Taxi from Belize City to Lamanai?

[Moppy6686]

My husband and I will be taking the Liberty of the Seas to Cozumel, Mexico and Belize City, Belize on March 1st and are interested in seeing the Lamanai ruins on our day in Belize.

 

The tours seem very expensive and we've heard of anecdotal tales of people renting taxis for cheap in Belize City to go to Lamanai. But we have no idea how much it costs and no idea how easy it is to get tickets for the river boasts from Orange Walk to the ruins.

 

Has anyone successfully traveled from Belize City to Lamanai and back without a tour?

 

Thanks!

[crewsweeper]

Most taxis in Belize City don't have meters so you need to set a price in advance. last time I checked it's $25 from the port to the airport (per taxi/not passenger). That fare was set by the taxi association. But to give you a perspective, the airport is about 16 kilometers from the Tourist Village.

Lamanai is around 122kilometers. To get there by road would take about 2 hours and that gets you past the Mennonite community but maybe not to the smaller village where you have to stop and walk into the ruins site. Not all paved roads and Belize taxis aren't necessarily in the best shape. So give yourself 3 hours up and 3 hours back assuming everything goes well, plus 45 minutes to 1 hour at the ruins and you're out 7 hours that's just from the tender pier to tender pier, no stop for lunch. Squeezing time to last tender is which is gennerally 1 hour before departure time.

 

Check some of the private tour guides and this board for Lamanai tours. I'd say the river trip is a better more scenic route and the guide services can be reasonable reliable on gettign you there and back in time. So it's worth the expense.

[Jen1000]

I have not been to Lamanai but I have been to Belize two times. With the times listed by crewsweeper I would not risk it and I would go with the cruise line. The roads are not the best in Belize and are normally just 1 lane each way. I would be OK going not too far privately and I did to Altun Ha, but I would not go 2 to 3 hours on my own just in case there is a delay.

 

Most taxis in Belize City don't have meters so you need to set a price in advance. last time I checked it's $25 from the port to the airport (per taxi/not passenger). That fare was set by the taxi association. But to give you a perspective, the airport is about 16 kilometers from the Tourist Village.

Lamanai is around 122kilometers. To get there by road would take about 2 hours and that gets you past the Mennonite community but maybe not to the smaller village where you have to stop and walk into the ruins site. Not all paved roads and Belize taxis aren't necessarily in the best shape. So give yourself 3 hours up and 3 hours back assuming everything goes well, plus 45 minutes to 1 hour at the ruins and you're out 7 hours that's just from the tender pier to tender pier, no stop for lunch. Squeezing time to last tender is which is gennerally 1 hour before departure time.

 

Check some of the private tour guides and this board for Lamanai tours. I'd say the river trip is a better more scenic route and the guide services can be reasonable reliable on gettign you there and back in time. So it's worth the expense.

[JimAOk1945]

With the time factor involved it would be much better to take a cruise sponsored shore excursion to the ruins. It's worth the expense.

 

Just my opinion, based on our December 2011 experience with our ship sponsored excursion on Mariner of the Seas.

Edited January 19, 2014 by JimAOk1945