Las Manos, Honduras to El Paraiso, Nicaragua | Customs and Immigration

Nicaragua -->Honduras
1$ pp to enter the area city tax
3$ pp to leave Nicaragua (migration)
3$ pp to enter Honduras (migration)
36$ for the car (aduana)
0,05$ for a photocopy of passport, driving licence and car license all on the same page (made it before coming here)
easy border crossing took us around 1 1/2 hours at Tuesday 15:00 w/o animals

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Honduras - > Nicaragua everything as described also with our dog. have to mention after scanning our car with the Xray they also searched it with a police dog. they never looked or sniffed into our stuff or our cooler box that we had to take out before the Xray. but everything pretty relaxed. spend 4hours at the board. and had to pay 162 NIO for Fumigation... 15min after crossing boarders police stopped us and asked for insurance and papers. this time they didn't ask for but you need a fire extinguisher and a warning triangle.

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Arrived at border at 8am and it took us 2 hours total. Important notes: our car has Guatemalan plates and has already entered Nicaragua before so some steps were reduced.

Honduras border was straight forward with instructions in other comment. To arrive you just need to drive through a lot of semis parked on the side of the road (for us around 2.5km of them)

Nicaragua:
We entered and went to the left (1st building), guy in light blue shirt gives us a form to fill (no copy needed) after we filled it, they started checking our whole car's contents by hand and had leave it on the side of the road while I went to get the Scan. First needed to deliver the filled out form approved by the police officer to the white container (left window is for cars and not semis)
After the scan, I came back and parked next to our stuff, we went to do the immigration while we waited for the scan. Paid $13 for non CA-4 residents.They didn't stamp our passport but gave us a small white paper you need to give at the end
After around 40 minutes the scan came all good (no extra inspection for us) and they started with the TIP (the previous visit to Nicaragua sped this step up)
After this we were able to leave, 1 worker takes the filled form from the start, another takes the white immigration receipts and the Insurance at the exit is 440 Cordobas for 30 days

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Honduras to Nicaragua. Got here at Sunday morning at 7 a.m. Planned this way to avoid crowds It worked, broke the the record. TOTAL time to departure with the insurance in hand was 1:15! Pretty grabby and dirty place on both sides. Everything was as described in the posts bellow. No helpers anywhere, too early for them? HONDURAS = less then 10’. Nicaragua longer but nothing unusual. They asked for the entry permission email. They didn’t ask for my hotel booking. They are still possessed with drones (???) Didn’t have any. They “checked” = rummaged through some of my bags. No health check required or asked for. Tourist TIP for motorcycle only for 3 days unless you ask (and pay maybe) for more. Didn’t check my plate or VIN.
Fees:
HON = none
NIC = tourist visa USD$13. They didn’t like my $10 bill and wanted another one. I told them they can have either that one or Cordobas - no more questions and they took it.
No fumigation or X-ray asked. All done and the final document check 100m down the road. Insurance offered for USD$12. I took it. Done.
Not the friendliest bunch there, but this was THE fastest border xssing in Central America

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Honduras --> Nicaragua

Honduras:
1) Raise the truck line to the border.
2) Refuse the help offered and head to the immigration office on the left (there are 4 counters). All passengers must be present for taking photos and fingerprints. Passports are stamped.
3) On the left is the office to cancel the TIP, you must fill out the output form and they keep the original of the TIP. I asked for a copy but they told me to take a photo.
--> About 25 minutes of procedures.

Nicaragua:
Prerequisite: complete the entry request form on Nicaragua territory at least 48 hours in advance --> https://solicitudes.migob.gob.ni. About 24 hours after submission you will receive an entry authorization by email.
1) Move your vehicle in front of the barrier.
2) An agent controls passports and requests to see the entry authorization email on the territory. He lifts the barrier and tells you where to park.
3) At the 1st office on the left, an agent gives you an entry form to complete, then he asks to see the passports, the original driving license and the vehicle registration. He asks you if you have a camera and a drone. For the camera I responded positively (there has no more restriction since early 2023).
4) Visual inspection of the interior of the vehicle is carried out.
5) The agent asks you to go and make a copy of the form behind the Honduras side barrier, 2L the copy.
6) The agent will give the form to a desk behind on the left "Tourism Vehicle Window".
7) The agent asks you to go to the scanner, the passengers must get off. They explain the procedure to you, during the scanning, they ask you to go to the back of the building and they ask you questions about you and your vehicle.
8) Once the scanner is finished return to the starting point, an agent asks you to follow him in the office "Officina Sanitaria". It controls passports and gives you a small white paper stamped with today's date for each person.
9) Direction the immigration office with all passengers, container at the bottom left. We had to wait an hour and play together to keep your place. An agent checks passports, asks to pay US$ 13 per person with torn tickets. It completes by hand a receipt of US$ 3 x number of people, gives you a "Tourist Card" stamped per person worth US$ 10 (the passport is not stamped) and a white paper for each person.
10) Return to the 1st office, with the result of the scanner 2 agents come to check areas to be lightened in the vehicle. In our case, the battery box, the children's toy chest, the secondary diesel tank and a storage chest in our cell. They ask for a drone and a camera again. For the camera I respond positively and show them.
11) Head to the "Tourism Vehicule Window" office, an agent performs the vehicle import permit for a period of 30 days. No copy of documents is requested they need the originals. You are given the TIP (if this document is lost a fine of US$ 100 will be required at the exit of the territory) and the input form annotated, signed, highlighted, stamped on all sides.
12) With your vehicle towards the exit, a 1st agent controls the passports and recovers the white papers given by immigration. A second agent recovers the stamped entry form from all sides. A third person offers insurance. A 4th person asks you to pay a municipal tax of US$ 1 per person. It's finally over, welcome to Nicaragua!
--> About 3 hours of procedures
NB: Covid vaccination is no more asked.

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NOTE: Make sure you check that you get a TOURIST TIP for 30 days and not a TRANSIT TIP for 3 days. I only realized this mistake three weeks into our stay in Nicaragua. The woman helping me told me it was for 30 days, so I I never double checked. (My mistake)

If you find yourself with an expired TIP when you cross the border to leave, the fee is $50 USD + $1 for each day overstayed (and lots of angry comments from officials).

It honestly might be worth skipping the drive to Managua to extend a TIP for another 30 days if you want to stay longer. It was a bit of the pain in the ass to take care of at the Peñas Blancas crossing, but that place is just a general hell… good luck!

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Here are the steps as experienced in August 2023 to exit Honduras and enter Nicaragua.

Honduras - exit took us 10-15 minutes
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1. A few working days in advance fill out the form (https://solicitudes.migob.gob.ni/). Yes, the website is not well done but it helps speed up the process and have you prepared with all the information they need. Even one working day can be enough to get the form approved. For the part with who invited, you just enter something like "it does not apply" in Spanish.

2. Ship your drone to Costa Rica or Panama. Don't risk hiding it.

3. Once you arrive, some guy with a badge that says Aduana will tell you where to park and offer to help fill out the form. He holds the form on a clipboard. He tries to look like a customs official (but he is not). You can politely say, "No, thank you".

4. Stamp out your passport at Honduras immigration. They will grab a photo and fingerprints. No queue, takes 2-3 minutes.

5. Go a bit to your left. Fill out the Honduras customs form (one per vehicle). There is a stack of forms at the building where you park. Write “casa rodante equipo personal” somewhere in the bottom section where they ask what all we’re carrying.

6. Cancel Honduras TIP. They will take it but not give a receipt. You can friendly ask for a copy (they have a copy machine). No queue, takes 2-3 minutes.

Nicaragua - took us 3 hours
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Overall: disorganized, unclear sequence of steps. Not unfriendly but rather indifferent.

1. Drive your vehicle to Nicaragua and park immediately after you enter to the left. The guy raising the barrier will show you where.

