A friend and I are traveling to Dangriga, Belize. We were thinking of flying into Belize City and then taking a charter flight to Dangriga, however many travel sites have mentioned that it is much cheaper to fly to Cancun and then bus it to Belize. The problem is I can't find anything online about these buses or their schedules. Has anyone travelled through Belize by bus or know of any way to contact a bus company? any tips would be much appreciated,

Take a bus from Cancun airport to Playa del Carmen, and change there for a bus to Chetumal (see ticketbus.com.mx or ado.com.mx for bus times). Once in Chetumal you can get a bus to Belize, or arrange a private transfer through Menzies (belizetransfers.com).

From Corozal, a couple of hours will see you in Belize City, and then take a bus south to Dangriga. some Belize bus times are online at http://www.thebusschedule.com/bz/index.php and www.nationaltransportbelize.com, and James Line bus times are online at https://www.hickatee.com/belize_bus_times.html.

Oh thanks that was pretty helpful!

That would be cheaper but would cost you several long bus days coming and going. If you don't have much time to vacation, it might not be worth it. Also, you don't have to charter a flight, there are 2 airlines that fly between the airports in Belize City and Dangriga.

http://www.mayaislandair.com/
http://www.tropicair.com/

If you don't mind my asking, why did you choose Dangriga?

Yeah we only have about two weeks so I guess we have to weigh in all the options. Sorry, I didn't mean charter flight - just those little planes- It was mayaislandair that we were looking at before.

We have friends that live in Dangriga who invited us to stay, we are going to rent a bungalow near their home on the beach. Although I heard that it is much nicer to stay on the islands. Do you mind me asking why you were asking why we would go to Dangriga, haha?

I wasn't intending to denigrate it, I was just curious about your selection, since it's not a very common destination for visitors to Belize unless they're using it as a jumping off point for Tobacco Caye or South Water Caye. It's a bit grittier than some of the other areas in Belize I've visited.

Lucky you to have friends in Belize to show you around - the perfect way to visit and get to know an area. I hope you'll post a trip report for us when you get back. Happy trails!

Yeah I agree for sure, knowing people who live there is the best way to get the most out of a travel experience! We are probably going to end up flying the whole way...are Tobacco Caye and South Wayer Caye part of the Great Barrier Reef? I am really excited for scuba diving there too.

I'm still getting used to this site but if I can somehow figure out how to post a trip report that will be of interest or help to someone, I will for sure. Thanks for all your help.

Yes - places to snorkel and dive with lodges on them or you can day trip there. Do you have a good guidebook? There are 3 fairly current ones for Belize and the background and historical reading makes them worth the cover price, imo. Happy trails!

Here's how I do the trip...

From Cancun airport to Playa del Carmen:
There is an hourly ADO shuttle bus between the airport and Playa del Carmen. The trip takes 1 hour and costs MX$90. When you arrive at the bus terminal in Playa del Carmen, you have to get a taxi (MX$20 or 30) and go to the other bus terminal where you get the bus to Chetumal.

Playa del Carmen to Chetumal:
Departure times for the ADO express buses to Chetumal: 0620, 0720, 0920, 1050, 1150, 1235, 1320, 1435, 1520, 1635, 1735, 1935, 2120 & 2355. The trip takes about 4.5 hours and costs MX$204 for Primera Class. (as at Dec 2008)

I prefer to stay a night in Chetumal and get an express bus the next day. There are a few options:

1. Premier Lines (an affiliate of the Belizean bus company, National Transport Services) provides express bus service between Belize City and Chetumal. In Belize City, buses arrive at and depart from the Belize City Bus Terminal (commonly known as Novelo’s) located on West Collet Canal. In Chetumal, buses depart from the ADO terminal. The buses are a bit better than the Bluebird school buses and some are first-class type; all have air-conditioning though it might not function. There are stops for passengers at Orange Walk and Corozal. http://www.nationaltransportbelize.com/
Depart Belize City: 6:00 am, 9:00 am and 11:00 am daily
Depart Chetumal: 10:45 am, 1:45 pm and 4:45 pm. Note: these times are Belize time; there will be a 1 hour difference when Chetumal is on DST.
Duration & cost: about 3 hours & BZ$16.00

2. EXPRESS BUS SCHEDULE – FLORES / BELIZE / CHETUMAL
Two Guatemalan bus companies, Linea Dorada and San Juan Express Bus Service, provide bus service between Flores, Belize City and Chetumal. In Belize City, buses arrive at and depart from the Belize City Water Taxi / Marine Terminal on North Front Street near the Swing Bridge. Buses operate on Sundays and public holidays. Not all buses are air-conditioned. The schedule below was in effect on 1 December 2008 but always confirm times before travel.

The agent in Belize City for these bus lines is Mundo Maya Travel located beside the Marine Terminal. Phone: (501) 223 0457 / 223 1235. Email: [email protected]

FLORES TO BELIZE CITY (235 km / 146 miles / about 5 hours)
San Juan Bus departs 5:00 am daily: US$ 25.00
Linea Dorada departs 6:00 am daily*: US$ 25.00
San Juan Bus departs 7:30 am daily: US$ 25.00
* Departure of the Linea Dorada bus is sometimes delayed because it waits for a connecting bus from Guatemala City. It then stops in Santa Elena.

BELIZE CITY TO FLORES (235 km / 146 miles / about 5 hours)
San Juan & Linea Dorada depart 9:30 am daily: US$ 25.00
San Juan Bus departs 2:30 pm daily: US$ 25.00

BELIZE CITY TO CHETUMAL (161 km / 100 miles / about 3 hours)
San Juan Bus departs 10:30 am daily**: US$ 10.00
Linea Dorada departs 12:30 pm daily**: US$ 10.00
** These buses are not always punctual.

