Belize Travel Budget 2025: What I Spent in 4 Nights

This past week, I visited my 15th and newest country, Belize, and I had an absolutely wonderful time. But the question you may ask is, “How much did it cost?”

In this post I’ll break down everything I spent over the few days I was there, and give you an idea of how much you might be spending depending on your activities and locations. I did visit with a friend which cut some costs, but I’ll discuss it as if I went alone.

Fun fact: the Belizean dollar is directly tied to the US dollar, at a 2:1 ratio, but I will just be using USD here to simplify things. For example, most taxi rides were about $5 USD, or $10 BZD.

Hotel Prices in Belize

San Ignacio: Cahal Pech Village Resort ($105 per night for a standard double room)

This was a good option for its amenities: this hotel has multiple on-site pools, a restaurant, and a bar. There is excellent air-conditioning and fast Wi-Fi, and balconies with a really great view of the valley. They have TVs as well, though for ours the live channels were not working. They also offer shuttles to and from both the airport and the water taxi terminal in Belize City, though that falls under transportation and I’ll consider that cost separately. The walk to the city is a bit long, so you’ll likely need to take a taxi to the city center once you get down the hill, and especially coming back up as it is pretty steep. On the bright side, you’re pretty close to the Cahal Pech ruins, an ancient Mayan site that was a true highlight of the trip, and in my opinion seems very underrated.

Caye Caulker: Colinda Cabanas ($115 per night for a bungalow with private balcony)

This was the highest-rated location on the island, and for good reason. You get to stay in your own little cabin, with a stairway up to a small balcony with furniture (a table, chairs, and a hammock). Each room is provided with a 5 gallon jug of drinking water, utensils, plates, and cups. We even had a cutting board to use if you want to try some local fruits. There is also the option to buy certain amenities – we got the Belizean rum bundle, which I’ll mention in the food section, though admittedly it was not really worth it. You can pretty much buy rum at any local store for much cheaper, though I’ll get to that later. The rooms have very fast Wi-Fi, and also have air conditioning EXCEPT #6, #7, and #8 – we were in number 8 and learned this the hard way, but it was our own mistake. It wasn’t terrible but let’s just say we didn’t really need our sheets much! Underneath each bungalow is a space for bikes, with 2 provided for free and the option to rent additional ones. There is also a spot for free snorkel gear, and kayaks are free to use, though it was too windy for us to try when we were there. There is even a spot for free use items such as sunscreen that people did not fully use before checking out. Out in the front, there are lounge chairs and a short pier out into the water where you can relax. There is also a cafe on-site, though we did not try it. The bikes made getting around the island super easy, but regardless you’re in walking distance of basically anything. It was about a 15 minute walk to and from the water taxi terminal. It is also close to the local airport, but we did not fly in or out so I cannot vouch for this option.

Food Prices in Belize

Food was noticeably more expensive than I was expecting, but it absolutely depends on where you’re staying. Keep in mind that there is a tipping culture in Belize, so you will have to add that on as well.

For us, San Ignacio was not bad, though local restaurants and market stalls were much better-priced than our hotel restaurant. (At the hotel I paid $43.50 including tips for two meals, whereas the next three meals at local spots were only $22.50 combined!)

There’s no way around it, though – Caye Caulker (and presumably the other islands) will put a dent in your wallet, though the fresh seafood was absolutely worth it to us. You will probably pay $20-$30 for dinner, though there are some stalls near the beach which are cheaper options for lunch – I paid $11 for some BBQ jerk chicken for example. There is also a cheap spot to get fryjacks for breakfast (a local cuisine that I would highly recommend), which will set you back less than $5 for most items.

Alcoholic drinks could be a bit pricey, but seemed about equivalent to the US besides a few things like the local beer brand, Belikin. My friend who I traveled with got a few of these and they were only about $1.50, though I am not a beer fan myself. I normally paid about $10 for drinks like piña coladas or mojitos, though this could vary.

As previously mentioned, we got the Belizean rum bundle at Colinda Cabanas, which was about $44. It came with a fifth of rum, 1 liter of pineapple juice, and some chips & salsa. I would personally not recommend it, as we saw the same rum in a local market for less than $15. However, if you want to just get some juice to pair with your liquor, it is only $4.50 to order a liter at the hotel.

Besides that, snacks and drinks in local stores were pretty cheap, and I would definitely recommend trying some Belizean snacks while you are there! We even got some good ice cream in Caye Caulker for only $2.50.

Meals in Cayo Region (San Ignacio area): $67 for 5 meals = ~$13.40 each

Meals on Caye Caulker: $87 for 4 meals = ~$21.75 each (and keep in mind that includes a fairly cheap breakfast and lunch)

Extra drinks and food (incl. hotel rum bundle & items bought in stores): $81

In total, I spent ~$235 for all the food and drinks I had in Belize, around $58.75 per full day. Not exactly a “budget” option, though it could definitely be knocked down depending on where you go and what you decide to buy.