2. One friendly border official of Nicaragua asks some brief questions, checks the passport, and gives you a customs form to fill out. The form is identical to the Honduras one. This guy only does this and you will not interact later with him.

3. Go to the MINSA container to get a "health check". The guy was very friendly and asked how long we are staying and where. Got two square pieces of paper with a stamp on it. Later nobody seemed to care about these. Takes 5 minutes.

4. One border agent took our passports. A woman and a man came to inspect our vehicle. They did not ask any questions but was obvious that they were looking for a drone (or something else illegal). Did not seem to care about food. They searched the car for about 15 minutes, taking a lot of stuff out. Very thorough. They were not very friendly or communicative during this process.

5. We needed to take a copy of the customs form (copy machine is way in the back), driver's license, car registration. Then we needed to go to the office where you get your TIP with the form.

6. They said we need to go through the scanner as well. They really want to find something :). So we did that (only the driver). Not complicated, the people at the scanner are much friendlier compared to the rest. You just drive, park where they say. Close the vehicle. Go for 2 minutes in the back, and give some personal details. Drive back to where you were originally parked.

7. Got our passport back. Waited for the scan results to come through which took about 30 minutes. When they did, they started working on the TIP. They did not require any copies, only the originals. They also did not want a copy of the Honduras TIP. The paperwork was done in about 10 minutes. Did not inspect the VIN or license plate. People at the TIP were very friendly and helpful.

8. Went to immigration. Immediately asked for the email confirmation and took our passports. Waiting here took about 1 hour even if there was almost no queue. Go to the toilet or grab something to drink.

Probably we could have gone there earlier while waiting for the scan results. It was not clear if we are allowed or not. It is best to ask.

Finally, they called us. They ask about profession, places you are staying that day but don’t ask for proof. We said we sleep in our casa rodante. They give you a printed small piece of paper which you need to exit the border area.

You have to pay 13 USD per person, they don't have change. A super friendly guy can break a 20 if you need. They don't accept dollar coins.

9. As you drive out, about 4 people will approach you (one after the other):
- one wants the printed receipts from immigration
- one wants the customs form which now has a lot of stamps and signatures
- one wants you to pay $1 city tax per person
- one wants to sell you insurance.

10. Right after the barrier there are about two insurance agents. All they need is your TIP and $12. Takes only 5 minutes and you can enjoy the rest of your day in Nicaragua.

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Passed through to Nicaragua in our Ford Transit van with a dog.

Everybody but one woman had no idea what the correct order was for anything, or didn’t care to help. Load up on some patience for this crossing 😂

Leaving Honduras:
-Cancel TIP: literally just hand over the paper. They don’t give a receipt that you cancelled. Others recommended making a copy for Nicaragua, which I did, but it wasn’t needed.
-Stamp passports: make sure they stamp hard. Both our stamps were so faded they were almost illegible. Nicaraguan officials spent forever looking for them.

Entering Nicaragua:
-Gate opens
-Park to the left
-Get out immediately to the left and get the paper for customs (one per vehicle even though it says one per traveler)
-Go to the health kiosk thing immediately in front. Nobody told us to go but apparently it’s required. Show covid vaccinations and yellow fever (if from country like Brazil). A woman entered info into a system and told us all good, no receipts or papers given.
-Go to immigration: this is not the vehicle white building but the other white building further “forward” if that makes sense. About 5 police officers. Get an entry ticket, pay the fees, and receipts. We paid $26 for two people.
-Go to IPSA just next to immigration to import your dog. It was pouring down rain so our dog was in the car. They didn’t care to see him our a vet certificate of health. Just the SEPA papers from Honduras and the vaccination cards. They recommended making a copy of the SEPA papers bc they needed to keep them. We didn’t care as we wouldn’t need them anymore. Got an import paper for $10 USD, payable in USD or NIO.
-Go back to first kiosk with filled out original paper. They do an extensive search of your vehicle. We weren’t scanned. They made us write down my bike and a table (lol) as extra items in the import form. Another official asked them why they did that… again, nobody knows what’s going on.
-They then tell you to scan the paper and make a copy. There are two copy places on the Honduran side that were both closed at 2pm. All officials shrugged and said bummer. Nothing they could do. Insane. Just told to wait until the guy comes back… never came back. Other people getting frustrated too. The photocopy machine that the immigration has was closed. Nobody cared. Eventually they stamped the original and told me I could continue without a copy. Hopefully I don’t need it later?
-Go to car/TIP window. Present documents to get a TIP. Ours is good for 30 days. Free. Can extend in Managua.
-Leave towards exit gate. Give some papers. Guy offered to sell insurance. We denied because we have one for all of CA.

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For Pet Owners entering Nicaragua, you must go to IPSA (located between Immigration and the photocopy place) after your vehicle is inspected but before you go to customs. You will declare your pet on the declaration given to you when your vehicle is being inspected. IPSA will need copies of your vaccinations and health certificate. They will also need to see (and make a copy of) the pet import information from SEPA in Honduras. Cost will be $10usd.

Other updates for costs
13 usd pp at Immigration
no cost for tip
12 usd for insurance when leaving border

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Highly-highly recommended border crossing INTO Nicaragua.

Only because we read the comments on the other crossings, this one seems quite easy.

Leaving Honduras:
1. Immigration stamp out
2. Cancel TIP

It took about 15mins.

Entering Nicaragua:
It’s a bit more chaotic but doable because they always tell you the next steps. I won’t repeat the previous step-by-step guides.
But overall they were quite polite, the process is easy, even if it’s slow.

We proactively showed our DHL receipt about sending the drone to CR. Even then they asked 5 times whether we have one.
We didn’t get scanned but the van got vaguely inspected.

You can buy insurance right when you leave the border just outside the barrier. The agents work out of a shack but it’s legit insurance that you will need if police stops you.

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After hearing so many things about the border, on here and from others, I was amazed at how smooth it went for me.

From my arrival at the Honduran border to finishing and driving off, it took me 2 hours. And it was raining and the Honduran side was not as quick as it could be. Here are some things of note:

-I wouldn’t recommend letting anyone help you when you arrive in Honduras. As I was pulling up some guy showed me where to park the motorcycle (in truth park anywhere) and then just started helping without asking. He was wearing a badge thing around his neck so I thought he was part of border control at first. Long story short he ended up confusing me more and he really wasn’t helpful. I gave him a tip anyways but would have preferred to do it myself. It’s very easy. Walk up to the window on the lefthand side and give them your tip from Honduras and passport and there is a form to fill out w basic info. Then go to the window on the right and they will take your finger prints and stamp your passport. That’s it for Honduras.

-I made copies of the form and my Honduran tip but no one asked for it in Nicaragua. There is a copy place two minutes up from the Honduran Aduana in a green building. 4 Lempiras for 2 copies.

-Drive straight to the gate leveler and someone will lift it to ride through and park there just on the left. There they will do an inspection of the bike, ask questions, and fill out the exact same form you just filled and gave to the ppl in Honduras.

-They asked about a drone and I told them I sent it in the mail and then they didn’t ask again. I did sent it in Tegucigalpa at DHL. Things to note about that is you need to make a “Commercial Invoice” for sending it to Costa Rica. If you send it to the US, dhl can create the invoice. DHL will tell you how to make the invoice but leave time for it. There is no tax sending to the US but Costa Rica will have a tax subject to what they decide when it arrives. You also need to buy bubble wrap bc they require it but they don’t sell it. There’s an office max about 20 mins in Uber ($3). DHL opens at 8am - 5pm (Sat until 12, closed sun)

-they did not put anything through an xray, they only asked to open both side panniers and briefly looked through, not intensely.

-they needed to see the ORIGINAL title, not a copy

-After the physical inspection, they give you the form and then you go to the health office right next to it. I showed them vax card on my phone, she looked at it and I believe entered the date into the system. She did not ask for the physical copy.

