Belize trip help ! Booked in Hopkins and can't cancel but not what we want

[Anonymous]

Hello,
I was impatient and booked the first days in Hopkins Belize because of the great Hotel reviews.. but it is not what we were looking for in our travels. Does anyone know if I can get to Caracol ruins from there. All the sites said the tours start from San Ignacio. How do we get to San Ignacio from Hopkins without driving ourselves?

[Anonymous]

There are local buses. I took one from the capital to San Ignacio. It was an old American school bus and we were the only foreigners. It was an experience I'll never forgot.

[Anonymous]

I’m going to Belieze as well this summer.

I’ve been researching caracol ruins. It seems like a long rocky drive to ruins and I agree most trips go from San Ignacio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are local buses. I took one from the capital to San Ignacio. It was an old American school bus and we were the only foreigners. It was an experience I'll never forgot.

The buses in Belieze are cheap and awesome and surprisingly reliable.

OP, if you do end up taking the bus, a few pointers:

There are no bus stops, just stand out on the road and when you see the bus coming you wave at them and they will stop for you. The wave you do is the same sort of wave you'd do to tell somebody to slow down if they were speeding down your street. If you do the regular "hi" wave they'll wave right back and keep on going.

There will be a guy hanging out of the door of the bus, you can ask him to make sure the bus is going where you want. Once he confirms it's the right bus, go find a seat. He will come back to you later to collect the fare, which will be between about 2 and 15-20BZD depending on how far you're going.

There are no bathrooms on the bus but if you're going a long distance they may stop for a very short bathroom break, so make sure to go before you get on.

To get off, just let the "conductor" know where you're going and he'll make sure you get off at the right spot.

Also if you want to buy drugs the conductor will almost certainly be able to hook you up!

[Anonymous]

Not Belize specific advice, but I have found that your companies can be accommodating. It will cost more, but maybe call a few tour operators and see if they are willing to do a special itinerary that starts at your hotel. You could also call the hotel you are staying at and ask who might take tours to where you want to go. Again, might cost more but might be easier than navigating the bus system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are local buses. I took one from the capital to San Ignacio. It was an old American school bus and we were the only foreigners. It was an experience I'll never forgot.

The buses in Belieze are cheap and awesome and surprisingly reliable.

OP, if you do end up taking the bus, a few pointers:

There are no bus stops, just stand out on the road and when you see the bus coming you wave at them and they will stop for you. The wave you do is the same sort of wave you'd do to tell somebody to slow down if they were speeding down your street. If you do the regular "hi" wave they'll wave right back and keep on going.

There will be a guy hanging out of the door of the bus, you can ask him to make sure the bus is going where you want. Once he confirms it's the right bus, go find a seat. He will come back to you later to collect the fare, which will be between about 2 and 15-20BZD depending on how far you're going.

There are no bathrooms on the bus but if you're going a long distance they may stop for a very short bathroom break, so make sure to go before you get on.

To get off, just let the "conductor" know where you're going and he'll make sure you get off at the right spot.

Also if you want to buy drugs the conductor will almost certainly be able to hook you up!

First PP here. Since it was a long distance bus there were no impromptu stops. The locals know where the bus stop is and since English is the official language it was not too difficult to figure out. We got on a the start of the route. The bus stop was not marked, just on the corner of two roads. About an hour after we got on there was a stop. Vendors were selling food so my DH (boyfriend at the time) bought an enchilada through the bus window. But he stopped eating it when he found the meat inside was a chicken neck.
It was interesting to watch the people getting on and off. There was a little Mayan girl with beautiful greenish eyes.