CHETUMAL TO BELIZE CITY (161 km / 100 miles / about 3 hours)
San Juan Bus departs 5:00 am daily: US$ 10.00
Linea Dorada departs 6:00 am daily: US$ 10.00
The Linea Dorada bus boards in the bus terminal. The San Juan bus boards outside the terminal.

3. National Transport Services (a Belizean bus company) also provides service to Chetumal. In Belize City, buses arrive at and depart from the Belize City Bus Terminal (commonly known as Novelo’s) located on West Collet Canal. In Chetumal, buses depart from Nuevo Mercado (a few blocks from the ADO terminal). The buses are used Bluebird school buses; most of them are not very comfortable, not air-conditioned and are not well equipped to handle luggage, but they are cheap! There are a couple of air-conditioned buses that are used on some Express runs. The schedule below is an old one so check times at the terminal. The Express stops for passengers at Orange Walk and Corozal. The Regular stops anywhere along the route.
Depart Belize City: 6:45 am (Express), 7:30 am (Regular), 8:30 am (Regular), 1:00 pm (Regular), 5:30 pm (Express)
Depart Chetumal: 4:00 am (Express), 9:00 am (Regular), 2:30 pm (Regular), 3:30 pm (Regular), 7:00 pm (Express)
Duration & cost: the Regular is about 3.5 hours & BZ$9.00; the Express is about 3 hours & BZ$12.00.

COROZAL / CHETUMAL
Several bus companies (BBOC, Chell, Gilharry, NTSL, Russell, Tillett, T-Line, Venus) operate on this route.
Buses depart Corozal bus terminal every half hour beginning at 7:00 am; last departure at 8:00 pm.
Buses depart Chetumal Nuevo Mercado every half hour beginning at 4:00 am; last departure at 5:45 pm.
I don’t know the exact cost, but it’s about BZ$3.00 or $4.00 to Corozal and about BZ$9.00 to Belize City.
Sometime in March 2009, the schedule will change. The departure times are not expected to change, only the operating times of each bus line.

In Belize City, buses to Dangriga depart from the Belize City bus terminal (Novelo's). Try to get a James bus so you don't have to change buses in Belmopan. A Regular bus from Belize City to Dangriga is about 3.5 hours & BZ$15.00.

I see that I can't edit my previous post so will continue...

The are more than 1 transfer services:
http://belizetransfers.com/home
http://gettransfers.com./
http://www.belizeforum.com/belize/ub...&Number=149635

And, you might consider flying from Corozal to save a lot of time on, or waiting for, buses. See the airline links given earlier.

is there a way to fly from Cancun to Belize City?

There are no commercial flights from anywhere in Mexico to anywhere in Belize.

That's really tooo bad there are no flights between Belize and Mexico..We are taking a tour from Mexico City to Belize...and then gonna stay in Ambergris Caye for a week or so after the tour..and then make our way to Playa del Carmen for a few nights and then onto Cancun... and fly back to Mexico City for our return flight home to Canada...

This is not til Oct/Nov...but we will fly from Ambergris Caye to Corozol...and either take a private transfer to Playa del Carmen for 350.00......or take the private transfer to Chetumal and take the bus to Playa del Carmen...

How are the buses????? or should we take the private transfer as the buses are definately tons cheaper?? I have lots of time to figure it out, but would like to get opinions now.

Being from Canada...if we take a flight home from Belize back to Canada..it will cost double per person so we are better off taking the bus back to Mexico.and flying home from there..and we will save over 1000.00!!

Hope that all made sense!!

yes, I would think an enterprising pilot with a medium sized plane could make some money shuttling folks back and forth - Cancun - Belize. I'm sure there's traffic, as this thread shows. Too, bad, a Cozumel, Amergris Caye vacation would be a diving dream.

** BREAKING NEWS **

Looks like there might be a Cancun - Belize flight soon.
See this post on Belize Forums...

http://www.belizeforum.com/belize/ub...557#Post154557

Here's the link to Maya Island Air...

http://www.mayaislandair.com/

Here's a site with up to date information about bus schedules:

http://belizebus.wordpress.com/

I have tried all these links to schedule my trip and the web-page says that it is not available, am I typing in something wrong. My flight arrives in Cancun at 4:30pm on November 6, 2009 and I am trying to get bus/boat service down to Caye Caulker, Belize. My return is on November 14, 2009 to Tulum, Mexico from Caye Caulker. I have been trying Cancun-Chetumal-Belize City-Caye Caulker and Caye-Caulker-Belize City-Chetumal-Tulum (???) I have not been able to pull up anything for November, it just says not available. Any suggestions or recommendations are appreciated.

Try this site for the Mexican part of your trip, from Cancun to Chetumal.

http://www.ado.com.mx/ado/index.jsp

I was able to pull up buses.

Once in Chetumal, you'll either have to change to a Belize bus or arrange a transfer to cross the border. You also may be able to take a cab, we use a transfer company. There are links to Belize bus schedules in this thread.

When we travel this route, we use a transfer company who takes us from the bus station in Chetumal (although I understand they aren't allowed to pick you up right there any longer). The transfer company then takes us to the airstrip in Corozal where we fly to Ambergris.

Right now there is a water taxi that travels between Corozal and Ambergris twice a day, I think at 7am and 3pm. I understand there's another water taxi that will begin service soon from Chetumal to San Pedro.