Hi everybody,
I am planning a trip starting in December, original plan was to get the bike sent in Peru, but it is quite expensive from Mexico, so I'll ride all the way down to Ushuaia.
I am a bit worried about border crossing in central America? it is not too complicated?
any special advice you could give me? Things, places to avoid?

Thanks a lot in advance
Renaud

Keep every scrap of paperwork that they give out at every crossing till you are back home and try and buddy up. The first crossing into Guatemala on the St Christobal road is a nice easy and friendly intro. For all the rest, take a book and water bottle and don't get wound up. Ride safe.

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Mike
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Mike is riding the twisty road in the sky

There's lots of advice about this around I think. My top points are:
* Always carry plenty of small denomination US currency bills ($1, $5 bills).
* Try to arrive early at the border, around 8am is probably the best time.
* I try to carry about 5 copies of my passport, driving license and vehicle title.
* I believe life is much easier if the name and address on your passport, license and title all match.

Honduras is a bitch. Cops are corrupt as hell. I recommend avoiding as much as possible of Honduras, so I rode from El Salvador to Nicaragua, 140km, in a couple of hours. There's essentially 2 strategies I think, I've done both successfully.

1) Ride slowly behind a big truck. Stay alert looking for police checkpoints (I passed 14 in 140km). When you see a checkpoint, pull up hard behind the truck, stay as close it's bumper as possible. The police didn't see me until the truck was already pulling away from the checkpoint and I was glued to it's backside, so I got through without being stopped.

2) Take a boat from La Union, El Salvador to Potosi, Nicaragua, or vice versa. This is an adventurous option! I wrote about it here.

Otherwise, arrive early with plenty of water and patience, you'll be fine. Borders are generally pretty safe areas, so I don't worry too much about the bike, but I do keep everything covered, I don't leave any zippers exposed (I cover my tank bag with the rain cover).

I try to avoid the people who help out on the borders, I can't stand that method of doing business where they help you first and ask you to pay second. But, they can be helpful if you don't know what you're doing. Of course, they'll try to screw you on price. Be absolutely clear how much you're going to pay them in advance, then hand them the money (exact change, of course!) and ride away. They'll try to tell you about this cost and that cost extra, just hand over the money and leave.

I've also written up quite detailed descriptions of my border crossings which might be helpful:
Borders | Callum Macdonald

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Love & joy - Callum.

I rode down there in April and May of 2010. I crossed every country down there, most of them twice since it was a return trip. The crossings were substantially easier than I was expecting after hearing many horror stories. I suspect that your experience will be less negative in direct correlation to the amount of Spanish you speak. My Spanish was sufficient to communicate with the border officials so that may have made my experience a bit more hassle free than for some others. I also do not carry attitude with me when I cross borders. It serves absolutely no useful purpose and generally only makes matters worse. At one border I just sat down, ate pupusas and drank while they were mucking about with my permit.

My strategy was:

Avoid major crossings.

Cross on Sundays when unable to avoid a major crossing.

Be deferent and apologetic towards the border officials and smile a lot.

Don't hire any helpers.

Have at least 5 copies of passport, licence, bike registration.

Be pleasant with the helpers when declining their services, even joke around with them (don't joke around with the officials).

If you're going to use a helper confirm the price ahead of time and make it abundantly clear that you will not pay one dime more than agreed upon. Then DO NOT hand over your documents. Carry them yourself and have the helper lead you from place to place and act as a translator. While I believe most are honest there are some rotten ones as well. Once a rotten one has your papers he could attempt to extort more money out of you.


My crossings took about 30 to 45 minutes each with some exceptions. For each crossing you first have to check out of the previous country and then check in to the next country. It's not like leaving the USA or Canada where you just drive out with no formalities.

El Salvador from Guatemala, 3 hours. Their computer link to San Salvador was down and they had problems issuing the permit. Otherwise it would have been about 30 minutes.

Honduras from El Salvador, 1 1/2 hours. This included a sit down protest on my part when a cop tried to get a bribe out of me for accidentally running a police check point. I ended up not paying. Going back into Honduras from Nicaragua took 30 minutes.

Costa Rica from Nicaragua, 2 hours. There is only one road crossing between the two countries and this is hands down the worst crossing of them all. It's the only one where I lost my cool with someone who wouldn't leave me alone.