-then went over to the immigration windows where they did not grill me at all. Only asked my occupation and a few basic questions, where I’m going, where I’m staying the night etc… they also were not mean or intense at all.

-I extended my c4 in El Salvador and I heard from others that Nicaragua didn’t accept it. In my case, it caused them some initial confusion but they were fine with it, no hassle.

-they asked many times in the diff parts of the process where I was staying that night and they entered the name and phone of the hostel in the system. I never book ahead of time but had heard I should and was glad I did.

-then I went to another window where I did the tip. They asked for original title and original registration. I didn’t have the original registration and they were fine.

-then I got on the bike and road a few hundred feet to the exit lever and there I needed to give a little piece of paper that Nicaragua immigration gave me. This is also where I bought insurance for $12. I had exact change in usd. He asked for my Nicaragua tip and wrote up a paper and said that was my insurance.

Then I was done. It was seriously not at all bad. Basically the same as the other borders just a tad more serious but even by the end each of them had laughed a little with me. I make YouTube videos and I thought they would grill me about it but not at all. It’s very obvious I make videos bc of the cameras on my bike and the stickers and I heard them whispering YouTube and saw them looking on their phones at my accounts but they never hassled me about it. I did put my Instagram on private just before crossing but didn’t change YouTube.
I was kinda in shock how smooth it all went. I arrived just after 2pm and was already on my way at 4:15pm

I also road to Somoto which I was happy about bc it’s only an hour from the border.

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NICARAGUA to HONDURAS by car:
Pass the trucks, pay $1/person (C36) fee at the barrier. The worker raises the barrier. The official will check your passport and ask about your employment. They will send you to a booth, where you will receive a form (declaration) 1 per person, fill it in, another employee will check passports, and another uniformed guy will stamp the declaration. They send you a little further, where the immigration is. I had to make a copy of my declaration (behind the immigration office, 3 Cordobas for copy), in the meantime the policeman checked the car and wanted that copy from me. He asked about the drone. We didn't have one.
At the immi the exit stamp in your passport follows, pay another fee of $3 per person for exit (the customs officer wanted the receipts at the gate), Aduana - cancellation of the TIP (they take the TIP form, attach a declaration to it and you hand this bundle to the guy who opens the gate, so that you can finally cross the territory of Honduras.

In Honduras you go to the medical screening (there they ask you for cov-test or vax card) - We haven't filled the form online, the lady did it for us in the office and then she put a little card with my name into the passport and did the same to every member of my group. Then we had to go to the immigration. There you provide your passport and literally within a minute the immigration is done...unbelievable  :). Then you go to Aduana (turismo) and there provide the original car registration and your passport, pay $36, 1 copy of your passport and driving license, 1 copy of car registration and then you need to fill the declaration and make 2 copies of declaration and bring it to Aduana. The TIP lasts for 90 days and you aren't obligate to purchase a car insurance. Pretty smooth on the Honduras site.

In short - the owner of the car should bring to Honduranese Aduana:
1 copy of passport,
1 copy of driving license,
1 copy of car registration
at the site you need to make 2 copies of Declaration form and bring it to the officer.

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Same process and description as most recent other posters. At 9am on a weekday, this border took 3 hours total. On the Honduras side, 5 minutes - no cost, filled out a customs form for the moto and returned the TIP for my moto. Got stamped out at passport control. There were border helpers and money changers trying to get my attention at the Honduras passport and vehicle office, but they left me alone when I said I didn’t need help.

The Nicaragua side was more confusing, it took a minute for the guards to let me through to the offices & parking. Then there was a customs form very similar to the Honduras form. The officer who collected this form also searched my bike, which took maybe 30 minutes including repacking it. He asked about drones and cameras, and searched all three of my main bags and inside some random small bags.

Passport control/entry is what took the bulk of the time. I had sent the form in via email, and they had not responded to that or done the background check. There were a lot of questions, by multiple officers, about my plans, where I was staying, my website, etc. I think someone in a back office did some sort of background check. But throughout this everyone was fairly friendly, and once they decided to let me in, became more friendly and told me about their own motos, etc. Cost of tourist entry & whatever was $13.

It took a little while for the TIP to be filled out, but at that point they didn’t check the bike or VIN or anything. Then fumigation, I think they asked for a dollar. Then insurance which again was around $12. Altogether not as bad as I expected, just try to be patient if they have to do the background check. There is fast free Wi-Fi in that area you can use too

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Previous information for process is good. Did not ask for the Internet form. Warning got scammed by insurance seller at the border for $75!

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Same as previous comments. Everything fairly smooth, but slow like other CA crossings. We took 3h total (with a dog). Few notes:
- many many trucks parked / waiting on the road. Drive through them and go at the border offices.
- honduras asked us if we applied online to enter Nicaragua (http://solicitudes.migob.gob.ni), we did not, so they wanted us to go and get a verbal OK by Nicaragua officers, before they would stamp our exit from HN.
- made clear we are a casa rodante, and the inspection was minimal. (also no questions for electronics or drone).
- you can buy insurance at the very end of the process, at the exit of the Aduana area.

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Honduras - Nicaragua:
Arrived around 13.30 on a Monday afternoon. Street leading to the border was packed with parking trucks but border itself was not super busy.

We followed the steps as described in the other posts. Most of the process was more or less the same as previously described though some things were quite irritating/different to us and probably one of the “bureaucratic whims of that day” as someone described it.

In fact we made it out of Honduras in 15 minutes including the time we needed to make copies. You can find the copy shop in a green building further up the street from Honduras aduana building. Also note that in front of the aduana you can exchange money with a woman and a man with large money bundles in their hands, you will definitely see them! (just look up the rate beforehand and negotiate a bit, they should give you a fair deal).

Heading to Nicaragua then. Parked car in front of the police building. Police checked drivers license and car title first, then sent us to covid check and migration. Migration was weird as the officer told us we had to get our car inspected first before being able to get our passports back?! So he kept them and we parked our car in front of the (only) big tree behind the Nicaragua border buildings. There, a woman came to inspect our car while we filled out our customs forms (each person needs a form which is different to Honduras where only the driver had to fill out customs). The inspection was done in 5 minutes, she looked into 2 drawers in the back of the car. No questions about electronics or a drone. Just made sure we are tourists and everything inside is just for personal use. Gave us a signature on our customs form and sent us back to police. Police inspected the customs form, then sent us back to migration where the officer then started with the paperwork and eventually gave us our passports back. We were irritated that he did not stamp the passports but it turned out the stamps are attached to the white sheet of paper that you receive from him so don’t lose it :D

Then, final step was Nicaragua aduana. There’s a window for the truckers and one for tourist vehicles. Tourist vehicle officer was apparently not up for helping us and directed us to the trucker queue. The truckers were super friendly and tried to explain we should rather use the tourist queue (which was empty but where we got turned away) so we stayed with the truckers. Officer there was quick and paperwork done in another 10 minutes.

At the exit, some guys try to sell insurance, insisting you need it even though you already have a foreign insurance policy like we do for whole Central America. We just ignored them. The officers at the exit also just checked our passports and took the customs forms we filled out earlier, no word about the insurance so I guess it’s fine to get it elsewhere and not at the border.

Overall, process took 2 hours and people were helpful and friendly throughout the process. cannot say anything negative other than it can be confusing which step comes next, listen carefully what they tell you and keep the basics in mind that you know from other crossings and you’ll be fine!

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The description below is very accurate, but for us the whole process took forever. Honduras was a quick 10 minute ordeal, but entering Nicaragua took almost 4 hours.. At all our previous border crossings I got the idea that they wanted to give a good first impression, not here.

The (very young) officials at the gate looked bored and were not helpful at all. We don't have a drone but they asked about it and wanted to inspect our van quite thoroughly. Later on in the process we had to go in through the x-ray machine as well. Our TIP took long because they had to wait for the x-ray results I guess.

