October 4-day trip in Belize

when I split caulker for ignacio, i arrived at the caulker pier at daybreak and caught an independent taxi. I believe it was a half hour earlier than the scheduled one (few years back). But in any event, I bet you could connect to the bus in time, even if you walk to Novelos. Sometimes Ive been jerked around on departure from Belize city on the water taxi, but never from Caulker.

you might consider staying at Hotel Miramar. It's cheaper, right on the main drag and the upstairs porch is nice for drinking beer and people watching. Always had a room for me, no reservations, so many times ive lost count.

1.) We stayed in the suites at Tina's last month and there was a steady stream of folks turned away from the hostel without reservations because it's so popular and so close to the docks; folks usually looked really dejected and didn't know what to do next. October won't be as busy as August but you should probably have a back-up plan if you don't keep the reservations. If they have space, walk up might be cheaper.

2.) Stroll around, talk to locals, eat ice cream, and eat dinner at Wish Willy (on a side street near the cut).

3.) It's easy to arrange a snorkeling trip just the day before - Raggamuffin will put on extra boats if they need to. We loved the full day sailing that included 3 snorkel stops.

Be sure to end up at the Caye Caulker water taxi dock instead of the San Pedro Express (which also goes to Caulker) if you buy a return ticket and want the 6:30 ferry; SP Express doesn't have a 6:30 boat and taxis from the airport may randomly take you to their favorite (our experience but didn't matter to us).

Staying in San Ignacio town is probably a good idea but you should at least give a look to The Trek Stop in San José Succotz, a great budget place in an old mango orchard - nice setting and by the road so getting there and away is easy, especially since you're heading west into Guatemala. I think Pacz tours would pick you up there, you can walk to Xunantunich from there, and they offer inexpensive tubing on the Mopan with pick-up.

4.) Probably - just grab the 1st bus heading west. Express buses are more convenient, just a bit more expensive, but won't let you stop at the zoo if that's a consideration (we love the zoo).

5.) Yes

6.) I do recommend Pacz tours for the ATM tour - we had a very positive experience with them.

7.) Cheapest is a bus from San Ignacio to the border, cross out of Belize and into Guatemala, then catch a bus to Flores on the other side.

Check out my photos and travelogues below since you're doing some of the same things we did in August. Gratefully we had 2-3 weeks instead of just a few days!

Re: Buses

The bus companies authorized to operate on the highway in the Western Zone are NTSL, BBOC, D and E, Guerra’s Bus Service and Shaw Bus Service. Westbound buses depart from Belize City about every hour (sometimes on the half hour) beginning at 5am; last departure at 9 pm.

Can't recommend one because they are mostly all the same, just painted different colours. The buses are used Bluebird school buses; most of them are not very comfortable, not air-conditioned, and are not well equipped to handle luggage, but they are cheap! At the bus terminal, ask if there's an express bus.

There are two types of bus service in Belize: “Regular” buses stop for passengers anywhere along the route, and “Express” buses stop only at main towns. The final destination of a bus is displayed in the front window of the bus.

A Regular bus from Belize City to San Ignacio (73 miles) is about 2 hours & BZ$6.00.

Here's one option for getting to Tikal. Take a Regular bus to Benque, taxi to the border, cross the border, get a Guatemalan bus to Flores.

There are a couple of express buses from Belize City to Flores, but they don't stop in San Ignacio any more. If you time it right, you can board them on the Guatemalan side of the border.

Here the link to a site I set up with schedules for the Flores buses, plus more information about bus travel in Belize: http://belizebus.wordpress.com/

Just to add one small item. The buses (actually mini-buses) from the Belize-Guatemala border at Melchor to Flores, or more properly to Santa Elena, are 30 quetzales or a little less than US$4. They are very crowded, hot and stop here and there. If you can find a couple of other people to share a taxi with you, it's much more pleasant and faster option, and not too expensive. A taxi from the border to Flores, eliminating the need to take a taxi or tuk-tuk from Santa Elena to Flores, is around 400 to 450 quetzales (US$50 to $55) for up to four people. The rate is negotiable, and if you're a good bargainer you might be able to do better.

