If you’re travelling through Central America, you will be getting pretty used to border crossings! If you’ve been in the islands in Belize and are heading to Guatemala, you will likely need to cross through the Melchor de Mencos border. Crossing the border from Belize to Guatemala is fairly easy compared to other Central American borders but here is a step by step guide so that you know what to expect.
The easy way
The easiest way to cross the border from Belize to Guatemala is to take a tourist shuttle. These are pretty easy to organise from wherever you are staying in Belize. I spent a few days in the lovely town of San Ignacio in the Cayo district of Belize which is only 30 minutes from the border.
Being so close to the border, I thought I would save the cost of the shuttle and do it independently. The process has a few steps, but was simple enough and I would definitely recommend it if you’re looking to save some money or just prefer to do things the local way.
From Belize City to San Ignacio
If you’re starting in Belize City, you can get the Westline bus from the main bus terminal to San Ignacio or through to Benque. The buses are clearly marked with their final destination in the front window. It costs 10 BZD per person to San Ignacio. I caught this on a Friday afternoon when a lot of people are leaving the city to return home for the weekend and it was BUSY. If possible, avoid that time. If not possible, make sure you wait nearby because there is a mad dash for a seat.
Once you’re in San Ignacio, I would definitely recommend taking a few days to check it out. It is such a lovely little town, especially if you’re there for the markets on Saturday.
Crossing the border from San Ignacio, Belize to Flores, Guatemala
To get to the border, the easiest and cheapest way is to take a taxi. Taxis congregate at near the roundabout at the end of the pedestrian part of Burns Avenue, at the Bullet Tree Road intersection.
There is a yellow building, Courts Ready Cash appliance store. If you wait there, a taxi will find you.
In Belize, the taxis are usually normal looking cars. You can tell them apart by their green number plates. To go to the border you are looking for a taxi with BVO plates. Other taxis can take you but will try to charge a higher rate.
We paid 7 BZD per person (in September 2023) and it took about 30 minutes. When we arrived at the border, we were instantly approached by money changers. You will need to change some cash, but the rates here are pretty terrible. I would recommend only changing what you need here. You will need money for a collectivo and a tuk tuk when you arrive in Guatemala. Remember to keep 40 BZD for the Belizean departure fee.
The immigration process
Enter the building through the far left door and go to the first window to pay your departure tax. You can pay by cash or credit card.
Then continue to the next window to get your exit stamp. And then say goodbye to Belize!
Exit the building and walk about 100m along the road and you will see the Guatemala border building on the left. If you’re there in summer, this building feels like heaven because the aircon is amazing. So maybe try to linger a while if you can. Jump in one of the lines to get your stamp and voila, you’ve successfully crossed the border from Belize to Guatemala!
Before you leave, I can’t stress this enough – check your stamp! You need to make sure you, 1. Have a stamp, and 2. Have the correct amount of days written. If you want to know why, read the story of how we learnt this lesson the hard way here.
Getting from the Belize/Guatemala border to Flores
When you leave the building, you will be greeted with money changers and taxi drivers offering trips to Flores or Tikal. If you want to carry on the cheap way, continue on and walk across the bridge over the river.
Take your first left and about half a block down that road you will see the collectivo station.
The collectivo minibuses have their destination written on the front window. We paid Q50 each to Flores. I’d read online that it should be Q40 but the guy seemed firm with the price and it seemed fair. If you’ve got big bags they will probably need to go on the roof. Make sure you lock them and put the rain cover on if it looks like it might rain.
You might get lucky and have a full van and be ready to go. It’s more likely though that you will have an experience similar to ours where we wait a bit at the collectivo station for passengers, drive into town and wait a bit to pick up some more people, then drive around slowly beeping the horn until the van is full. The fact is, you’re not going to leave until every seat is full and you’ve got someone else’s groceries on your lap.
When you get moving, it’s a little under two hours to Santa Elena. Santa Elena is the town that links Flores to the mainland. If you haven’t looked at a map yet, Flores is a small island on the lake connected by a causeway to the town of Santa Elena. Most people will stay in Flores, which I definitely recommend because it’s such a beautiful, colourful little town. But the collectivo will stop in Santa Elena and you’ll get a tuk tuk the rest of the way.
When you get off the collectivo, there will be a whole bunch of tuk tuks waiting and trying to get you to come with them. We had a bit of a confusing interaction with a tuk tuk driver and I thought we were paying Q10 each, but we ended up paying Q20 each. I tried to ask why and he said something about Q10 per person, each way (?). I just accepted because it was hot, we were tired, we’d just arrived and I wasn’t even sure I had the conversion right at that point. The lesson is to confirm the total price before you agree to the ride. It’s only a couple of dollars so we really weren’t too fussed.
Now, check in and enjoy beautiful Flores! Guatemala is such a vibe.
Things to remember when crossing the border from Belize to Guatemala
An important thing to remember when crossing the border from Belize to Guatemala is to have enough cash in each currency. Also, take any advice you get from money changers and taxi drivers with a grain of salt. The guys we changed money with on the Belizean side were adamant that we would need more money. They tried (hard) to convince us to pay for the exit fee on card and change all of our cash with them. It’s up to you, but my advice is don’t listen. Once you have made it to the border, you will only need 40BZD for the departure fee, and Q70 for the collectivo and tuk tuk.
Quick reference
How much money will I need to cross the border from Belize to Guatemala?
You will need 7BZD to get a taxi from San Ignacio town to the Belize/Guatemala border. Another 40BZD to pay the Belize departure tax (you can pay with credit card). Enough remaining BZD to exchange for Q70 for the collectivo and tuk tuk (remember, you will probably get a poor exhange rate at the border so factor that in).
How much time does it take to cross the border?
It took us a little over 4 hours total to cross the border from Belize to Guatemala. Thirty minutes for the taxi to the Belize border, about 15 minutes to pay the departure tax, get exit stamp for Belize and entry stamp for Guatemala. About 45 minutes for our collectivo to leave, then about 1 hour and 45 minutes to Santa Elena. Followed by 10 minutes or less in the tuk tuk.
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