San Pedro Belize Express Water Taxi

NO-SHOW Airport Transfer & Non Existent Customer Service Our family booked & paid for Belize Water Taxi (San Pedro Belize Express) for the peak day of December 24, 2025 for their combined airport transfer services from Belize Airport to the port, and then their water taxi/ferry to Caye Caulker. We opted for their combined services (paying a premium for using their airport service vs. taking a local airport taxi to the port) to help ensure we caught our water taxi/ferry reservation; important to note that this was the second to last water taxi/ferry of the day and fully booked. Per Belize Water Taxi instructions, we provided our flight details in advance as they assured us that their staff would be monitoring our flight’s arrival time. On the day of travel we learned our flight was delayed by an hour so we proactively emailed Belize Water Taxi with the revised arrival time. We wanted to ensure they were aware given the reduced connection time for us to catch our water taxi/ferry connection. Not only did Belize Water Taxi not acknowledge our communication, but they couldn’t have been monitoring the flight as when we arrived in Belize there was no driver from Belize Water Taxi. We waited some time, but given we couldn’t risk missing our reservation for the 4:30pm water taxi/ferry (2nd to last ferry of the day and fully booked), we had no other option but to incur the additional expense of taking an airport taxi to the port. When we arrived at the port (thankfully with just enough time to catch our 4:30pm ferry), the representative from Belize Water Taxi barely acknowledged their error and said that they would have someone follow-up from a customer service perspective. While we acknowledge mistakes can happen (airport transfer no-showing), my grave disappointment is Belize Water Taxi’s complete lack of customer service: • No apparent monitoring of flight details on Dec 24 • No acknowledgement of our Dec 24 communication regarding the 1 hour delay • No follow through with their promise that customer service would email us • No response to an email we initiated in early January (once back home) • No response to a follow-up request The impression left is one of arrogance, ‘we have your money already, so we don’t need to bother acknowledging or take any action.’ If going to Caye Caulker, there are not many options to get you there. Our advice, if you are going to use Belize Water Taxi, exercise caution and minimize your financial exposure by not booking their airport transfer service. Take an airport taxi (@ $40USD) to the port. It’s less expensive, more reliable, and reduces your exposure to the poorly managed Belize Water Taxi.

I purchased two ferry tickets from the company San Pedro Belize Express Water Taxi for Thursday 22 January at 11:15 am. However, the tickets I was given were for 8:45 am. I woke up early the this day to have them changed and was told that the time did not matter. As I was leaving reception, a strong gust of wind caused one of the tickets to fly away. A staff member from the company witnessed this and kindly helped search for the ticket, but we could not find it. When I returned to reception, I was told I needed to purchase a new ticket, as the company is not responsible for damaged, lost, or stolen tickets. I understand this policy. However, in this situation, some discretion and common sense would have been appreciated. If I had been given the correct ticket time (11:15 am) in the first place, I would not have needed to return and the ticket would not have been lost. While I appreciate the help from the staff member who tried to assist, the overall handling of the situation was disappointing.

This review is based upon my several trips to Chetumal from Caye Caulker and back (once last year and twice this year). 1st piece of advice is make sure to buy your tickets many days in advance. One trip my friend and I bought our tickets 2 days prior. When we showed up the morning of travel in CC at 6:15am the SPBE ladies said I was on the manifest but my friend was not therefore I could board the boat but my friend couldn't. We showed our processed credit card receipt and the money leaving the account for the ferry fee, they did not care. Not on the manifest not on the boat. Then began a battle to get a refunds as I was not about to travel without my friend. This was a very difficult process and it caused a great deal of distress as we had commitments and connections in Mexico so we had to scramble to find a different way. Secondly, their leave/arrival times listed on the site are not accurate so don't plan on any punctual arrival times. They advertise a 7am leave from CC and arrival in Chetumal at 10:00am. This is extremely difficult to do as we have never left SP before 9:00 (Central time) which is 10:00 Chetumal time (Eastern Standard time). Third, Customs and Immigration... I know the SPBE cannot control these entities, but...They usually leave CC around 7, but the immigration/customs in SP take about 1 hour to 1.5 hours for 50-70 people. This last trip (taken last week) upon the arrival in Chetumal the lady that was doing customs took over 2.5 hours to process 50 people!!! She was averaging 10 minutes per person/group. We arrived in Chetumal around noon and we were not processed and through until 2:30! The 4 men standing around said she was "training", but no one was in the booth helping/train her. This was the frustrating part of the trip because it put us way behind on the ADO bus for further transport. This would be a great way to access Mexico if they had a more efficient customs/immigration process... Our return trip was a little quicker as the customs/immigration in Mexico had two people this day so we processed fairly quickly (45 minutes). The SP immigration/customs was better that day as well it took about 45 minutes on the return trip. Overall this review is issuing caution especially if you have connections you need to make. You can never tell how long the customs/immigration process is going to take...

We traveled between Belize City and Caye Caulker using their water taxi service. I booked online in advance, but you can easily book in person as well. The trip to the island was smooth and easy. They check your luggage, and when you arrive, they bring it out for you. The ride itself was beautiful and quick—about 45 minutes each way. The return trip was more stressful. Only one employee was working the ticket window, and there were people waiting to either buy tickets or show proof of purchase to get their paper copy. Some of us were still dealing with this while they were already boarding the boat. There was also a mix-up where our luggage was almost loaded onto the water taxi going to San Pedro instead of Belize City, but thankfully it was caught in time. The boat back was overbooked, and several of us ended up sitting on the steps used to enter and exit the boat. It was raining, so fewer seats were usable since no one wanted to sit in the uncovered section. Once we arrived, it took around 30 minutes for them to unload the luggage. Overall, the service is affordable and the employees are very kind, but the organization on the return trip was chaotic. A friend of mine even had his luggage mistakenly sent to San Pedro on his way to the island, which required a three-hour trip to retrieve it. Thankfully that happened on the way there and not on his return when he had a flight to catch. It gets you where you need to go, but be prepared for some disorganization, especially during busy times.

Life around here is not rushed and that means things are not always punctual for the typical American mindset. Slow down people! We had a drugged out woman on our boat from San Pedro to Caye Caulker who clearly had been on a bender the previous night. I was so impressed by how the boat handled her. She got testy with one of the staff (Emerson) and he was calm, cool and collected. He sat by her with a life preserver in hand ready for anything that might happen. Kenrick, another boat staffer, was an incredible guy, full of lots of ideas for us for our day trip to Caye Caulker. Excellent all the way around.

Whilst traveling from Chetumal to Caya Caulker they crashed the boat. The boat went up an island with full speed. When I asked the captain what happened he told me: well, you know, it’s dark out there.” Now they are saying that there was a steering system failure but in that case, why didn’t the boat slow down? The boat has gps, the island has been there for ages and we were passing the island for quite some time so it’s not adding up at all. After the accident we were told to contact them over email. The people at the desk didn’t show much empathy on the whole situation when we were leaving the island. The company has not been responding to any emails even though they promissed us multiple times they would come back to us about it. I would not recommend booking with them!

You can purchase tickets on site or online. One way or round trip tickets are available. You can start lining up and boarding 15 min prior to departure. Trip from Belize City to Caye Caulker is 1 hour, the. An additional 30 min to San Pedro.

Pulled up in taxi. Water Taxi staff welcomed us, carried our bags to luggage check-in, directed us to ticket person who sold us round trip passes. All very professional! Grabbed the next ferry to Caye Caulker. Ride was comfortable.