AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Travel Which water taxi to San Pedro

my family of 6 will be visiting Ambergris Caye for the first time in July. We are flying into Cancun and taking the overnight bus to Belize. My question is; which is typically the best option?...get off bus in Corozal and take Thunderbolt water taxi from there, or go all the way to Belize City and take water taxi there? Is one less of a hassle, or cheaper, than the other?
Thanks for your advice and forgive me if this question has been already been beaten to death on this forum.

For this route I'd recommend that you take the bus from Cancun to Chetumal and the boat from Chetumal to San Pedro.
In fact we did this boat from Chet to SP today. Nice ride. Time-wise a wise choice as well. Beats the heck out of multiple transports etc.
Boat leaves Chetumal at approximately 3 PM Mexico time (2 pm Belize time), arrives AC about 2 hours later.
If you overnight in Chetumal prior to your trip to Belize, Los Cocos is a good choice for a hotel.

The ADO bus arrives in Corozal around 4:30 am, so you'll have a couple of hours to kill until the Thunderbolt departure time at 7am. There won't be much open at that hour. The vendors at the market next to the bus terminal probably won't show up until 5 or 6 am (I've never been to the market at that time of day) -- you can buy food there, and there are places to sit and eat. The Thunderbolt pier is about 500 metres from the bus terminal -- easy to walk unless you have a LOT of luggage. If you go by taxi, you'll need two -- BZ$5 or $6 per taxi. Maybe you could ask one of the minivan drivers to take everyone in one vehicle.

The one-way Thunderbolt fare is BZ$45 per adult and BZ$25 per child, but I don't know their age limit for the child fare. The Thunderbolt trip is about 2 hours.

The thing I'd be concerned about is the Thunderbolt departure is sometimes cancelled in the low tourist season.

If you continue to Belize City on the ADO bus, you'll arrive around 6:30 am and should be able to get on one of the boats departing at 8:00 am. The water taxi terminals (there are 2) are about 1 km from the bus terminal and you'll probably need two taxis (BZ$6 or 7 each) unless there's a minivan taxi available. Water taxi fare is US$15 or USD17.50 depending on water taxi company. The water taxi trip is about 1.25 hours. If you miss the 8 am water taxi or it's full, the next departures are at 9 am and 10:30 am according to the water taxi websites.

If you want to get the water taxi from Chetumal to Ambergris, you'll have to arrive in Chetumal by 2 pm in order to have enough time to get to the pier and buy a ticket. If you can't get there for the 3 pm departure, you'll have to spend a night in Chetumal. This water costs US$40 or $50 per adult (there are child fares). Another concern -- there is only one water taxi per day now -- if it's full, and you havent reserved seats, you might not get on.

The links to all the water taxi websites can be found on the BelizeBus site...
http://belizebus.wordpress.com/

If you have children, the ADO overnight might be a bit "harrowing" with all the stops and immigration and on and off the bus, then waiting for the water taxi, and then the water taxi. You can get a fairly cheap hotel room in Cancun and take a bus to Chetumal the next day, then the water taxi to SP. Or, take the bus from Cancun to Chetumal and stay there overnite. You'll be able to get your ticket for the water taxi to SP and then spend some time in Chetumal. Chetumal is very non touristy. I believe San Pedro Scoop has an older post about Chetumal. www.sanpedroscoop.com

When I fly to Cancun from England I take the ADO to Playa Del Carmen and over night there. Then Take the ADO to Cheturmal in the morning and the San Pedro Water Taxi. All depends what time you arrive in Cancun.

I will be making my first trip to Ambergris Caye in July also. My flight arrives in Cancun at about 3PM. I plan to take the ADO bus from the airport to Playa Del Carmen and spend the night in PDC. I will then take the 6:20 AM bus from PDC to Chetumal. That should give me plenty of time to clear Customs and Immigration and catch a 3PM water taxi to San Pedro.

I believe it is only 4-5 hours from Playa to Cheturmal and I leave about 8-9 after a good breakfast. 6.20 seems to be a little early. There are 2 bus dept in Playa you may arrive at one but leave from the other one only 10 min walk between them.

Thank you Inplub. It is my first trip to San Pedro, so I would rather error on the side of caution. If I have free time, I will have lunch and do some shopping in Chetumal.