The country of Belize has approximately 400 islands and 200 miles (325 km) of coastal land. As you can imagine, ferries and water taxis are the main mode of transportation for the inter-island and island-to-mainland commutes. Here are a few boat transportation and scheduling details.
Ferry service
Ferry service runs six times daily from Belize City and destinations include:
- Ambergris Caye – one way fare from Belize City is BZ $30; travel time is 1.25 hours
- Caye Caulker – one way fare from Belize City is BZ $20; travel time is 45 minutes
- Caye Chapel
- Routes between the above three cayes
- Between Corozal Town and San Pedro there is a ferry and the one-way fare is $45
A very popular way to see Belize and the islands is by way of cruise ship. There are places where a small 200-person cruise ship (or fewer) will take you to visit the atolls (like Turneffe Atoll), West Snake Caye, Ambergris Caye, Placencia, and Tobacco Caye. These cruise ships can be found ported off of Belize City and shuttles back and forth to them are done in smaller boats because of the shallow waters.
Chartered Cruises
For example, Discover Cruises at www.traveltourbelize.com offers these types of chartered cruises. On Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM you can go on the Snorkeling and Caye Caulker cruise for a full day. On Tuesdays and Fridays between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM you can go on the Snorkeling and Beach BBQ cruise. On Saturdays they have the Party Dinner Cruise and a cocktail with dinner between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM. You can also schedule your own private group charter cruises.
Small Belize cruises
And there are many small Belize cruises of this nature. Fine Travel runs a cruise known as the Temptress Cruise which is done on a 163-foot shallow draft ship holding 65 passengers that can maneuver into all sorts of tight spots in the island chain. You can find their website at www.finetravel.com/centralsouthamerica/belize.htm where they tell you more about this multi-night cruise.
There is so much to do here and these ferries and cruises on the Belize boat schedules are a great way to take it all in.
