By Air, By Sea, or By Land?

Traveling to Central America (from the United States), and trying to make it an adventure means that air travel doesn't sound too appealing.
But is it cheaper than getting there by boat?

And is it dangerous/or cheaper- to take buses from the United States all the way through Central America to Costa Rica?

any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, references would be very appreciated.
gracias!

How do you want to get there by boat?

From where to where?

As for buses versus plane...well,also depends where you start in the USA (next to the Mexican border is a shorter trip than leaving from Buffalo)...then,you need to add hotels,food etc.along the way through the USA,Mexico and the CA countries....as well as the bus fares.

I guess if you have time to spare it could be cheaper than flying.....not particularly dangerous anyway.

Flying, take a look at Spirit Air or Jetblue (in addition to the "main" airlines; i.e. COPA, TACA, United, American Airlines, Delta...) although depending on your departure point in the USA you can find this option useless.

Where in the states are you leaving from? Maine? Alaska? Hawaii? Florida?

Do we have to guess????

Definately fly beyond Mexico! Its a gang warzone.

The savings on bus rides wouldn't be worth being killed in a crossfire.

Mexico does have problems with drug cartels but these have not affected tourists in anyway. It is a wonderful country with tons to offer and decent infrastructure.

Going overland from the US to Costa Rica is a great trip - one I did a few years ago (DC to SJ) I did over 6 months though I did stop along the way a fair bit including a month learning spanish, a week learning to dive...

Though if you chose to fly to C. America you can still have a great adventure.

As for boats - the only viable boat is Panama to Colombia so not really en route.

I live in Pittsburgh, and can leave from Florida, Texas, California, wherever.

what I am hearing is that boat travel isnt really an option to get there from US?

so, overland travel should be best? taking buses?
i can take two weeks to travel there and two weeks to travel back as well.
it shouldnt take longer than that on a bus right?

If I did take a boat, though, I would like to go through the Caribbean and probably leave from Florida because I have a place to stay down there.

If you're starting at the border (be it Texas or California) then yes you could get there in 2 weeks but I wouldn't recommend it, you'd basically be on buses for maybe 10 days out 14, not fun. Better to fly in and spend more time exploring once there.

Overland only makes sense if you plan to take time to see/do things along the way. If your only criteria is cost, it will in fact probably end up costing more than flying if you factor in all related costs like 2 weeks of meals etc.