We will arrive at the international airport December 23rd. Can someone give me a ballpark figure of about how long it takes to clear customs?

The advice seems to be to go from the international airport to "muni"...is this a walk or taxi drive ( how costly)?

There are different opinions on taking Tropic Air to Ambergris Caye coverning just show up or have a reservation.... hard to make a reservation if you can't be sure plane is on time to Belize and if customs is going to be a long one. Do they just let folks with reservations go on the plane before those who didn't have reservations?
We are not scuba divers but can we go on a helicopter ride over the blue hole? Do you recommend a specific tour?

Thank you

Book your Tropic flight for an hour after you arrive, if you arrive at Tropic early they can change you to an earlier flight if available, if you're late they will put you on the next flight. On December 23rd make a reservation as it will be very busy.

In my opinion it's just not worth the hassle to take the taxi to municipal. By the time you get a taxi and drive there that's a half hour gone, and then you have to wait for your plane. If you miss your plane there it's more of a hassle than at International where they're still expecting you if your international flight is late. Again, the 23rd will be a busy day.

Astrum helicopter does the Blue Hole tour. http://www.astrumhelicopters.com/

What he said!
Tropic is very flexible. I have seen them send planes every 10-15 minutes when it is busy No worries, but do make a reservation!

Clearing customs: about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the number of passengers. There's usually still about a 10 minute wait for luggage.

The Municipal airport is about 16 km (10 miles) from the International airport. The taxi ride costs BZ$50 (US$25) for as many people that the taxi driver will allow.

Another reason to fly from BZE is in December it gets dark really early. If you have an afternoon flight, and it's delayed into BZE, it may well be too dark to fly out of Muni, no lights there. I've flown out of BZE on Tropic to San Pedro in the dark. It does happen.