We spent almost two months in Belize, although we spent most of the time off the bike. We only cycled 14 days out of the 49 days we spent in the country, you can check the route we followed here. The costs are PER PERSON.
We lived in San Pedro (Ambergris Caye) during the first month. The main goal was to complete the PADI Divemaster course with Belize Pro Dive Center. The experience couldn’t have been better: great people, great diving and great times.
After a month without pedalling and totally out of shape, we cycled down south, through the beautiful Hummingbird Highway, all the way to Placencia. After spending an amazing week in Glovers Reef, we headed back north and into Guatemala.
Traffic was very light. Food and lodging were expensive in Belize and being in the middle of the rainy season, wild camping opportunities were hard to find.
* Costs in american dollars (USD)
ON THE BIKE
Total: 49 Days
Cycling days: 11 Days
Rest days: 38 Days
Total pedalled: 713 Kms (443 mi)
Kms/day: 14.5 Kms (9 mi)
Kms/cycling days: 65 Kms (41 mi)
Total Spent: 487.00 USD
Average spent per day: 9.94 USD
LODGING
Total Spent: 283.25 USD
Average spent per day: 5.78 USD
FOOD
Total Spent: 198.82 USD
Average spent per day: 4.06 USD
OTHERS
Total Spent: 5 USD
Average spent per day: 0.10 USD
We found Belize very expensive compared to the neighbour countries, so we had to find other ways to stay on budget. The month we stayed in San Pedro we sublet an apartment of an American guy we met (for 200 USD per month) and we brought 3 weeks of food from Mexico on the bikes. It sounds crazy but it was the only way to keep the costs under 10 USD a day. We always cooked our meals and rarely ate out.
LODGING
Total : 49 Days
Days paid to sleep: 45 Days
Days not paid to sleep 4 Days
Showers: 45 (Almost every day!)
Hostel-hotel : 5 Days
Host – Friends: 2 Days
Place : 29 Days
Camping: 13 Days
- Paid: 12 Days
- Unpaid: 1 Days
Wild camping in Belize was hard, as we were in the middle of the rain season. Most of the land was flooded, even the roads sometimes. The rain didn’t stop during the 2 weeks we were cycling, so we had to pay for accommodation most of the time as we couldn’t find a dry place to set up camp. Rooms in Belize are expensive and so is camping. We stuck with camping in order to keep the costs down.
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Hey good work on living for under $10 a day in Belize, thats good going! Love that you brought food in from Mexico – what an ace idea! You’ll be a lot better off in Guatemala. I’m sure prices have gone up but when I was there in 2010 for 5 months, things were really cheap. A great tip if you’re heading into the north to see Tikal etc – don’t stay in Flores, there is a lovely cheap hostel and camping available at the little (and much-less touristy) settlement of El Remate. This town is actually closer to the ruins and set along the edge of lake, so there is some great swimming to be had to cool you down!
Thanks for the tip, Steph!
In fact, we have already passed through Guatemala. It was one of the cheapest areas in Central America by far! Quite nice, especially if you are coming from Belize.
And yes, we stayed at El Remate 🙂