Hi Lan,
You helped so much on our last trip to Belize, that I wanted to ask you a few questions for our return trip this month! I'm sure it has been posted many times before, but I can't find specifally in regards to my question.
We will be in San Pedro for ten days, already booked our stay there. Would it be possible to do a day trip to the San Ignacio area to see the Caracol ruins? Since we've already paid for our full stay, we were wondering if it was too far to go for a day and return to our islnad retreat. If it is doable, what would the cost be to water taxi/drive vs fly into Belize City and drive.

We did the Lamanai trip last time and it was excellent, hoping to see some other ruins, and Caracol seems to be the most interesting.
Thanks in advance for your excellent knowledge of this jewel of a country!

Caracol is really too far to do in a day trip from San Pedro. It's close to 5 hours each way by car from Belize City, and when you factor in getting from San Pedro to Belize City, getting a car, seeing the ruins, having lunch, etc. it's more than a full day.

There is new air service on Maya Island Air from the international airport to San Ignacio. If you left at 7 a.m. from San Pedro, you'd get to San Ignacio before 9 (fare US$93 one-way), and if you had a car waiting for you and drove to Caracol for a quick visit you could be back in San Ignacio by 4 or 5, but then the last flight back leaves in mid-afternoon, to early for you to make it.

About the only way you could do it would be to charter with Javier or someone and fly to the Blancaneaux airstrip, and from there it's around 2 hours, if you had a car or had a tour set up and waiting for you. But that would end up being very expensive.

Best bet is to plan to spend a night in the Pine Ridge or San Ignacio. That would probably end up not costing any more, even if you had to eat your hotel room for one night in San Pedro.

It would actually be easier to do a flying trip to Tikal via Flores, though I think Tropic and Maya Island Air now only do overnight tour packages there -- seems like they used to do a day tour there with an early morning flight.

FYI the water taxi from San Pedro to Belize City is US$25 round-trip (if you take the round trip the same day, otherwise Us$14 each way) and flying to the municipal airstrip is US$26 each way.

--Lan Sluder

Thanks Lan, I figured it might be too much to try and get into one day. I'm thinking you are right about making it a trip to Tikal. Maybe my hotel will let us out of the last two nights on San Pedro. It'd be worth asking.

We will consider staying the one night for the Tikal trip. Do you have an idea what the overnight packages per person are through Maya Island air?

Then we coud see Tikal at our leasure and head back to Belize City the next day for our departure...

Thanks again in advance,

Rosie C

Ås I recall, the overnight trips to Tikal on Maya Island and Tropic are about USS$280 per person, including air, hotel at Tikal, entrance to Tikal, etc. You could do Caracol for a little less, as long as you have the overnight option and rent a car.

--Lan Sluder

We will be staying at Blancaneaux for 3 days in June. What are the most highly recommended day trips from there - Mayan, caving, etc? Thanks.

From Blancaneaux (great place!) I'd say the top three tours/trips are 1) Caracol, an all-day trip, 2) Actun Tunichil Muknal cave, pretty much all day, 3) Tikal, all day or overnight.

--Lan Sluder