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Traveling from San Pedro to Placencia, Belize: It May Take 7 Hours But I Love the Journey

Nov 9, 2014|Belize City & District, Southern Belize

Friday was a traveling day. San Pedro, Northern Cayes, Belize, to the Placencia Peninsula in the south. Just about 100 miles as the Tropic Air Cessna flies but a little trickier if you are taking the true budget route.

I have done the trip by air…so easy peasy…one time. Here are the details – Ambergris Caye to Placencia, The Easy Way.

I’ve done it the long way…maybe 8 times now in the past year? And probably told you about it each time. But…heck. Let’s do it again.

10am San Pedro Belize Express Water Taxi from San Pedro to Belize City. $47bzd round-trip IF you have the membership card. (WELL worth the $10bzd fee. Good for one year and you get your 13th trip free.)

It leaves right from the center of town.

Though not on all their boats, they are getting Wi-FI! Which is like a gift straight from heaven. Almost too good to be true.

The big boat has it…

Friday I chose to sit on top. It was THE most gorgeous day to travel the country.

Here we are on the way over to Caye Caulker. Can you beat this view?

And pulling into the dock.

Where they are doing a bit of construction. Watch your step.

Dock construction always involves some poor guys neck deep in water for most of the day. Oh the pruning!

And then about an hour and 20 minutes after leaving San Pedro, we pulled into Belize City. Looking very beautiful to me.

The Brown Sugar terminal is becoming quite the international food scene. There is a British-Indian restaurant with gorgeous samosas and curries and now a new spot that is opening. Indonesian-Phillipino food.

I can’t wait to try. There are taxis galore – take one to the bus terminal. The 5 minute ride costs you $7bzd…

And then the bus. I’ve talked about the bus 100 times. My love for it. The critical need to follow these 8 tips for bus travel in Belize.

And the realization that it is not for everyone. Take a look at the aforementioned tips…

It’s beautiful ride over the mountains…it’s great people watching and meeting…interesting food (boiled corn, watamelon juice in a bag and lots more). Here are two examples from Friday’s 4 hour trip from Belize City To Independence Town (a look at Independence/Mango Creek here) to show you what I love.

1. Somewhere over the Maya Mountains, a Mennonite gentleman boarded the bus. Full blown, old school, no zippers/only buttons Mennonite. He had a sandwich with him…wrapped in brown paper. He unwrapped it. Thick thick bread that he tore in half and then without a word or a look, handed half to me.

I said thanks. He did not acknowledge me at all. And we ate our MAYONNAISE sandwich halves in silence…bumping along on the bus. Both gross and incredibly awesome. He got off the bus just before Dangriga.

Perhaps we are now engaged? I should have let him know that a black bonnet is so not my look.

2. In Dangriga, an older Garifuna gentleman boarded with his grandson and took the empty seat. A tiny 2 year old who promptly fell fast asleep sucking on a juice bottle. This lovely man asked me where I was from and we got talking about marriage and kids (my lack of both and his respect for his wife of 47 years and kids/grandkids.) He told me how lovely Dangriga is for Christmas and how I should visit and he gave me his phone number. And I took his. He got off the bus in Georgetown.

I mean…PLEASE. What is not to love about that experience. Sure my butt was sore by hour four but for so many reasons, this $16 bus ride cannot be rivaled.

Off at the bus station in Independence and then I took a $5bzd taxi ride to the Hokey Pokey Water Taxi terminal for the 10 minute boat ride from Independence to Placencia. Just across the lagoon.

Here is the map from the Moon.com guide.

The 5pm boat had just left but with a few honks by my taxi, the boat and it’s load of kids turned back around to pick me up.

Love it.

Perfect. My day was most bless.

Off the Hokey Pokey and straight over to the newly re-opened Tutti Fruitti for some gelato. If you go to Placencia and don’t eat this at least once a day, you are crazy.