For most US, Canadian, UK and EU travellers flying in for a holiday: a passport valid at least six months beyond your arrival date, an electronic customs declaration completed before you fly, and proof of onward travel. No visa is needed in advance — you are granted 90 days on arrival.
Two things catch people out, and neither is obvious: the 90 days is shared across four countries, and the pre-arrival form is far easier to do at home than at the gate. Both are explained below.
We live on this island and make the run through Juan Manuel Gálvez International (RTB) regularly, so this page is written from the queue rather than from a press release. It is also the page we send guests who message us at eleven at night the week before they fly.
The list
Everything below applies to arriving by air, for tourism. Cruise passengers and people arriving by ferry from the mainland have a shorter, different experience — both are covered further down.
| Requirement | What it is | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Passport validity | 6 months beyond your arrival date If your passport expires within six months of the trip, renew before booking anything else. | Published source August 21, 2026 |
| Blank passport pages | 2 pages minimum For entry and exit stamps. Insufficient space can mean refused entry. | Published source August 21, 2026 |
| Tourist stay on arrival | 90 days no advance visa for most Western passports Shared across four countries under the CA-4 agreement — see below. This is the one that catches people. | Published source August 21, 2026 |
| Extension available | 30 days additional Applied for in person at the immigration office in Coxen Hole. A morning, some paperwork and a fee. | Published source August 21, 2026 |
| Pre-arrival declaration | Required An electronic customs and immigration declaration must be completed before you fly. Do it the night before on real WiFi, not in the boarding queue. | Published source August 21, 2026 |
| Proof of onward travel | Required A return or onward ticket. Asked for at airline check-in more often than at Honduran immigration. | Resident-checked August 21, 2026 |
| Yellow fever certificate | Required Only if you are arriving from or transiting a country where yellow fever is endemic — for most North American and European travellers, not at all. | Published source August 21, 2026 |
| Departure tax | Required Normally already included in the price of your international ticket. Carry a little cash anyway; it costs nothing to be covered. | Resident-checked August 21, 2026 |
The right-hand column is the point of this page. Resident-checked means we have been through it ourselves recently. Published source means it comes from official guidance or an operator restatement, and deserves a look at the primary source before you rely on it. We would rather tell you which is which than present both as equally solid, which is what most travel pages quietly do.
The 90 days is not 90 days in Honduras
This is the single most misunderstood rule about entering Honduras, and almost nothing written for tourists mentions it.
Honduras belongs to the CA-4 — a shared border agreement with Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. The stay you are granted on arrival is 90 days across all four countries combined. Flying from Roatán to Guatemala for a week and coming back does not reset your clock. Neither does a land border run. For this purpose the four countries are one zone.
For a two-week holiday this is irrelevant. For anyone doing a longer Central America trip, or thinking about spending a season here, it is the difference between a legal stay and an overstay fine assessed on the way out — per person.
If your trip includes Guatemala, El Salvador or Nicaragua, count your days across all four countries, starting from your first entry into any of them.
The pre-arrival form
Honduras requires an electronic customs and immigration declaration completed before you arrive. It is short. It is also the thing most likely to go wrong on the day, for a reason that has nothing to do with the form itself: you will be trying to complete it on airport WiFi, on a phone, at five in the morning, with a boarding announcement going.
Do it the night before, at home, on a connection you trust. Screenshot the confirmation so it works without signal. One form per family is normally sufficient.
Everyone who flies in and out of RTB regularly does this the night before. The people filling it in at the gate are reliably the last off the plane and the last through immigration.
What actually happens at the airport
RTB is small, and that cuts both ways. There is no long walk and no train between terminals. There are also only a handful of immigration desks, so when two flights land together the queue is the experience.
- Immigration. Passport, your form or its confirmation, and the question of where you are staying. Have the property name and neighbourhood ready — “an Airbnb” is not an answer and it slows the line for everyone behind you.
- Baggage. One belt. It is fine.
- Customs. Usually a wave through, occasionally a bag scan.
- The doors. Where the trip actually starts — and where the first decision either costs or saves you money.
Budget an hour from wheels-down to being in a car if you land alongside another flight. Twenty minutes if you are lucky. If you have arranged a transfer in advance, look for the person holding your name; if not, our airport-to-West-Bay guide has the honest fares, including the difference between the taxi at the terminal door and the one four minutes away on the main road.
Arriving by cruise ship, or by ferry
Cruise passengers do not clear immigration the way described above. The ship handles it. You walk off at Isla Tropicale (the port formerly called Mahogany Bay) or Coxen Hole with your ship card, and your passport stays in the safe. If that is your trip, our cruise port guide is the page you want.
Arriving by ferry from La Ceiba means you have already entered Honduras at your mainland airport. There is no second immigration check for the domestic crossing. Bring the passport anyway — it is the ID you will be asked for everywhere else.
Staying longer than 90 days
A 30-day extension is available and is applied for in person at the immigration office in Coxen Hole. It is not a formality you can complete at the airport on your way out.
Beyond that you are into residency, which is a genuinely different subject with attorneys in it. People do try to run a life here on tourist stays and border runs; aside from the CA-4 problem above, it leaves you with no legal standing for a bank account, a vehicle, or a lease with any protection.
Where to confirm all of this
We are a villa on the island, not an immigration authority, and rules can change between your reading this and your flight. Before you fly, check at least one of:
- Your own government's travel advice for Honduras — the US State Department, the UK FCDO, or Global Affairs Canada. Updated when rules move, and written for your passport specifically. British citizens in particular should check their own requirements rather than assume the US answer applies.
- Your airline's destination requirements page — airlines are liable for carrying passengers who get refused entry, so they keep this current out of self-interest.
- The Honduran embassy or consulate for your country — the primary source, and the slowest to answer.
If you find something on this page that has gone out of date, tell us and we will change it and re-date it the same week. WhatsApp us — we usually reply within about thirty minutes.
Roatan entry requirements: common questions
Do I need a visa to visit Roatan?
Not in advance, for most Western passports. Tourists are granted 90 days on arrival at a Honduran international airport. Requirements differ by nationality — British citizens in particular should confirm with the Honduran embassy rather than assuming the US answer applies.
How much passport validity do I need for Honduras?
Six months beyond your arrival date is the standard requirement, plus at least two blank pages for stamps. If your passport expires within six months of the trip, renew it before booking anything else.
Does the 90-day tourist stay reset if I leave and come back?
Not if you go to Guatemala, El Salvador or Nicaragua. Those three plus Honduras form the CA-4 zone and share a single 90-day allowance. Leaving the zone entirely — to Belize, Mexico, Costa Rica or home — is a genuine exit.
Is there a departure tax when leaving Roatan?
International departure tax is normally already included in the price of your airline ticket. Carry a small amount of cash anyway — it costs nothing to have it and solves the problem if your itinerary is unusual.
Do children need their own passport for Roatan?
Yes. Every traveller needs their own passport regardless of age. If one parent is travelling without the other, carry a notarised consent letter from the absent parent — it is not always asked for, and it is miserable to be without when it is.
Do I need travel insurance to enter Honduras?
It is not an entry requirement. It is still what we would tell a friend to buy. The nearest hyperbaric chamber and the nearest major hospital both matter here in a way they do not at home, and a medical evacuation off an island is expensive.
Do cruise passengers need to clear immigration in Roatan?
No. The ship handles immigration for the port call. You go ashore with your ship card and leave your passport in the cabin safe.
