Caye Caulker to Chetumal by Water Taxi | The Easy Way Into Mexico
Getting from Caye Caulker back into Mexico was one of the easiest border crossings of our whole trip.
That surprised me a little. It’s two countries, two lots of immigration and a good few hours on a small boat. But after the two-day slog from El Salvador to Utila, one boat that drops you on the Mexican waterfront in the late afternoon felt almost too simple.
We left Caye Caulker on the water taxi one Monday lunchtime, and by about 6:30 that evening we were in Bacalar.
Here’s how it works, what it costs, and the fees you’ll want to know about before you board..
Table of Contents
The short version
Take the direct water taxi from Caye Caulker to Chetumal. It’s one boat, a little over four hours including a stop to leave Belize, and you’re in Mexico by about 5pm. Bring Belize cash for the ticket, a card for the Mexican entry fee, and get an Uber to Bacalar at the other end.
At a glance
- Boat days
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday when we went
- Leaves Caye Caulker
- 12:45pm, check in 2 hours before
- Boat fare
- about BZ$170 one way (roughly US$85)
- Belize exit fee
- BZ$40 (US$20) per person
- Mexico entry fee
- 983 pesos per person in 2026, card only
- Arrives Chetumal
- around 5pm
- Chetumal to Bacalar
- about 40 minutes by Uber
Booking the boat
The direct boat doesn’t run every day. The notice at the dock when we were there listed Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, leaving Caye Caulker at 12:45pm, so plan your last day on the island around it.
It’s run by the San Pedro Water Taxi (Islander Ferries), from the E-Z Boy Tours dock on Caye Caulker. You can book on their website, they ask for at least 24 hours’ notice, and you’ll need your passport to buy a ticket.
The fare is about BZ$170 one way, which is roughly US$85. The flyer at the dock said BZ$174, while a handwritten notice next to it said BZ$140 cash only, so prices clearly move around a bit. Check when you book, and have Belize dollars on you either way.
Tip: Check-in is two hours before the boat leaves (yes, two hours, for a boat), so you’ll be at the dock by about 10:45am. Have your bags packed and breakfast done the night before, and enjoy one last coffee by the water.
The boat ride
The boat is a small, covered speedboat, the blue one with CHETUMAL painted down the side.
The ride was long, hot and a little cramped. But it could have been a lot worse. You’re sitting close together with your bags for a few hours, and the shade only goes so far, so take water, a snack and something to do.
Leaving Belize in San Pedro
The first stop is San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, just under an hour up the reef from Caye Caulker.
Everyone gets off here to clear Belize immigration and pay the exit fees, and this was the slow, confusing part of the day. It felt a bit disorganised, with a lot of standing around and not much explanation of where to go next. Just follow the crowd from your boat and you’ll get there.
The exit fees come to BZ$40 (US$20) per person. That’s a BZ$30 departure fee, a BZ$7.50 conservation fee (PACT) and a BZ$2.50 border development fee, all on one receipt. We paid by card and it was fine, but plenty of people say to bring cash, so have both.
Heads up: The Belize exit fee is NOT included in your boat ticket. Budget BZ$40 (US$20) each on top of the fare, and keep the receipt until you’re through.
Then it’s back on the same boat for the longer leg across the bay to Chetumal.
Arriving in Mexico
We pulled into Chetumal at about 5pm, and the Mexican side was a completely different experience. Immigration was very professional, which after San Pedro was a welcome change.
It was also expensive.
Everyone arriving by boat pays the DNR (Derecho de No Residente), Mexico’s visitor fee. It’s 983 pesos per person in 2026 (the sign back on Caye Caulker still said 861, so it goes up most years), and as far as I could tell a card was compulsory. Have one ready with enough on it for everyone in your group, and keep the receipt with your passport.
The DNR “scam” we kept hearing about
Before we crossed, several people who’d travelled between Belize and Mexico by the land border told us about getting stung over this fee.
Here’s what’s actually going on. The DNR is a real, legitimate fee. If you fly into Mexico, it’s already built into your plane ticket. If you arrive by land or sea, like we did, you pay it at immigration. Where it goes wrong is at the land borders, where travellers who’ve already paid it are asked to pay again, sometimes as an “exit fee” on the way out, and some have been told they can’t leave until they do.
