How can I get to Belize inexpensively?

Maya Island Air will start flying to Cancun, Guatemala City, and Honduras next month. The airline announced that it is going regional on July 8th. That’s when the airline will begin flying two return trips to Cancun daily and daily roundtrips to San Pedro Sula Honduras and Guatemala City.

There is a new boat between San Pedro (Ambergris Diver’s Dock) and Chetumal (Chetumal Municipal Pier) started Oct 30 2009. It leaves San Pedro at 8:30 for Chetumal and returns at 3pm. It is run by San Pedro Belize Express price US$20 one way. For more information call Belize 226-3535 or 223-2225.

It seem there’s always an alternative to everything and getting to Belize is no exception. Fortunately for us (and you!) we found a super cheap alternative to the traditional airfares from the major cities to Belize. Its so simple. Just go through MEXICO! The air fires to Cancun through through those vacation-specials airlines such as FUNJET, AEROMEXICO, APPLE etc offer roundtrip fares for $150.00 ROUNDTRIP (!) to Cancun.

From Cancun, you just board the EXPRESS bus for a safe, relaxed ride aboard one of their luxury busses which have a bathroom, highback plush seats, MOVIES (!) STEREO SURROUND, all. of this for only $16.00 ROUNDTRIP from Cancun to the border of Belize. From there its a quick zip through customs into Belize, once there you grab a taxi to take you to COROZOL (about $25 US), just inside Belize, where you will get on your shuttle flight (Maya Island Air) for the 15 minute trip across the water over to San Pedro, and Seven Seas Resort. The bus ride takes about 5 hours, but the ride is scenic and they stop a couple of times to let little Mexican boys get on the bus to sell ice cold soft drinks. (5 minutes max each time).

The last time we made the trip, our family of four left Atlanta, Georgia at 7:00 am on Funjet.(cost $200.00 for each of us at Thanksgiving.) We arrived at Cancun, Mexico at 8:30 am.. We left Cancun at 10:30 am (could have left sooner) and arrived at the border in time to grab a taxi and make it to Corozol in time for the last flight over to the island where San Pedro Town and Seven Seas Resort are. We had a lovely brunch in Cancun, then a wonderful dinner at Fido’s in Belize that evening!. Normally those airline tickets from Atlanta to Belize City run around $869.00 each.

We spent $800.00 (200.00 each)

64.00 roundtrip for the bus ride from Cancun to Belize (16.00 each)
25.00 (carload) for the taxi from the border of Belize to Corozol (The Maya Hotel) where we boarded the shuttle flight on Maya Island
300.00 roundtrip Maya Island from Corozol to Ambergris Caye (San Pedro) ( that was for FOUR of us)
AND IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

Total = $1,189.00 (plus we tipped everybody) we STILL SAVED $2,200.00 !
So check around with the airlines serving your major city, watch the newspaper specials, especially around right before the holidays, you’ll be so glad you did. The name of the bus you want to get on in Cancun, is ADO I Clase (First Class) to CHETUMAL (the Mexican town at the border of Belize. If you have enough time, plan to spend the night there, you’ll love this beautiful city and the shopping is incredible, they have major hotels like Holiday Inn (with real chefs) and everything is dirt cheap, which means you can save your money for fun stuff for your NEXT vacation!

At Chetumal, you’ll cross over the border into Belize, at customs. Grab an ENGLISH SPEAKING taxi and take a 20 minute ride to the MAYA HOTEL( sells tickets also to the shuttle flights over to the island). If you are pressed for time, tell the taxi driver to take you straight to the airstrip, for MAYA ISLAND AIR, they also sell tickets there! When you land on Ambergris Caye you are simply in paradise!

So what if you happen to miss the last flight over to the Island, you are already there in Belize, at the Maya Hotel, and you can got a nice dinner locally, then a good night’s sleep and catch that 6:45 flight over in the morning, and you’ll. have a whole lot more money in your pocket because of your thriftiness.

It is easy to get to Cancun on holiday charter flights, but also easy to get to Cancun from Mexico city. Mexico city has many international connections, so people coming from Europe now have a way to get to Belize without all the eye scanning, fingerprinting, lack of transit facilities, and just general chaos that having to travel through the USA, when you don’t actually want to go there at all, generates.