from a friend...

I had the pleasure of a visit from the man that owns Embassy Hotel at
the I-national Airport. He has lately acquired a large Ferry which they
plan to put into operation between Puerto Cortez and all point in Belize up
to and including the new Harbor in Chetumal!!

His needs are in relation to installing a refinery for the 20,000 gallons
of diesel they will be needing each and every week to power the 3000 HP
diesels.

That man is originally from Texas -- and had been here 35 years now!!
Totally adapted to Belize and it's ways.

And the maximum draft of that Ferry -- loaded -- is less than 6 feet!!

Can you imagine -- Ferry Service for vehicles from Chet -- Belize City --
Big Creek (which is to be their home port) and Puerto Cortez??

They also have arranged trucking from Chet harbor to corozal Free Zone --
containers -- did you know that the Corozal Free Zone moves 800 plus
container per month now from China and India??

This will knock down my present shipping costs by 30% if not more -- plus
delivery times one month instead of three!!

response:
such a service in Belize will bring in extra tax
revenue from the coast that will justify subsidizing it, even if the
ferry service doesn't turn out profitable in the classic corporate
sense, because it will provide national infrastructure.

You have big water taxis out of Independence and P.G. to Cortez as well.

Not well advertised but common knowledge within the community of those
who need to get there - Hispanics.

You also have an increasing number of small buses and large vans
dragging small trailers doing daily runs between Belize and El
Salvador - mainly passengers and luggage - again most travelers are
new Belizeans from those areas and speak only Spanish including the
drivers-loaders but backpackers - mainly Europeans sometimes hitch
rides on them. I think the run time to El Salvador is under 12 hours.

You can even hire a small van from these guys with driver if you wish
to travel in privacy.

In the capital thanks to innovation from new Belizeans we now have
quite a few mini-vans known as "los busitos" that run people from the
ever expanding rural communities. Cheaper and more cost effective
compared to taxis.