Border Crossing Honduras to Nicaragua

I try to find information that can make border crossings easier on my trip and found Life Remotely. Here was plenty of useful information but I reproduces only the short version in respect for the great job they had done. So those who need more information should visit Life Remotely.

Honduras to Nicaragua Border Crossing

Border name: Guasaule
Closest major cities: Guasaule, Honduras and Somotillo, Nicaragua
Cost for visas: $12 per person
Cost for vehicle: $3 for fumigation. $12 for insurance. Permit is free.
Total time: 1 hour

The steps

1. When you see a small shack on the left of the road with a guard. Go to the far left. It will look like a bomb recently went off in the area, and your intuition will be telling you that you are about to be mugged. Welcome to the Guasaule border.

1. The guard will ask to see your permit and they wave you forward. I repeat, stay to the LEFT. Drive all the way to the back, past the sketchy buildings. In the back of the parking lot you will see two gray buildings.
2. In the building to the left chances are the official will have moved his desk outside cause it’s too damn hot. That’s immigration. Give the hot grumpy dude your passport. Be nice, this has to be the worst border post on the planet.
3. He will stamp the passports and return them.
4. Wander aimlessly around the bombed out wasteland looking for customs. Finally walk to the back side of the building on the left (directly behind where immigration was).
5. There is no door, just a bunch of windows. Finally, a smiley lady will tell you through the barred window that she is a customs (aduana) official. Hand over your original Honduran vehicle permit and the driver’s passport. She will keep the original permit and scribble on the stamp in the driver’s passport, effectively cancelling the permit.
6. Then with a smile, she’ll wave you back to your car. Where you should go, immediately, before the bombing starts again (ok, just kidding).
7. Drive back out of the parking lot, and head to Nicaragua.
8. When entering the border area, stay to the right. There will be a fumigation area. Roll up your windows and get fumigated.
9. Go to the window just after fumigation and pay the $3 fumigation fee. Keep the receipt.
10. At some point you will need to buy mandatory insurance. For us this happened at the fumigation shack. It cost $12, and you can buy it from anyone with a clipboard, providing they don’t try to charge more than $12. He/she needs to see the driver’s passport and title. She will ask for 2 copies of the drivers’ IDs. Our insurance lady didn’t keep the copies, she returned them with the vehicle paperwork.
11. From there, take a sharp left and park on the left side of the big parking lot. Look for the signs to migracion and aduana.
12. Go into the long building on the left of the parking lot (hidden behind all the trees). Immigration is in front of the building.
13. Hand over your passports, pay a $10 tourist card fee, and a $2 tax per person. They do accept USD and have an ATM in the lobby that dispenses USD and Nicaraguan Cordobas. Keep the receipt from the passports.
    NOTE: Be aware that, even though Honduras doesn’t respect the CA-4, all other countries count your time in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua cumulatively. You have 90 days total. No exceptions. We were reminded of this when we entered Nicaragua.
14. Head over to the aduana counter. Hand over your title, drivers passport and drivers license. The official will want a copy of the driver’s documents but doesn’t need a copy of the title.
15. The official will ask some random questions about the car and where you are going, then will issue a permit. Check the info on the permit carefully. Ours claimed that Kobus was from Sudan. Not far off from South Africa if you’re in Nicaragua, I suppose. The guard corrected without hassles.
16. With the vehicle permit, tourist card receipts, fumigation receipt and insurance paperwork in hand, drive to the right past the immigration building.
17. Just past the building, officers will stop and ask for all of the above paperwork and may verify your VIN. Then they’ll send you on your way to Nicaragua.
18. Get to hostel, and have a mojito or six. Pass out. Do not repeat.