How to Get Around Belize

Belize divides into the sea and the land, and each has its own transport. The cayes are reached by high-speed water taxi from Belize City: the San Pedro Belize Express runs to Caye Caulker in about 45 minutes and to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye in about an hour and a half, with multiple daily departures and online booking; both islands also have small airstrips. Fares are on the operator's booking page rather than its route pages, so they are not repeated here.

The interior is car-and-tour country. The Maya sites are archaeological reserves run by NICH, the National Institute of Culture and History, which sells the tickets online as QR codes: Caracol from $15, Xunantunich and Lamanai from $10 to $25, Altun Ha and Cahal Pech from $10 to $20, in the categories its ticketing site lists. Actun Tunichil Muknal is entered only with a guide, without a camera unless it has a permit, and in socks in the upper chamber. The currency is fixed at BZ$2 to US$1, and US dollars are taken alongside Belize dollars at the same rate.

To the cayes

The San Pedro Belize Express water taxi leaves Belize City for Caye Caulker, approximately 45 minutes, and for San Pedro, approximately one hour thirty minutes, with multiple daily departures; small and medium luggage is allowed under the operator's policy and tickets can be booked online. Caye Caulker lies about 32 kilometres north-north-east of Belize City and has a village of roughly 4,000 people; San Pedro is the only town on Ambergris Caye. The Great Blue Hole is 70 kilometres offshore on Lighthouse Reef, reached by dive boat from the cayes or by a sightseeing flight.

The Maya sites

NICH's ticketing site sells the archaeological-reserve tickets and emails a QR code: Caracol $15.00 to $25.00, Xunantunich $10.00 to $25.00, Lamanai $10.00 to $25.00, Altun Ha $10.00 to $20.00, Cahal Pech $10.00 to $20.00, Lubaantun and Nim Li Punit $10.00 to $20.00, El Pilar and Cerro Maya $5.00 to $15.00. Each ticket is priced by type, resident or non-resident, and by age -- adult, minor under 12, minor under 5, Belizean senior -- and the currency is not stated on the listing. The sites open every day from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, public holidays included; at Caracol the last tour is at 2:00 pm and visitors leave by 3:00 pm, at Xunantunich the last tour is one hour before closing by vehicle and an hour and a half on foot, and everyone alights from the vehicle for the river ferry. A guide may take at most 15 visitors; no jumping on the monuments, no loud noise or music, and stay on the marked trails. El Castillo at Xunantunich is the second-tallest structure in Belize; Caracol's Structure B19 is the tallest at that site.

Entry and money

The Immigration Department exempts holders of a valid multiple-entry visa or permanent residence card from the United States or Canada, or a valid multiple-entry Schengen visa, from the Belize entry visa for visits not exceeding 30 days; a visa allows a stay of at most 30 days from entry, and anyone staying longer must visit an Immigration Office to extend. The Central Bank protects a pegged, fixed exchange rate; the peg is BZ$2 to US$1.