For dog owners: you have to declare your dog on the immigration form you get, then go to customs, then to IPSA and back to customs for approval. You need (to make) copies of the vaccinations in the pet passport. It's a $10 dollar entry fee, but this one you can pay in cordobas (~360). We needed to do all this before we could start the TIP process.

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Not a bad crossing at all, but some confusing directions from various officials.

Honduras took all of five minutes. Stamp out at migracion window and then surrender your TIP at aduana window. You have to fill out the customs form
No fee, no copies.

Nicaragua was confusing but here is the right order (as of today :) )

Get customs form. Looks like the Honduras one.

Get motorcycle inspected and searched at the office just past the barrier. Get a stamp on the form.

Go to the MINSA container for Covid vaccine cert check. They give you a note that you take over to migracion container.

Migracion asked about the online permission, but I told him I’d filled out the form but got no reply. True enough , but I didn’t say the time frame.
They ask about places you are staying that day but don’t ask for proof. Just the phone number. They give you the tourist card and another small piece of paper.

Next customs was easy. She wanted to look at the piece of paper form migracion and gave me a 30 day permit.

On the way out hand in your stamped customs form and the little note from migracion.

Whole thing took 1:20, including the five minutes for Honduras

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Honduras to Nicaragua on a Saturday morning starting at 7:45 a.m. It took 45 minutes on the Honduras side and 2 hours on the Nicaragua side.

We’d heard this border was the hardest yet in Central America, but it wasn’t orders harder than the others. It also didn’t take much longer. There were more steps involved and it wasn’t always obvious what the next step was, which made it feel more chaotic. I think if you keep the basics in mind, that’s most helpful: you need to stamp out and cancel your TIP in Honduras, and you need to stamp in and get your TIP in Nicaragua. Everything else is just their bureaucratic whims for that day, and probably all of us are going to have a slightly different experience.

A few notes, not a play-by-play: we walked across to Nicaragua to get a small, square paper saying we were clear to enter. Honduras wanted this paper before doing anything. Nicaragua wanted printed copies of our COVID results in order to give us the approval. We printed from email in the shop by the Honduras aduana. (The other thing you should have a photocopy of is your Honduras TIP.)

Okay, back at Honduras. They took our original TIP and we kept the copy. We filled out one customs form, but we left most of the bottom half blank and they didn’t care.

Interlude for costs:
Honduras
C50 for copies
C200 to Elgar, guide in Honduras
Nicaragua
$40 USD for visas at aduana (should’ve been $39, but they don’t have change)
C160 for fumigation
C110 for municipal tax
$13 USD for insurance

On to Nicaragua. We filled out a visa form per adult that were identical to the Honduras one. The border official instructed us to put “casa rodante equipo personal” in the bottom section where they ask what all we’re carrying. We explained this is our home and we don’t have luggage, so we didn’t have to bring anything out.

A lady did a vehicle inspection, definitely the most thorough in Central America. We opened the back of our habitat and two drawers, and took down a camping bag she wanted to see inside. She went in the habitat and felt our dirty laundry bag. She asked about a battery charger she saw, if we had computers and how many, if we had cameras or a drone. No x-ray. She opened the rear driver side door and felt a backpack, and got into the driver’s seat.

One final note on auto insurance. We have a policy through Costa Rica, but we made a mistake in not having a printed copy. The agent at the border said they are could be ticketed for not having a printed copy. I’m not sure this is true and I kind of doubt it, but just in case we paid $12 for the liability policy they sell there. Double-insured and living the high life.

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Everything as described. Smooth crossing, took not even 2 hours on Monday morning at 8 am. We were not scanned, not asked about the drone and no one entered our car. Just want to add that they check the USD bills thoroughly and don't take any bill with a even tiny torn/crack. Also they wouldn't take the 1 dollar coins we had left from El Salvador. And doublecheck the details (plate, VIN) in the TIP! There was a mistake in the VIN of our TIP.

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Exactly as it's described. We arrived at 8h30 and left all the border stuff at 11. Honduras it was made in 15minutes, you need to go in Nicaragua first so they can accepted you --> covid pcr check, be careful with the place you do the test (pharmacie del ahorro it's okay).
They give you a paper keep it until almost the end. Made the registration for the Salida in Honduras, the man in orange take the paper at the border. After that you can "choose" the order, we went first to pay the fumigation (4,40$) at the right, then we tried to catch the lady of the aduana, after 10min, you choose to go the immigration, ask lots of question, they check really well the hotel, like where it is etc..., paid 13$ per person.
they were a crash btw 2 camiones when we were there so it was a little messy too. Find a guy from the aduana, give us a form to fill, the one for enter Nicaragua. After that, the policies sign the paper, write something on it and for the end at this location, you need to go the aduana for the véhiculo turismo, she asked all the paper (license, car registration, passport). After 10 min when she made the registration of our van, it was done. We had almost finish, take the car, drive like 2minutes and it's time for insurance, you give the 2 form entry and the little white paper of the immigration, you paid 12$ and its done you can fly away. Really it's was strefull but everything in a way was really smooth, you just have to keep in made to be patient. Enjoy Nicaragua !

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Honduras > Nicaragua
Took us about 2.5 hours total. Not a lot of lines, just mostly handling paperwork. A couple notes:
*No car searches or scans. We were fine with the drone.
*The tourist fee has to be paid in USD, 13pp (I guess bc we’re American), but the guys with change have it on hand to exchange.
*The TIP is 30 days max and you have to go to Managua if you want to extend.
Good luck!

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Made it though the Honduras side in 15 min. Arriving at the Nicaragua side the gates where closed and air raid sirens were going off and everyone was in hasmat suits. After things opened back up, it was still very disirganized. Immigration was a nightmare and took two hours. One of the Immigration officers took my phone to look at the address we would be staying, then walked off with it. When I tried to ask for it back he just ignored me and ask for the next person in line. Everytime I asked for it he would ignore me. we finally got it back after talking to the superior officer. It seemed to be a blatant attempt to steal it. Keep your wits about you at this boarder.

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Very easy border crossing, took only two hours and car was not checked, see steps below.

1. Stamp out at Honduras immigration
2. cancel TIP (they'll ask you to go to Nicaragua customs to ask if you can enter)
3. Walk to Nicaragua side, show passports and go to medical center to get PCR approved (you get a small paper that you have to use later).
4. Walk back to Honduras side and cancel tip
5. Drive car to Nicaragua and park immediately after you enter
6. The border official of Nicaragua gives you a paper that you need to fill in (declaration of the car).
7. Get passport stamps (show passports, mail for online form, approval of medic of PCR test, declaration of the car). You have to pay 12 USD per person, they don't have change so make sure to have this (tons of persons around who can change money for you).
7. Go to the building that says 'vehiculo turismo' and give them all the papers they want (car registration, driver license, passport, declaration form you filled in earlier).
8. Drive out and pay 1$ tax per person, you can also get insurance at this place (they'll stop you to pay tax).

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Honduras to Nicaragua
We chose to make a detour to cross this border and avoid the other two to the south which had bad feedback. At first it seemed badly organized but finally afterwards it was quite fluid on the Nicaraguan side. In less than three hours we were in Nicaragua. No search of the vehicle and no questions about the drone. You have to overtake the trucks when you arrive. You park then go to Honduras migration. They take the passport to register the exit. Then on the left there is the office for the TIPs. The person told us that we had to go to the Nicaragua side and that if they accepted us we could cancel the TIP. So we were at the barrier. A gentleman asked for our paper passports and PCR tests (they don't accept dematerialized ones so you can print them on site in an office next door). The gentleman left for five minutes with our papers and came back telling us that it was ok. We went back to the TIP office on the Honduras side to cancel it. Back on the Nicaraguan side, we go first to the health office to validate our PCR tests. Then we go to immigration for passports, she asks for the address where we are going but without looking too much. She also asks if we did the online form. Then we go to the office for the vehicle. You have to fill out a document and the person does the paperwork. We can then leave. Before going out we pay the insurance. We paid 26 dollars at immigration, 0 for the vehicle, 12 dollars for the insurance and 2 dollars to get out of the border. Currency exchange can be done on site.

