Transportation Costs in Belize

TransportationThe following is a short list of transportation costs in Belize that we came across. All prices listed were recorded November 2015 and are listed in USD.

Cabs In Belize City

The only cabs we took while in the city were to and from the international airport. The fare appeared to be a fixed price of $25 USD for two people regardless of where you planned to go in Belize city or where you were being picked up from. Also, each additional person over two is $5 USD.

Fares to San Pedro
By Ferry

It is around $35 USD round trip to go to San Pedro From Belize City by the Belize Express Ferry. If you purchase tickets online it is actually $3.50 USD more than buying in person. Another water taxi supposedly started and may be cheaper, but we did not use them. Taking a cab to the ferry takes about 15 minutes. The boat ride to San Pedro is about an hour and a half.

By Plane

If flying is more your style, you can fly to San Pedro from the international airport for about $150 USD round trip or you can take a cab to the municipal airport and fly for about $85 to $100 USD Round trip via Maya Air or Tropic Air. Prices may be cheaper if you book at the airport, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Vehicle Rentals
On the Islands/Cayes

Golf carts on the island are about $75/day. If you rent for multiple days you can average your cost down to around $50. I didn’t try it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you were able to negotiate a lower price.

On the Mainland

In Belize City you should be able to find rental cars for about $70 to $100/day USD including taxes and fees. Expect to pay slightly less if you shop around and reserve a few weeks ahead of arriving. We came across AQ Belize Rental Cars when we were in a crunch and they were pretty great. If you reserve ahead of time they will hook you up with a local cell phone which trust me will come in handy. If you are not at the international airport and plan to rent a car, save yourself the $25 taxi cab ride back to the airport and the $2 airport exit toll and visit AQ’s other rental location. These guys are extremely nice and will likely pick you up in your rental car.

Gas Prices

Gas as of November 2015 was $4.15 to $4.20/gal USD. The cheapest gas I found was on the western Highways, but it is not that much cheaper than anywhere else. The country isn’t very big so you most likely wont use a lot of gas. That being said we spent around $100 in two days on gas. That was mostly due to our daily planed activities being very far away from where we were lodging.

Other financial related information

Currency

Belizean dollars (BZ) are fixed to the US dollar at a 2 to 1 conversion rate. There is no need to convert your money from USD to BZ. USD is openly accepted and using it to pay for items at various vendors is likely the best conversion rate you will get. Also bring a decent amount of smaller bills. Some places may have a hard time breaking anything bigger than $20 USD. Upon leaving the country, try to exchange BZ for USD at shops and vendors. Converting BZ to USD at airport currency exchangers will not give you as favorable of an exchange rate. You can also use credit cards at many places as long as you are not too far off the beaten path, but I would not plan on relying on them. Our no foreign transaction fee credit cards gave us a conversion rate of about 1.92 BZ to 1 USD which is very good.

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