Nicaragua from Costa Rica, 1 1/2 hours. Same crossing as above. Here I ended up hiring a deaf mute girl as a helper for $2. She had volunteered to verify my documents free of charge on the way down so I had her do my paperwork for the way back. This is the only time I hired a helper. I always politely declined their services and even had one helper (Honduras to Nicaragua) "wave off" the other helpers by saying "it's OK she speaks Spanish". That seemed to keep most of them off my back once they realized that I spoke enough Spanish.

Insurance is mandatory in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Belize.

For anyone planning on returning to a country try to hang on to all your paperwork if it's still going to be valid upon your return. It'll save you lots of time and some cash. The only country that would not allow me to do this was Honduras. Also, upon exiting Guatemala I had to talk up a storm with the customs lady to convince her to let me keep the bike papers. She was politely saying that many people have done so, only to head on to South America and then ending up with problems years later when visiting Guatemala again. I assured her that I had neither the time nor the money to make it into South America and she relented.

I'd been warned about the stretch through Honduras from El Salvador to Nicaragua on CA1. Bikers complain about being pulled over at police checks all the time and sometimes being hit up for bribes. I went through about 6 police check points and was pulled over ....0 times. On the way back I spent about a week in other parts of Honduras and quite enjoyed it with no problems whatsoever. The only place I paid a bribe ($5) was in Nicaragua. He insisted I was speeding through a school zone and he had a radar gun.

So here's a little summary of my individual crossings:
Tourist card could mean passport stamp or actual tourist card.
Question mark means I don't exactly remember but it's in the ballpark.

Canada to USA (Coho Ferry from Victoria, BC to Port Angeles, WA)
Routine and pleasant, even after I told the US border guard I was heading to Mexico. He simply cautioned me about "how dangerous" it was down there. I thanked him and assured him I'd be careful.

USA to Mexico (Agua Prieta) Problem free, quiet crossing.
Tourist card: 452 pesos ($1=12 pesos, appr)
Bike import: 262 pesos
Optional Insurance: $160 (6 months prepurchased from mexico insurance - mexican insurane - mexico insurance online - mexico auto insurance)
Contrary to what some believe. Insurance it NOT mandatory in Mexico. Just highly recommended.

Mexico to Guatemala (La Mesilla CA1, crossed Easter Sunday)
Very straightforward.
Tourist card: free
Bike import: $7
Unofficial fee: 20 pesos

Guatemala to El Salvador (Valle Nuevo CA1, crossed on Sunday)
Tourist card: free
Bike import: free

El Salvador to Honduras (El Amatillo CA1)
Tourist card: $3?
Bike import: $35

Honduras to Nicaragua (Somotillo CA1)
Tourist card: $2?
Border use fee: $5?
Bike import: free
Insurance: $17?

Nicaragua to Costa Rica (Penas Blancas CA1, aka Pain in the ass Blancas)
Nicaragua exit fee: $2?
Tourist card: free
Bike import: free
Fumigation: $2?
Insurance: $20? (3 months)

Costa Rica to Panama (Rio Sereno 55km's NE of Paso Canoas).
Open 8:00am to 4:30pm. 10km's of good but bumpy dirt road after Sabalito. This was the nicest and friendliest crossing of them all. On the way back the Costa Rica Migracion officer remembered me and insisted I get my map so he could show me a good recently paved route back up north along the Pacific coast.
Tourist card: free
Bike import: free
Fumigation: $1
insurance: $20? (30 days)

Panama to Costa Rica (Rio Sereno 55km's NE of Paso Canoas). Open 8:00am to 4:30pm
No charges since I still had the insurance from the way down. This crossing is only available for foreign vehicles if you have kept your Costa Rica import papers on the way out. There is no Aduana, only Migracion on the Costa Rica side.

Costa Rica to Nicaragua (Penas Blancas CA1 aka Pain in the ass Blancas)
Border use fee: $5?
Tourist card: $2
Bike import: free
Insurance: free due to still having valid insurance from the way down.
Municipal transit fee: $1
Helper: $2
The fact that I had already entered before made no difference and I had to pay everthing again.

Nicaragua to Honduras (Las Manos)
Tourist card: $3?
Bike import: $35
It was explained to me that I could avoid that fee if I were to reenter at the same crossing where I left for Nicaragua since they would still have the paperwork there. In spite of having to redo all the paperwork I was there for less than 45 minutes.

Honduras to Guatemala (Copan Ruinas)
Tourist card: free
Bike import: free due to still having the previous permit with me.
Unofficial fee: 10Quetzal ($1.25)
This crossing literally took 10 minutes. I had a leisurely breakfast while another biker took close to an hour to get across. His papers from the way down had expired and he had to do it all over again.