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Crossing from Honduras to Nicaragua:

As we had overstayed in Honduras the Honduran side sent us first to Nicaragua to check that we can get in. To our surprise they said that we are not allowed to enter with our truck as it is too heavy for a tourist vehicle (10t). After 2 hours of waiting we went back to Honduras, first to immigration (where we paid the fine) and then to customs to cancel the TIP. All very quick.

Then we registered at the police just behind the barrier and filled in a customs form upon which we were allowed to drive into Nicaragua and park there (no fumigation). Next step was Covid Check (you need printed certificates, QR codes were checked online) upon which you receive a small paper to go to immigration (we had done the pre registration for both, immigration and covid but not sure they used it). Immigration was quick and they (contrary to Honduras) accepted our extension we had received in El Salvador. Paid $13 per person for the tourist card. Received another tiny paper slip (needed to exit the area at the end).

Next step customs to obtain TIP, quick and free but just 30 days. After that back to police where they checked our customs form and immigration slip and sent us away to leave the area.

Nobody looked inside or even at the car. Scanner was operating for trucks but we were not sent through.

We drove down the hill for 50m or so where the final barrier is. Paid $1 per person of road / community tax (receipt), handed over our customs form and immigration slip and had to buy insurance for a month $12. Off we went...

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Today we crossed the border from Nicaragua to Honduras. It is possible to do a Rapidtest on the Honduras side. The price is 50 US Dollar.

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Today we crosed from Nicaragua to Honduras. A rapid Test is available at the Honduras side. They asked for 50 dollars and the result was ready after 15 min.

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Follow advice of Facebook.com/2Msontheroad
Honduras -> Nicaragua
A note to assist you: When you reach the rope, go through and park on the left side. (Ignore helpers if you can - I believe our processes was longer because of this). Immigration & Customs offices are on the left. When facing them, Immigration windows are on the right and Customs are on the left.
COMPLETE & SUBMIT the online Nicaragua form as directed prior to crossing. Have printed copy of COVID results for Nicaragua officials. Good luck!

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Update.
Crossing to Honduras, pay 36 dólares by car for TIP.
Rapid Test covid 30 dólares or 700 lempiras.

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NICARAGUA —> HONDURAS
Coronavirus update:
You can have a blood test directly at the border which is valid to enter in Honduras. It costs us 30usd pp (much cheaper than the PCR test provided by MINSA in Managua that costs 150usd pp). Contact number of the woman from the laboratory at the border: +50496466680.

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EXIT NICARAGUA - ENTER HONDURAS

Nicaragua

1) Arrive at first stop 100m before gate and fill out exit declaration. They will stamp it there.
2) drive up to and park just before gate on the right. Get a copy of your declaration first, on the left past immigration and IPSA. Come back to car, provide license and declaration plus copy to an officer.
3) They will direct you to the scanner, wait in front of the cone until directed to drive through. You'll have to leave all passengers and animals before entering, and they have you leave the car running and exit while the scan.
4) go back to wait for scan results. They may search your car if scan comes back "suspicious". Searched our van.
5) go to aduana window, hand them stamped and signed exit declaration and license. Done with car exit.
6) Go to immigration for exit stamp. For US it cost $2 pp for exit stamp.
7) if traveling with a pet, make sure you do all paperwork and payments before arriving at the border. Find info at Somoto IPSA office pinned in the town of Somoto as star on app.
8) Done! You can leave Nicaragua now.

Honduras

1) When you cross the border, someone will hand you an entry declaration, identical to the one you filled out to exit Nicaragua.
2)Park in front of immigration. Immigration is hard to see, on the right past SENASA. Entry stamp is 75 lempiras pp
3) aduana is next set of windows on the right. Hand them original license, passport, title, plus two copies of each (just info page of passport, no need for entry stamp copies). Now it's a waiting game. They may have you drive your vehicle down to the aduana windows to see it more clearly.
4) once you get the TIP, go down the alley past aduana for copies. 2 copies of TIP, 1 copy of entry stamp only, 1 copy of license. These copies are to hand in with entry declaration at the exit.
5) passport to police officer for verification, he'll briefly look into the car.
6) you're done! Hand entry declaration, copy of passport info page and stamp, registration, and license to guy in orange jacket at the exit.
7) SENASA is at the top of the hill before immigration if traveling with a pet. $20/pet. You'll need papers from Nicaragua, copies of vax documents, health certificate, and a doc with vehicle info.

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As described. Took me 2 days to get my online application approved. I showed immigration a print screen of the approval and the email. Was not as bad as I expected.

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Honduras: the hardest part was to find which shack was migration and aduana. Then get passport stamped first (right windows), proceed to Aduana (left windows), give them passport, original TIP (2 papers) , one copy of the colored page. Fill out declaration form. You will get car exit stamp and one paper back. That's all. Free. Time about 10 min.

Nicaragua: Park right across the border on the left. 1. Fill out declaration form in the yellow hut, somebody with a name tag will check the form, drivers license and car title, they briefly looked into the car and asked about drone.
2. Go to migration windows with your passport (blue and white container). Answer questions (where from/to, for how long, name of the first stop and hotel), pay $12 USD ($10 tourist card, $2 fee), show email (in the phone was ok), wait and get all the receipts and stamps.
3. ‎Deal with the police in black uniforms. They keep your car title, drivers license and declaration form until end of the process. They will direct you to fumigation ($3 USD with receipt) and X-ray. Bring the car back. Long wait until they get x-ray results. Officer will compare the results with your car, stamp the declaration form and return your documents (they checked some camping equipment we have inside, tools and wrenches, roof box with engine oil, spare parts etc.).
4. ‎Aduana: give declaration, car title, drivers license, passport. Wait. Sign a form. Get a form and don't loose it, it's $100 if you do.
5. ‎All done here. About 500m down the road you will show the paperwork to some officer. Here is also insurance broker. We already had one from Guatemala and it was ok. They also collect municipal fee $2 usd. Now you're free to go. Enjoy!

The police part took the longest. We had enough time to eat big breakfast in the comedor for 45C, coffee 5C. Everybody was very nice and patient. Lady in aduana remembered a song with my name and sung it 🙂. Total time for us was about 3 hours. Nobody wanted any of my copies. We didn't use a "helper" and we speak very basic and limited Spanish.

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Enter Nicaragua:
Pretty much as described. Took us a total of 5 hours - our longest border crossing to date. Border was almost empty, not many people are crossing right now with the civil unrest.

The main hold-up was they found our spear-fishing gun and claimed it couldn’t be taken through Nicaragua. Not true as far as we know. Won’t clutter this up with details, but I guess our advice would be to hide any fishing or camping equipment well that could be construed as a weapon. I think things are very heightened right now due to the civil unrest and they aren’t taking any chances.

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Exit Nica - Enter Honduras:
Easy border crossing! Such kind people. There was hardly anyone there. Of course it’s not clear where to go when in the process, but you’ll find out.

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We crossed this border today. We had completed the online application the week previously. It took 2 hours to leave Honduras to enter Nicaragua. Every locker on our truck was inspected by customs. Everyone was helpful and friendly. Customs were more interested in drones and professional camera equipment than anything else.

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Crossed today from Honduras to Nica. You need the approval email, we were asked for it. Showed them the picture on my phone and they were happy. The whole process took about 1.5 hours, easy crossing. The car wasn't checked at all.

