We arrived in Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras after an overnight 300 mile trip from Isla Mujeres, Mexico. The Bay Islands are rightly renowned for their clear waters and vibrant coral. It’s a dive mecca. Utila is sort of a “backpacker” island, meaning the town is filled with inexpensive accommodations where people can show up, get a room, and walk directly out to the house dock twice a day to get on a boat for a dive. There are dozens of cheap places to eat on the waterfront, and judging by the noise and lights at 2 a.m., plenty of places to party at night.
As far as anchorages go, it’s pretty great. The bay offers good protection from all but SW winds.
All in all, there isn’t much more a cruiser needs. A safe anchorage, a dinghy dock right in town, basic groceries, restaurants, solid cell coverage (to work from home), beaches, and coral to dive/snorkel on.
We spent a couple of weeks there before moving over to the more famous Roatan Island. Like Utila, it has everything a family on a cruising boat could need—good anchorage, coral, beaches, restaurants, and good groceries.
So, what does a month in Utila and Roatan cost a family of four? Let’s take a look.
Customs/Immigration $22
Restaurants $534
Groceries $636
Laundry $80
Taxi/Bus $45
Internet $316
Gas/Diesel $77
Mooring $50
Doctor $40
Miscellaneous $25
TOTAL $1,825
That’s the grand total of our worldly expenses for the month. Normally, our restaurant bill would probably be a little higher, but we have yet to have a meal out on these islands that was worthy of a return visit. Coming from Mexico’s amazing food to Honduras is a bit of a letdown in the restaurant department. Groceries were nearly non-existent in Utila, but the store in Roatan leaves you feeling like you are in the U.S., and at perfectly reasonable prices.
I included the estimated fuel expense for the 22-mile trip over from Utila to Roatan, as well as filling up the dinghy gas tank a couple of times.
Roatan’s West End is a Marine Park and they ask that you pick up a mooring ball, which is the $50 expense.
Our kids woke up one morning with 104 degree temperatures. We hopped in a cab to the clinic right up the road where we found very friendly English speaking doctors, good facilities, and received exceptional care. Total cost was $20/each, which included all of the medicines they would need, from antibiotics to aspirin to hydrating drinks. Normal cost is just $6/each for that service, but you can pay $20 to get bumped to the front of the line. With my kids looking near death, getting in half an hour earlier seemed worth the cost.
Our “entertainment” expenses so far equal zero dollars. There isn’t a ton to do on these islands that doesn’t include snorkeling and beaches, which is free for those of us arriving with our own boat.
Internet has been a big expense in Honduras. There are no unlimited plans (that can be used as hotspots), and the per gigabyte cost is nearly $5. Since my work relies on the computer, and I burn through about 2gb/day, it’s just one of those expenses that we need to absorb.
So, overall, despite spending whatever we like, our expenses added up to just $1,825 for the month. Once you’ve got the upfront costs of a boat out of the way they become a pretty economical way to live. About half the year we can be cruising—and working—from anywhere without worries. The other half we usually have to find somewhere to avoid hurricane season, when our monthly budget will tend to increase again. It sure is nice to have those months of low budget, combined with fun adventures, each year.
15 Comments on “Cost of Living—Honduras”
Pat did you ever consider picking up a Google Fi phone while in the US to use as a hotspot? It’s $10 a gig all over the world but caps at $60 per month. Plus it would give you a permanent US phone number for family that is super cheap. Maybe useful just as a backup. It has served us so well on our travels and cut our bills massively.
Once you hit a data limit (15 gb) your internet either slows down significantly, or you start paying extra.
Can I hear more about the google fi phone? (Before I google it). Sadly, we are in a landlocked African country as us expats and we pay about 20 usd for 1 GB. ?
I kinda do the six month thing, too. Without a boat, though. I live cheaply in Mexico for about 4 or 5 months out of the year, and that allows me to spend 4 or 5 months in UK/EU or even sometimes in Africa.
The remaining couple of months of the year I spend visiting family and friends in the States, which is even cheaper, in spite of buying groceries and treating them to movies/restaurant meals. And, fortunately, great cheap internet everywhere. In fact, I’m still using my UK SIM card in the US, bc the data costs about half of what it does here, and I have a Google Voice number for the US. Coming from the other direction, I use my Telcel SIM, bc not only is the data cheaper but I can call and text here, as well.
Some people are horrified at the places I stay and the thought of living entirely out of two carry on bags, but I adore it. Literally a dream come true. To each, his own and all that. 😉
How do you find places to stay? I’m about to start doing that but Airbnb doesn’t seem like always the best choice.
RK,
My wife and I have had Google FI for several years and have been very happy with the service. It works the same in 170 countries. Every time you cross into a new country you get a message, welcome to Italy (England, Mexico, Spain, Brazil…….) your phone works here. We have had zero problems traveling with our phones. The service is inexpensive, $20 base fee gets you 1Gig per month and it is $10 per Gig after until you reach 6 Gigs then the additional data is free. They do slow you down after 15 Gigs. One thing that keeps some people away from the service is the limited phones that are compatible. If you are an Apple person you are out of luck as no Apple phones will work on Google FI.
I have used the Google Fi / Project Fi phone in over 15 countries in the last 18 months. It works wonderfully. I capped off at 6G once and never had to pay more than the 6G (about $84 with taxes). Makes it a lot easier to travel. When I was in Africa, folks would wait at the border up to 90 minutes to buy a SIM card. I never had to deal with that.
Project Fi: tethering and hotspot are free, so you can pick up an older Nexus 4 or Pixel for almost nothing and use it as a hotspot for other devices. Don’t do one of their promotions, though–their customer support in sales is spotty and my experience is rebates are always denied.
Hope the kids are all better now? Scary moment & hurray for Honduras’ outstanding health care at an amazing price! Why can’t we manage that in the states? 🙁
have the kids recovered? as a high-strung mama, always wonder how potential illnesses are managed on the boat, so happy to hear they got great care….
Yes all better now. They were down for a good 5 days though. Thank goodness for Google, can find a doctor anywhere. Even to have babies in Mexico. 🙂
Hope the kids are feeling all better?
Miss you guys! Maybe I could meet up somewhere this summer, depending on where you’re going to be??
Miss you too, Theresa. And you are always welcome. We’ll be settled for some time for hurricane season.
Hi Pat, thanks for the great post, it’s great to see the costs & I’m really impressed the boat costs are reasonably economical. Take care and best wishes.
Reading this from my IPhone with Google Fi as we speak ?