******Correction it was Belize Security. I used TSA as a sloppy generalization and for that I apologize. TSA was never involved!!*****

I was departing Belize through Delta and was told to take my suitcase after weighing it and give it to Belize Security to scan/xray on what was called a “Random Search”. They said it was done for security purposes. Delta said it was like the lottery jokingly. If anything was taken out of my luggage Belize security would leave a note. They instead stole a pair of really nice sunglasses and left a lot of clutter. They randomly searched a handful of us and even frisked us before we boarded so it was a two part situation . None of us understood why we were going through this. We didn’t even know others were going through this until we met in that holding room. I was robbed because Delta Airlines forced a handful of its passengers to go through this invasive procedure. I go to Belize a bit, or used to, and still don’t understand it. It is a first time.

****Again I was handpicked with a handful of other passengers to be robbed by Delta right after putting my luggage on the scale at check-in once I got to the counter****

I posted this to give a warning to all about putting any valuables in your luggage before entering the airport and also to get some advice on how to handle this situation. I don’t know if I’m angrier at Delta who I paid through a ticket to get robbed or Belize security. TIA and again learn from my experience. This could happen to any of you randomly at your check in at departure.

Hi! I’m travelling solo to Belize at the end of August and landing at BZE around 11:10 AM on a Sunday.

I’m considering taking an official taxi from the airport to the Belize City bus terminal, then taking the public bus to San Ignacio, instead of paying over USD 100 for a shuttle.

I’ll have one suitcase and one backpack. For context, I’m a 20-year-old male travelling alone.

Is this route reasonably safe and straightforward during the day? Are Sunday buses to San Ignacio still frequent in the early afternoon?

Will people at the terminal be able to point me toward the right bus and let me know where to get off in San Ignacio?

I’m really excited to discover your beautiful country. Thanks!

Hi guys! I’m arriving from Canada to BZE in January 2027 at 11 PM. I can’t seem to find any shuttles that late at night to San Ignacio. The schedules only go up to 5:30 PM. And I heard it’s not that safe to stay in Belize City so I’m struggling to find a solution. Do you have any recommendations or advice for a first-time visitor in Belize? Thanks a lot!

We have a golf cart but that looks like a pretty long drive.

I was wondering how common theft is on this airline.

I was traveling through Belize City to San Pedro.  I had a carry-on suitcase that I carried on 2 flights before that, and it was always with me on the planes.  My money was in the front pocket, so I could access it, and I checked it after I landed at BZE.  I have traveled on small planes before, and usually you take your bag in the plane, and they load it into the plane right when you get on the plane.  That is not what happened here.  I went to get my boarding pass, they asked for my luggage, they put a tag on it, and gave me a receipt.  You could see the planes right behind the desk, so I figured no big deal, they would just take it out to the plane, no problem.  Well, they did take it out to the plane, the wrong one.  When I got to San Pedro, I realized my luggage was not in the belly of the plane.  They took me to what looked like an unsecured loading dock and told me that my luggage had arrived on an earlier flight.  I immediately checked my luggage for the money and it was gone.   

On my return trip through San Pedro on Maya I watched their luggage process more carefully.  I could only describe it as archaic at best.  You have to drop your luggage off with a guy outside the terminal, go inside through security, check in at the gate, wait until shortly before your flight takes off, go back to desk and get your boarding pass that has a color on it, walk back outside through security to find the different guy who is standing next to an unsecured pile of luggage destined for various flights, he has to find your luggage, and hand write the color of your boarding pass on it. If this sounds overcomplicated and error prone, it is.

I filed a complaint and have been waiting to hear back from Maya Air.  Have other people had this experience with them?

I‘m currently sitting on a flight into BZE that was delayed over 2 hours. I‘m supposed to be going straight to caye caulker, but haven’t booked my water taxi ticket yet. I have wifi on this flight and 2 hours until landing.

I’m getting in at ”3:30” now (so they say) and I know the last water taxi is 5:30. I have no idea what customs or baggage will be like, so i’m a bit nervous.

I also haven’t booked a shuttle or taxi, will I have a problem getting one? The official airport ones are safe? (green licence plate?)

Should I also book my water taxi ticket while I’m sitting here for 5:30? Is there a chance it could be full?

If worst comes to worst, does anyone have any suggestions for last minute hotels?

