Dennis,
This info is about 6 years old but will give you some useful guidelines -
Richard
DRIVING TO BELIZE
Q: Hello I am thinking about driving my ‘94 Ford Ranger pickup truck . Can you tell
me how much the duty will cost to come in as a tourist. Also what should I
expect driving through Mexico?
Lisa Trosper
A: It will cost you nothing to bring in your truck is you are a tourist. You will be given a visitors card allowing entry for up to 30 days, and your truck will be entered on your passport. Thus to leave Belize you will have to leave with your truck (you cannot sell it in Belize.)
You will have to buy Belize insurance for your truck. It can be purchased at the border.
As for traveling through Mexico, here is a brief excerpt from my Belize First Guide to Mainland Belize book (available from Amazon.com, $14.95):
Arriving by Land from Mexico: What to Expect
By Bus: Since air fares are significantly less expensive to Cancun or Cozumel, Mexico, than to Belize City, some frugal travelers choose to fly there and bus to Belize. However, a new tourist entry fee of 160 pesos (about US$17) per person makes flying into Mexico a little less economical. If flying into the island of Cozumel, you’ll need to take the ferry (under US$6) to Playa del Carmen on the mainland, then walk to the bus terminal where ADO and other buses run to Chetumal. If arriving at Cancun, when you buy your ticket for transportation out of the airport explain that you want to go to the central bus terminal in Cuidad Cancun; you will be dropped off at the front of the terminal. Mayabus and ADO are among carriers to Chetumal from Cancun. First class express buses make fewer stops. Deluxe and first-class buses have reserved seats, air-conditioning, free videos and clean bathrooms. Some have attendants who offer drinks. Rates vary with the value of the peso, bus class and other factors but most are under US$15 from either Playa or Cancun to Chetumal. It takes about five to six hours from Cancun or Playa to Chetumal, depending on the stops and traffic.
At the Chetumal main bus station, you switch to a Batty bus. About a dozen Batty buses a day go from Chetumal to Belize City, starting at 4 a.m. and running to 6:30 p.m. The trip to Belize City takes three to four hours and costs US$4.50 for regular buses and US$6 for “premier class” which offers newer air-conditioned buses. There has been a wave of consolidation in the Belize bus business, and Novelo’s now dominates the Northern routes. The Belize buses stop at the border. You get off and clear Mexican immigration. Then you reboard the bus, cross the Rio Hondo, and go through Belize immigration and customs. The whole process usually takes about 30 minutes. You can also take a taxi from bus terminals to the border for around US$5. If you just want to go from the border to Corozal Town, the cost by bus is US 75 cents, or around US$15 for a taxi. However, if you’re not driving or on a bus, you’ll have to walk across the bridge between the Mexican and Belize border stations.
TIP: Belize does not observe daylight savings time, and Mexico does. Keep track of the time change when crossing the border.
By Car: A few travelers drive through Mexico to Belize. The trip from Brownsville, Texas, is about 1,225 miles and usually takes three to four days. Total nonstop driving time is around 28 hours. The fastest route from Brownsville/Matamoros is via Veracruz, Tampico and Villahermosa. You stay on Mexico national route 101 for about 118 miles, then route 180 or, for part of the way, 180D (a toll road) for 742 miles, then route 186 for 357 miles and then about 5 miles on route 307 to the Belize border. The toll roads are expensive, but you can make 70 mph on them, much faster than on the regular roads.
Driving through Mexican towns can be confusing, because roads are poorly signed. In general, avoid going through the town centers (Centro), as you can easily get lost and the hotels are more expensive.
To enter Mexico (and later, Belize) by car, you need your original vehicle title, and if your vehicle is not paid for, a notarized letter of permission from the lien holder. Besides paying the new Mexico tourist entry fee of 160 pesos (about US$18), which allows entry for up to six months, you have to provide a credit card in lieu of posting a cash bond to guarantee that you will bring the car back out of Mexico. By car, you are allowed only US$50 per person in merchandise to be carried into Mexico, plus as a resident of the U.S. or Canada you can bring in such items as binoculars, laptop computer, TV, camping equipment and fishing equipment.
If you are transporting goods of US$1,000 or more and are going through Mexico to Belize, you are supposed to use the services of a customs broker at the U.S.-Mexico border and get transmigratory status, which costs money in fees and, many say, in bribes to Mexican federal officers along the way. It’s best just to enter Mexico as a tourist and not go the transmig route.
Mexican auto insurance is required; it costs from around US$50 for five days. Insurance for a month or two is not much more than for a few days.
For current road conditions in Mexico, call the Green Angels (if you speak Spanish), tel. 011-52-5-250-8221 from the United States or 91-5-250-8221 within Mexico. Except on toll roads, driving after dark in Mexico is not advised. You may be stopped frequently for inspections. As of mid-2000, gas in Mexico was about US$2.05 for regular unleaded (magna sin), US$2.25 a gallon for premium, and US$1.70 a gallon for diesel.
You should exchange enough U.S. dollars to get you through Mexico, as U.S. dollars are not widely accepted, or are accepted at a low rate of exchange. The exchange rate for U.S. dollars in late 2000 was 9.25 pesos to the dollar, down from a high of around 10 pesos in 1999. Gasoline stations in Mexico usually do not accept credit cards.
Sanborn’s (tel. 800-222-0158, e-mail
info@sanbornsinsurance.com;
www.sanbornsinsurance.com) is a good source of information on travel in Mexico and for Mexican auto insurance. A Web site with all types of helpful information on Mexico is
www.mexconnect.com.
On arrival at the Mexico-Belize border, you again need your original title (no photocopies) for your vehicle, or, if you do not own it free and clear, a notarized statement from the lien holder that you have permission to take the car out of the U.S. You also have to buy Belize auto insurance. There are brokers at the border. Three months of insurance should cost about US$50 to $60, or one month about US$30. Crossing the border you may have to have your car sprayed to kill hitchhiking bugs – the fee is around US$4.50.
If you plan to stay in Belize and keep your vehicle there, you have to pay import duty. The rate varies by number of cylinders and type of vehicle, but it runs about 45% to 88% of value. If you are just visiting, you should not have to pay the import tax, but the car is entered on your passport so you cannot sell it in Belize. There are customs brokers at the border to assist you with your paperwork. They’re worth the small fee – perhaps US$20 to $40 – they typically charge.
TIP: Avoid border crossings on Mondays, the busiest day.
Keep on truckin’!
--Lan
