What It Actually Cost Us to Drive from Texas to Roatán

In late May of 2026 we drove from Texas to Roatán. Five of us, one car, one dog, eight days on the road. We crossed at Laredo, ran down through Monterrey and Veracruz and Villahermosa, crossed into Guatemala at El Ceibo, cut across to Puerto Barrios, crossed into Honduras at Corinto, and put the car on the ferry out of La Ceiba. The full account of how that drive actually went, leg by leg, is in our route guide.

This is the other question people ask. Two readers wrote in wanting to know what the whole thing cost, and we answered from memory. We have since gone back through the card statements line by line. Here is the real number.

The drive cost us about $2,400

That covers the border at Laredo through to rolling off the ferry on Roatán. Eight days, seven hotel nights, five people and a dog.

Every figure here is the dollar amount that hit our card. For rough context the peso was running around 18.4 to the dollar, the quetzal around 7.6, and the lempira around 26.5. These are what we paid in late May of 2026, and some of it will have moved since.

The ferry is the single biggest line

Getting the car and the family from La Ceiba to Roatán came to $394.83 on the card, plus $15.95 in port taxes at the dock. That is more than the fuel for the entire drive.

The 8,000 lempira figure we have quoted before, about $320, covers the vehicle. The $394.83 covers the vehicle and five passages together. That distinction is easy to miss when you are reading ferry prices online, and it is worth about seventy five dollars. Budget four hundred for a car and a family.

Lodging, fuel and food

Seven nights came to $552, which works out to about $79 a night for a family of five. The cheapest nights ran under thirty dollars and the dearest was a little over a hundred. The dog cost extra almost every night, usually somewhere between ten and thirty dollars. One hotel outside Veracruz charged sixty for her, twice the top of that range and the most she cost us anywhere. All of it is folded into the number above.

Fuel was $314 across seven fills. We were driving a hybrid and driving it fast, which put us somewhere in the high twenties for mileage.

Food came to $335 across those eight days, which is about forty two dollars a day to feed five people. We kept it down by carrying most of it. Sandwiches and snacks out of the car, fruit from the stands along the road, and now and then a plate from a little place once we reached a town.

Borders, permits and paperwork

The border line comes to $217, and it is made of small pieces. Fumigation at El Ceibo was $14.16. The Honduras agricultural fee was $19.95. Mexican auto insurance covered the seven days we needed it and came to six dollars on the card, bought ahead of the crossing rather than at the window.

The Mexican temporary vehicle import permit is worth explaining properly, because almost every source we read ran the two charges together. Our card was hit for $478.82 going in and refunded $414.93 coming out. The refunded part is a deposit. From what we have read since, it is tiered by how old your vehicle is, and it only comes back if you cancel the permit at a Banjercito module on the way out, with the car present, before it expires. Miss that and you have donated it. What stayed gone was $63.89.

What we did not budget for

Guatemalan vehicle insurance cost us $112.70. We understood at the time that we had to carry it, and we paid it without much argument. What we can say for certain is that it was nowhere in our planning, and it is the largest single thing on the drive we did not see coming.

Three ATM cash advances cost us $9.35 in fees for the privilege of pulling our own money out on a credit card. Small, and entirely avoidable if we had planned the cash better.

The insurance, the permit fee and the ferry come to about $587 between them.

Which brings up the cash. We carried a thousand dollars in with us and spent somewhere around five hundred of it. Cash is where the tolls went, and the Mexican tolls alone run to roughly two thousand pesos across the country. Cash is also where the vehicle permits went, the vet certificate in Villahermosa, the dog’s paperwork at each crossing, and every small thing at every window. The border wants cash, and the amount is not trivial.

What this number does not include

It does not include anything we spent in Texas getting ready. Tires, servicing, supplies and the last hotel on the American side all sit outside this. What we wanted was the cost of the drive, measured from the border.

It does not include the car. We bought a vehicle for this trip, and what we paid for it and whether owning it has been worth it is a bigger question than one drive can answer.

And it does not include anything after the ferry ramp. What living on Roatán costs is its own guide.

It cost more than we would have guessed. If you are planning the same drive, that is the number to start from.

May there be a road.

Questions we get asked

How much does it cost to drive from Texas to Roatán with a family?

From the Laredo border to the Roatán ferry ramp, eight days, five people, one dog and one car, we spent about $2,400. That is $1,916.75 on cards and roughly five hundred dollars in cash, which works out to around $300 a day for the whole family. What we spent getting the car ready in Texas sits outside that, and so does the car itself and everything after the ferry.

How much is the car ferry to Roatán?

We paid $394.83 to Dream Ferries out of La Ceiba, and that covered the car and all five of us. Port taxes at the dock added $15.95. The 8,000 lempira figure that circulates online, about $320, is the vehicle on its own, so a family travelling together should plan closer to four hundred.

What did Guatemalan vehicle insurance cost you?

We paid $112.70 to a Guatemalan insurer for cover on the car. We understood at the time that we needed it. It was nowhere in our planning, and of everything on the drive it is the charge that caught us most off guard.

What does the Mexican temporary vehicle import permit really cost?

We were charged $478.82 going in and refunded $414.93 on the way out, so it cost us $63.89. Most of that charge is a deposit. From what we have read since, it is tiered by how old the vehicle is, and it only comes back if you cancel the permit at a Banjercito module on your way out of Mexico, with the car present, before it expires. The rest stays gone.

How much cash should you carry for the drive?

We carried a thousand dollars and spent about five hundred of it. Cash covered most of the Mexican tolls, which run to roughly two thousand pesos across the country, along with the vehicle permits, the vet certificate in Villahermosa, the dog’s paperwork at each crossing, and the small fees at every window. Pulling more out on a credit card cost us $9.35 in cash advance fees across three withdrawals.

What does it cost to bring a dog across these borders?

Our dog crossed Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras with us. She needed a vet certificate in Villahermosa, which ran about fifty dollars, and paperwork at each border after that. Hotels were the steadier cost. Most charged between ten and thirty dollars a night for her, and one outside Veracruz charged sixty.

What are the smaller border fees?

Fumigation at El Ceibo was $14.16 and the Honduras agricultural fee was $19.95. Mexican auto insurance for the seven days we needed it came to six dollars. Each is small on its own and easy to leave out of a plan.