First, let me tell you how much we loved Belize. The beaches, the jungle, the people, everything! Second, let me tell you that a Belize trip costs far more than you may be anticipating. As a central American country, you may have plans of stretching a few hundred dollars into weeks of tropical vacations. However, unlike nearby countries, spending time in Belize comes with a much higher price tag. Which means it is a very good idea for you to have a budget for your Belize vacation. Below we’ve highlighted some cost saving options, as well as laid out exactly what our Belize trip cost us.
Why Does Belize Cost So Much?
Belize is expensive compared to nearby countries. Nothing particularly stands out to us as being terribly expensive. However, nothing is cheap either. And there is definitely nothing for free. I think that is what causes Belize to feel so expensive – it’s a pay to play destination. With the exception of the beaches (and it is not the best beach vacation destination), anytime you want to do something, there is some kind of fee to pay. So to answer the question of “Why Does Belize Cost So Much?” the answer is Belize doesn’t cost a lot, doing things in Belize costs a lot.
Belize Currency
Currency conversion in Belize is easy. $2 BZD (Belize dollars) is equal to $1 USD (US dollar). However, paying for things in Belize requires way more math than I am willing to do on vacation. So we just trusted people to give us correct change and I’m pretty sure they did. Why is it so confusing? Pretty much every place accepted both USD and BZD. This means change was given in a combination of currencies. It makes the math really easy if you need to convert, but when getting change, it is very confusing to get “more money” back than you handed the person because they give you BZD in return.
Paying For Things In Belize
Ask your vendors if they have cash discounts. Lots of vendors, particularly tour operators, will give you a few dollars off the posted rate for payments in cash.
Most larger companies and restaurants in Belize accept credit cards. We used Visa, MasterCard and Discover.
However, make sure you pack cash in Belize. There are plenty of places, like street vendors, that don’t accept credit cards. Also tipping is a common practice in Belize for food and tours. Most credit card receipts did not include a line to leave a credit card tip.
Belize Budget
The average Belize trip costs around $100 USD/day for each person. This cost goes up significantly if you plan on doing full day excursions or tours like we did.
Our Belize trip cost us about $400USD/day for two people. Which for us, ranks among our standard USA vacations. We spent $3595 for two people to spend one week in Belize. With this budget, we ate really well, slept in private rooms and did activities daily. We definitely could have spent less money, but we certainly had a good time. While we don’t feel like this was an amazing “deal” like some Central American countries, we also felt like we paid fair prices for the things we did.
Below is how our budget broke down:
- Flight $853
- Taxis & Ferries $90
- Activities $920
- Car $289
- Accommodations $800 ($100/night)
- Cash Used $250
- Food $440 ($25/person/day)
Accommodations In Belize
Accommodations in Belize are Central American price adjacent. They aren’t as cheap as neighboring countries but they are less expensive than US destinations. You can find some really inexpensive places. Lots of prices we were looking at were around $40/night. However, we opted to spend around $100/night on beachfront places. So you can go budget accommodations or you can splurge for a still very reasonable price.
One way to save money on accommodations is visiting in the off season. April-November has less tourists visiting and prices decrease in order to fill up rooms. You can visit during this time to save money. However, know that in the rainy season – well – it rains a lot. So your parade will get rained on.
Food In Belize
Eating in Belize can be super cheap. This was the one section of the Belize budget that felt like a Central American country. I mean a full lobster dinner for $20-30/person. That is budget friendly! Remember if you are eating out that you should plan on tipping. Similar to America, a 20% tip is a good tip for a sit down dinner in Belize.
If you don’t want to splurge on lobster, don’t worry, Belize has even more budget friendly options. First, grocery stores in Belize are common only in larger towns. Smaller cities have markets offering local options but less variety and less reliable operating hours. If you want to stock up on snacks or materials for cooking, do so in cities like San Ignacio or Belmopan.
Another great option to reduce your Belize trip cost is eating from street vendors. It’s common to see these vendors near bus stops, ferry docks, and parking areas near shops. You can get a large amount of food from these vendors for a very small price. Typical street food includes grilled chicken and tacos. Also, make sure to get yourself some fresh squeezed juice from these vendors as well. That was our favorite!
Transportation In Belize
This is one area where you can save money if you want to. Many people insist on renting a 4×4 in Belize. However, this really is unnecessary, unless you plan on visiting some far flung destination. Sure, there are gravel roads. And sure they get bumpy. However, unless you are driving mountainous gravel roads, you won’t be driving over anything that you can’t drive a car over. Renting a car will save you a bit of money.
If you want to save even more money, you can take the buses most places. There is an extensive network of buses in Belize that travel from city to city. These are old yellow school buses that have been repainted. These buses are very cheap. However, they can be crowded, and due to their multiple stops, they take much longer than a drive.
However, buses in Belize are a good option for budget tourists. This option can significantly lower your Belize trip cost in a safe and strangely adventurous way. After all, these are nicknamed chicken buses because people have been known to take chickens on them.
Ferries are another cost to factor in to your Belize travel budget. If you are planning on staying on any of the islands, like Caye Caulker, you’ll need a ferry or private boat to get you there. Obviously, private boats are the most expensive option. But ferries are also expensive. Ferries to Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye are around $25/person.
Getting to Belize can be cheap too. As Belize has a bustling tourism industry, there are frequent and inexpensive flights to Belize from a variety of international airports. Flights are generally between $300-500/person.
Activities In Belize
Activities in Belize will significantly increase your Belize trip costs.
There is hardly anything to do in Belize for free. The only truly free activity is lounging on the beach. Even if you aren’t staying on the beach, you simply need to find a park with beach access. Then you – legally – can walk up and down the beach and lounge anywhere on the beach that you please, even “private” beaches.
Besides lying on the beach, everything else is going to cost money. In a typical day, we spent $100/person on activities. Some days we spent less and some more.
One of the most popular activities in Belize is scuba diving and snorkeling. And we can confirm, Belize has some of the best waters in the world. But these activities tend to be the most expensive activities in Belize. You’ll spend upwards of $150/day for snorkeling experiences and $200/day for scuba diving.
We hope this highlight of our Belize trip cost will help you to budget and plan for your own Belize vacation. While Belize was not a cheap place to visit, it definitely was fun. So you may not be able to have a discount vacation in Belize, but we hope your visit is filled with as many amazing Belize adventures as ours was.
Hi just wondering about safety in Belize as I know there are gangs in Belize.
Hi Ram, We never encountered any feelings of unease when we were visiting. That being said, we did not spend any time in Belize City, except to board flights/ferries. I have heard that Belize City is not a safe place to be, but again, we didn’t have problems in the airport or around the ferry docks. The other areas we visited felt safe to us. You can read more about the places we visited here:
https://acoupledaystravel.com/belize-travel-guide/