Whats The Best Way to Get to Belize

The answer is quite simple really. It depends. On what you say? Well, a number of things:

• where you are travelling from
• how long you are travelling for
• how much you are willing to spend
• how adventuresome you are

There are essentially three ways to get there; air, water and land, or any combination of the three. I am no travel agent, and am basing comments below on booking my own arrangements and discussions with fellow travellers along the way.

Direct From Your Home Town

Unless you live in, or are travelling through, one of the neighbouring countries, getting to Belize will involve plane travel of some kind. The Phillip Gordson International Airport has a number of international carriers operating from there, including:

• Atlantic Airlines
• American Airlines
• Continental
• Deltal
• US Airways

These airlines offer direct flights at decent rates from a number of US destinations including Houston, Dallas, Miami, Newwark, Atlanta and Charlotte. So my guess is that if you are from the southern US, or places with cheap connecting flights to any of these cities, the easiest way for you to get there is fly direct to Belize city. You can then make your way to the final destination as you see fit, by either regional airline, taxi, bus, watertaxi or rental car. But for Canadians like myself, a return flight to/from Belize City will likely cost $ 800 + from a major hub like Toronto. If you are going for a short stay, or don't get hung up over a few hundred dollars, go direct.

A reasonable alternative is to fly into Cancun and make you way from there.


Through Cancun by Bus

If you book at the right time, you can find a return ticket from Toronto to Cancun for not much over $300 . I know this for a fact as that was available to me when booking my flights.
So you get to Cancun, and make your way down. If you have lots of time like I did, you can work your way down making stops at any of the many great destinations along the coast.

The quickest and least expensive way is to take the bus from Cancun to Belize City. The cost is around $40 US, and if you are in the country for less than 48 hours you don't have to pay the exit fee. People I talked to had no issues clearing customs and were happy they chose that option. You do need to get from the airport to the bus terminal in Cancun, but that is no big deal. There are shuttles and taxis. You can also take a bus for $10 directly to Playa del Carmen, and pick up the Belize bus there. Playa is a great place to spend a night. The only caution is to make sure you catch the right bus. You will eventually get there but some make local stops, while others are direct.

Through Cancun by Bus/Watertaxi

Pretty much the same comments as above, except you only take the bus to Chetunmal, and then travel by water taxi to Ambregis Caye or Caye Caulker. This is actually quite a neat little trip, which you can get more details on from earlier posts on this blog. But it goes like this:

• bus from Cancun to Chetumal - five hours and $ 30
• taxi from bus station to water taxi - ten minutes and $ 4
• water taxi to San Pedro - two hours and $35 plus $10 port fee. Add five dollars and half hour for Caye Caulker.

If you take this route make sure you confirm the water taxi is running the day you chose, as in off season it operates only  on alternate days. leaving at 3:30 PM. There is a little canteen at the dock once you clear customs where you can get snacks, beer and some homemade food until she runs out. Also a couple of streets back there are a number of nice places to eat, assuming you have an hour to kill before boarding.

Belize customs are cleared in San Pedro where you will arrive at dusk.

Through Cancun by Car

If you will be travelling mainland Belize, a really nice way of getting around is by renting a car in Cancun and driving. Mary Lou and I did this two years ago and had a blast (refer to my other blog at the bottom of the page for details on that trip). Notwithstanding the issues Mexico has with crime, if you travel during the day it is unlikely you will have any trouble. The drive to Chetumal will take about five hours, and is on divided highway most of the way. There is one tricky little detour , but it is signed and if you have your map or GPS, not an issue.

You will need to confirm your car rental agency allows their vehicles into Belize, as special paperwork is required and will be checked at the border. The agency will do this for you, but need some time to do it, so make reserations in advance.

For the Adventuresome and Stout of Heart

You can pretty much get anywhere in/through Mexico by bus. They have an excellent system that varies from large air conditioned coaches, to smaller local ones. I myself would not consider getting through Mexico from the US by bus, but one of the young Brits travelling with me on the water taxi had entered Mexico in Tiajuana by foot, and winged his way across the country, including the areas where most countries have travel advisories. Good luck with that.