The journey from Flores, Guatemala, to Caye Caulker, Belize, is a popular route for travellers exploring Central America. Whether you’re backpacking through the entire region or simply hopping between Guatemala and Belize, Caye Caulker will be one of the most mesmerising places you can encounter during that trip.
From Caye Caulker, you can visit the world-famous Blue Hole, snorkel the Belize Barrier Reef, and just enjoy the relaxed island life.
If you want to travel to Caye Caulker, you first need to make your way to Belize City, from where you can take a water taxi to the island. The trip to Belize City is about 170 miles / 274 kilometres long. In this post, you’ll learn how to travel from Flores to Caye Caulker.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
But first things first ✨
📱Looking for mobile data? If you get an E-SIM for Belize, you can activate it as soon as you go over the border, and you will have internet from that moment on. No need to sort out a SIM card once you are in Caye Caulker, which might also be a little more difficult. So, instead, I would recommend getting an E-SIM for Guatemala and then also getting another E-SIM for Belize.
🚌 Sorting out your transportation within Guatemala? I used Guatego to book all my transportation in Guatemala, including the night bus from Guatemala City to Flores. It all went super smoothly!
How long is the trip from Flores to Caye Caulker?
Since Caye Caulker is an island, one of your modes of transportation will be a water taxi. The water taxi station is located in Belize City, and you first need to get there, while also crossing a country border on the way. This can add additional time to your journey. In total, the whole trip from Flores to Caye Caulker will take you around 8.5 to 9 hours.
How to travel between Flores and Caye Caulker?
The easiest way, and what I would recommend you to do, is to travel by tourist shuttle. These shuttles will leave from the Petén sign in Flores island and take you all the way to the water taxi station in Belize City.
Some companies, already have the ticket for the water taxi included, others do not. However, you can easily purchase them at the station, so it’s not a problem at all. The shuttles leave very early in the morning, at 6am. You can expect to arrive in Caye Caulker around 3pm.
There are multiple tour companies in Flores, through which you can also sort out and book your shuttle. However, you can also just as easily book your shuttle online. GuateGo is the website I used for all my transportation in Guatemala.
The water taxis leave 8 times a day, with the first departure at 8 am and the last departure at 5:30pm. If you buy the water taxi ticket separately, it costs 21USD for a one-way trip, and 37USD for a return trip. The boat takes 45 minutes. You can find more information about their schedule on the Belize water taxi website.
You could also do the entire trip with chicken buses; however, that would mean you will need to split up your trip into multiple buses. It might not be feasible to do the entire trip in one day, keeping in mind the last water taxi departure time. You could therefore think about splitting up your trip and spending some time in either San Ignacio or Belize City on the way.
Crossing the Guatemala/Belize border
The border crossing from Guatemala to Belize went very quick and was not so busy as well. You will first queue to get stamped out of Guatemala, cross the border, and then go through immigration on the Belize site. There is no entry fee for Belize or exit fee for Guatemala. However, keep in mind that Belize as an exit fee of $40 or 20USD.
Also make sure to check what the requirements are for entering Belize with your passport. A lot of nationalities can enter Belize visa-free for up to 30 days.
One thing to keep in mind when visiting Caye Caulker
Caye Caulker is a small island but very popular island, and there isn’t that much accommodation on the island. That means that accommodation often books out weeks in advance and can be a bit more expensive if you wait too long to book it.
And while I usually say to book accommodation last minute in case your plans change, I would definitely recommend to book a place to stay in Caye Caulker as early as possible. And then you can plan the rest of your Guatemala and Belize itinerary a little around that.
I had stayed at the Tropical Oasis Hostel, which starts at $15 a night.
And this covers the best way to travel from Flores to Caye Caulker, Belize. Let me know if you have any questions.
Pin this post for later