Transportation Prices in Belize

The most common way to get around Belize is by taxi. If you are traveling within a town, as we did in San Ignacio, prices were usually around $5. Longer journeys will obviously cost more, though the exact amount will depend on your location, destination, and driver (and negotiating skills!).

In San Ignacio we only took one taxi outside the city, when we went to Xunantunich, but it was only a few miles and he still only charged us $5. Our only longer trip by taxi was when going from Belize City to the airport on our last morning, and it was $25 for about a 30 minute ride. You can also take the golf cart taxis in Caye Caulker, but honestly it’s easier to just walk (though having a free-use bike was nice).

You also have the option to take the “chicken bus,” which is what locals use – it is significantly cheaper and there are bus stops all over the country. However, they are far less reliable (our first shuttle driver mentioned they have a tendency to break down), and you might be waiting a while for one. We decided to try it after Xunantunich and waited about 45 minutes, though we only paid $1.25 to get back to San Ignacio!

Getting to and from San Ignacio was significantly pricier, as it is over an hour and a half from the airport and about 2 hours from Belize City. Luckily our hotel had a shuttle which we were able to book. From BZE airport to the hotel, it was $112.50 (though listed as $125 on the website), and from the hotel to the water taxi terminal in Belize City it was only $45, probably because we were traveling with two others. You can check the website here for more details.

Water taxi is the easiest way to get to and from the islands. You can technically fly in from BZE with some local airlines, but it is a good bit pricier. Round trip tickets are cheaper when bought at once, but we did one way for each, as we were not sure if we’d fly out from Caye Caulker. We paid $22.50 per ticket on the way there, and $17 on the way back. You can check their website here for more information.

A small note: there is a hand-cranked ferry which takes you across the river to Xunantunich. It is a short ride and technically free, but you should tip the operators – we tipped $4.50 in total.

Total taxi costs: $50

Shuttle costs: $157.50

Water taxi costs: $39.50

Miscellaneous: $5.75

In total, we paid $252.75 for our travel within the country, most of which was for longer treks – not bad overall.

Flight Costs

While this may not be as relevant to you specifically, as flights will differ depending on your region and other factors, it is important to note for the overall costs. We paid $470 for round-trip flights from San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC), which included one layover each way (Dallas on the way there, Los Angeles on the way back). It was a little under 6 total hours of flight time each way.

Prices for Activities in Belize

We really didn’t do many activities while we were there. A good amount of our trip was just exploring the towns and relaxing. The only two “attractions” we visited were the Mayan sites of Xunatunich and Cahal Pech. These were great locations, and I would highly recommend checking them out. The entrance fee (for non-Belizeans) is $12.50 for Xunantunich, and $10 for Cahal Pech.

There are plenty of options to choose if you want to do more adventuring, such as the ATM cave tour, or even a day trip to Tikal in Guatemala, but we didn’t want to be rushing around too much. It was nice to have a chance to explore our areas more in-depth as opposed to packing our days full. This entirely depends on your style of travel and what you want to see of course, but expect to drop at least $100-$200 on these longer guided tours.

I also bought a keychain while at the local market in San Ignacio, which isn’t really an attraction per se, but it was something our shuttle driver recommended we visit on our last morning there. I spent $10 for a solid metal one, as I figured the wooden ones might not last as long.

Total costs: $32.50

How Much Did I Spend to Go to Belize?

With everything combined, these costs add up to $1210.25. All things considered, this is not bad, as many of these costs (mostly transportation and accommodation) were split with my friend, but if I had visited alone this is about how much I would have spent. Personally, I spent a little over $1000.

So, is Belize worth it? $300 a day might seem like a lot! I would say, it all depends on what type of trip you’re looking for. If you just want to relax on the beach in a foreign country, Mexico is probably a better bet, with options like Cabo and Cancun being a lot cheaper than Caye Caulker or Ambergris Caye/San Pedro in Belize.

However, visiting the interior part of the country like San Ignacio allows you to avoid a lot of the tourist traffic you’d see in Mexico. While Chichén Itzá is a more well-known Mayan site, Xunantunich and Cahal Pech are impressive and interesting in their own rights. Xunantunich has the towering El Castillo (which is actually taller than the El Castillo of Chichén Itzá), and you will see some tourist groups here. However, Cahal Pech, while having smaller buildings, is quite underrated. Some of the structures have still-standing hallways and interiors, and we only saw one other tourist while we were there.

Belize also has a particularly unique culture in Central America, being its only Caribbean country. There is a very diverse population, including Mestizo, Creole, and Mayan as the majority, each with their own language, and English being the national language helps a lot when exploring.

Personally, I would highly recommend visiting. I had a wonderful time, with a mix of exploration and relaxation, and there are more budget ways to visit if you just want to knock off another country. Give it a shot, I’m sure you won’t regret it!