Last year we were in the Airport waiting for our plane to take us home to the states and I seen passengers that just arrived and they were buying booze to take to San perdo. Is that possible and if it is, how much can you bring to San Perdo from the airport? THANKS

There is an "inbound" duty free shop at Belize International. You MUST go to it before you go through customs. You can bring in 4 bottles of liquor per person. If you stop at duty free in the US on your way in, it's one bottle per person.

Something is going off in my head about this...I'm checking and will post again later but I believe you are "required" to use the Declare Line with said 4 liters of duty free liquor.

Last time we went through I'm pretty sure I saw a sign in the airport something to the effect of

"You must declare all goods blah blah including Duty free....blah blah blah"

Also, and again I'm checking but I think you are responsible for duty on more than 1 liter...at that point waiting until you're in town may be worth your while unless its booze other than Belizean...in other words "if its Belizean there is no reason..."

I'll get back on this one, as usual how the Officers of the day choose to apply the regs is another matter as they never seem to be consistent...Shuffles do remeber see the sign 'm talking about?

So go thru the declare line it is either four or five liters per person duty free no worries.

Four bottles per person............NO Duty

I can confirm no duty. I suppose the prices are a bit higher than the states, but way less than Belize. The selection is not large either. It is a bit of a hassle juggling things around / having to pack them in your bags (liquids) for the Tropic or Maya flight, but well worth the $$$s.

We arived last Saturday and bought a oouple of bottles inbound before leaving BZE for the muni airport. We found it very advantageous to buy it there as it is a better deal and also gave us a very short line through customs. Most everyone stays in right line with nothing to declare but we crusied to front of declare line and gave them our receipt for the booze we just bought. SnoopysMom is right that ther isnt a great selection. No One Barrel which was a bummer. Writing this on my hammock overlooking the water at our villa so life is good!

Yes you do have to go through the "declare" line and show the receipt to the officials. No hassles. Be sure there is enough room in your checked bags to get them on the domestic flight.

no need for local rums to be represented there as they are cheap enough here in town... real savings is in the whisky and tequila dept.

Looks like the duty portion got answered based on peoples' experiences (which is what counts!) but I was glad to find that I wasnt nuts as I did find the reference to 1 liter per person on the 1 Liter ~ Bz Customs & Excise Dept

Thanks for the replys. So as far as I can tell, we can buy 4 bottles each and save lots of money at the resort. What a deal.

maybe... Maybe each of you ought to score 4?

Four bottles from the duty free shop in the international arrival area is correct. For whatever reason (a political deal, I guess) the local purchase supersedes the rule about 1 liter that can be brought into the country duty-free. It is a good deal, given high imported booze cost in Belize.

BUT so far as I know you can't buy duty-free from the shops in the departure area and take to San Pedro or other domestic destinations. Only from the arrival duty-free shop. The duty-free shops in the departure area are for international departures -- they bring your booze to you as you board your international flight.

You can get 4 bottles of booze and if you are a smoker 3 cartons of cigarettes per person to take to San Pedro. This is duty free and has to be purchased at the duty free in store which is located right by the baggage claim before you go through customs. By the time you are done shopping your luggage should be on the carousel.

Came through last weekend. I bought 2x750ml bottles of tequila in Miami as I wanted a particular brand and thought I might not be able to get it at the Belize airport. I was then able to buy a further 3 litre bottles of vodka in Belize so a total of 4.5litres/5 bottles. They did have the tequila I wanted at the same price as in Miami.
Breezed through the red channel, while the Nothing To Declare was choked up with a couple of college groups, and Tropic now take the bottles from you when you check-in and give them back to you as you board the plane, so no need to try and squash them into an already very full suitcase!!

Gotta love the customer service at Tropic Air.

Party at gecko girls' house!!!!

Wow, its going to be a great 2 weeks in Belize. No more bringing booze from the states. What a deal

Do they have much of a selection of wine??

Why buy wine when you can buy Booze?

Having just come through the Int'l airport, what is the difference between the duty-free shop prior to going through customs, and the one on the "other side" of customs, i.e., near the Tropic Air gate. Are the prices different? They both say duty-free, so why buy and have to declare to customs, if you can buy right after going through customs before hopping on a Tropic Air flight?

For whatever reason the government has licensed the international arrivals duty free shop to sell to incoming internationally travelling passengers. But when you go to the departure lounge you can't buy at the shops there unless you are departing the country.

Thanks Amanda. That was what I thought might be the case, but there are no signs or explanation provided, so I wasn't sure.

I just want to make sure this has not changed, and you can still buy 4 bottles each when entering the country and you can still fly 4 bottles each to San Pedro. And one last question, do you have to pack them in your luggage or do they put them in boxes and give them to you when you board your flight to the island. Thanks for any replies, 6 more nights and we will be there….

Last time I went through the airport Tropic took the bottles from me and then handed them back to me when I boarded the aircraft.

Same here.

The arrival store is just that. If you did not buy in Houston or Miami, you can buy here in Belize cheaper. You will have to claim just the same as if you brought in from the us but it will be duty free. You can not buy duty free and jump on tropic.
All duty free shopping inside security in Belize, you will claim in the US.

You

????? Did I miss something here ?

if you clean yer screen it becomes very clear

Has anyone been to the arrival duty free store recently? When I was through in July the store was almost completely empty - as in no selection at all. I'm coming back down tomorrow and want to know if I should buy my vodka in the states or in the more convenient arrival duty free.

I just left last saturday. The duty free had tons of booze! You should be good.

duty free out is different store than duty free in.

We were there this past August and they were very well stocked.

Lotsa vodka-no bourbon

They used to have Wild Turkey 12YO but the last time I bought one the cork was dried out so buyer beware...

I bought it all when I was there last month! They usually always have Jim Beam.

Just a crap shoot. No Beam/jack in Feb. some in April, none in August. I'm buying at duty free in Houston.

I have never known them to be out of decent Scotch....and that's all I care about.

DC

We got all of the booze we wanted and had no problems. No more packing booze in the suitcases for us.