San Pedro to Caye Caulker: Water Taxi Operators, Route, Luggage and What to Expect

On the dock in San Pedro, the boats nose up to the pilings, bags are handed down the line, and somebody is always asking which island comes next. Caye Caulker sits just down the reef from Ambergris Caye, and the water taxi is how you reach it. San Pedro Belize Express runs the trip, and the ride is short enough to treat the two islands as one stay.

How do you get from San Pedro to Caye Caulker?

You take the water taxi, a ferry that crosses between the two cayes in about 30 minutes. San Pedro Belize Express runs multiple daily trips between Belize City, San Pedro and Caye Caulker, so the hop between the islands is a regular route, not a special charter. Tickets for the company’s ferries can be booked online, and the terminals also take most major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover) for walk-in purchases.

Going the other way is the same crossing. The company lists the ride from Caye Caulker to San Pedro at the same half hour, which makes a day on one island and a night on the other a realistic plan. Many travelers pair the two places for that reason: San Pedro on the southern coast of Ambergris Caye, with its town that earned official township status in 1984, and Caye Caulker, a five-mile-long island with about 2,000 inhabitants.

What you arrive to on Caye Caulker

Step off the boat and the first thing you notice is what is missing. There are no cars on Caye Caulker, only golf carts and pedestrians, and the island is laid out along three main roads: Front Street, Middle Street and Back Street. Most of what you came for sits along those lanes, within the sound of the sea on either side.

Lodging runs to roughly 40 hotels and hostels, and there are no chain hotels or all-inclusive resorts. That shapes the feel of the place: small guesthouses, hostel porches, cafés and beach bars rather than big lobbies. The Split, the channel that cuts the island in two, was made when Hurricane Hattie divided it in 1961, and it remains the gathering spot people head for.

Luggage, bikes and pets on board

For ferries from Belize City, the baggage allowance is one carry-on and two checked bags per passenger. Small to medium luggage is welcome on the San Pedro Belize Express boats, and passengers follow the company’s luggage policy. Sunscreen and insect repellent belong in the bag you keep with you, not in the checked bags.

Pets travel in a kennel, and live animals are placed in a special section of the vessel. Infants and toddlers under age 1 ride free as lap children on the domestic routes. Children aged 4 to 10 pay a children’s rate, and anyone above 10 pays the regular rate.

Which operators run the water taxi?

San Pedro Belize Express, often shortened to SPBE, is the operator behind the water taxi between San Pedro and Caye Caulker. It also runs the longer runs to and from Belize City, so one company ties together the three stops that most island itineraries use. Its boats carry the name of the company’s website, belizewatertaxi.com, which is also where the email contact points.

What San Pedro Belize Express covers

The company operates multiple daily trips among Belize City, San Pedro and Caye Caulker. From Belize City, the ride to Caye Caulker takes about 45 minutes, and the ride on to San Pedro takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. That means a traveler coming from the mainland can stop at Caye Caulker first and continue on to Ambergris Caye on the same line.

The company also serves Chetumal, Mexico, from Belize City. On that international route, ages 1 and above pay the regular rate, a different arrangement from the domestic runs between the cayes.

Getting in touch and buying tickets

The ticket office in Belize City is at #111 North Front Street, at the Belize Marine Terminal. Travelers can phone San Pedro Belize Express at 011-501-223-2225 or write to [email protected]. Tickets can be booked online ahead of time, and the terminals take most major credit cards for walk-in purchases.

If you land at Philip Goldson International Airport and head straight for the boats, shared transportation to the Belize City water taxi terminal costs US$25.00 for the first person and US$10.00 for each additional person one way. From the terminal, the same company carries you out to the cayes.

Which route does the water taxi take?

The water taxi runs a line of stops between Belize City, Caye Caulker and San Pedro, and the stretch between the two islands takes about 30 minutes. San Pedro sits on the southern coast of Ambergris Caye, and Caye Caulker lies along the same chain of cayes, so the crossing links two island towns rather than crossing open sea between mainland ports.

The three stops and their times

From Belize City, the boat reaches Caye Caulker in about 45 minutes, and San Pedro in about 1 hour 30 minutes. Between Caye Caulker and San Pedro, the ride is the half hour already described. Because the company runs multiple daily departures, each leg gives some flexibility in how you plan a day.

Starting from Belize City

Most routes begin at the Belize Marine Terminal on North Front Street, where the company keeps its ticket office. Travelers coming from the airport can use the shared transportation to the terminal and board from there. Belize City is also where the Chetumal service departs, a separate line from the cayes route.

Whatever your starting point, the route reads as a simple chain. Belize City leads to Caye Caulker, Caye Caulker leads to San Pedro, and the same boats can carry you back the other way, with the island hop in the middle as the shortest piece.

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.

Cards are accepted at the terminals for walk-in purchases, and tickets can also be bought online, so you can settle the fare before you reach the dock. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, and a trip taken in those months falls inside it. Keep sunscreen and insect repellent in your carry-on, since you will want them as soon as you step ashore.