Crossing borders is always one of the most challenging, if not irritating part of an overland trip. Everyone going through Central America has heard about the infamous El Amatillo border crossing between El Salvador and Honduras, where the border crossing could take hours.

Fear no more. The days travelers needed 10 hours or more to cross the border between Nicaragua and El Salvador (and vice versa) via Honduras are finally over. No more changing busses or walking between border posts with your luggage. Ruta del Golfo offers travelers the fast and scenic route, bypassing the land-border crossings between El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. It's 100% hassle-free, our staff will do the formalities at the customs in Potosí (Nicaragua) and La Unión (El Salvador), where the officials are still friendly, and touts are an unknown phenomenon. And you will see and experience the beauty of the Gulf of Fonseca, a little-traveled and pristine part of Central America.

There is more: you can either do only the border crossing, or book our door-to-door service, during which you can enjoy marvelous views of the Nicaraguan and El Salvadorian landscape, with its active stratovolcanoes and of course the Gulf of Fonseca, a hidden gem in Central America. Dormant and active volcanoes, abundant wildlife, stunning landscapes, and with no mass tourism, we promise you an unforgettable experience when you cross the Gulf of Fonseca with us.

Stella Maris was fabricated in 2016, at the well-known Colombian Eduardoño boat factory. The boat was tailored for Ruta del Golfo, providing seating for up to 28 passengers, and plenty of space for luggage. Stella Maris has stainless steel safety railing, and a hard top roof. The boat is powered by two 140 HP (4 stroke) engines and equipped with GPS, navigation lights, radio communication, compass, and life jackets.

Our captains and assistants have many years of experience in sailing boats and transporting tourists. They possess invaluable knowledge about the area, tides, weather conditions and wildlife of the Gulf of Fonseca. Their skills and knowledge are priceless to give our passengers an authentic, unforgettable, and safe experience.

We strongly suggest passengers to bring a hat, sunscreen, long sleeved shirt, and jacket to protect from the sun, wind, and salt.

Note that due to maintenance, and considering group size, we reserve the right to operate boats other than Stella Maris, without notice.

Ruta del Golfo was established in the summer 2009, when the border between Nicaragua and Honduras was closed for some days (Mel Zelaya destitution case). Nobody was allowed to cross the usual border post; hundreds of tourists got stuck. One of Nicaragua´s leading tour operators, had to improvise and decided to transfer the clients by local fisher boats through the Golf of Fonseca, a beautiful but hardly visited area bordering Nicaragua in the northwest. The response of the clients was overwhelmingly positive!

This was the opportunity for us to develop a scenic and fast route to cross the borders between Nicaragua and El Salvador: Ruta del Gulfo was born. We invested in a new boat, two big size outboard engines, other equipment, started looking for the perfect crew and off we went! Years, and thousands of passengers later, we are still developing Ruta del Golfo to improve our services and customer satisfaction, and to help mitigate the environmental and cultural impact on the region.

The founders of the Ruta del Golfo are experts in travel innovation from El Salvador and Nicaragua, always looking for new ways to amaze their clients. Tourism in the Gulf of Fonseca is a relatively new and unexplored service. This amazing scenic route was neglected for years by both travelers and tour operators. With pride we can say that Ruta del Golfo is the first tour company to operate a regular service in the Gulf of Fonseca.