🇬🇾

Travel safety profile · Latin America & the Caribbean

Is Guyana Safe to Visit in 2026?

46 / 100

Higher Risk: Plan Carefully

English-speaking South America. Georgetown has crime. Kaieteur Falls spectacular. Eco-tourism growing. Reviewed 24 April 2026 How we score

Live alerts in Guyana Get the iOS app

What Warnely Is Tracking

Real-time incidents pulled from the Warnely pipeline. The dashboard renders a richer feed.

Loading incident data…

Official Travel Advisories

UK FCDO

See travel advice

Check current advice.

View full advisory →

Guyana compared to your home country

Guyana's composite Warnely risk score is 46/100 (High Risk). Here is how that compares to common home countries for English-speaking travellers. Append ?home=GB (or US, AU, CA, DE) to the URL to pin your home.

United Kingdom 22/100

Guyana is noticeably riskier than United Kingdom (2.1× riskier on the Warnely index).

United States 35/100

Guyana is slightly riskier than United States (1.3× riskier on the Warnely index).

Australia 14/100

Guyana is materially riskier than Australia (3.3× riskier on the Warnely index).

Canada 15/100

Guyana is materially riskier than Canada (3.1× riskier on the Warnely index).

Germany 20/100

Guyana is materially riskier than Germany (2.3× riskier on the Warnely index).

Lower scores are safer. Each home country's score is its own composite on the same 0-100 scale. See methodology.

Risk Breakdown

This is the static baseline rating across six dimensions. The Warnely dashboard adds a live 30-day signal alongside.

Crime3/5

Check FCDO/State Dept for current assessment.

Natural Disasters2/5

Check local conditions.

Health2/5

Consult travel clinic before departure.

Terrorism2/5

Check current advisories.

Civil Unrest2/5

Monitor local situation.

Infrastructure3/5

Check transport options.

Quick Facts

Plug type	A/B/D/G
Voltage	240V/60Hz
Time zone	UTC-4
Driving side	Left
Tap water	Unsafe

Visa & Entry

Type	Visa-free
Length	90 days
Cost	Free

Visa-free 90 days for US/UK/EU/Canada.

Verify on IATA Travel Centre →

Summary: 90 days visa-free (UK/US).

Passport: Valid 6+ months.

Customs: Standard; yellow fever certificate recommended.

Prohibited: Drug laws strict. Don't flash wealth.

Practical Tips

Only English-speaking country in South America
Kaieteur Falls is Guyana's iconic wonder – 226m single drop
Interior travel often requires small plane charter
Georgetown has street-crime concerns – tourist-facing areas OK with standard precautions
Oil economy is rapidly transforming – prices rising

Common Scams & Practical Risks

Distraction theft: Someone spills something on you while accomplice steals bag. Stay alert.
Fake police: Ask for identification. Offer to go to nearest station.

Solo & Women’s Safety

Solo Travellers

Established backpacker trails. Spanish/Portuguese essential.

Women’s Safety Exercise Caution

Catcalling common but rarely threatening. Standard city precautions.

LGBTQ+ Travellers

Legal status	Criminalised
Social climate	Hostile

Buggery law. Underground scene; PDA dangerous.

Verify current law on Equaldex →

Drug Laws

Severity	Severe (long sentences)
Cannabis	Severe penalties

Possession criminal (5yrs+). Strict.

Verify on UK FCDO →

Emergency Numbers

police

911

ambulance

913

fire

912

tourist

N/A

If you decide to travel to Guyana

A practical checklist that applies to any trip. Each item links to the part of this guide where the specifics live.

1

Check the live advisory Read the UK FCDO and US State Department pages within a week of departure. Advisories change. View current FCDO advisory →
2

Register your trip US citizens: enrol with STEP. UK citizens: register your itinerary with the nearest British embassy. Both enable consular contact in an emergency.
3

Save the local emergency numbers Police: 911. Ambulance: 913. Pin them in your phone's emergency-contacts screen so they're reachable from a locked phone.
4

Insurance with medical evacuation Travel insurance with a medical-evacuation limit of £10m or more. Cheap policies usually exclude or cap medevac, the single most expensive thing that goes wrong abroad. See the medevac entry in the glossary for what to check.
5

Confirm vaccinations and prescriptions Visit a travel clinic 4-6 weeks before departure for any routine vaccinations and country-specific recommendations. Check any prescription medication against the destination's import rules.
6

Set up a check-in routine before you go Agree a daily or every-other-day check-in time with a contact at home, plus a fallback channel if your primary one fails (WhatsApp goes down in countries that block it). The family communication plan covers the specifics.

Find every foreign embassy and consulate in Guyana in the Warnely embassy directory →

Medical evacuation cost (pre-insurance)

Guyana sits in Band B on Warnely's medevac cost dataset. The figures below are typical pre-insurance ranges in USD, calibrated against published bands from Global Rescue, MedJet, Allianz, and insurance-industry whitepapers.

Regional air ambulance

Typical $20,000 to $60,000

Air ambulance to a regional Western or strong-regional hub is usually achievable in one or two legs. Most major tourist destinations sit in this band.

For the full methodology, the four-band table, and the downloadable CSV, see /methodology/medevac. Sanity-check your travel insurance limit against the high end of this band before booking.

Embed this score

Drop the Guyana Warnely badge on a blog post, country page, or briefing. The image is served straight from the Warnely API and updates whenever the score changes.

HTML

<a href="https://warnely.com/guides/is-guyana-safe"><img src="https://warnely.com/embed/guyana/badge.svg" alt="Guyana Warnely risk badge" width="360" height="44"></a>

Full embed options including Markdown and iframe variants: /embed/guyana.

Data version v2 · Last reviewed 24 April 2026 · Next review by 21 October 2026 · methodology · Found something out of date? Tell us.

Common questions about Guyana

Is Guyana safe for tourists in 2026?

English-speaking South America. Georgetown has crime. Kaieteur Falls spectacular. Eco-tourism growing. Warnely's overall safety assessment for Guyana is High Risk (46/100), higher risk: plan carefully. Always check the latest UK FCDO and US State Department advisories before booking.

What's the crime risk in Guyana?

Check FCDO/State Dept for current assessment. Crime category score: 3/5 (high).

Are there health risks travelling to Guyana?

Consult travel clinic before departure. Health category score: 2/5. Consult a travel clinic 4-6 weeks before departure for recommended vaccinations.

Is Guyana safe for solo female travellers?

Exercise Caution. Catcalling common but rarely threatening. Standard city precautions.

When is the best time to visit Guyana?

Dry Seasons (Feb-Apr, Sep-Nov). Warm (24-32°C), two dry seasons. Best for Kaieteur Falls, Iwokrama rainforest.

What are the drug laws in Guyana?

Drug penalties: Severe (long sentences). Cannabis: Severe penalties. Possession criminal (5yrs+). Strict.

Do I need a visa to visit Guyana?

Visa-free. Stay length: 90 days. Visa-free 90 days for US/UK/EU/Canada.

Is the tap water safe to drink in Guyana?

Tap water in Guyana is not safe to drink – use bottled or filtered water. Most travellers should stick to bottled or filtered water for cooking, drinking and ice.

What do governments say about travel to Guyana?

UK FCDO: See travel advice. Read the full advisories on the relevant government sites – links are inside the Official Travel Advisories section above.