Central America - Flores to Tikal to San Ignacio

Hi Travelers,

In October 2012, we are flying into Flores, Guatemala and plan to go to Tikal for one day and also spend the night, the next morning head to San Ignacio, Belize for 3-4 days.

Does anyone have any experience doing this or recommend the safest, best way to do this? I'm thinking a taxi from Flores to Tikal and then a taxi or tour bus from Tikal to San Ignacio.

Thinking of spending the night in Tikal at the Tikal Inn Hotel - thoughts?

Thanks for input.

I was thinking of doing the Flores to Tikal thing a few years back and found that there are several local guides that can help you. Just Google them, I don't have the contacts anymore. And while I get by in Spanish, they do speak English.

EmailKid

I've never spent the night in Tikal, but been there many times. You'll have fun. 2 options:

1) Get a guide/tour when you arrive. They are in the airport clearly marked.
2) Google it. Plenty of English speaking tours available.

Have fun!

Here's what I did when I visited Tikal-

Get a Taxi or Colectivo to Flores/Santa Elena (either will work, it is a short ride to Flores from the bus stations in Santa Elena) you can also get a taxi to the Tikal Inn.

Stay overnight in Flores - You can probably get transport to Tikal from your hotel or from the many travel agents in Flores.

Spend a day at Tikal - return to Flores.

From Flores get a tuk-tuk to the Santa Elena bus station (you can also walk, but the tuk-tuk is safer - fare should be about $1US.)

Ask the touts at the bus station for the colectivo to Benque Viejos (this is the town on the border of Guatemala & Belize). From there you walk across a bridge to the Belize Border, get your passport exit stamped, pass through Belizean immigration.

From here you take a Taxi to San Ignacio, Belize - the rates for this trip are posted on the outside of the immigration building - I think the fare is $5US, there is also a chicken bus that plies this route.

One thing to note: even if you are in Belize, most of the people in San Ignacio speak some type of Spanglish.

Ask the touts at the bus station for the colectivo to Benque Viejos (this is the town on the border of Guatemala & Belize).

The border town is named Melchor de Mencos on the Guatemalan Side, and Benque Viejo del Carmen on the Belizean side ;)

My wife and I are thinking of doing something similar to this. How safe is this?

Our thoughts were to fly into FRS, transfer to Tikal Inn, and spend a night there. If possible tour the park the afternoon we arrive, and then again during a sunrise tour on day 2.

Transfer to San Ignacio, and then into other areas of Belize. Fly out of BZE home.

I've heard the road to tikal is not...the safest. Would this be true even with a private car hired from the hotel?

My wife and I are thinking of doing something similar to this. How safe is this?

Our thoughts were to fly into FRS, transfer to Tikal Inn, and spend a night there. If possible tour the park the afternoon we arrive, and then again during a sunrise tour on day 2.

Transfer to San Ignacio, and then into other areas of Belize. Fly out of BZE home.

I've heard the road to tikal is not...the safest. Would this be true even with a private car hired from the hotel?

The road to Tikal is fairly rural but looks well traveled. I wouldn't be concerned during the day.

The road on the way to San Ignacio on the other hand is almost all dirt (because of landslides), is fairly rough, and is all rural. You can get a bus from Flores or Santa Elena all the way to BZE or take a colectivo to the border and a taxi to San Ignacio then chicken buses from there, look for the "express" buses which make fewer stops.

We are planning something similar next year with US miles *A award. We can either take a convenient flight to BZE or fly to Flores via GUA which takes longer. Ideally we want to fly to BZE, go direct to San Ignacio for birding, then take a bus to Tikal. I am a bit worried about the hurricane season and how UA handles this. Do they cancel flights outright or reroute to a nearby airport? Are the flights IAH-GUA risky in hurricane season? We have no plans to go anywhere near a beach or island, it's all about the rainforest and birds for us!

FWIW, BZE might be the only (commercial) jet-capable air field in Belize.

FWIW, BZE might be the only (commercial) jet-capable air field in Belize.

Perhaps for mainline, but CO used to have twice a week flights to FRS on ERJ 145. I almost flew that, but in the end couldn't justify spending four days of my (at the time) limited vacation time in Tikal, Flores and Santa Elena.

They must not have been able to fill even those 50 seaters as the service was discontinued after a few months.

I did do some research on the area, but if I ever go will have to start all over again. IIRC there are some GUA flights, but I have just dreamed that :eek:

EmailKid

I've done some research as well... it looks like Maya Island Air has flown BZE-FRS in the past, but those flights have been stopped until at least Dec 2012.

Right now the best option I can see is GUA-FRS on Taca. The biggest drawback is that the layover is atrocious--6-10 hours in GUA no matter what I do. Also I'd want to arrive in FRS in the morning, to allow for a full day and a second half day in Tikal. This would mean an overnight in GUA and a 6am flight to FRS. Bleh.

I'll probably just fly LAX-BZE and do overland to get to Tikal. Just so much shorter flying time.

This is what worked best for me. I flew into BZE, arranged private transport to my hotel near San Ignacio where I spent a few days. I then arranged an overnight tour to Tikal which included roundtrip transport, lodging at Tikal Inn, all meals and a guide. I then spent a few more days near San Ignacio before moving on to Ambergris Caye.