Placencia to Caye Caulker

I am moving from Placencia to Caye Caulker. I am considering two alternatives by land:

1. Bus Placencia - Belize City, via Dangriga and Belmopan (a bit longer)
2. Water taxi Placencia to Independence + express bus to Belize City (a bit shorter)

In your experience, which of the two option is more interesting & pleasant, considering anthropological (if) & views aspect?

...btw, so far my trip has been awesome and I thank all of you for your precious advices!! Tikal was fantastic and the reggamuffin tour too! now some more diving and next time i wil not miss San Ignacio, the ATM Caves and Lamanai!

Thanks!
Sam

Hello!

I haven't taken the water taxi, but my bus experience was less than fun. Super crowded. Too hot. Made me feel a bit ill. If I had it to do over, I'd do the water route!

very useful insight!! Thank you Gigi!!

The bus ride is long. 2 hrs to Dangriga, and 4 hrs to Belize. Bus is crowded, but that is normal in Belize, all local buses are crowded. You should find a seat no problem.

However in terms of culture, you can't beat the bus. You get to see almost all of southern Belize. From orange plantations to Maya highlands. Its people are from diverse backgrounds, Latino farm workers, Menonite ranchers and Reggae pounding bus drivers.

Plus, in terms of price, I think the bus is much cheaper than water taxi. Less than B$30 for the entire journey.

I've been on a few Belizean buses and would definitely take an express rather than a Regular (if there's a choice).

I think the James Bus Line express bus has a/c, and will stop only at Dangriga and Belmopan before reaching BC. That would be a more pleasant trip than a Regular bus.

The Regular bus is an old school bus, luggage piled at the rear emergency exit door (watch your stuff and sit beside it), all the windows open, hot (unless it's raining and all the windows will be closed and it will feel even hotter inside), and it will stop for passengers anywhere along the route.

Everything else as in previous reply (I think the fare is BZ$13 from Independence).
The express departs Independence at 07:30 daily except Sunday.
The Hokey-Pokey water taxi departs Placencia at 06:45.

I'd take the bus through Dangriga. You get to experience Dangriga, that way.

The road down the peninsula to Placencia isn't the greatest, so if you want to avoid a bumpy ride take the water taxi and express bus. The buses are quite fun though, they're old school buses from the States, and I quite like the trips by bus. You definitely will see more if you take the bus from Placencia, but be more comfortable if you take the water taxi, so just decide which is more important to you :) Hope that helps!

The Placencia Road is now paved -- no more dust, and the only bumps are speed bumps.

Oh, okay, I haven't been back in a while so I'm out of the loop. Good to know - although the bumpy ride was kind of a fun adventure :)