About Guatemala

Probably one of the things we travelers hate the most, is to spend much more time in buses than we have to, and especially if it means to take the same route more than once.

A couple of weeks ago I joined a friend in a journey through Belize. We entered via the only border-crossing by road there is from Guatemala to the neighbour country, at Melchor de Mencos and Benque Viejo Del Carmen.

Considering Belize is much more expensive than other places in Central America, we planned a route that allowed us to see as much of the country as we could without spending too much time or money on our way back to Guatemala. We started in San Ignacio, then went up north to Belize City and Caye Caulker, from there going down south to Belmopán, Placencia and finally Punta Gorda, our last destination in this country.

There is water taxis in Punta Gorda running daily trips to Puerto Barrios in Guatemala, and going also to Lívingston on Tuesdays and Fridays for US$20. Once you’ve got your ticket, you can head to the customs office to get your stamp and pay the US$3.75 exit fee before the departure.

I found two companies providing this service in Punta Gorda and Puerto Barrios:

Requena’s Charter Services
#12 Front St.
Punta Gorda, Belize
Email: watertaxi@btl.net
Phone # (501) 722 2070

They leave daily from Punta Gorda to Puerto Barrios at 9:30am from the customs pier and return from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala at 2:00pm from the public pier. You can also find someone selling tickets at both customs before departure.

Transportes El Chato
1ra Avenida between 10 y 11 calle.
Puerto Barrios, Guatemala
Email: pichilingo2000@yahoo.com
Phone # (502) 7948-5525
Mobile # (502) 5412-4007 or (502) 4095-6663

They leave daily from Puerto Barrios to Punta Gorda at 10:00am from the Muelle Municipal and return from Punta Gorda, Belize at 2:00 pm from the customs pier. You can also find someone selling tickets at both customs before departure.

If you are arriving in Guatemala, the customs office is less than two blocks away from the Muelle Principal, just ask for “Migración” once you arrive. There is no need to pay for a taxi even though people will try to convince you otherwise.

If you are leaving Guatemala, you will have to pay a US$ 2.60 exit fee.

We decided to leave in the morning, so we traveled with Requena’s Charter Service who provided us with a great service. They were punctual, polite and helped us with every question we had.