Plane, Belize

We came in to Belize on American Airlines. If you are going to have to be somewhere in Belize by a certain date, it might be a good idea to fly in a day in advance so you can deal with any snafus. Book as early as possible to get the best rate and try not to have a lot of connections to make. Especially if you book early, reconfirm about a week prior to departure, and when you get to Belize, reconfirm your departure flight.

In addition to American, you can fly to Belize on Continental, US Airways (U.S.), or Grupo Taca (El Salvador).

Continental flies out of Houston, American has flights out of Miami and Dallas, US Airways flies out of Charlotte. Taca flies out of Houston, Miami, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco. I prefer AA of course because my daughter is a pilot for them.

You will land at the International Airport which is - like most of larger airports - not in Belize City.

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for longer distances inside belize choose local airlines
either tropic airways or maya airlines
both are same safe, comfortable, good quality for its econocmic price and you get great view from the planes..the local airport look simple but very easy to checkin.-.and absolut safe

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If you choose to stay on Ambergris Caye and want to take a tour to the Mayan ruins, go cave tubing, zip lining, etc., the most efficient way to do so is by prop plane. Not the most cost effective, but certainly the fastest way to travel (I was advised that the water taxi from Belize City to Ambergris took 1 hour...a long time on a small motor boat!). Most tours leave from Belize City, so even if you are provided transportation from your hotel, you will most likely be taken to Belize City where your tour will actually begin.

Maya Island Air or Tropic Air are the two options in and around Belize -- I found the cost for both airlines to be similar.

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On checking with Delta Airlines a few days before our scheduled departure, I was informed that they had cancelled both our incoming and outgoing flights between Atlanta, Georgia and Belize City, cutting two days off our vacation (I had booked the trip 2 months in advance). This meant that, on our arrival in Belize, instead of spending the first night in Belize City and then taking a morning Water Taxi out to Caye Caulker, we would have to leave immediately for our pre-arranged hotel booking on the island. However, the distance of the International airport from downtown meant that we could not catch the last water taxi run of the day, so we instead had to take a local island-hopping flight to Caye Caulker.

Tropic Air came to the rescue quite nicely with their regular shuttle to Caye Caulker and San Pedro on Ambergris Cay. It was around 3 PM when our flight landed in Belize and we were soon through Customs and booked our onward flight to Caye Caulker, not cheap at US$55 each (it costs about US$20 more to fly from the International airport than it does from the local city airport because of 'departure taxes'). Tropic Air had a full load of 14 passengers and 2 crew on the flight, only about a 10 minute hop to cover the 21 miles out to Caulker. By 4:15 PM, four of us had said good-bye to the airplane on Caye Caulker and the flight continued onward to San Pedro with the other passengers.

I had been placed two rows back from the cockpit, so had a good view of our approach to the island (second photo). The view also gives a good shot of the white line marking the very close off-shore reef that helps to calm the beach waters on Caye Caulker! Altogether, it was a great little flight and it allowed us to maximize our time on the beaches - where we wanted to be!

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Flying is the most time efficient way to get around in Belize. There are several airlines in the area and you can fly to Caye Caulker, Ambergris, Placencia, and several of the major lodges have airstrips. The two Belize airlines are Maya Island Air and Tropic Air

Maya Island Air has 9 airplanes which range from 7 to 13 passengers. They list the following prices:
Placencia(PLJ) to San Ignacio(SQS) $ 101.00
Ambergris Caye(SPR) to San Ignacio(SQS) $ 93.00
Ambergris Caye(SPR) to Belmopan(BCV)
$ 75.00
Placencia(PLJ) to Belmopan(BCV)
$ 75.00

We came directly to Caye Caulker from Belize Int'l Airport by booking a flight with Tropic Air (Maya Air is the other carrier). Both airlines leave hourly (7AM - 4PM) and between Goldson Int'l Airport to Caye Caulker, Ambergis Caye and various cities Belize mainland. The flight time is only about 15-20min from Int'l airport to Caye Caulker and you get the opportunity for some great aerial views of belize and the carribean sea. Price was $52USD/person and if you book roundtrip, you can save about $5USD

Don't rent a car and spend your precious travel days driving over miles of bad roads. Airfare is cheap and easy to book. While flights to longer distances may require several stops, no single flight is more than about 30 minutes. And if you are going a long way, you may get invited to ride in the cockpit. Landing on some of the more remote airstrips is quite a thrill from the front seat!

There is so much to see and do in Belize, don't waste time on the road.

In retrospect, we figured out that its worth checking into flying around Belize. Cabs are not that cheap and the bus is a hassle, since the schedule is not readily available. If you are limited for time, consider flying.

this is the landing and take-off strip if you decide to arrive by air and not by sea... the first is run by Tropic Air while a service of boats goes to and fro Belize City at the price of 7.5 U.S. $ one way (and about one hour) against the 26 $ (and 10 minutes) from San Pedro by aircraft but isn't it more thrilling the 4 seats plane in the pic all for you as it was when I flew on it...

I am sure there are more direct ways to get to Belize but we were coming from Costa Rica. We went on four planes and one boat before we finally arrived, but once we saw the island, it was worth it. From Costa Rica we flew to El Salvador, from there is was off to Guatamala, then to Belize City, finally to San Pedro where we took a boat to the island. The planes were small, but not as small as the runway in San Pedro.