Belize
 Belize | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Language: | English, Spanish, Kriol |
| Capital: | Belmopan |
| Population: | 314,275 |
| Currency: | Dollar (BZD) |
| Hitchability: | <rating country='bz' /> |
| Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots | |
| <map lat='17.25' lng='-88.75' zoom='7' view='0' country='Belize' height='300'/> | |
| Check out hitchhiking spots on Hitchmap | |
Belize is a small country in Central America. It borders to Mexico in the north and Guatemala in the west.
Hitchhiking in Belize is very logical and appears to be very good and easy, even locals do it. There are plenty of speedbumps (just called bumps), so each time you walk out of a town it's better to thumb at one of these. Some hitchhikers say that a small token payment may be exchanged. Others have not experienced this at all. Public transport is inexpensive but quite slow considering the size of the country. Cars with green license plates are taxis. Small smart mini cars tend to be taxis for short distances.
People in Belize are very friendly and many of them are proud of their country. Try to show respect to Belize and it's citizens and you'll find out that this tiny country has a lot of things to offer.
Cities
- Corozal
- Belize City
- Belmopan
- Punta Gorda aka "PG"
- San Ignacio aka Cayo
Islands
Border crossings
Mexico/Belize
As to 2024 Hitchhiking to the border from Mexico is quite easy.
Although most of the road is highway and most people go to Chetumal. It is still easy to stop rides and ask them to stop for you on the junction to Belize. The border crossing itself is a bit confusing. There are two different customs in different locations for entering and exiting Mexico. The locals tend to not know so well the rules because they don't apply on them the same as tourist.
Exiting Mexico was super easy. There is a white room in the middle of the road where a lady just stumped my passport with barely any questions. She did tell me that if I wish to go back to Mexico in this border crossing it will cost me 750 mexican pesos and a flight ticket as a proof that I am leaving Mexico.
The Belizean customs are not so close to the mexican customs. Luckily I had locals helping me, driving me around. In the Belizean customs you need to fill a standard paper stating your name, passport number etc... I was told to fill that I will stay only 30 days in Belize. They inform you that you can ask for 30 days more later and it will cost 100 US dollars. You have to state to which hotel are you going. I just filled a name I found online and no questions were asked. Later they might check your bags to see if you are smuggling anything ilegal, like fruit and veggies from Mexico.
There is a bus stop just after the customs and even the police told me I can hitchhike there. Everyone in the Belizean side seem to prefer speaking English.
Guatemala/Belize
I heard that it is possible to cross to Guatemala from Belize from Melchor de Mencos by land and and from Barranco by boat. Hopefully i will update about the crossing later on
Jalacte Border Crossing (Illegal by this moment)
December 2016 experience: El Chulito and Shamcore tried to legally cross the border with Guatemala via Jalacte in December 2016. They hitchhiked from Punta Gorda to Jalacte without any real difficulties. The traffic is poor, but they got rides from one village to a next one and reached the destination point in about 3 hours, which is not a bad timing. The road was completely paved and in great condition. Seems like the works are almost finished. About 5kms before Jalacte there's customs where the guards first ask where you go. El Chulito and Shamcore asked about a legal way to exit Belize and enter Guatemala and got bad news. The only way to leave the country legally is to find the only police officer in Jalacte who owns an exit stamp. Actually he's only authorized to put exit stamps only in guatemalan passports, but it seems like he can be convinced to help travelers as well. Now it's impossible to enter Guatemala legally, because there's no kind of customs or control when entering the country. This means that it's impossible to get an entry stamp and stay in the country on a legal basis. People say that Guatemala doesn't really participate in making a legal border crossing point because of a territorial conflict between two countries. Let's hope that in 2017 travelers will be able to cross the border legally. At the moment you can only enter Guatemala at your own risk, which is never advisable by HitchWiki community.
Experiences
Zenit hitched from the western border to the northern border in just a day in March 2018. The ease and the friendliness of people made him quite upset at already having to leave again, but the unexpected 40B$ (20US$!) exit fee quickly put his feelings back in perspective.
Levon had an extremely good experience across all the country. Roads and vehicles are scarce in many parts of the country (one in 20 minutes max); however, they almost always stop, especially if this is not a busy road. Sometimes they would expect a small treat (like a bottle of beer) but never more than that. Many locals hitchhike in the back of the pickups too. The atmosphere is very safe (didn't hitchhike in Belize City, though). Again, a very positive experience in general. No signs/cardboards are needed. Just to underscore the level of "hitchability" - we hitched from and back to the airport right on time to fly back to Canada :)
Gallery
Katja and Augustas on a free pickup ride in Belize.
On the road in Belize.
Sometimes you might be "lucky" to hitch a tractor.
Hitchhiker Katja waiting for a ride.
