The Darien Gap is a huge undeveloped swampy land mass connecting Central and South America.  It is infested with drug traffickers, other violent criminals also the Colombian paramilitary group FARC are known to be active in the region.  The Darien Gap is widely accepted to be the most dangerous place in the Western Hemisphere.

Despite all of this, people still attempt to cross the Darien Gap.  Some people use all-terrain vehicles and others even attempt the crossing by foot.  There are some examples of people in the past have been successful, other people who attempted the crossing were kidnapped and eventually killed.

I don’t believe in living your life in fear, actually, I write articles like this to help people live courageously.  When you are educated about what is dangerous and what is safe you can live more boldly and are more realistically able to pursue your dreams.

If you are interested in travel I suggest checking out some of the other articles on this website.  I have been traveling long-term for more than 4 years and have been to more than 30 countries.

A good place to start would be my Beginning Traveler’s Handbook.  It is totally free, you don’t have to download anything, and you don’t have to give me your email address.  I spent more than 60 hours putting handbook together in an attempt to give you everything you need to start traveling the world.