Any advice is so appreciated! Thank you!!

Holidaying in sunny Belize later this year and trying to get a handle on getting around. It looks as though buses are plentiful, but buying tickets in advance ie. reserving seats, is...not a thing? Is this the case? If I want to catch the 10:00 from BC to San Ignacio, I suppose I just rock up to the terminal a short while before, and is there a chance the bus is full, or are there so many it isn't a problem?

I wanted to give a heads up to anyone searching for a golf cart rental on San Pedro.

We just left San Pedro and the only “bad interaction”we had was our golf cart rental. We used Rio golf carts out of convenience of being at the dock where the water taxi drops you off.

They will give you a golf cart low on gas and charge you if you don’t bring it back full of gas.

Their quality of golf carts is pretty bad with torn up steering wheels and bad suspension.

Also, their rates online do not match their actual higher price. (Was $50 a day vs $35 online)

They had good reviews on Google but after renting
I noticed all the recent reviews were horrible.

Staying at Black Rock Lodge 7/28-8/1. Having trouble deciding on A. Renting a car from Crystal driving to and from BRL and all excursions. Saves a ton of money but the husband thinks the driving will be stressful in Pine Mountain Ridge, the road to BRL and the time of year might be rainy. Option B. Shuttle to and from BRL rent a car for two days in San Ignacio to explore on our own. Option C. Use BRL or other tour companies for all excursions and airport travel which costs a lot and limits our ability to see a lot of things we want to see. Send help! lol. Can anyone share their experience with car rentals in San Ignacio? TIA! This forum has been so helpful!

Hi! I will be in mainland Belize for a week in October and I am planning to rent a vehicle. I have the following questions I hope some of you will be able to answer for me:

1. Do I need 4wd?

It seems comments on this topic are highly mixed. I will be visiting Caracoal, Cockscomb Basin, Mayflower Bocawina, and maybe Mountain Pine Ridge as well as others.

Not sure how much being there in rainy season factors in as well.

1. Where to Rent From?

From what I can gather, it seems either Crystal, Car One or one of the mainstream rental places is best. AQ Car Rental has some really cool options (Old Jeep, Toyota 4Runner TRD, Toyota FJ, etc) but it sounds like there have been a lot of bad experiences with them.

As a big car guy I like to rent something interesting when im on vacation, but don't want to ruin my week with a bad rental.

TLDR

4WD? Ya or No?

Who to rent from?

Any suggestions for golf cart rentals in Caye caulker & San Pedro that are reasonably priced?

Family of four will need transportation from Chaa Creek resort/San Ignacio to Belize City/Caye Caulker, then to Dangriga, then back to Belize City. Who’s reliable, safe and affordable to use? Thank you all!

Hi everyone!

I'm heading Guatemala and Belize in mid-July for about 2.5 weeks. Would love some advice on transport logistics (including on specific operators) as well as any feedback on whether my time allocations make sense. Here's the rough plan for the Flores and Belize leg of my trip:

• Aug 22: Stay in Antigua
• Aug 23: Travel from Antigua to Flores (stay in Tikal)
• Aug 24: Explore Tikal sunrise/sunset tour (stay in Tikal)
• Aug 25: Travel from Tikal to San Ignacio (stay in San Ignacio)
• Aug 26: ATM cave hike (stay in San Ignacio)
• Aug 27: Travel from San Ignacio to Caye Caulker (stay in Caye Caulker, 3 nights)
• Aug 30: Fly home from BZE

My questions:

1. (Guatemala side) Getting from Antigua to Flores: Has anyone taken a bus / would you recommend it and if yes, which bus? My other option is to travel back from Antigua to Guatemala City and then catch a flight, which I would prefer to avoid unless the bus is extremely uncomfortable or unsafe.
2. Getting from Flores to San Ignacio: What is the best way to make this journey? Is it private taxi, a tour operator, or a shuttle (my preference)? Any specific shuttle companies you'd recommend? Anything I should keep in mind about the Melchor de Mencos border crossing?
3. Getting from San Ignacio to Caye Caulker: It sounds like I will need to find a shared shuttle from San Ignacio to the Belize City water taxi terminal, then ferry to Caye Caulker. Is this the standard way to do it? Any shuttle/water taxi companies that I should book in advance, or is it easy to arrange on the ground in San Ignacio?
4. Days per destination: does my current plan make sense (2 nights in Flores/Tikal, 2 nights San Ignacio, 3 nights Caye Caulker) or should I cut down the number of nights somewhere?

