Belize border
 

Chetemal to belize.Customs issued me with a 14 day permit for bike for free.Insurance cost me 30 USD for 2 weeks.Cheap and cheerful ! Well, as cheerful as custom officers can be !

But, if I remember correctly it will cost you 30 bucks to get out!

Thought it was too good to be true !

18 US each we payed on exit.Guatamala was cheap in and out.Honduras a bit steep at 30 US on entry for bike.

belize taxes
 

so can someone please clear this up.....how much does it cost to enter and leave Belize by bike, solo rider?What else has to be paid for, I know that somewhere I have to get the bike disinfected, but don't know where and can't seem to find anyone who knows!
Is there a car ferry to take the bike straight to the Cayes?
Can I take a bike to Caye Caulker?
So many Questions...should I just skip it and head to guatemala...
Looking forward to your replies,
thanks guys..and gals
Dan

Hi Dan,

Costs around 33USD to leave for 2 people on 1 bike.

Wait for Honduras - now that's a real ripoff border country (42USD (!) for bike to enter + around 3USD per person).

We did similar research - even if there is ferry going as far as I know the ferry doesn't take vehicles. I may stand corrected in this tho. We crossed Belize-Guatemala east of Tikal, some 30km of gravel road (don't worry, doable even on HD with no problems) on Guatemalan side after the border.

PS: good to meet you Dan and your g/f on the road in Mexico! Ride safe you both! :thumbup1:

Margus

Hi,it was 2005 I crossed into Belize but sounds like costs haven't changed much.Don't skip Belize if you like a bit of beach bumming and chilling out with a rum punch.Or if you're into the ecotourism thing.People pay alot of money to go on holiday to Belize nowdays so while you're there its worth paying the dollars to get in and out.Visit the zoo just to remind you what is out there amongst the green stuff away from the road.
Try and find the large bubbly lady who sells great chicken, rice and beans on the street in Belize city.Any taxi driver will know where she is.
Best to get a taxi boat to Caulker and leave bike on mainland.I visited the army base to remaniss a bit and got talking to the stores staff Sgt who allowed me to leave it there while we went off to the Cayes.You wouldn't need your bike when you get to Caulker, so not worth the hassle of getting it there.
Only disenfecting i remember was on exiting Belize to get into Guatamala.
Also, don't bypass Tikal as we nearly did.
Have fun ! :palm:

Getting your bike disinfected simply means that they spray your tires. It's really not bad. You typically have the honor or paying a few dollars for the service.

Be sure to buy the insurance for countries that require it. Belize and Nicaragua come to mind. Typically there is a road block a check shortly after clearing the border. I was checked twice deep in Belize. The penalty for not having insurance is grave for national in Belize. Not sure what they do with tourist, but you don't want to find out. If it is in your budget, then buy insurance for countries like Mexico. Getting into, then out of an accident will be a nightmare, even if it's not your fault. Insurance may get you back on the road with less delay. The price could be well worth the hassle it save you.

Most of all keep this in mind, you will pay fees for permits, insurance, road tax, gringo tax, whatever, you can't get around it. Don't make border crossing the focus and downer of your trip. Get it over and enjoy the rest of your trip. Having some humor makes it easier. Don't rush the process, it will add stress to get the steps complete and will make your paperwork disorganized. Make sure you or your helper double check that the motorcycle VIN number is correctly entered. You will have endless problems if it is not recorded correctly.

If your spanish is not strong, then hire a helper (the officials will be grateful.) I strongly recommend making the helper fee clear upfront. I have paid as little as $5 and as much as $12 (with tips) to enter of leave a country. Helpers will take as much as you are willing to fork over. Some helpers have been known to extract crazy amounts for assistance. You can read such stories in other posts on the HUBB. I think it was when I was leaving Nicaragua (the border crossing start to blurry together) I pulled up to the first a booth and am surrounded by over a dozen money exchangers and helpers, many are holding up plastic laminates that attest to professionalism (?) I got off my motorcycle (pulling off the GPS!) and walked away, leaving the crowd dumbfounded. There was a food stand about 50 feet away. I had a bite to eat and drink, then waved over the calm helper that I had made eye contact with before. The frantic crowd had already dispersed. We sat and talked. I got an overview of the steps ahead, rough cost for each and ask what he needed, then stated what I was willing to pay. I then knew roughly how much to cash to exchange... I always attended each step, handling all of the original documents and pay the fees myself. Some helpers will skim a little or a lot if you just hand over cash to them.

Remember that most helpers can only assist in entering of leaving or entering a country -- they often cannot get you into the next country. If you like the helper on the one side of the border, then ask them if they can hand you off to someone they know on the other side. They usually have cell phones and can hook you up with a partner on the other side.

Hold on to your original documents! Make copies of your passport, license, registration, and title. Only allow your helper to handle the copies. I put mine copies into a book with plastic sleeves so things stayed organized. I prepared another book to hold my originals. Insurance documents, receipts, permits, all went into the book of original paperwork. I also made several copies of my passport, title, license and registration. Having copies did not eliminate trips to the copy shacks, but it did reduce the trips on a few occasions.

Make a list of the exchange rates for each country. Money changers at the border will give you rip-off rates to start. Stick with it and they will become more reasonable. Having your own calculator and a rough understanding of how much you want to exchange and what you should get back. If you are getting nowhere with one money changer, move on to the next, he'll likely be standing there waiting to jump in. I used an iPhone application to called CURRENCY, which was a good rough guide to exchanging money. I made a money changer wince at one point. That is when I came to understand that he was making next to nothing on the deal...

Borders are like the skin of an avocados, ugly and thick. Enjoy the fruit that lies within.

enjoy the ride!
Peter Bodtke

great posts and information pete !!

Don't skip Belize
 

I really enjoyed Belize. I left my bike in the hostel I stayed in on the mainland when I went to Caye Caulker (much better diving that Utila in Honduras).

Belize Zoo is pretty cool - near by is the monkey place where you can stay which is near to a bar with a happy hour.

River tubing was fun and my favourite place was San Ignacio and doing the ATM cave tour and cave canoeing.

When I left to ride to Tikal my border crossing was pretty easy and I think somehow all I paid was $10 to exit. Honduras was the most expensive at about $48 for me and bike.

Costa Rica to Panama the longest 6 hours and Nicaragua to Costa Rica the most frustrating (lots of little papers to collect).

My spanish is pants but I never used any of the helpers as I found them quite intimidating when they all run at you yelling (I would have liked to have some help and wouldn't have minded paying but their approach is so bad) and after doing a few yourself you realise it isn't that hard.

This was my posting on my Belize to Guatemala crossing » Blog Archive » Crossing and Conflict (getting into Belize was also easy). And if you go back from there you can see my posts on Belize.

Have fun!
Annette

The penalty for everything is grave in Belize...

I would strongly suggest avoiding hiring helpers specifically for entering Honduras... they can be bad friends there and I've heard of people losing a lot of money. Other than that they are very good at many borders.