How To Get From Guatemala To Belize

How to get from Guatemala to Belize? To get from Flores to San Ignacio, you will find shuttle buses everywhere in the travel agencies. If you don’t want to take the tourist bus to Belize at 8 a.m., you still have the possibility to do it on your own by public transport. This way the border crossing from Guatemala to Belize will only take a little longer, but you will save some money and above all you can leave when you want.

Our suggestion is applicable both if you want to go from Flores to San Ignacio or if you want to continue to Belize City. We did the route as part of our trip through Latin America, where we visited places like Costa Rica, Panama and of course Guatemala and Belize.

Guatemala To Belize – The Tourist Shuttle

If you want to go from Flores to San Ignacio by normal tourist shuttle, you can book this anywhere in Flores. The bus leaves Flores at 8 am on time and takes you across the border to Belize. For the distance from Flores to San Ignacio you have to pay about 100 Quetzales (about 11 Euro) per person. The problem is that the bus leaves only once a day at 8 am.

So there is no possibility to leave later in the day. If you want to cross the border from Guatemala to Belize at a later time, you can do it very easily by TukTuk, bus and cab. The price for this is a little less than the price for the shuttle. For two people we paid 18.50 Euro. So not only do you save some money, but you also get to experience some of the local life on the public bus.

Guatemala to Belize by Public Transport

From Flores you have to take a TukTuk which will bring you to the bus station in Santa Elena within 10 minutes. You will have to pay about 15 Quetzales (about 1,70 Euro). There are many minibuses leaving in all directions.

If you tell your TukTuk driver that you want to go to the border to Belize (a la Frontera) or to the border town of Melchor de Mencos, he will take you directly to the right buses. On the buses, the destination is written everywhere on the windshield (Melchor) and the drivers yell it loudly through the area.

The price for the bus ticket in the white minibuses (Collectivo) is 30 Quetzales (about 3.50 Euro) per person. As far as we know, the buses leave at 10 am and 12:30 pm. However, with all the buses waiting for passengers there, I can imagine that the buses also leave at later times. The bus first goes to the market in Santa Elena, where there is a longer break.

There you can stock up on snacks and drinks. The local merchants hold the things for you directly into the bus. So you don’t even have to get off the bus.

At the border town Melchor de Mencos
The journey continues quickly and you will reach the border town of Melchor de Mencos in about 2 hours.

At the bus terminal there you can get off and exchange your Quetzales into Belize Dollars directly at the flying traders. The exchange rate is not that bad. From the small bus terminal you go to the main road, follow it across the small border river Rio Mopan and walk to the border building, where you do the entry and exit.

The Border Formalities

The stamping of the passports is done very quickly. There are no exit fees to pay when leaving Guatemala. Some travelers tell about a small fee that the border official illegally demands from you. But this was not the case with us. Also in Belize there are no fees to pay at the entry (in contrast to the exit). Fruit, alcohol or cigarettes are not allowed to be brought in.

You are not allowed to bring in fruit, vegetables or cigarettes into Belize. We were asked about this, but our bags were not inspected. Even when we said we had bananas with us, it was not a problem. Also, our drone did not attract any attention or was not asked about it when entering Belize.

From the Border on to Belize

From the border in Belize you have to continue by cab and inevitably fall victim to the local cab mafia. There are no buses here, because the next small border town Benque Viejo del Carmen is about 3 kilometers away. But you can also walk to Benque and take a local bus from there.

If you want to continue to Belize City.
Take a cab to Benque Viejo del Carmen and from there take a local bus to Belize City.

If you only want to go to San Ignacio
Then it makes the most sense to take a cab that will take you directly to your hotel in San Ignacio. We had to pay 10 Belize dollars (approx. 4,50 Euro) per person. With a little more negotiating skill, it is certainly even less.

What pleased us most about Belize is that English is spoken there. Finally we can communicate properly again and understand everything. Unfortunately, this was not possible in the other countries of Central America with our poor Spanish.

Hotel Recommendation in San Ignacio

If you want to relax after crossing the boarder we can highly recommend the Ka´an Resort & Spa*. Here you can relax at the beautiful pool in the lush green garden or spend some time in the luxurious rooms. This place is so amazing that you don't even want to go out and explore San Ignacio.

Ka´an Resort & Spa | Check availability*

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If you have any questions about the border crossing from Guatemala to Belize, please write us a comment