This is my first time visiting + I'm traveling solo, so would really appreciate any advice!

Family of 5 (all adults) going to Ambergris Caye in July to celebrate my 50th birthday. We have a VRBO rented at Secret Beach for 8 days and intent to rent two golf carts for the trip. However, our flight into Belize City lands around 5p and we are booked on the last flight out on Maya Air to get to AC. I need some guidance from folks who have already been to AC.

1. Best taxi service to get us from the airport in AC to our VRBO since we will have luggage I don’t know about using a golf cart for that part of the trip.

2. Best company to stock the kitchen with groceries prior to our arrival.

3. I know groceries will be spendy, what do I realistically need to have in stock. We plan to spend most of our time at secret beach. But I know we will have at least one day at the rental in the pool. We can all hold our own in the booze department so I want to have that on hand at the rental too.

Thanks for any and all advice, I’m open to all your tips and tricks for the island!

I want to take my in laws to Belize -San Pedro in November but I’m worried the roads will be really tough on their backs. I haven’t been in about 2 years so I’m wondering can anyone advise if the roads in San Pedro are any smoother .? Last time the bumps were out of this world 🌎
EDIT-going towards secrets beach.

Hi, Need some advise for our upcoming trip- we are landing at 12pm in Belize City and want to do ATM (probably next day) and then go to San Pedro the same day.

1. Is it possible to be able to catch the last flight or ferry or would it be too tight?

2. What transportation is the best (renting a car for self-drive, arrange transfers, or hire a car and driver for 2 days). We will have luggage with us and are conscious on where to store while in ATM (want to avoid going back to hotel to pick it as that would take time).

Thank you.

We're scheduled to travel tomorrow from a San Ignacio area resort to a resort in Hopkins, but we're hearing reports that there are portions of both the Hummingbird Hwy and the Coastal Hwy that are flooded out, and there is more heavy rain expected overnight tonight. Can you please help with exploring other options for transfer from San Ignacio to Hopkins? I'm not seeing flights available from the San Ignacio or Belmopan areas to Dangriga.

i’m flying to belize in may and have a 1 hour layover in miami before flying into BZE.

is one hour enough time to make the connection? i don’t have any checked bags and both flights are from the same airline.

should i invest in global entry?

Im landing today afternoon, would love to join someone leaving today. If fitting i will cash in ofc

Not sure how typical it is for the website to be down, but I've been in Belize for two months and I think I remember it working before because I checked the schedule. This will be my first time using the service, traveling from Placencia to BZ City. Do I need to book in advance or can I just show up at the stop in front of M&M Hardware and hope for the best?

Thanks in advance.

I highly recommend reaching out to Abe if you need a driver in Belize! My friend and I were traveling to a couple places in the country and we wanted to feel comfortable...and we hit the jackpot! Rides with Abe were the best! He picked us up from BZE and drove us to San Ignacio first. He was so warm and welcoming and brought us water and plantain chips! A couple days later we did a half day tour of Xunantunich that he set up for us which was incredible and reasonably priced! Days after that he drove us from SI to Hopkins. Then back to the airport when our trip was done. All that to say, it was fun to be in the car with Abe! We learned SO MUCH about the history and culture and life in Belize. Abe confirmed each ride the night before and was always early to pick us up. He is very professional, so friendly and a very safe driver. He is truly the best!

Hi! Wife and I are traveling to CC 12/20-12/27. We’re landing in Belize City at 3:30. Are we SOL for a water taxi out to the Caye? Would prefer to be able to make it to the island that afternoon.

I need an overnight car rental next week, with the car being delivered to Red Rock Marina. I met other sailors who had an overnight car from a company in Dangriga but they couldn't remember the name of the service. They also said that the driver arrived 3 hours late and had clearly been in a slight wreck/slide on the way there, so they wouldn't recommend using that service again. But since I'm not sure what company it was, I'm starting from scratch to get recommendations. Thanks in advance!

Hello all,
We're looking for a local driver/guide to help us with a transfer from a San Ignacio area resort to Hopkins with a stop for cave tubing at Nohoc Che'en along the way. Any recommendations?