Guatemala to Belize (Melchor de Mencos)
Tourist card: free
Bike import: free
Insurance: $15 (7 days)

Belize to Mexico (Chetumal)
Tourist card: free since I kept the one from the way down
Bike import: free since I kept the papers from the way down
Belize exit tax: $17.50

Mexico to USA (Santa Teresa, New Mexico)
This is about 10km's west of Ciudad Juarez and is just a little "opening in the fence" with no town on either side.
This is also the only place where they wanted to search the bike.

USA to Canada (Coho Ferry from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, BC)
Entirely problem free.


I hope this information helps. But remember that this was my personal experience and others have had much worse experiences. On the other hand one couple I know ended up with things going even smoother than they did for me. You have to remember that many, many others have done it, some with almost no knowledge of Spanish. The fact that the border crossings in Central America can be a pain in the arse shouldn't keep you from doing them. Consider it part of the adventure. It would be a shame to miss all those countries because of a little bit of pain in the rectum. The pain will subside and you'll have a great time.


Michelle
www.scrabblebiker.com

thanks very much for that very usfull post!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to input all the crossings. I am at sancristobal tonight and will be crossing into guatamala tomorrow.
Bill

I am here to tell everyone that the worst border crossing is El salvadore to Honduras. It starts with the Guatamala to El Salvadore border. There is a sucker born every minute and I was one . A helper at the guatamala border will set up false fees andd ofcourse I believed him and paid. Not paying attention to the facts i already knew and believing a stranger was my downfall. The guy will then phone ahead to the next border crossing you so nicely give him and there will be someone waiting for you there to dupe youu again.
So what I discovered by crossing the next border with a more experienced biker was.
Using a helper is not a bad thing. These people have to live just as any service industry person does.
Use the helper as an interpeter and guide only and have him walk with you to each place you have to get something done, Dont let him take your papers and leave you to watch your bike. You lose control then.
Hold onto your documents and hand them to the border people YOURSELF. They have all seemed to be straight at all crossings but have no control over the helpers,
IF YOU DONT GET A RECIEPT DO NOT PAY.

They have all said they work for tips and I havbe paid 5 dollars to a helper that showed me the places to go but tried to tell me some BS`
I have paid 10 dollars to a guy that is straight up with me.

As always there will be exceptions .
AT THE Ej SALVADORE To HONDURAS BORDER DO NOT LET ANYONE TAKE YOU TO THE CARGO BUILDING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD JUST AS YOU CROSS OVER THE BRIDGE . YOU ARE NOT CARGO AND WILL PAY BIG TIME IF YOU LET THEM DO PAPER WORK. All the cops at that border are on the take also so they will try to intimidate you for bribes.
Dont be a jerk but dont be a sucker either.

TAKE IT SLOW AND DONT LET THE HELPER RUSH YOU THROUGH.

buyarbi, sorry you had a rough time of it. I always avoid those people and I'm glad to finally have some evidence of why. I avoid them on gut feeling.

My Spanish never got that good, but it was good enough to get through borders unaided, that made a difference. It became easier to ask officials with uniforms where I needed to go. In general, anyone without a uniform I blatantly ignored, at times I'd even refuse to acknowledge them if they continued to pester me.

I also second buyarbi's advice, ALWAYS keep YOUR documents in YOUR HANDS. Good luck.

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Love & joy - Callum.

Very well put. I always politely, and not so politely for the more aggressive ones, told the helpers "no gracias, no necesito ninguna ayuda. No es mi primera vez".
"no thanks, I don't need any help. It's not my first time". Then I would look for someone in uniform (migracion/aduana, not policia) and asked them where I needed to go.


...Michelle
www.scrabblebiker.com

Crossed into Panama today. Going out of Costarica is straight forward. The Panama side is a real intricate web of running around and as usual i could not be bothered to Make the effort to do it myself. Cost of helper. $ 10 us
and I was out of ther in 1 1/2 hours even with the lady at the migration stamping the wrong stamp on my pasport twice and having it refused at the next window twice. second lady had to finally go to the other office to get correct stamp.
Bill

I'm on my way south right now, have not had a problem, or really a "bad" border crossing.... well, maybe

I've been keeping pretty good track of each border crossing, noting costs, problems and exact paperwork required, you can see all my border crossing data on this page from Mexico to Peru:

Border Crossing | The road chose me
(clicking the "previous entries" link at the top or bottom left will show you more of them, going backwards in time)

Hope this all helps

-Dan

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