12 usd/person (only payable in dollars)
3 usd fumigation
12 usd for the insurance
2 usd Municipal tax for 2 ppl (or 62 cordoba)

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Yes you need to send the entry document at least 7 days prior to arrival. We did this, or at least thought we did. We arrived to find out they only received a blank copy. We were able to fill one out here but it takes a long time. 4 hours total. It cost 12US pp for the immigration, bike was free, and there is a mandatory 12US insurance

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not an easy crossing,need to send email 7 days prior to crossing if not you will wait and wait, we waited 4 hours

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Border as described. We are two US citizens and we needed the email preapproval. We had it, thanks to I overlander advice. We crossed 3 days before the date stated on the approval email and no questions were asked about why we came early.

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Honduras to Nicaragua: Be aware that you‘ll get only 30 days for the car. We purchased the car insurance for two month and have to go to Aduana in Managua to add more days for our vehicle. We didn’t need any copies here. As others told the immigration was about 12 $ each, but we got a receipt about 2 $...... all together easy and fast bordercrossing.

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Straight forward border crossing.

Honduras to Nicaragua

Leaving Honduras:
Stop at immigration window to get stamped out. We had to pay 3USD exit fee. To cancel the TIP it’s in the same building. No fee to be paid. Make sure they stamp your passport.

Entering Nicaragua:

First stop at fumigation which cost 3.5USD.
From there move on to immigration. It will be on your left hand side. 12 USD per person for visa.
Passport copy was needed.
The Aduanda, for TIP, is in the next building. Passport, registration and driver license copy needed. No fee to be paid.
The insurance you will buy from an agent at the border for 12USD.

Note:
We got stuck for 9 hours. As per November 1 some people need a special security clearance. (they asked for a reference in from of a hotel reservation or friends address etc.) Apparently you have to send an email 7 days prior. It seems this rule does not apply for everybody. Immigration asked us to fill out a immigration form and send it along with our passport to an email they provided us with.

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Check government website before you go to Nicaragua.You will need invitation via email before you go.Otherwise you can be stuck there as we were.We spent 18 hours there.

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We came at noon yesterday (saturday) and after 2 hours we were in Nicaragua. We can confirm the description.
The "roadtax" is 1 dollar per person and on the receipt it says "municipality". Think it is a local tax.
There was signed another hotel at 22 km. And there is also the overlandspot in Ocotel.

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We may have just been lucky but arrived at 9.30am on a Monday and just under two hours to get through. Helpful on botbthe Honduran and Nicaraguan side. Also very friendly. We were charged for fumigation (93 Cordobas) and managed to pay fees in Cordobas not dollars.

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Crossed from Nicaragua to Honduras. Fastest border in Central America so far. Friendly workers. It took us one hour for both sides.

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Pretty easy border crossing with really nice and helpful officials.
We didn't have to pay the 3 USD for leaving Honduras, maybe because we showed them the 3 USD proof for paying when entering the country.
They only had a really brief look into the car. Maybe useful if you are travelling with a drone,  which are forbidden in Nicaragua.

Time:
30 minutes Honduras side
1 hour Nicaragua side

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Same directions/costs as previous posts. Checking out of Honduras took 25 minutes with car. Checking into Nicaragua took 1.5 hour with car.

Money changers were friendly and easy to negotiate with on the Honduras side, with a 3% loss changing lempiras into Cordobas, about as expected.

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As described EXCEPT: We paid $3 USD per person to exit Honduras. We paid $3 USD for fumigation in Nicaragua. We paid $12 USD per person for our tourist visas, we gave him $25 and he didn't give us our change but we didn't ask, better not to cause any trouble! We paid $1 USD per person for a municipal tax (for?). We paid 370 Cordobas for the mandatory insurance. All in all very smooth border crossing, total time 1 1/2 hours (would have been longer but we got to cut the line in Honduras because Lane is "tercera edad").

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simple leaving Honduras. took like two hours to get through Nicaraguan process.

we were sent betweeen offices several times and then sent through the big cargo trucks scanner/xray.

when you stop for the fumigation ask the exchange rate. the money changers tried to skim some for sure.

had to pay US dollars for my $12 fee. wouldn't accept cordobas. made me leave the líne and get córdobas changed to US dollars w the money changer.

Go to health office for virus process before immigration líne.

you wont get a pasaport stamp only a piece of paper.

you can pay córdobas or dollars for the car $12 insurance/security.

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We crossed today, a Thursday, with no problem. We were expecting big lines, but we were the only ones there. There were one or two truck drivers too, to be precise, but we overheard them saying to the officers that they cross every day, so we think we were the only tourists around.

People were kind and in less than 1 hour and 15 minutes we had left Honduras and were driving with all the stamps, fumigation and insurance required by Nicaragua.

It could be that we got there kind of late (5:20 pm), or maybe because it was raining, but this was one of the easiest border-crossing since we started the trip in Vermont, US.

So happy that Nicaragua border doesn't require copies of the documents!!! It is all scanned. And the best 'tramitador' etiquette so far: one single gentleman came to offer his services at the Nicaraguan side and as soon as we said "no, muchas gracias", he left and no one else came. Talk about being polite!

We also felt safe driving to Ocotal, where we spent the night, although we met a Nicaraguan truck driver at the hotel who told us not to drive at night. Better listen to the locals.

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My girlfriend and I crossed from Honduras to Nicaragua in my Toyota 4runner on Dec. 21/2016. What a mess. Trucks on either side of the road approaching the border, reducing the road to a narrow, single-lane. This caused a traffic jam as vehicles needed to take turns coming through. Also a bus drove all the way to the border and dropped off its passengers, then needed to somehow find a spot to turn around among the mess of trucks and people.

Our experience was similar to the others described. When we finally got to the actual border, we parked on the Hon. side and were swarmed by helpers and money changers. We shook them off and waited in line at the Honduras migration where they stamped us out for free. Then went to Aduana where I returned the TIP for free after filling out the form that really only applies to entering the country. They then stamped the passport (over migration's exit stamp) indicating the TIP was cancelled No photocopies were required, and nobody checked the vehicle.

After changing currencies for a pretty decent rate, we then drove to the Nic. side, through the boom, stopping in front of the small building adjacent the boom on the left side. Here a worker gave me a form to fill out concerning declarations, if we had a fever, that sort of thing. Once filled out, a man looked it over, took a very quick look at the vehicle, checked my passport, license, and registration, wrote a few things on the form, and sent us to drive a little down the street to migration and aduana.

We weren't directed to fumigation, nor were we ever asked to prove we'd been fumigated.

Park somewhere near the seacans and buildings which are on the left side of the road. Migration is in the white seacan, and aduana is in a building behind/left of migration. We went to the aduana first where we began the TIP process. The young guy seemed as if he'd never done this before, and it took quite a while as he worked on the computer. He required looking at the form I'd filled out previously, my passport, and the registration, which he scanned. He then walked to the vehicle to check the plates. After finally printing off the TIP we walked over to Migration.

At Migration, it took four employees to finally give us the tourist cards. The first two employees riffled through my passport looking for who knows what for about 7 minutes before doing anything. Our passports were then passed throughout the seacan to various employees before completing the job. We paid USD$10/person + C$45/person. We received tourist cards and receipts, and a lot of attitude. We didn't receive our C$5 change. They didn't check our temperatures or anything like that.

We then hopped back in the car and drove towards the boom where four different people approached. One checked the TIP, another checked our passports and took the form we originally filled out, another charged us the USD$1/person "municipal tax" and another was the insurance guy who charged USD$12 for a month. Finally, we could leave.

Overall, we spent 2.25 hours and this was probably the worst border crossing up until that point.

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Just to add that if you travel with dog you should go to IPSA and pay 10$

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Leaving Honduras easy - passed 50+ semis. Leaving Honduras took with both immigration and Aduana - 15 minutes.

