From Belize to Guatemala - Here's How

In this article, I describe how to travel from the paradise island of Caye Caulker in Belize via Belize City to Flores in Guatemala. Flores is a popular starting point for visiting the Maya ruins at Tikal in the Petén region. The journey is long and involves a ferry and a bus.

The ferry from Caye Caulker to Belize City takes 45 minutes.

Cost for the combined ferry ticket from Caye Caulker to Belize City and the bus from Belize City to Flores: $30 USD

Upon arriving in Belize City, we have a little time to explore the city - not that there's much to see. With 70,000 inhabitants, Belize City is the largest city in Belize. The city appears to be very poor and somewhat unattractive. After just a few steps out of the port area, I understand why all travel guides say there's really no reason to stay in Belize City and add: Please do not leave the hotel at night.

You feel uncomfortable.

This feeling is shared by a few others as well - independent of us. That impression is confirmed later as we leave the city by bus, and I see a larger number of police officers separating two gangs...

At 10:30 AM, we exit Belize City and head directly across the border to Flores in Guatemala. The third country in four days! The bus is almost 30 minutes late and is a stark contrast to the usually freezing ADO buses in Mexico: a small bus (a larger one wouldn't even get over the bumps we have ahead) without air conditioning. Finally, you can open the windows and get a nice breeze!

The landscape is relatively similar, but the roads keep getting worse: potholes and dirt paths. I have a déjà vu: The conditions were similar in Cuba. Luckily, it's (still) not raining, and I can't imagine those roads during monsoon rains...

When we finally reach the border, we have to get off in Belize, obtain the exit stamp, and pay an exit fee of 37.50 BZD. We must then walk to immigration for Guatemala.

Here's the catch: We are nicely informed that while they know it's illegal, we are asked to please pay 10 QZT, because otherwise they cannot ensure our safety. Well, better to be honest than to pretend it's legal. After we get the stamps and pay the bribe, we continue to Flores.

In a heavy monsoon rain, we reach Flores after about 5 hours of travel, the capital of Petén (Belize City - Flores: 235 km). There, we have to switch buses under a gas station (otherwise we would have been soaked within 10 seconds).

With a smaller bus, we continue to our accommodation at the Hotel Casazul. While we wait for the rain to stop, we first make ourselves a coffee and enjoy the view from our balcony of Lake Petén Itza.

After that, we stroll a bit along the lake and decide to eat burritos, drink mojitos, and enjoy this fantastic sunset:

The Hotel Casazul is located right by Lake Petén Itza and offers a magnificent view of it. There is a publicly accessible terrace on the second floor. The first-floor rooms - where ours was located, have a balcony where you can also enjoy the view of the lake.

The rooms are very spacious and ours had three large beds. Air conditioning, a refrigerator, and a minibar are also available.

WiFi is usually available for free. The staff is very friendly. However, one must be aware that the lakeside promenade road runs right past the hotel, and a bit of traffic noise comes with it. (During our stay, it was a holiday, and the noise made our first night very short, as we had to get up at 3 AM to go to Tikal).

The location is simply excellent, and the price-performance ratio is good, as Casazul was still one of the cheaper hotels - and also clean, which is important. (We paid 784 GTQ for 2 nights).

A hotel recommendation for Flores, which we regrettably only got late, is the Cafe Arqueologico Yaxha. This accommodation is run by a German who guides tours to the excavations in Yaxha and organizes trips there (in German, English, and Spanish). It must be really great; unfortunately, we lacked the time. Next time we might consider staying here.

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