Fellow
Sueno residents:
Jan and I recently travelled to
Sueno, travelling via Cancun and
Playa del Carmen, rather than direct to Belize City. Why? Because we'd heard the trip can be much cheaper than the direct-flight routes, because the flights to Cancun are subsidized (cheap) to attract tourists. The following notes
explain a bit about how we did it and why, and what it cost us.
We took Frontier Airline--direct Denver to Cancun: $299 each, or $598 for two, round trip. Unfortunately, the flight got in too late for us to make any kind of same-day connections for the rest of the trip without spending the night along the way (Cancun,
Playa del carmen, or
Chetumal). We chose
Playa del Carmen (well planned, ahead of time).
On arrival in Cancun, we cleared customs and went straight to the money-exchange
kiosk. Agents were behind the counter, but the service was closed for some unexplained reason, which meant we had no pesos (exchange rate about 13-14 pesos per U.S. dollar . . . not nearly as convenient as the 2:1 in Belize). Hint: get $50-100 worth of pesos in U.S. before departure, if possible.
Next to the closed money-exchange
kiosk were 3-4 booths labeled Taxis & Shuttles. On the far right (4
th or 5
th booth), we found the sign for ADO, the bus company we wanted, and bought two tickets to
Playa del Carmen. Here, it would have helped to have pesos, as the guy did a quick conversion to dollars (rounded up to $7 each), which I paid with a $20, and got my change in pesos (rounded down), which meant our tickets cost about $8 each. MESSAGE, get pesos.
Just outside the terminal doors (and to the right) is a large parking area for the commercial
buses. We showed our tickets, asked questions, and were told where our bus would park when it arrived. We stayed with our luggage to make sure it got on the right bus (under the bus, in large storage compartments). Important: We were scheduled to leave (on the ticket) at 4:30pm. Everybody boarded about 4:05-4:10, and the bus LEFT at 4:15 . . . from where it went to a second airport terminal, got more passengers, and did leave, as scheduled, at 4:30. This would be an easy bus to miss if you're off drinking a beer at 4:20.
The one-hour, non-stop ride to
Playa was uneventful (divided highway, commercial, most of the way). We'd been told ahead of time that there are two ADO bus terminals in
Playa--one on the beach, the other downtown. We were taken to the one on the beach, on Fifth Street (or avenue), which worked well, as that's where we'd rented a condo for the night. We gathered our own luggage from the bus and went inside the terminal, where we immediately bought our tickets for the next morning to
Chetumal, Mexico (on the
Belizean border). We purchased EXPRESS tickets (only one stop on the way, a short stop in
Tulum) . We knew the bus would have a bathroom, and we'd brought snacks for the five-hour trip. The EXPRESS tickets were each 204 pesos, which I didn't have, so the convenient math meant $20 each (do the math . . . then know why you need pesos). We learned we needed to be back at the DOWNTOWN bus station 15 minutes before departure, so we planned on thirty. Note: be sure to ask and confirm which bus terminal you'll leave from.
Out the door of the
beachside ADO bus terminal, we found ourselves in the heart of the fun part of
Playa. No cars, lots of people having fun, sidewalk restaurants, the aroma of
cerveza . . . and us towing suitcases (for about three blocks). Jan suggested I stop at one of the money-exchange
kiosks along the way and get some pesos. Later, I said, after we dump our suitcases. NOTE: such places do have closing hours, even in
Playa. I would regret my decision later, several times. Our condo was great ($75 a night), though we did have a bit of trouble with a non-functioning front-door lock, which meant I had to roam the street to get take-away dinners . . . without pesos. I even tried to exchange dollars for pesos in the restaurant . . . sorry, they said, all out of pesos. I used a credit card.
The next morning, streets
abandoned, we dragged our suitcases back to the ADO terminal (the closest taxi stand), and got a $3 taxi ride to the DOWNTOWN ADO bus station (I gave him six, because it was a lot farther than I thought it'd be and well worth it).
The bus to
Chetumal was excellent. Mercedes. Great shape. Assigned seats (when you book, pick your seats). Comfortable. Shades closed to keep out the early morning sun. Lots of people just sacked out. Not much scenery--trees and scrub brush most of the way. No view of the Caribbean. We read most of the way.
We'd made previous arrangements to have a
Belizean driver pick us up in
Chetumal (we were told exactly where to meet our driver). Nice large van. Leather seats. He got us through Mexico and Belize customs, and took us to
Corozal; specifically, the Tropic Air Terminal. The service we used (and there are others) was: "
Gettransfers" (George and Esther
Moralez Travel Services). E-mail
info@gettransfers.com or i
nternet:
http://www.gettransfers.com/ Excellent service! $40 U.S. one way ($75, round trip . . . the other half of our ticket for when we do the reverse trip and return to Cancun).
Our total ROUND TRIP price in U.S. dollars for two people: $1115, or $558 each, which includes the following:
Air Denver to Cancun (round trip $299 each x 2 = $598)
Bus Cancun to
Playa: $16 for two (less with pesos) . . . $32 for round trip
Condo in
Playa $75 . . . $150 including stay on return trip
Bus to
Chatumal: $20 x 2 = $40 (maybe less with pesos) . . . $80 for round trip
Driver from
Chatumal to Tropic Air in
Corozol: $40 . . . $75 for round trip
Tropic Air
Corozal to San Pedro $90 . . . $180, two tickets, round trip
We could have flown round trip Denver, Belize City, to San Pedro for $561 each plus $110 for Tropic Air, or $671 each, and saved about $225 as a couple. So, is it worth it? For two people, who have no intention of wild night life in
Playa, maybe not.
BUT, if we'd been a family of four from Denver, our direct-flight cost total would have been $2684and our Cancun/
Playa total would have been $2005 . . . a $700 savings.
If you want to spend some fun time in
Palya, or you're coming from a location more remote than Denver, your savings for four people may be even greater. For families with kids, or a bunch of fishing buddies, the bus route is likely well worth it.
And for a final note. If you want to skip all the bus hassle, you can charter the van (same service we used at
Chatemul), for $400 one way and be driven
directly from the Cancun airport to
Corozal Tropic Air, or from Tropic Air
Corozal to the Cancun airport. For four people, with a schedule to keep, wanting door-to-door service, without spending the night, that's only $100 each. Well worth considering, depending on your airline schedules into and out of Cancun.
Regards,
John and Jan
TurleyYear Round Members 7C