Entering Nicaragua - not so easy - pouring rain. 1)Fumigation, 2)Shed where they checked and signed off on custom form, 3)Salud health center where they took our temperatures, 4)Immigration where required to pay in USD$10 per person + 90 Córdoba for something, 5)Aduana where they scanned originals, 6)Driving out gave customs form and queried where we were going, and finally 7)Seguros insurance. (Wouldn't accept our insurance purchased in Guatemala which was promised to cover Nicaragua as well and states as much on insurance firm.) Took hour + 45 minutes for Nicaragua side.

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Took us 80 minutes all together. We were asked about an insurance but waved through. Did not buy one....

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Exit Honduras
On the road to the border you will pass many trucks that are parked or waiting. Just drive on until the border.
• Park to the right
• Shake off helpers; no gracias was enough
• Put the money exchangers on hold
• Go to immigracion window. Exit stamp for free. Be sure the guy knows you want to exit; he started an entry procedure. You have to scan your fingerprints again (to make sure it’s you?). For one of us the digital fingerprints and photo taken at entry were not in the computer, so they had to be taken at exit. Therefore we have 2 different exit stamps; 1 computer generated, 1 manual. Be sure to check you got one.
• Go to the Aduana window to the left and hand in your tip and passport. We had to fill out an exit form, with questions that would apply more appropriately to entry. The TIP is cancelled, they keep it. But you get a stamp in your passport as proof of cancellation.
• Change money; you need Cordobas at immigracion in Nicaragua

Enter Nicaragua
• Drive through the boom and park to the right, next to a small blue tent. This is fumigation, they will fumigate while you do paperwork
• No helpers in sight
• At the small office next to the boom you get a form for the vehicle to complete. Helpful and friendly staff. Make sure you put Nicaragua as destination (not as transit)
• A lady takes the form walks to the van and takes a peek inside (we think just because she was curious, she didn’t check any VIN numbers or cupboards). Hold on to the form
• Pay for fumigation US$ 5, hold on to the receipt
• Leave your car at the tent and walk to immigracion. Hand in your passport. Lots of checking of other stamps, scanning and entering data. Another guy filled out the tourist card slowly. We could hardly hear the price, because a TV above the window was on full volume. Per person US$ 10 + 45 Cordobas. Guy had to get change (and figure out the calculation), the other guy looked at our dollar bills as if he had never seen one. Interesting to watch this inefficient 2 man job, with loud TV in background (make that front center). We had fun. You get a tourist card and some kind of receipt per person and 1 recibo for all payments (although the money does not add up). Hold on to all the stuff. We double checked; no stamp in passport needed according to immigracion, just a tourist card
• A few windows to the left is Aduana with a very efficient lady. Hand in the vehicle form, passport, title, driver’s license. No copies needed, they scan everything. You receive a printout which is the TIP. For free. They make a point saying that if you lose it, it will cost US$ 100.
• By now you need an extra set of hands to hold all the paperwork … Get your van and drive to the boom. Two persons checked our paperwork: 1 for passports, 1 for the vehicle. They keep the printout receipt per person and the vehicle form that you filled out in the beginning, all the rest is returned to you.
• The boom opens, almost in. Here you pay US$ 1 per person for municipal tax, hold on to the receipts.
• A guy wants to sell you insurance, which is mandatory. We showed our Guatemala insurance, which covers Nicaragua, although we knew that they probably don’t acknowledge this. And indeed they didn’t accept this, because there is no representation of our insurance company in this country. O well, we tried. Check your data on the insurance form that is filled out by hand. Pay US$ 12 and you are good to go.

Good border crossing, 1 hour and 15 minutes all together. At 9.15 on a Thursday morning we were the only ones there on both sides. Total cost US$ 39 + 90 Cordobas for 2 persons and a van. And that included the free entertainment of the 2 Nica immigracion men and their loud TV.

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Easy boarder crossing, no copies, took us only 1 hour. Paid 3 d for fumigation, 10d + 45 Cordoba for tourist card and 350 for insurance.

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Honduras into Nicaragua: leaving honduras: exit stamp, cancelled vehicle permit (no fees, quick, no one looked at the car or ID). Entering Nicaragua: huge line up at the immigration. Then the lady in front of me pulled 25 IDs out...long waiting time...tourist card and fee 350C. Fumigation 3US or I paid 75lempira as I had money left. Vehicle import was quick and free. The guy at the exit gate wanted to see vehicle import, the paper the import lady signed and the little receipt/paper from immigration. We didn't see anyone wanting a fee for toll. But that might be because as soon as the border guard opened the gate we drove on by anyone else after that as we assumed they where just looking to sell us insurance that we already had

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7am on a Thurs. easy. no issues. no helpers.

Exit Nica: 1. You will arrive at a police shack. the officer will ask for the tip, dl, registration/title. he will verify the plate #. 2. another person will give you a paper to fill out. fill it in then. he will look it over, sign it, and tell you to go. 3. go to immigration. get exit stamp. 4. go to aduana. turn in tip. drive to Honduras.
1. Go to immigration. get stamp/fingerprints. pay $3/70 hond limp. 2. Go to Aduana. Fill in paper. 3. give paper and all your car docs to window. give $34. 4. agent will fill in carbon copy form and stamp your passport with car info. Agent will ask for copies of entry stamp and tip. 5. get copies. 6. return to window. give copies. she will give you the tip and the copy with form stapled together. 7. at the gate, give agent the stapled paper.

insurance not required.

Dog travellers: MAKE SURE TO DECLARE YOUR DOG AND GET PAPERWORK. Not sure what is required but at the exit it was almost a problem!

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from Honduras to Nicaragua:

- crossed on a Wednesday at 10am was a bit busy but not that bad
-total crossing time : 2 hours including the police control after the border and getting insurance

Honduras side...
-easy and fast
-get your passport exit stamp, no fee
-next window, cancel your registration, very quick (no need of copies) no fees

drive a bit further and a man will ask you to pull out on the right for the fumigation

Nicaragua side...
-for the fumigation and pay $us3 or $co86, keep the receipt!
-at the main blue office, go to the aduana to get your vehicle permit (no need copy's), free
-at the immigration, there is a health office were they check your passport, take your temperature and give you a little piece of paper with a stamp
-next window is the immigration where you show your passport. no copy, no stamp but 2fees: $us10 pp for the tourist card and $co 45 pp for ??? but you get a receipt so I think it is legit!

FOR DOG : there is a little quarantina in a grey trailer. the guy will stamp the paper (vaccination, health certificate, we have the same papers since mexico) and give a copy of all and pay $us14...he will give you a receipt and certificate, be sure to have them, the police asked for it !

drive to the yellow barrier you park on the side of the road and pay $us1 or $Co30 for the municipal tax and buy the mandatory car insurance to the woman standing aside (no office) it costs $12 or Co$350.

Then the police asked us a copy of our title and passport and did a very serious check of our car for about 15min...

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Nicaragua to Honduras, simple enough ;-)

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Exit Honduras: paid nothing. Got out passport stamped and import permit canceled.
Enter Nicaragua: fumigation was 3USD. They gave us receipt so we thought it wasn't a scam. They give the vehicle's owner a paper to fill out. Make sure you have it signed after filling it out. We forgot and had to go back. Then we went a little bit further to migración and did quite a line up for getting our passport stamped. They don't stamp it, they give you a tourist card instead. It was 10USD + 45Cordobas. In the receipt it shows only the cordobas so we thought it is possible that they keep for themselves the USD. But we're not sure about that. Vehicle importation was free. They don't ask for any copies. With originals you're good.
Insurance: 12USD. We did it at the exit gate. A woman came and did it in 5 minutes.

Paid 1USD for road fee.

Make sure you keep all receipts. They ask for it in the exit gate.