We didn’t run into any of that coming in by boat. We paid once, and that was that.
Tip: Keep your DNR receipt from Chetumal with your passport until you leave Mexico. If you flew in, save a copy of your airline receipt too, as the fee shows up in the tax breakdown (usually as “UK”). If anyone asks you to pay it again, that’s your proof. And if you do end up paying anything, ask for an official receipt.
Chetumal to Bacalar: get an Uber
Most people don’t hang around in Chetumal. Bacalar and its lagoon are only about 40 minutes up the road, and that’s where we were heading.
You can do it by bus. That means a taxi to the ADO station, then a bus or a colectivo, then getting from the stop to wherever you’re staying. We got an Uber instead, and I’d highly recommend it. It was cheap and SO easy. We had a firm price before we got in, rather than bargaining with taxi drivers on the waterfront after a long, hot day on a boat (which is exactly when you don’t want to be haggling), and it took us straight there.
Going the other way
The same crossing works in reverse if you’re heading south from Mexico into Belize. Boats leave from the waterfront terminal in Chetumal, and you clear Mexican immigration before you board. Check the operator’s website for the current days and times, as they don’t always mirror the southbound timetable.
This is the direction where your DNR receipt really matters. If you paid the fee when you arrived in Mexico by land or sea, or it was built into your flight, you shouldn’t be paying it again on the way out. Have the proof ready, stay polite, and ask to see it written down if someone insists.
Then it’s Belize immigration in San Pedro, and the short hop on to Caye Caulker. (Island time starts about there.)
Other ways to do it
If you’re staying on Ambergris Caye rather than Caye Caulker, you can skip the first leg. The same water taxi leaves San Pedro for Chetumal at 2:30pm, and the flyer had it at BZ$154 one way.
Water Jets International also runs boats to Chetumal from both islands, at about BZ$159 from Caye Caulker. Check their current days before you plan around them, as the timetables change through the year.
Or you can go by road. Buses run from Belize City to Chetumal in about three and a half to four hours, with ADO doing the run a couple of times a day for roughly US$25 to US$30. It’s cheaper, but it’s the land border where most of those DNR stories came from.
What I’d tell a friend
If you’re doing this crossing, I’d: – Plan your last day on Caye Caulker around the boat days, and book at least a day ahead. – Bring Belize dollars for the ticket and a card for both lots of fees. – Pack water and a snack, and expect the San Pedro stop to be slow. – Keep every fee receipt with your passport until you’ve left Mexico. – Skip the bargaining in Chetumal and get an Uber to Bacalar.
And whichever way you’re heading, make sure you’ve got travel insurance that covers the whole trip, boats and borders included.
Back in Mexico
The thing I remember most about that day isn’t the boat or the fees. It’s how nice it was to be back in Mexico!
Coming from Belize, the difference hit straight away. Everything is clean, and it just works. It’s actually cheaper as well, and the food is leagues better.
Where to stay in Bacalar
Bacalar was awesome. We had a great couple of days there, did a sailing trip on the lagoon and a few other excursions.
We stayed at Che Bacalar, which is a party hostel. It might not be for everyone, but it was beautiful, super clean, and there was heaps to do. The chalkboard by the bar had something on every day of the week, from morning yoga to a boat party, taco night and beer pong.
Where we stayed · Bacalar
Che Bacalar Hostel & Bar
An adults-only party hostel a block back from the lagoon, with a pool and something on every night.
- Rated
- 8.4 on Booking.com, from over 700 reviews
- Rough price
- Private doubles from about US$75, dorm beds from about US$20
- Best for
- Social travellers who want the party
If you’d rather swap the party for a bit more comfort, Hotel Solana Bacalar Lakefront is where I’d look. It sits right on the lagoon about 4 km south of town, with its own dock and palapa, kayaks to take out, and breakfast included. It’s a 9.4 on Booking.com from nearly 600 reviews, with rooms from around US$250 a night.
For more comfort · Bacalar
Hotel Solana Bacalar Lakefront
Right on the lagoon, with a private dock, kayaks for guests and breakfast included.
