Many adventure travelers exploring the Maya ruins of Guatemala’s Petén Basin opt to return home via the nearby Belize City airport. Here’s how I did it.
Highlighted by world-famous Tikal National Park, the northern part of Guatemala’s Petén Basin contains a myriad of important ruins from the golden age of the ancient Maya civilization. Many explorers leaving the area decide to make their way home by hopping the international border and flying out of Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City. Including two custom maps, these are the steps I took to make it to the airport:
1. Exchange your cash for Belizean currency
Picking up where my travel guide “How to Cross the Belizean Land Border from Guatemala” ended, you should have made it through the arrival lane for Belizean immigration with a freshly stamped passport in hand. Money changers are nearby under a small stand of trees. Walk over and exchange your Guatemalan quetzals and/or Mexican pesos for Belizean dollars (BZD). There’s no need to exchange your U.S. dollars (USD); American currency is accepted everywhere in Belize at a fixed and favorable 1:2 exchange rate.
As I mentioned in my guide for crossing the international border, look for an older gentleman wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap. His name is Raul, and he will give you a fair exchange rate for your cash on hand. In order to follow my steps to the airport, you should have a minimum of $100 BZD (around $50 USD) for taxi fares, a public bus ticket, refreshments, and incidentals.
2. Take a taxi to San Ignacio or walk/ride to Benque Viejo Del Carmen
Truth be told, I took a taxi to San Ignacio (shown in the above map) to stay one last night in the jungle before heading to the airport. If you decide to do the same, expect to pay a fixed rate of $20 BZD ($10 USD) for the 20-minute, nine-mile ride. You can also read my travel guide “A Backpacker’s Guide to San Ignacio, Belize.”
The border town of Benque Viejo Del Carmen (located between Melchor de Mencos, Guatemala, and San Ignacio in the above map) is much closer to the international line. It’s also the western terminus of the country’s east-to-west public bus service. The distance to Benque from the border is less than two miles northeast following Western Highway. That’s walkable for many backpackers and a cheap taxi ride of considerably less than $20 BZD for everyone else.
3. Ride the public bus to Belize City
Public buses are known locally as “chicken buses.” They are old, repurposed school buses which run on a schedule that’s organized and provided by the Belize Department of Transport. Click to view a digital copy of the western bus line’s west-to-east schedule.
The bus terminal at Benque Viejo Del Carmen is where Western Highway veers to the right to run parallel with the southern bank of the Mopan River. The journey to the Belize City bus station from Benque takes around three hours; it’s around two-and-a-half hours to the same destination from San Ignacio. The cost for the bus fare is around $10 BZD ($5 USD).
4. Take a taxi to the Belize City airport
Once you arrive at the Belize City bus station (shown on my above map), taxis will be readily available to whisk you away to the airport. The cost for a fare should be around $50 BZD ($25 USD), and it should take about 30 minutes to complete.
Related Content
– Click to view my high-resolution photo collection featuring images from San Ignacio, Belize.
– Click to watch my high-definition video of Plaza A-1 at the Maya ruins of Xunantunich. The site is near San Ignacio.
– Click to read my feature article “Tikal: The Day the King Died” about how Mesoamerica’s most mysterious metropolis altered the course of Maya civilization on one fateful day.