Crossing the Mexico – Belize land border

by Kelly May 3, 2024

Crossing the Mexico Belize land border in 2024. This was something we really tried to find updated information on and couldn’t! Visiting Belize was an incredible adventure, we absolutely loved it. We crossed the Mexico/Belize border twice. The first time from Mexico to Belize with a shared charter van and the second just in our own and public buses.

Travelling by bus from Mexico to Belize:

We started our Belize trip from Tulum in Mexico. We got on the 1am ADO bus in Tulum and travelled to Chetamul. Arriving around 8am we got an Uber to the offices of Marlin Escapades. This is the company we used to cross the Belize border and get to the ferry port at Belize City.

They picked us up from their office in Chetamul and we drive to the Mexican/ Belize border. At the border we all got out and one by one had to file into the border security office. Here our passport was stamped and we had to pay a departure tax. This was 700 MXN peso.

We were frustrated by this as we had already paid an arrival and departure tax in our flights to and from Mexico. Regardless we had to pay it or not cross the border so we forked it out and made sure to get a receipt.

Crossing through we landed in Belize for the first time. Marlin Escapades took us through to the port, we bought ferry tickets and were off on the next boat to Caye Caulker our first destination. The cost of Marlin Escapades is $25USD each.

pretty scenes and riding bikes in Caye Caulker Belize

Travelling by local bus Belize to Mexico

To return to Mexico we decided to just take the local buses. We jumped on an express bus to Belize City which cost 11BZD pp. We boarded at 5am in San Ignacio and arrived in Belize City by 7:15am.

In Belize City we got on an old yellow chicken bus. This is a retired US school bus, sent down to Central and South America to be used as public transportation.

We boarded the chicken bus in Belize City. From there to and it took approximately 3 hours to reach Corazal the Belize border town. This cost us 13BZD pp.

We expected to get a bus from Corazal to Chetamul to cross the border but there weren’t any! We were told taxi was the only option. It cost 25BZD to the Belize border side

Immigration

We had to pay $20USD to leave Belize which is mandatory and then walk down to the area shuttles are collecting people. We were lucky to meet a local who helped us get a taxi from the immigration in Belize to immigration in Mexico. It cost $10USD for both of us.

Going through immigration was pretty easy. We lined up to get a paper fill out, filled it in then lined up to get it processed. As we had under 7 days before flying out of Mexico it was free to enter Mexico. When filling out the paper work, fill it in completely and make sure to do the bottom part. They’ll tear this off and you need it to clear customs when leaving Mexico.

Leaving the Mexican border we grabbed another taxi from there to Chetamul. It cost 200MXN with some slight haggling. In Chetamul we went to the ADO bus terminal and caught the next bus to Bacalar where we were spending a night. We finally got in around 3pm.

It wasn’t too hard doing the border run on local buses, just a long tiring day. The shared shuttle was easier but did cost a little more at $35USD per person.

If you have any questions about crossing the Mexico Belize land border in 2024 free to ask in comments below. We know this is a confusing topic and hard to find information on.