Rental Car in Belize

Hi folks,

I am cruising with my dad in November and stopping in Belize for a day. I have been to the country on vacations before and wanted to rent a car to go exploring on my own up near Corozal. Is there a way to rent a car at the Fort Smith Tourism Village where the tender drops you off from the ship?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Pearson28Sailor:)

Wow, that's like 90 minutes driving to get there and 90 minutes to get back! Hmmm, I'd recommend catching the Plane via TropicAir or Maya orrr...get off tender really early and rent a vehicle :D

Just a warning. People drive like idiots in Belize City and the country roads outside of it are sort of narrow. I was glad we had a driver to the Community Baboon Sanctuary. But if you're a steady driver, you should be fine.

Unless something has changed, you'll have to take a taxi to the airport to get a rental car. That's a 15-25 minute ride, Say 45 minutes RT. Plus the 30-40 minutes RT on the tender. So all ready you're an hour and a half in the hole on time, just getting started. Most ship's last tender is an hour before sail away time. So 2.5 hours gone without going anywhere outside of Belize City. Add the 3 hours driving up and back to Corozal, an 8 hour port day is reduced to 3 hours of driving around to explore. Might not be worth the cost of a rental car to do that.

Thanks Pearson28Sailor for this question. We will be there March 4th and are trying to decide if we have time to drive some of the Hummingbird Highway. Like you, we would like to get away from the commercial aspect of the port and photograph some wildlife.

We have rented cars in 4 different ports on Alaska cruises and enjoyed each. But the time involved in Belize does seem to limit the choice. I see Crystal rents from the port terminal, so then it is just do we have time to make the loop past the Zoo with the tender time included?

Would love to hear what you decide and how it goes for you. We are in port from 8AM-6PM.

You may want to contact Crystal to clarify this as time is a problem. Crystal rents from downtown, both airports and now the cruise terminal. BUT, what that means is that they pick you up from all of these places and take you to their main office which is on the Western Highway between the two airports. So your time is not lengthened because you think you can get the car right there. Now this may have changed, but I doubt it. I live in San Pedro and no matter what, I have always been taken to the main office to sign the documents and pick up the car. I am renting from them in two weeks so will ask the question, but you may want the answer sooner than that.

Good luck. Personally I would not drive the Hummingbird Highway while on a cruise break, but then I do lots of things that other people warn me not to.

Janice

Thanks Janice for the info. We are rethinking the length of our drive after research. Looking to see if there are tours that might get us into the wildlife photo opportunities.