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As often people only report here about bad border crossing experiences, which makes me sad because it makes people afraid of border crossings, I'd like to review, that our border crossing there from Honduras to Nicaragua was totally OK.
Of course, it's not fun.
One Guy in Honduras asked for an exit fee but we didn't pay, because it definitely doesn't exist. only 3$ entrance fee pP (keep receipt for exit!).
In Nicaragua it's true that it's a bit annoying that you get stopped several times at this border for different reasons and inspections, but they all treated us fair, we got a receipt for each payment we made.
so, keep calm and relaxed.

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2 hours to do the things do exit from Nicarágua and enter to Honduras. We pay U$1 to alcadia plus 45 cordobas to exit from Nicarágua por person and pay U$3 to enter to Honduras and U$36 to car.

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We had to pay 6 USD pp to exit Honduras. We think it is a scam. They don't give you a receipt. Heard from other travelers that they did not pay showing them the receipt from the entry fee (3 USD pp for us close to Copan)

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Took 3 hours to cross. Worst crossing experience ...no issues Mexico, Belize, g'mala, Honduras. Nicaragua officials mAde all efforts to make our life hard. Scratching paint off the car to Ensure its original Colour, asking to be paid only in usd, taking money without receipt, we were stopped unnecessarily , RV checked 4 different points. Official even recorded our push bikes bar code #... Honduras official charged 70l as exit fee pp, so do carry some. Nicaragua entry fee was 10usd + 45n , also insurance usd 12. There are small fees in N$ for road tax, fumigation. All the best 🙃

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Border Crossing: Honduras / Nicaragua Post on July 7th, 2013 at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-honduras-nicaragua/

We cross borders by land in a CR-V with US passports and our two dogs. We do not carry drugs or weapons or disallowed fruit (usually). 

When, Where, and Which Direction: June 29, 2013 – Los Manos, Yuscarán, Honduras > El Paraiso, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua
What We Needed: Due to character limits, this section is available at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-honduras-nicaragua/ .

The Process: This border was a giant cluster. It wasn’t a negative experience per say, just a relatively unclear one. I’ve attempted to clarify how we completed the steps required to pass below.
Drive past many, many 18-wheelers parked along both sides of the road. Photo at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-honduras-nicaragua/ .Park in front of the building on left side of the road.Be aware of helpers. They come in all shapes and sizes, some trying to exchange money, others offering forms, most trying to follow you around from one step to the next, butting in to “help” and then expecting something in return. If you want the assistance, just be prepared to offer a nice “voluntary” tip for the services and probably also some additional or higher fees along the way.  PanAmNotes [LINK: http://panamnotes.com/how-to/honduras_in_one_day/]  recommends travelers be prepared with the phrase, “No necisita ayuda. Por favor, dejame in paz, no voy a pagar. Vaya!” to say no. We were later inadvertently directed to the customs window and handed forms by a money changer who we thanked by exchanging some cash with.Go into the middle-ish, right-ish office door. Some uniformed officials may be around. Answer questions asked by the migración agent regarding where you’re coming from and where you’re going. He’ll take passports into a room in the back where they will be stamped for exit. No fee charged.Go to windows left of migración but in the same building to get auto import permit cancelled. We gave the official our temporary permit, Ian’s passport (which had the car stamped in it), and customs forms that were given to us by a helper. The official didn’t look at the customs forms or the car, but processed the cancellation quickly. No fee charged.Get back in car and continue down the road through the narrow pathway between the large trucks. The official line between the Honduras and Nicaragua is marked by a chain between poles with a sign nearby on either side welcoming you to each country. The chain may be down, but the crossing can also be spotted by the snack shack on the left followed immediately by a small, unmarked office. A uniformed officer looks at passports here.Pull off to the right to go to the fumigation station. Go up the stairs and into the office on the far right to pay fee. Photo at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-honduras-nicaragua/ .Return to unmarked office next to snack shack where vehicles can park nearby. Read “Our Experience” below for some observations and thoughts on helpers on the Nicaraguan half of the border.Get passports stamped. This was a strange step for us. The officials (in blue collared shirts with DGA embroidered on lapel) behind the window filled out our immigration forms for us and then walked them to a second office further down the road with a very long line where they were stuffed with a stamped tourist card each, but not stamped themselves. The official also took our cash to the office and returned our change to us with a receipt that indicated that he had pocketed 80% of the fee and then changed the price. He then said something to me indicating that he expected a tip for expediting the process, but I played dumb and in retrospect, the $20 he stole should probably cover it. It might be worth checking to see if the fee is cheaper by waiting in the line in the last office to the left, but we really don’t know. Photo available at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-honduras-nicaragua/ .At the same time as the passports were being processed, we also started our vehicle import permit process. This means handing a photocopy of the vehicle’s registration to a DGA official sitting outside of the unmarked building next to the snack shack with a clipboard. He will write down some information onto the photocopy with his initials and maybe look briefly at the outside of the car.This form must be taken to the customs office with title, registration, owner’s passport, and driver’s license. That office is on the left side of the road, a bit further down from the unmarked building next to the snack shack. It is the same building that our passports were stamped in, but the window is on the far left rather than the right. Your spot in line is not really yours, so think defensively. Stand wide and move forward immediately when space is available. The person in the office will spend many, many minutes typing and helping others who wedge their way in. The owner of the car will need to sign the permit.

Photo available at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-honduras-nicaragua/ .

When she does hand you your paperwork back, return to the unmarked building next to the snack shack where the official who originally looked at your documents will write your information onto a clipboard and sign off on your new permit.To import dogs, which may or may not be necessary depending on who is paying attention, return to the right side of the road near the fumigation station. The office is up the stairs and to the left of the office where payment is collected for fumigation. We supplied a health certificate, vaccination certificates, and Spanish translation of the health certificate. An official accepted the forms without looking at the dogs, filled out a few carbon copy forms, accepted our payment, and then sent us on our way with permit in hand.Get back in your car and drive a short distance further where a police officer will look at copies of your documents and examine the car at a building on the left. Purchase insurance at that building from a non-uniformed person sitting in a chair in front.Get back in your car to drive out of the border area. Another official may need to see all paperwork before allowing exit.Costs: Due to character limits, this section is available at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-honduras-nicaragua/

Dogs: Due to character limits, this section is available at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-honduras-nicaragua/ .

Our Experience: Due to character limits, this section is available at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-honduras-nicaragua/ .

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This is guest post from Sellheim (Dom), originally posted on  Horizons Unlimited [LINK: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/central-america-and-mexico/complete-central-america-mexico-colombia-71892] .
Nicaragua-Honduras, Las Manos Border: Crossed 20/9/12.
As it was along one of the main borders, there was a heavy traffic jam of 10kms up to border. A lot of annoying helpers, although some may be selling insurance. 

Exit Honduras: 
Immigration and aduana in same building with different offices. Passport stamped out (no fee). At aduana, vehicle temporary import paper taken and exit stamp put in passport (no fee). 

Enter Nicaragua: 
Directed to fumigation (no cost), didn't even give receipt of fumigation. First to immigration to get a tourist card and receipt with stamps cost USD$12 or 282 Nicaraguan Cordoba Oros (NIO). Although looking at my entry receipt now it says 44.28 cordobas?, someone may want to check what the real cost is and post it. Insurance helper guy pestering me was hanging around while I got the entry stamp, immigration officer knew of the guy and said that insurance was necessary and the guy was ok to buy from. Insurance cost USD$12 or NIO282. Vehicle permit took ages due so lots of helpers doing truckers papers and a general slow process. Showed all the usual paperwork and was given the temporary vehicle permit (no charge). Had to also pay a road tax of USD$1 or NIO24 (receipt was given) to the guard at the border, before another border guard who checked all my other paperwork would let me pass. Whole process took about 1 hr. 30 mins. Couldn't find any sign posted hotels until Esteli which was around 100kms into Nicaragua. Think there were a few gas stations on the way though.

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