When reading our travel costs for Belize, please keep the following in mind:
- The costs are based upon a couple travelling together.
- We did not travel as part of an organised tour group but as independent travellers.
- Not considered is the entry or exit transport into/out of the country.
- We are digital nomads so base ourselves in accommodation that has good Wi-Fi.
- Included in the overall daily costs (for the period of time we are in the country) are:
- Our mail scanning and forwarding service
- Mobile phone plan
- Travel insurance.
Where We Travelled
Travel Costs Summary Table
| Categories | USD per person per day | |
| Communications | $0 | 0% |
| Groceries | $3.37 | 5% |
| Dining | $15.29 | 22% |
| Leisure | $20.35 | 30% |
| Accommodation | $24.44 | 36% |
| Miscellaneous | $0.07 | 0% |
| Finance | $0.69 | 1% |
| Health | $0 | 0% |
| Travel | $1.07 | 2% |
| Government Costs | $2.86 | 4% |
| Total USD per person per day | $68.15 |
Our leisure activities included a canoe tour to spot wildlife along the Belize River, a cave tubing tour along the Nohoch Che’en Caves Branch River, as well as entry fees for the Community Baboon Sanctuary, and the archaeological sites of Cahal Pech and Xunantunich. Government costs comprised the departure tax (for overland border crossings).
We knew Belize would be more costly than its neighbours, based upon research that we had done, but we had no idea just how much more expensive it would be. Our decision to only stay a week proved wise. On our journey to date, only the US and Canada were more expensive than Belize.
While at the cheaper end of the tours on offer, our two guided tours (at USD30 pp and USD75 pp respectively) certainly were a key contributor to our expenses in Belize. Accommodation and dining were also at the higher end. Transport, on the other hand, was very cheap (at least for us as we only used chicken buses for intra-country travel).
We can’t comment on the situation on the cayes and along the Caribbean coast in general, but we found that tours on offer in Belize (even further inland) tended to be more geared towards cruise ship tourists who want to experience Belize in a day (with prices to match), and that affordable accommodation was in short supply, especially self-contained options.
Other Cost Summaries and Budgets
Travel budget websites calculated the costs as shown in the below table. We are unsure whether their data includes entry/exit cost. However, it is good to compare our actual versus their data.
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Websites such as Numbeo and Price Of Travel do not show consolidated daily averages but break it down by the various items (eg bread, milk, etc).
Have you been to Belize? What did it cost? What was your experience? If you have a blog, please share your thoughts below.
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