🇭🇳 Honduras Healthcare Guide
Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula have private hospitals that provide adequate care — Centro Medico Hondureno and Hospital del Valle are the most commonly recommended — but outside these two cities, facilities are very basic. The Bay Islands, where many visitors go for diving, have only small clinics on Roatan and Utila — knowing that serious dive injuries may require a transfer to the recompression chamber at Anthony's Key Resort on Roatan, and saving its contact details before you dive, could matter if something goes wrong at depth.
Quick facts
- Emergency number: 195
- Healthcare system: mixed
- Average GP visit: $15 USD
- EHIC/GHIC accepted: No
- Language barrier: high
Healthcare overview
Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula have Honduras’s best private hospitals (Hospital del Valle, Centro Médico Hondureño). Roatán’s CMA Hospital handles tourist-level care and has a hyperbaric chamber for diving injuries, a notable feature given the Bay Islands’ dive-heavy tourism. Utila has a clinic only; hospitalisation means a flight to Roatán or the mainland.
Roatán hyperbaric chamber
CMA Hospital on Roatán has a recompression chamber for decompression sickness. Divers on Utila or Guanaja would be transferred here.
Utila and Guanaja
Utila has a basic clinic; Guanaja has less. Hospitalisation from either island requires transfer to Roatán or the mainland.
Vaccinations
Recommended
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Typhoid
Prescriptions and pharmacies
Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula pharmacies carry common medications at low prices. Roatán has pharmacies in Coxen Hole and West End with moderate stock. Utila has one pharmacy. If you take medications that interact with diving (beta-blockers, certain antidepressants, antihistamines), having that information accessible for dive operators and doctors covers you for informed decisions.
Dive medication interactions
Some medications affect diving safety. Having your full medication list accessible means a dive doctor can flag interactions before you enter the water.
Tips for travellers
Tegucigalpa’s private hospitals cover most specialist care. From Roatán, San Pedro Sula is a 20-minute flight and has significantly stronger specialist departments than any Bay Islands facility. Having your treatment plan accessible in Spanish helps Honduran specialists continue your care, whether you present on the mainland or transfer from the islands.
Mainland proximity from Roatán
San Pedro Sula is 20 minutes by air from Roatán. For anything beyond CMA Hospital’s capabilities, the mainland is close.