Belize:
All travelers allowed to enter
Belize before the pandemic are welcome now, as long as they present a negative Covid test (if unvaccinated/partially-vaccinated). If you take a PCR test, this can be taken within 72 hours of arrival. Belize also accepts the results of rapid antigen tests, although they need to be taken within 48 hours of travel. Both types of test are applicable to
everyone over the age of five.
So let’s recap that for clarity:
- You can provide a PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to traveling.
- You can provide a rapid antigen test taken within 48 hours prior to traveling.
The testing guidelines are in place for partially or unvaccinated people only. In Belize, fully-vaccinated means two jabs – or one, if you had Johnson & Johnson (boosters don’t apply).
If you’re unvaccinated/partially-vaccinated and you arrive in Belize without the results of a PCR or antigen test, you must take one at the airport.
This antigen test costs $50 (cash only). Travelers arriving in Belize who test positive will be quarantined at their own expense for 14 days. For this reason, we strongly recommend getting tested in advance of travel. Travelers receiving a negative test upon arrival can continue with their journey.
Fully-vaccinated travelers arriving in Belize just need to show their proof of vaccination to enter the country. They do not need to take a test.
Another requirement for travelers entering Belize is the mandatory
Belize Travel Health Insurance. This costs $18 per person. You can buy this insurance in advance through the
official government website, or upon arrival in Belize, either at the airport or the land borders. This insurance is required for both fully-vaccinated and partially/non-vaccinated travelers.
All tourists in Belize must their accommodations in advance, staying in “
Gold Standard” hotels. These are accommodations complying with the sanitary protocols mandated by the government of Belize.
The western border with Guatemala and the northern border with Mexico are both open to all travelers.
All partially/unvaccinated travelers entering Belize by land must take an antigen test at the border, costing $50. If entering Belize by land, you cannot bring your own test results with you.
For continuous, up-to-date into on Belize’s entry requirements, bookmark
this page from the Belize Tourism Board.
Guatemala:
All non-Guatemalan citizens/legal residents entering
Guatemala must show proof of full Covid vaccination, plus a negative test (PCR or antigen) taken within three days before arrival in the country. Note here, that
it’s vaccination AND test, not “or” test. You need both.
Guatemala is the only country in Central America to mandate vaccination for foreign tourists.
“Fully-vaccinated” means two doses (or one, in the case of Johnson & Johnson) with the final dose having been administered at least two weeks before arrival in Guatemala. If you’re unvaccinated due to a medical condition, you must show proof of that condition to enter Guatemala.
Guatemalan citizens, or foreigners with legal residency in Guatemala, can produce proof of vaccination
OR a negative test.
Land borders are open.
El Salvador:
El Salvador reopened its airport for visitors on September 19, 2020. As of November 17, 2021, El Salvador has eliminated
all testing and vaccination restrictions to enter the country. El Salvador and Costa Rica are now the only countries in Central America to not require a negative test to enter.
Honduras:
Travelers to
Honduras must fill in two online forms – an
immigration online pre-check form and an
online health form. Please note that the immigration pre-check form needs filling in within 48 prior to arrival in Honduras.
Unvaccinated travelers must show proof of a negative Covid test (PCR or antigen) taken within 72 hours of arrival. Vaccinated travelers (with full vaccination completed 14 days or more prior to arrival) don’t need to provide a negative Covid test.
For an extensive, step-by-step guide to navigating the forms you need to enter Honduras, check out
this information provided by Anthony’s Key Resort on the island of Roatán. It’s the best guide we’ve seen.
Land borders are open.
Nicaragua:
Nicaragua is the one country in Central America that never truly closed its borders in the first place. There is no ban on entry to Nicaragua for foreigners, although most airlines stopped flying into the country during the pandemic.
At this time, it’s less a question of COVID-19 restrictions, and more one about
onerous government requirements of the airlines. The upshot is, if you’re flying to Nicaragua, you need to present your negative Covid test to the airline no less than 36 hours before boarding rather than at the airport and/or at Nicaraguan immigration.
That aside, anyone can enter Nicaragua as long as they have a negative (PCR only) COVID-19 test issued within 72 hours of arrival.
Land borders with are open. Travelers arriving by land need to present their negative Covid test at the border.
Costa Rica:
Unvaccinated tourists entering
Costa Rica before April 1, 2022 must buy travel/health insurance to cover any COVID care they may need and quarantine. Fully-vaccinated travelers (with vaccination completed at least 14 days before arrival) and travelers under the age of 18 are exempt from buying the travel insurance.
No Covid test is required to enter, vaccinated or not.
Panama:
Everyone entering
Panama must fill out
this healthcare form, called a “Sworn Declaration of Health”. Partially/unvaccinated travelers entering Panama from “low-risk” countries must present a negative PCR or antigen test taken within 72 hours prior to traveling or submit to a test upon arrival in Panama. Those testing positive upon arrival will have to quarantine for 14 days at a government-approved “hospital-hotel” quarantine hotel at their own expense. (Panamanian citizens and residents can quarantine at home).
Unvaccinated travelers entering Panama from high-risk countries (Cayman Islands, Barbados, Anguilla, Bonaire, Greece, Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Serbia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Hungary, Faroe Islands, Ireland, Montenegro, Croatia, Netherlands, Slovakia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Armenia, Ukraine, Georgia, United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi- or who have transited through those countries within 15 days prior to arriving in Panama) must take a Covid test upon arrival and then quarantine for three days at a government-approved hotel, and then take another test. If the second test is negative, they can go about their lives. If not, they must quarantine for 14 days in a facility (if tourists) or at home (if citizen or resident).
If you’re fully-vaccinated against Covid, with the vaccination completed at least 14 days before entering Panama, you’re exempt from all testing and quarantine requirements. Also exempt from these requirements are children under the age of 12, as long as their parents/guardians comply with said requirements.
Panama’s border with Costa Rica is open.
Special thanks to:
https://www.centralamerica.com/ Link:
https://www.centralamerica.com/experiencing/travel/travel-restrictions-central-america/ 
