Punta Gorda to Puerto Barrios - ferry?
 

Has anyone got experience of putting bikes on the boats that do this trip. Would make it a lot easier to visit Belize but Im worried my GS1200 Adventure wont fit on and I will have to go back the long way round. Any help appreciated. (will be travelling with 2 of us so quite heavy):scooter:

Just to be contrary, why would putting a heavy bike on a wobbly watertaxi make visiting Belize easier than riding the bike from Pto Barrios to CA 13, up thru the Peten and east into Belize ?So it takes a few days, it is a bike trip you are on after all ?
I have never taken the water taxi route but have investigated and observed them up close while in Punta Gorda and Dangriga,Livingston and Pto Barrios GT and Pto.Cortes HN.Also they have been extensively commented on here on the HUBB in the past.
They are not RORO ferries, they are long boats, lanchas, with bench seats intended primarily for transport of passengers and luggage. They will on occasion take motorcycles if the particular boat has the carrying capacity, but to get the bike on and off will require a lot of manhandling , hiring of extra helpers.
Only from Pto Barrios to Livingston is there a regular freight barge service which can take cars and bikes and small trucks easily- but then from Livingston there are no roads, just another lancha service upriver to Rio Dulce or to Pta.Gorda.

Hi - I would be coming in from that direction so was just wondering whether i need to backtrack or whether there was a quicker way. Ive got just short of 4 weeks down there starting in Guatemala and ending in Panama and want to see as much as possible. After Tikal i may just head down to Honduras and save Belize for a another time.

Thanks for your advice

Belize (Punta Gorda)ferry to Puerto Barrios (GUATEMALA)
 

Did anyone else reply?
we are intersted w/ 3 klr 650s

I'm close to retirement
i'll go down and start a bike ferry:-))

No - sorry that was it. Might need 3 ferries for 3 bikes but worth a try if youre not in a hurry

The ferry service is a rip off there. Do not even think about trying to load a R1200 on to one of those ferries. Make sure you go with the reliable captain there and not the cheap guy. I went with the cheap guy (his name is Memos) and the idiot did not care a rats ass about my bike. He kept refusing to slow down in the choppy waters and my bike bounced the whole way there and broke the kickstand. When we got to the other side he did his best to blackmail me into paying more because he said he had to use more gas
It is cheaper and more reliable to double back into Guatemala.

BTW: Make sure that you have at least $100 US for when you get to Puerto Barrios. The Honduran border crossing is just 30 miles away but there are conveniently no atm machines at the town on the Honduran border and if you show up without cash they will run a scam on you where you have to pay to be escorted to the nearby Honduran town to do paperwork.