Leaving Belize you will be charged a BZ$37.50 (US$18.75) exit fee and you'll also be charged a 20Q (US$2.50) entrance fee to Guatemala.

--Lan Sluder

Since you are only spending 4 days in Belize, consider flying from the international airport directly to Caye Caulker. The taxi from the airport into the city is $25US + water taxi fare. Just walk up to the airline counter in the airport and buy a one way ticket. Maya Island usually gives significant discounts for walk-ins paying cash, so ask. Maya Island Air 501 223 1140, info@mayaisland.com, www.mayaislandair.com or Tropic Air reservations@tropicair.com, tropicair.com.

Hi,

1)I was in caye caulker exactly one year ago, stayed at Tina's, nice place, nice people, dirty smelly showers but fun atmosphere. Fills up extremely quickly indeed, like #2 says, so if you definitely ant to stay here, make the reservation.
2) Walk around town and the island...and talk to different companies about which trip you want for the next day. Do not decide yet. Walk to the split and have a drink at the bar in the water, i believe it's happy hour at sunset, and rum punch/rum is cheaper then a regular coke;) enjoy the island!
3) Almost everybody at Tina's does the raggamuffin day tour. It is a famous one and highly recommended. It was a fine tour, we had fun, and you can book the day before for as long as the office is open or something? i think you have to confirm before 5 or 6 pm... most people choose raggamuffin because they go out on sail boats. However other companies do this too. We met plenty of locals complaining how they offer this type of trips for years, they have a lot of knowledge, and now raggamuffin is located close to the docks, and i believe it is run by a european woman. Raggamuffin has a fine informative website and knows how to do business. I told the local that that is what people call 'competition', He asked me how can i compete? i said: well do the same? make sure you get a good reputation, go online and tell on a forum that you too have a sail boat! if I knew there are other companies offering the same (AND some locals also have a BBQ for you in the evening when you get back on shore, for even less money) I wouldn't have gone straight to raggamuffin... he said: girl, we don't know how to get online! we are locals, 'we are not as smart as she is'... and that last line got me thinking...

Enjoy Caye Caulker!

Thanx for the lot of advice.
We will check the flight from Int. Airport to CC, and we will see.
Also we will stay at Trek Stop, seems a perfect place.

Now, I just hope the weather will be fine in October :-)))))

Cheers
Gergo

Hi,

Congrats on your trip, Belize is a very cool bohemian feeling country, especially on the outer islands.

I second deanthecat on taking a flight out to Caulker. It's relatively cheap, and much faster. It's like $65 USD ish. It will get you out much faster, and the water taxi and cab together don't save you all that much.

Caye Caulker is SMALL. You can go swimming at the split if you want to just hang out, otherwise you can walk pretty much the entire island in a matter of hours, criscrossing all the streets. Also when you get in, if you have backpacks just head north on the road from the airport and you'll be in town in about 5 min or I think they have a golf-cart taxi you can have them call but it's not worth it unless you have to carry a bunch of luggage.

Raggamuffin is usually easy to book the day before, although sometimes they do fill up. Probably not in low season, and then from what I've heard from friends in Belize, it's pretty slow down there from economic factors too. I don't know their weekend schedule, but just email them off their web site

Don't 100% count on making an 8am bus with a 7:30 arrival on the water taxi. Most of the time they're on schedule, but Belize has a laid back lifestyle and sometimes things run behind - you might miss it, so just plan to bring a book for your wait if you have to ;-)

Bus is about the best way into Flores, and the cheapest. Alternative is to get into Guat via plane (more expensive) or take a but to Punta Gorda in Belize and a boat to Guat and then rent a car. I'd take the bus personally.

Cheers & Have fun!