I can’t tell you exactly how I found out about San Pedro Sula, Honduras specifically (I’m guessing it had to be directly through Avianca) but the deal I got was thanks to a post somewhere on social media declaring August 23, 2023 as “Cheap Flight Day.” I saw and read this article and ended up finding this flight that day. The Honduras was not on my radar of places to go to at all and it’s because of that deal that I went. I bought the ticket for $202 roundtrip from Dulles (IAD) to San Pedro Sula (SAP) with a layover in El Salvador. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, anytime I can get a roundtrip flight that’s international (especially if I haven’t been there yet) for about $200 roundtrip I’m booking it immediately (it costs more to fly across the country most of the time).

In researching for this trip, I quickly learned that there wasn’t a lot to do in San Pedro Sula and most people suggested Roatan to go to as it was tourist friendly. I can’t tell you how many people gave me a forewarning on San Pedro Sula as far as safety and crime was concerned (come to find out people in Roatan see it the same way) so I decided to book most of my trip in Roatan by buying a local roundtrip flight from San Pedro Sula (SAP) to Roatan (RTB) with CM Airlines fairly early on (which was about $220 roundtrip).

Avianca being Avianca did change the timing of my flight some months before departure but luckily it didn’t throw any plans off too much (it just added more layover time). I researched what I wanted to do and didn’t book a long stay as at the time I still had my fulltime job so I was being conscious of how much time off I was taking. I figured since the rate applied at the time around my birthday that’s where I would go. I found my San Pedro Sula Airbnb before my Roatan one and I really didn’t pack my schedule at first but about a good two weeks before my trip tour providers began to cancel since I was a solo traveler and apparently the only one to book the tour (I hate when that happens even though I partially get it).

I got a chance to do everything I wanted to while there and did a lot of firsts: first time renting a car internationally, jet sking and parasailing. After driving around a bit I got used to their setup but I wouldn’t want to drive there at night the way the roads are but I highly do recommend you rent a car because there are no Ubers and the taxis drive crazy (you’ve got to be able to handle narrow roads and hills though). Also they do put a hold of $1200 on your card so be aware. Jet sking just looked like fun so when there was an opportunity to do that along with parasailing I had to jump at the chance since I’ve been wanting to parasail for a while now. The only reason I scheduled that the last day is because my other days were booked at that point.

I loved learning about the culture a lot and got a chance to see the entire island (some areas more than once). There was no bad meal but some were better than others and their beer Salvavida was actually good (coming from a non beer drinker). My main criticism goes to the tours. They need to put if and what extra fees are needed, they need to make sure attractions that they’re advertising are open on the day the customer wants to go and they need to give better specific location directions (these are all issues I came across and for an island banking on tourism they need to do better in this respect-with almost every tour there was something).

Although I enjoyed my stay and had fun I will say I don’t feel the need to visit again because for me I’ve done all that there is to do there. Would I recommend Roatan sure, it’s an ideal short stay trip for 3-5 days. I don’t recommend San Pedro Sula for anything though, there really is nothing there. I didn’t explore the city at all just went from the airport to my Airbnb and vice versa the next day. With a fire burning over there somewhere there weren’t too many people outside due to the air quality of the smoke which the World Health Organization (WHO) said is 50 times higher than normal for polluted air. I read an article saying schools are closed for the time being, the airport regularly is experiencing delays now and they’re just waiting for it to pass. All in all, I’m bringing back some great memories and souvenirs. And let’s see if August 23, 2024 will give us what it gave last year…