Advice for travelling to Ambergris Caye and Belize Zoo

1) How long would it take to get from Belize International airport to the water taxi departure area (and I'm assuming taxi is the best way to go), and what is the best water taxi to take and often do they leave (for San Pedro)?

A taxi from the airport to the water taxi terminals in Belize City costs BZ$50 and takes about 20 minutes. There are 3 water taxi services operating from 2 terminals and they are very close to each other. The 3 services have websites with schedules & fares (see the BelizeBus site for the links). There's another option -- the Tropic Ferry. They will pick you up from the airport and take you to a private boat and go directly to San Pedro. The link to Tropic Ferry is on Belize Bus & Travel Guide (the link is on my profile page).

From your post, you say you want to go to Tikal first but then say you want to go to San Pedro from the airport?? Which is it??

If you want to go to San Pedro first and then go to Tikal for a day or overnight trip, you should consider a Tropic Air flight to the Belize international airport and then fly to Flores, Guatemala. See the Tropic Air website for schedules & fares.

With so little time, I'd avoid the buses -- the express buses are about 5 hours each way between Belize City and Flores.

My suggestion would be...
As soon as you arrive in Belize, go to the zoo or Guatemala, and then end the trip at San Pedro.

You can get a Belizean bus to the zoo.
Or hire a transfer service to pick you up -- that will cost more money.
Or, ask a taxi driver and agree to a fare (and currency!) before getting in the taxi.

3) We would have an early flight out of Belize, so we want to see if it is possible to get early transport from the zoo to the airport in time to make at 7:45am flight.

I wouldn't want to rely on buses to get me from the zoo to the airport in the morning. There should be buses operating in the early morning, but you should be at the airport 2 hours before take-off.
That means you'll have to pre-arrange a taxi or transfer service. My question would be about their reliability. If it was me, I'd be staying a lot closer to the airport.

Edited by: misterbee

A rental car from the airport to the zoo and back to airport is the answer!

Driving tip...
To get to the zoo from the airport, you don't have to drive to Belize City on the Northern Highway and then head out on the Western Highway.

When you exit the airport, turn left onto the Northern Highway (the signs will say Orange Walk, Corozal and Mexico) and after a few miles, turn left onto the Boom Road (it's on the maps and it's paved) which connects to the Western Highway. At the roundabout intersection with the Western Highway, go right.

Edited by: misterbee

Hey Misterbee, thanks for replying.

The water taxi info sounds great.

Our basic plan of attack is we land at Belize International around 2:30pm, our time to do the zoo would be that day/night, so we'd want to get there as fast as possible. Stay the night, do the noctural tour, and then get back to the International airport for our 7:45am flight to Tikal. Yes, we're doing a round trip flight to Tikal, since our time was limited and it seems like we might need as much lead time at the airport for a small flight as we would for an large international jet flight. Maybe 1 hour prior to flight is good enough? Yeah, the key is really figuring out a reliable transport option. Maybe rental car is best? What's your take on that?

After we return from Tikal to the International Airport, we'll be heading to San Pedro by water taxi for the remainder of the trip. I will definitely look into those options you suggested.

Happy travels!

Jason

I think it makes more sense to go from Belize City to San Ignacio to do the Tikal trip, stay the night in San Ignacio, then early in the morning take the bus to the zoo. Hang out at the zoo for the day, then in the afternoon or the next morning (if you do the nocturnal trip, which is fantastic, by the way), take the bus back up to Belize city and then head to Ambergris.

This way you'd do two nights in San Ignacio, one at the zoo, and then have the rest of the time free to stay in San Pedro.

Well, most of our travel arrangements are already booked, and, unfortunately, we don't have much time. This is just a quick trip, so San Ignacio will have to wait for some other time.

Would you anticipate any problems using a rental car in Belize? We'd just be going from airport to zoo and back.

thanks all!

Jason

While in abomigrease caye (which is for goobers), for which your stay I assume is already booked, you might consider a day trip to caye caulker (the place for hep cats); whereupon you may decide to bail on AC, and move to CC.
And exercise caution, walking at night. During the day, it's fairly safe.

I always rent a car in Belize. It will be very easy to drive to the zoo and back by taking the Burrell Boom road from the Northern highway as suggested. There will be little to no traffic. Just watch out for the speed bumps, or sleeping policemen as they like to call them. It would definately be the way to go. Book in advance with either Crystal Rental or Budget. It's easy to do on line. that way you are guarenteed a vehicle. When you walk out of the airport, walk straight across the parking lot and all of the car rental companies will be there. check everything, take pictures while they watch you, make sure you have good tires. Watch for people and live stock on the road. You will not have any problems.

For the trip to the zoo, all the roads are paved (except the short distance from the highway to the zoo), two lanes and well sign-posted -- I can't remember if there's a sign at the zoo entrance.

The Western Highway is the main highway that links the western border with Belize City. It's paved all the way and the maximum speed limit is 50 mph. In wet conditions, the pavement can get VERY slippery due to the type of paving material.

The highways have white mile markers showing the distance from Belize City. The zoo is at Mile 29 (on the north side of the highway) so you can watch the markers.

You don't need a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

Gasoline is currently about BZ$11.60 (US$5.80) per gallon.

And there are some bad drivers in Belize -- watch out for speeding buses. Also, pedestrians and cyclists walk & ride ON THE HIGHWAY, not on the shoulder -- be careful of that especially at night.

Thanks again MisterBee!

So, what, in your opinion, is the BEST restaurant in San Pedro? We want to treat ourselves the night we are there and I can't seem to get a good read on the dining option there.

Jason