Out beyond the mouth of Haulover Creek, a cruise ship settles at anchor and small boats begin to shuttle passengers toward the low skyline of Belize City. The question comes up on the rail of the ship with a coffee in hand: where exactly are we, and how do we get in? Ships anchor offshore, passengers ride a tender to the Fort Street Tourism Village, and a small cluster of shops, snack bars and tour desks waits at the other end.
Where do cruise ships anchor at Belize City?
Ships anchor offshore, because Fort Street Tourism Village Cruise Port is a tender port. The village itself sits at the mouth of Haulover Creek, on the northern bank, on about two acres of land in Belize City. It is a compact landing, built for visitors arriving by small boat rather than a deep-water pier where a ship ties up alongside.
Belize City is the country’s principal port and its financial and industrial hub, so the harbor is a working one. The city sits at the mouth of Haulover Creek, a distributary of the Belize River, on the Caribbean coast, and it is the largest city in Belize.
For decades it was the capital, until the government moved to Belmopan. That history is still visible in the old wooden buildings and the busy waterfront you glimpse from the tender.
Cruise calls here are not new. The first cruise ship dropped anchor in Belize’s waters in 1991, and the country has built a cruise identity ever since, with ports that differ a great deal from each other. Belize City is the one tied to a real city, with traffic, markets and neighborhoods just beyond the village gates.
The Fort Street Tourism Village location
The village is the landing point for passengers, and it works as a gateway rather than a destination in itself. Its mailing address is 38 Fort Street, Belize City, and the village can be reached at (501) 223-7786 or (501) 223-7789. A Port Facility Security Officer, Victor Cawich Mulligan, is named for the facility.
For questions about the port itself, the Belize Port Authority can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (501)-222-5665. Complaints can be made to the Belize Port Authority, and the emergency number is 966.
The other cruise stop in Belize
Belize City is not the only place ships call. Harvest Caye Cruise Port, in the southern part of the Stann Creek District, caters only to Norwegian Cruise Line passengers. It has a large pool, a beach, zip-lining, water sports, an enclosed nature area with birds and butterflies, plus bars and eateries.
Harvest Caye is a separate place with a separate character. If your ship is not a Norwegian vessel, your Belize call is the anchorage off Belize City, with the town itself as the backdrop instead of a private island built around a resort-style landing.
Reading the harbor from the water
From the tender you see the layout of the city that gives the call its flavor: a small peninsula pushing into the Caribbean, the creek mouth, and the waterfront running along it.
Belize City also has a hurricane past. A hurricane in 1961 caused flooding and damage that prompted the move of the capital to Belmopan. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, and the long memory of that storm explains why the government sits inland today.
How do passengers get ashore?
Passengers get ashore by tender, the small boats that ferry guests from the anchored ship to the Fort Street Tourism Village.
Because the ship stays at anchor, there is no gangway onto a pier. You leave the ship through its tender boarding area and step down into a boat, then step off again at the village landing. Passengers with tour tickets from the ship usually gather in their assigned groups, while independent travelers follow the general line, and the rhythm of the morning depends on how the ship organizes its tender service.
What the tender ride is like
The crossing is brief but it gives you a first look at the working harbor, with small craft, the creek mouth and the low buildings of the waterfront. It is a good moment to put away the camera for a second and simply look at the shoreline you are about to explore.
The landing sits on the northern bank at the mouth of Haulover Creek, so you arrive directly at the edge of the city. From there the village is your first stop, with the streets of Belize City just beyond it.
Shore excursions by air
Not every excursion starts on the ground. Maya Island Air offers aerial shore excursions that soar over the historic Bay of Belize City and above the rustic colonial homes of the Baymen. The airline says it works with the best pilots and tour operators in Belize for these outings.
One of the aerial excursions includes a view of the Great Blue Hole. Details for The Great Blue Hole Tour are on a separate page linked from the shore excursions page of Maya Island Air. Belize City is served by Belize City Municipal Airport within the city, as well as by Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport in Ladyville, northwest of the city.
Heading beyond the city
Belize City is also a transport hub for the rest of the country. Northbound buses to the Northern Zone, Orange Walk and Corozal, depart about every half hour from 5:30AM to 7:30PM. Westbound buses to the Western Zone, Belmopan, San Ignacio and Benque Viejo Del Carmen, depart between 5AM and 9PM.
Those schedules describe the city’s regular bus network rather than a cruise service, but they show how the country radiates out from this port. Anyone drawn to the inland towns will find them on those routes.
What is at the cruise terminal?
The Fort Street Tourism Village has several courtyards, snack bars and local stores with duty-free shopping, plus restaurants and live local entertainment.
The Tourism Village in Belize City is only open when a cruise ship is in town. That shapes the atmosphere: on a ship day it comes to life with music, shoppers and people comparing tour plans over a drink, and when no ship is in port the gates are not open for visitors.
Shopping and duty-free stores
The local stores in the village offer duty-free shopping, and they are the obvious place to browse for souvenirs and gifts without leaving the landing area. The courtyards connect the shops, so you can wander from one to the next with a cold drink in hand and take your time.
It is a handy spot to look at what Belize makes and sells before deciding whether to buy now or look elsewhere in the city. Passengers returning to the tender later in the day often pass back through the same courtyards.
Food, drink and live music
Snack bars and restaurants sit among the courtyards, so a first taste of local food does not require leaving the village. Live local entertainment adds a soundtrack, giving the place the feel of a small festival whenever a ship is in. It suits travelers who want an easy, relaxed start or finish to their day ashore, a place to sit, listen and watch the harbor between the tender rides.
Passenger and crew rates
| Group | Disembarkation rate |
|---|---|
| Cruise passengers | 80 percent |
| Crew members | 15 percent |
Those are the disembarkation rates for Belize, the share of people aboard who step ashore. They hint at how many visitors pass through the village on a ship day, and at how much of the energy there comes from passengers rather than crew.
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 village is open only when a ship is in town, so plan your time around the ship’s schedule rather than expecting to return later on your own. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, which covers many cruise itineraries in the region.
Belize City itself is the country’s busiest port, so expect a real city beyond the gates rather than a resort enclave. For a problem at the port, the emergency number is 966.
Sources
- Belize Port Authority, Fort Street Tourism Village port (https://portauthority.bz/belize-port-facilities/fort-street-tourism-village-port/), checked October 11, 2026
- Belize Tourism Board, Cruise licensing (https://www.belizetourismboard.org/licensing/cruise/), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikipedia, Belize City (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize_City), checked October 11, 2026
- Wikivoyage, Belize City (https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Belize_City), checked October 11, 2026
- Maya Island Air, Shore excursions (https://www.mayaislandair.com/belize-shore-excursions/), checked October 11, 2026
- U.S. Department of State, Belize Travel Advisory, Level 2, March 11, 2026 (https://travel.state.gov/), checked October 11, 2026
- NOAA National Hurricane Center, Climatology (https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/), checked October 11, 2026
To plan your stay
- Best Time for a Belize Cruise: Dry Season, Hurricane Season and Month-by-Month Weather
- Belize Shore Excursions: Altun Ha, Lamanai, Nohoch Che'en and Flights Over the Great Blue Hole
- Fort Street Tourism Village: Belize City's Cruise Port, What Is Inside and How Passengers Reach It
- Harvest Caye Belize: Norwegian's Private Island, the Dock and What to Do Ashore