On that map, did you see the little bright red pinpoint on Chicago?
Maps and their evil twin- surveys, are always very political by nature.
That said, is Honduras dangerous?
I wouldn't advise going out of the Airport on the mainland of Honduras.
Now that we are done scaring all of the readers of this forum who were considering a trip to the Bay Islands, our work here is done.
To quote such statistics without reminding uninformed travelers of this distinction is.... what the internet is all about.
This common fact of distancing theoretical (mainland) gateway cities to actual destination is similar to: Belize City vs The Cayes of Belize; The City of Trinidad vs the Dive towns of Tobago; Caracas vs Los Roques; San Juan vs Vieques; Quito vs. Galapagos. You often might fly into rat-hole towns and quickly escape to the island paradise.
I will be flying down soon and routing Chicago > Houston > Roatan. I will be way more "on edge" while standing in the two US cities than when I get to Roatan. This is not different than any other flight to paradise. You can fly directly into Roatan, or you can screw around, save a few bucks, and transit through the mainland. Quit whining- you have now determined how much risk you will take versus US Dollars to go the other way.
Book flights directly from the US to Roatan. If you must transit through the mainland, leave yourself enough time to make the connections and hey, Indiana Jones- sit your @ss in the departure lounge.
So far, casual visitors to Roatan have had no real part in any crime statistic. The Government of the Bay Islands knows their golden goose and they expend considerable resources on the "Tourist Police" which are not there watching you in that highly selected zone.
Sure as hell, someday, a real live innocent is going to get themselves hurt, so won't that be a field day for those who like to be afraid? I will likely be misquoted at that juncture.
What makes us perceive (thru internet postings) that even the islands are dangerous? On the Bay Islands, one of the best ways to be dead is to engage in commercial business transactions. Somehow the concept of Contracts Law has not trickled down to street level, certainly Conflict Resolution is a dangerous thing.
I can say with certainty that each and every one of the (maybe) 10 incidents that have been blasted all over this forum since its inception involved long term residents who were involved in commercial business dealings, love triangles (or lesbian quadrangles), or illicit drugs (dealer level/distributor weight/cartel level being the bulk of that single statistical group).
The incident horrifies us as we read it on the SCUBA forums. The Cruise Ship forums are 30x worse... those people by design have no temperament for danger, unlike divers... it just falls off of our radar screen after the big splash. Resolution takes time in the tropics, there is no Roatan CSI delivering an answer within our limited attention span. I always note that when the truth of the causative agent comes out- the original bearers of block copy from other news sources are nowhere to be found. Murder is the most heinous crime, but many times the victim could have done a whole lot to avoid it. Often, I know a whole lot more about the facts of an island crime than it would do good for anybody to have posted. In short: Avoid shady situations, and
I do advise against long term residency and any commercial involvement.
The Bay Islands are fine for tourists who travel with a modicum of intelligence.
For years, I had paper to carry weapons in three different Central American countries. I never went out in any mainland locale without a similarly armed friend. At night- only if we had to, and somebody brought a long gun. I still do not feel any such need on the Bay Islands- but then again- I don't go out late drinking, I have no interest in drugs, I am not grabbing anybody's sister's butt.
I try to stay in AI resorts, ones that have some basic security staff. Some people are frightened when they see night watchmen with shotguns, I smile and say, "Gracias- Buenas noches". I do venture "off campus" with little concern, but I stay in
the recognized tourist zones.
It's too bad that something that should put the country in a beautiful spotlight is being over shadowed by such wanton violence.
