Central America’s ‘summer’ is known as the dry season which broadly runs from December through to April, and the rainy season runs from June through October. May and November are ‘shoulder’ periods as one season evolves into the other from dry to rainy or rainy to dry.
The weather is warm all year round with average temperatures of 24 degrees C from November to January, and gradually warming up to 27 degree C average May to September when it is at its hottest. Coldest night time temp is around 10 degrees C and hottest it will likely get at the height of the day is around 32 degrees C. Much depends on whether you’re in the lowland rainforest areas or higher up in cloudforest regions.
The rainy season sees tropical rain where you get downpours for an hour or so most days, then it clears up, leaving the air feeling refreshed. Often the rain can come at the same time each day which could be at night time or evening – so the rainy season in Central America is still a good time to visit and the region sees plenty of visitors during the UK and European summer holiday period of July and August. However it should be noted that the northern part of the region can very occasionally see hurricanes from July to October.
Up-to-date visa and entry requirements for Central America can be found at:-
Belize: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belize/entry-requirements
Costa Rica: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/costa-rica/entry-requirements
El Salvador: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/el-salvador/entry-requirements
Guatemala: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/guatemala/entry-requirements
Honduras: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/honduras/entry-requirements
Nicaragua: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/nicaragua/entry-requirements
Panama: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/panama/entry-requirements
For up-to-date advice on any vaccination requirements and any health risks associated with visiting Central America, contact your local GP.
Additional useful Information is also provided at http://www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk/destinations/central-america an NHS web site specialising in providing health information to travellers from the UK.
For up-to-date UK government advice concerning travel to Belize see www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belize
For up-to-date UK government advice concerning travel to Costa Rica see www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/costa-rica
For up-to-date UK government advice concerning travel to El Salvador see www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/el-salvador
For up-to-date UK government advice concerning travel to Guatemala see www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/guatemala
For up-to-date UK government advice concerning travel to Honduras see www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/honduras
For up-to-date UK government advice concerning travel to Nicaragua see www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/nicaragua
For up-to-date UK government advice concerning travel to Panama see www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/panama
Exchange Rates are subject to change at any time but the following table gives indicative rates for countries in Central and South America:
Belize: GMT -6 hours
Costa Rica: GMT -6 hours
El Salvador: GMT -6 hours
Guatemala: GMT -6 hours
Honduras: GMT -6 hours
Nicaragua: GMT -6 hours
Panama: GMT -5 hours
Belize: +501
Costa Rica: +506
El Salvador: +503
Guatemala: +502
Honduras: +504
Nicaragua: +505
Panama: +507
Throughout the whole of the Central American region:-