Is there any work and or need for marine service anywhere on the islands? I would love to sell my business in the states and either work for a shop or start a new one.I have been in this line of work for over 17 years. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Lou in PA,

What sort of Marine Service do you do? There's always a need for these services near the water.

Best of Luck,

I own a small dealership selling and servicing Yamaha,Suzuki,Mercury and Mercruiser. We do repairs to almost all brands. Is there many places to currently get boats repaired in Belize?

There are a lot of backyard mechanics..... No real store fronts like we are used to in North America. I guess on the positive side is that keeps the overhead costs down. I think in general the prices are good. However, as a North American (Canadian) I'm used to getting estimates/knowing the cost of hourly labor/seeing the broken parts afterward. Sometimes it is hard not to get the impression that you have been ripped off. The price slowly climbs as they find "things" that are broken. On the other hand that happens in North America as well and at the end of the day I would bet the mechanics here work for a lot less! If you can come down and fix things for next to nothing there are always a lot of people who want everything for nothing! Myself included! : )

Carlos

We have many "mechanics" here who say and apparently honestly believe that they are competent to work on particular engines, but it's too often just not true. And several of the ones I know (I've owned five working boats here) are well capable of creating work for themselves. For example, I used to have to replace control cables quite frequently, till I discovered that the mechanic was fitting ones a little too short, so the curves were too tight. And another one removed all the sacrificial zinc and didn't replace it.

If you can provide a sound and well informed service then you will be able to operate here. Don't expect to earn a lot though.

Could someone make a living just off service ? I am not looking to get rich off of it, just support my family. I guess I could also work on other small engines ect. to stay busy. Is there an actual marine dealer on the island? Where do you buy parts, oil ect? Thanks for the info so far.

hey lou - where in PA are you? i'm in PA also...wishing you luck.

I am between Allentown and Philly.

cool - we're in central bucks - nice to meet ya! you one of those marine dealers on rt 309?? again, good luck.

Nope, My place was on 222 between Reading and Fleetwood. I hope I can get something going over the next couple yrs. I am getting burned out here.