I think you ought to drive when you visit Belize, with some caveats. Driving in Belize gives you the greatest degrees of freedom to explore and promises to save you money. Although renting a car and driving one in Belize seems expensive, if you compare that to the outfitter companies, you stand a great likelihood to save money in the long run. If you don’t want to drive, the outfitters will drive for you, or if you don’t like the way Belizeans drive or the way the roads look, I totally understand. Driving in Belize is for the adventurous. You may think you’re adventurous, but you’ll find out just how adventurous you are if you drive in Belize.
Driving Conditions may appall you. Most of the roads in Belize are dirt. Most of the dirt roads have potholes. When it rains, the dirt roads are also slippery, especially in Cayo County, where they are hilly, so you’re likely to get stuck. We did. Getting out was stressful and time consuming. Even the paved roads are crappier than the worst roads in the USA. They may not have lane lines painted, and most roads have no shoulder. There is basically only one major highway in the nation with branches from the capital city into each of the major Counties from there. It has one lane in each direction, and it’s riddled with speed bumps at almost every bus stop, police station, etc. Belize has like 30 gas stations total, so buy gas when you can, because it’s basically the same price everywhere, which tells us that it’s state run and regulated. Oh, they switch back and forth between miles and km, so I won’t let British people mock America for our measurements since their colonies use both. It gets confusing sometimes, but as a scientist, I’m used to both systems.
Drivers in Belize rival the worst in any nation. In Belize, drivers seem to view driving rules more as guidelines than actual rules. Seeing that Belize is in the Caribbean, it seems fitting maybe that people drive like pirates. Expect to be passed even on yellow double lines. Don’t expect anyone to signal. Expect people to cut you off. Don’t expect people to stop for buses. Speed limits seem to be suggestions for safety. I like roundabouts, but each time you enter one in a city, I felt like I was putting my life on the line because people just go wherever whenever, and nobody yields. If you’re a passive/defensive driver, you’ll probably have a stroke.
Cost of Driving exceeds the cost of driving elsewhere. Gas prices are higher in Belize than anywhere in the Caribbean, but it’s basically the same price as gas in Europe. The real rub is the cost of a rental car or taxi. I rented at the airport for convenience, but I could have saved 25-50% if I took a taxi into town and picked up a car from Crystal on the Northern Highway in Ladyville instead. I do recommend, if you plan to take dirt roads or drive offensively, that you get the collision coverage just for peace of mind. We drove about 1200 miles in a week, and that car was pretty beat up when we got back (worn shocks, bald tires, a broken seat mount, etc.) and we were not responsible for anything. Taxi drivers will harass you. If you have a car, you can ignore them, and you can go wherever you like. An outfitter may cost you $80, but you can rent a car for the day for that including the waiver, and so you can save 50% over an outfitter and have the flexibility to go when you like and stay only until YOU finish. Cars = freedom. The last cost is checkpoints. Police set them up randomly and look for licenses, registration, and insurance. It’s mostly just a hassle. You only have to stop however if they’re standing in the median, but you can avoid them by staying out of town until after 6PM when the traffic dies down. Belize has only one toll bridge, just south of Orange Walk Town, and it’s $0.34 US.
Renting a car gave us freedom in Belize and probably saved money in the long run. In six days, we saw nine Mayan sites, hiked three waterfalls, saw two caves, shopped on the economy, talked to the people, walked the coast and saw every major “city” in the nation. You can’t do that at an outfitter for $700 total + gas. Just watch out for other drivers and try not to have a heart attack when you pay $5.40 US per gallon. Choosing to rent and drive a car allowed us to spend an entire day in each of the Counties (Districts) of Belize and see more than one location in a day. Your results and preferences may vary.
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