I will be travelling to Cancun for the first time. How practical is it to drive to Belize for a day trip or overnight stay? About how long of a car trip is it? Can you enter Belize with Birth Certificates alone? Is it relatively safe w/children?<BR><BR>Any info would be greatly appreciated.<BR><BR>Thanks!

If you don't get adequate info here, try www.belizeforum.com and you're sure to get a good answer. I believe there's a bus that goes direct and takes about 5 1/2 hours. Can't speak to the safety of the Mexico portion as I'm unfamiliar with that area but Belize in general is quite safe and very friendly. As always - not recommended to travel at night for a variety of reasons. The only area of Belize in which significant precautions should be taken for personal safety is Belize City after dark.

You are not permited to take a rental car across the border into Belize. The drive from Cancun to the border is a little over 4 hours. Since I have a passport, I'm not sure if a BC alone is acceptable to enter Belize.

Passport is definitely required to enter Belize. No shots or immunizations are required and no visa unless it's a very lengthy stay (longer than any typical vacation). The bus might be a good option and I believe they are reasonably priced. It's nearly as fast as a car becuase it doesn't make lots of local stops (that is my impression - I have not ridden it and can't report first hand inifo).

As someone else noted, you definetely need a passport to enter Belize. <BR><BR>Most car rental agencies don't permit their vehicles to be taken into Belize, but one or two in Cancun do -- you'd have to check around. If driving into Belize, you have to buy Belize insurance, which you can do at the border. But buses to Belize are comfortable (A/C, videos, reserved seats) and affordable, around US$15 depending on which bus and the peso exchange rate. Takes about 5 hours from Cancun. In Chetumal you change to a Novelo's bus to take you into Belize.<BR><BR>If you are just going for a day or two, you'd probably want to stay in Corozal, which is a pleasant, safe though not too exciting small town on Corozal Bay, about 9 miles from the border. The bus will drop you there (about Us$2 from Chetumal).<BR><BR>--Lan Sluder<BR>www.belizefirst.com