Ambergris Caye and San Pedro from Belize City: Water Taxi, Flight and Getting There

Early in the morning, the waterfront of Belize City hums with people hauling duffel bags and snorkel gear toward the Marine Terminal, where the boats to the cayes wait at the dock. Once the boat pulls away from the mainland, the city flattens into a low line behind you and the water turns from murky brown to clear green. Ahead lies Ambergris Caye, the island where the town of San Pedro sits beside the Belize Barrier Reef.

How do you get to Ambergris Caye and San Pedro from Belize City?

From the Belize Marine Terminal, the water taxi takes approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to San Pedro, while a flight from the international airport takes about 20 minutes. On a map the island lies about 30 miles in a straight line from Belize City, but there is no road across the sea, so the trip is always a boat or a plane. The island is part of the Belize District, though the nearest point of the mainland belongs to the Corozal District.

What decides between the two is where you are starting and what you carry. The boats leave from the waterfront in the city, at the San Pedro Belize Express ticket office on North Front Street, and the company runs multiple daily trips that also stop at Caye Caulker.

The flights leave from the international airport in Ladyville, 10 miles outside the city, and Maya Island Air lists San Pedro among the places it connects to from there. If you land at the international airport and want to reach the island by air, the connection happens in the same airport. If you prefer to see the cayes from the water and have luggage within the boat’s allowance, the water taxi fits.

Ambergris Caye is the largest of several hundred cayes in the northernmost waters of Belize, about 25 miles long and a mile wide. San Pedro sits on the southern part of the island, so both the boat and the plane bring you to the town that serves as the island’s center. From there the reef, the beaches and the marine reserve of Hol Chan are within reach, and the town itself is the place most visitors call home during a stay.

Ways to get to Ambergris Caye and San Pedro from Belize City

By water taxi from the Belize Marine Terminal

The San Pedro Belize Express Water Taxi leaves from its terminal at #111 North Front Street in Belize City and runs multiple trips a day to San Pedro and Caye Caulker. The ride to San Pedro takes approximately 1 hour 30 minutes. The Caye Caulker stop comes after approximately 45 minutes, and from Caye Caulker the ferry on to San Pedro takes 30 minutes, so you can break the trip in two if you want to see the smaller island first.

The baggage allowance is one carry-on and two checked bags per passenger. Each extra checked bag costs BZ$5.00, and an oversized item, meaning more than 50 lbs or larger than 24x18x12 inches, costs BZ$15.00. A bicycle is BZ$20.00, and cargo such as a box or a cooler is BZ$10.00 per item. The company accepts Visa, Mastercard and Discover for walk-in purchases at its terminals.

This way suits travelers who like the slow reveal of the coast and who pack within the allowance. Sit where you can see the water, because the color change as the boat leaves the city behind is part of the trip.

By air from the international airport

The flight from Belize City to Ambergris Caye takes about 20 minutes. Maya Island Air offers connecting flights from the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport to San Pedro, along with Caye Caulker, Corozal, Dangriga (Hopkins), Placencia, Punta Gorda and other Belize destinations.

The airport lies in Ladyville, 10 miles outside Belize City, and it is the only international airport in the country. Flights from the United States, Canada, Central America and the Caribbean arrive there, and American Airlines serves it from Charlotte, Dallas, Miami and Los Angeles.

Roadwork and dredging are underway on the airport access road, causing slower traffic and uneven surfaces. Drivers should reduce speed, follow the flaggers and watch for dredging equipment and workers near the roadway. Leave extra time for airport trips.

By rental car to the departure point

A car cannot cross to the island on its own, so a rental car only gets you as far as the terminal or the airport. Hertz/Safari Belize and Crystal Auto Rental both have desks at the Philip Goldson International Airport, at +(501) 225 – 3300 and +(501) 223 – 1600 respectively.

If you plan to leave a vehicle at the airport while you are on the island, parking costs US$2.00 a day, and overnight parking is US$9.00. That arrangement suits someone who will return to the mainland and continue a trip by road.

Options compared

The gap in time is plain: about 20 minutes by air against approximately 1 hour 30 minutes by water. What the boat offers is the sight of the cayes and a terminal in the city itself, while the plane offers speed and a connection from the international airport. If your flight arrives late or you are leaving the island for a departure, remember that passengers leaving from the airport are expected to arrive at least 3 hours before departure.

A rental car fits only the part of the trip on the mainland, and for the island itself you plan on being without it. Pick the way that matches your arrival point: the airport for the plane, the waterfront for the boat.

Making a day of it

The boat route offers a natural pause. Because the San Pedro Belize Express serves Caye Caulker on the way, you can step off there and continue on a later boat for the 30-minute hop to San Pedro. That turns a transfer into a visit to a second island, with the lanes and the water that Caye Caulker is known for.

Once on Ambergris Caye, the reef is the draw. The Belize Barrier Reef is the second largest in the world, after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and San Pedro is the base for the protected areas around it.

Hol Chan Marine Reserve lies 4 miles south of San Pedro and was established in July 1987 as the first marine protected area in Belize. Its name is Maya for little channel, and it covers coral reef, seagrass meadows and mangrove. Shark Ray Alley and Bacalar Chico are the other protected areas that belong to the San Pedro list.

The island is about 25 miles long and a mile wide, with beaches beside the reef. San Pedro became an official township in 1984, and its roots go back to the middle of the 19th century, when fishermen and their families migrated during the Caste War of Yucatán. Walking the town with that history in mind gives the waterfront more depth than a list of bars and docks.

If you leave Belize City early, you reach the island with the day still ahead of you. Bring what you need for the water within your bag allowance, since each extra checked bag costs BZ$5.00, and keep a card handy for the terminal counters.

Good to know before you go

The U.S. State Department rates Belize Level 2, “Exercise increased caution”, because of crime, and says the south side of Belize City has historically had the highest concentration of violent crime.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, which matters for any trip planned on the water in those months. The boat company takes major credit cards for walk-in purchases at its terminals, and the baggage fees on the boat are in Belize dollars, so keep that in mind when you pack.