- Rated
- 9.4 on Booking.com, from nearly 600 reviews
- Rough price
- From about US$250 a night
- Best for
- Couples who want the lagoon on their doorstep
From Bacalar we carried on to Tulum on the ADO bus, and it was fine, which is saying something after what happened on our night bus to San Cristóbal.
Mexico Planning Cheatsheet
🚑 Should I buy travel insurance for Mexico?
Yes. Private hospitals in the big cities are genuinely good, and they will ask how you intend to pay before they treat you. Public healthcare is not a realistic option for a visitor with anything serious.
Check the activity list rather than assuming. Cenote and cave diving, volcano hikes and anything on a rented scooter are the usual exclusions, and cenote diving in particular is often treated separately from ordinary recreational diving.
I use World Nomads because you can add the adventure extras rather than hoping the base policy stretches.
🎫 Do I need a visa for Mexico?
Probably not. Most Western nationalities get up to 180 days visa-free, though the officer decides the number and it is increasingly common to be given far less than the maximum. Check the stamp before you walk away.
Mexico has largely phased out the paper FMM tourist card at airports in favour of a passport stamp. At land borders you still stop at the INM office yourself, and you pay the DNR (Derecho de No Residente) of roughly 700 pesos, about US$40. Fly in and it is already bundled into your airfare.
Heads up: keep whatever proof you have that the DNR was paid. Travellers regularly report being asked to pay it a second time when leaving overland, particularly at the Belize border. Also ignore every FMM website that asks for money. The only official one is inm.gob.mx.
💉 Do I need any vaccinations for Mexico?
Nothing exotic. Be current on the routine ones, and Hepatitis A and typhoid are the two worth asking your GP about if you plan to eat the way you should be eating, which is to say in markets and at street stalls.
Dengue is present on both coasts and in the tropical south. There is no vaccination you will realistically get, so it comes down to repellent, especially around dawn and dusk.
💵 How do you pay for things in Mexico?
Pesos, and more cash than you expect. Cards work in restaurants, hotels and supermarkets in any city, but the mercados, the comedores inside them, colectivos and small-town everything are cash only. The best food in the country is almost entirely cash only.
Use bank ATMs rather than the free-standing ones in convenience stores, and always decline when the machine offers to convert to your home currency. That conversion is where the money goes.
I use a Wise debit card for this, which gets the real exchange rate instead of the bank’s.
🚌 What’s the public transport like in Mexico?
Excellent, and one of the real pleasures of travelling here.
- ADO and its sister brands run comfortable long-distance coaches across the south. Book a day or two ahead in high season.
- Colectivos, shared vans and taxis, cover the short hops for a few pesos. They leave when full rather than on a timetable.
- DiDi rather than Uber in Oaxaca, where it has better coverage and lower fares.
Heads up: on overnight buses, treat anything in the overhead rack or the hold as gone. Thefts on the long night routes through the south are common enough that we and five other people off the same bus were robbed on one journey.
📲 How do I get internet, data or wifi in Mexico?
Telcel has the best coverage by a distance, and a prepaid SIM is cheap. Take your passport, buy it at a Telcel shop rather than the airport, and have them set it up in front of you.
If you would rather not deal with any of that, an Airalo eSIM works the moment you land. It costs more than a local SIM and I still use one for the first few days of a trip.
✈️ What’s the best site to buy flights to Mexico?
I use Skyscanner to compare routes, then book directly with the airline once I know what I want. Mexico City is usually the cheapest way in. Cancun is the obvious entry for the Yucatan, and Oaxaca is an easy short hop from Mexico City if you want to start in the south.
💧 Can you drink the water in Mexico?
The official answer is no, and that is the answer to plan around. Buy the big garrafon bottles, which every shop sells and every rental has a stand for.
Honestly, we drank the tap water in Oaxaca for a week and were completely fine. That is one city and two stomachs though, not advice, and the water quality varies enormously by state and by building. If you want to drink from the tap, filter or treat it first.
I carry Aquatabs and a Brita filter bottle, which saves buying a bottle every few hours and is genuinely useful anywhere rural.
