Post: #1

I'm attempting to decide whether I'll be heading to Central America this winter or not. I have a month off from school for Christmas, and I'd love to spend a 10-20 days around Central america since I can get flights fairly cheaply there.

I'll be on a dirt cheap budget (less than $600 is possible)... and I'm wondering if anybody has any personal suggestions from experience?

Post: #2

(08-12-2008 08:30 AM)BudgetGlobetrotting Wrote:  I'm attempting to decide whether I'll be heading to Central America this winter or not. I have a month off from school for Christmas, and I'd love to spend a 10-20 days around Central america since I can get flights fairly cheaply there.

I'll be on a dirt cheap budget (less than $600 is possible)... and I'm wondering if anybody has any personal suggestions from experience?

Costa Rica is a ridiculously easy country to get around for an American. Almost everyone speaks English. The roads are not perfect, but navigable by an experienced driver. And there are quite a few cheap places (hostels, etc.) to stay in.

Post: #3

I spent a couple of weeks in Panama last summer. I spent a week making a few trips back and forth from Panama City and a small town called Portobello on the Caribbean side trying to figure out how to get to Colombia without flying (sailing was our only option). The rest of the time was spent surfing along the coast outside of Panama City around a beach called Coronado.

Portobello was a really interesting old town (for about a day) but its small enough that there is nothing to do at night. Drink a few Balboas, eat at the pizza joint (the Drake I think its called, that's where the boat captains hang out), and go for a walk around the old forts on the beach in the dark.

You can take the bus past Portobello towards Colombia to Isla Grande. Cool island, slightly touristy, we met a group of american med students (all girls). Many bottles of rum later, a couple of hazy make outs, and a few hours that are completely missing (at some point I allegedly swam out to an anchored sailboat and stomped around) are clouding my thoughts on how much fun this island actually was.

There's a lot to see in Panama towards Costa Rica I just didn't have time to make it down that way.

Let me know if you're interested in any of these areas and I can cough up some logistics.

Post: #4

In terms of budget i think all of central american are in the same dirt cheap range. Out of the gringos i've met who have been there, the favorite is always costa rica.

Post: #5

Cougarbait - thanks for the info. I'll send you a PM. I've been considering Guatemala and a very hippy town named San Pedro right around Lake Atitlan since hotels-hostels are like $5/night and food is like $8/day. Supposedly there is a good party there, but I'm afraid it might be a bit too small an dirty.

I'm still open for whatever suggestions and I'll continue looking around a bit.