Due to business commitments, I need to find a SIM card as soon as I can after arrival. We're flying in to Belize City before catching the puddle jumper out to San Pedro to our resort. Would I be able to find one in the airport, or are they easy enough to find in San Pedro?

Mabe not at the airport, but lots of options on San Perdo.

Be aware that Digicell charge Bz$45 for a card ($55 with $10 credit). The only place I know which charges for SIM cards. Unless you're going to be making/receiving long calls it may be cheaper to use your foreign card in "roam" mode.

Note also that if you choose to buy a Digicell card you will have to show your passport. It is now illegal to sell you a card without positively identifying you, and recording your identity. Supposedly this is an anti-crime measure, but since there is no record of who uses a foreign card and "roams" it seems a bit pointless. Any serious villain would obviously bring in a foreign card and eschew Digicell ones.

Walk across the street and parking lot from arrivals at BZE; next to Crystal Car Rental is a BTL office. Pleasant staff will help walk you through the sale, minutes purchase and registration.

a couple times when i have been pinched for time i ask the maya island folks to run over and get me one and they have done it without any hassles. also a lil liquor store by the tropic air seating can sell minutes but not a sim card.

I doubt if they'll be able to do that any more, Marty, as by law all local phones (the card, not the instrument) have to be registered by the owner/user. In SP both Digicell and SMART require you to show your passport (or Belizean SS card).

Good things to think about. Thanks everyone! I anticipate a minimum of 60 minutes of talk time I'll need while I'm there. My quick number crunching shows that Verizon Wireless will charge me $2.89 per minute to "roam" in Belize, or $173.40. Telestial says that the cost to call the U.S. on a Digicel card is .86/minute. That's $51.60, plus the $55 they're going to charge me for the card, minus the $10 credit. That's $96.60. A potential savings of $76.80 by getting a Digicel card. But on the flip side, $76.80 might be a reasonable price to pay to avoid having to track down a Digicel card, register, buy the additional airtime vouchers, etc. And if I somehow don't use as much time as I anticipate, I'd wind up with a Digicell card and additional airtime that's basically money wasted.

Sorry, it's a Monday afternoon and I'm feeling overly analytical. :-)

You can still purchase SIM Cards and calling minutes online via the HOT Guide (the SIMs will be back in stock tomorrow). When you place the order I email you the number so you can give it to friends/family back home and I can either get it sent up to your resort, or you can pick it up at the Tropic or Maya desk in San Pedro on your way through.

You have 30 days to register the SIM once it has been activated, so depending on how long you intend to be here or if you don't intend on returning, you may decide not to bother. If you do decide to register it, you can go to the BTL office in town, with the SIM in the phone and your passport or driving license as ID - it just takes a few minutes and is free to register.

You don't say when you are traveling but you might want to purchase your airtime for the next double/triple credit day (BTL run them every few weeks) and I will work with you via email to try and get the most for your money.

Or you could rent a local Digicell phone from Quicksilver.

If you need to receive calls then you'll need a phone number, but if your main need is to make calls and you bring a laptop you can make VoIP (Skype) calls from it. Extremely cheap. I'll tell you how by PM if that's of interest to you.

I'd be interested in knowing how to get skype to work off either my computer, ipad or blackberry. can you PM me.