Border Day

February 12th, 2026 was border day for us. We had a bunch of connections to make and then there is the border crossing which, even for us law-abiding folks, can be a bit nerve-wracking, as we saw an example of this day. 6:00 am was our alarm, time to get up and get packed. We had to catch the 7:00 am hotel ferry to get to the other ferry on South Caye Caulker. This would allow us a spare hour to grab breakfast before getting on the Belize Express Ferry to Belize City. And, it is a good thing, because it was the last time we would eat or drink on this very long day. Breakfast was good, I had some fried eggs with Fry Jacks and Rochelle had waffles with fruit. Accompanied by coffee and fresh fruit juices. After breakfast we walked to the ferry terminal to wait in line for what turned out to be a packed ferry. Depart time was at 9:00 am, but for some reason the ferry was late, and we finally got all packed on the ferry at 9:30 am. On our journey to Belize City, two things happened.

First, well not everyone is made to ride on boats. A lady sitting on the top deck, found the trip extremely nauseating even after taking her Dramamine. Instead of tilting her head over the side and letting it go, she opted to clamber down the stairs and try to make it to the back of the boat. Well, she made it to the stern of the boat, unfortunately there was a woman between her and the railing. Things got very messy from that point on.

Second, the diesel engines overheated at the halfway point. The captain decided the vessel was overloaded. The captain stated that they were calling another boat to take half the passengers in order to lighten the vessel load. Okay. The second vessel arrived and people were rushing to get off the ferry. They tied the boats together and the deck hands were helping people make the transition, but of course that didn't satisfy some passengers who thought they were more important, so they were pushing and shoving to get across…

Then one Deckhand shouted out “One at a Time! If you fall between the boats, you will die, and it will be on you”. Suddenly, order reappeared. Rochelle & I chose to stay on the almost empty ferry now.

We arrived at the ferry port in Belize City. It's a very busy port, so it feels like a madhouse. But, Belize City itself is not a destination, people merely land here and transfer to either the ferry or a shuttle to other cities like Hopkins or San Ignacio. Belize City itself is not very safe. It is run by gangs, and the murder rate is quite high. We sought out our shuttle to the border that was supposed to depart at noon in a minivan. The “minivan" turned out to be a 1972 bus that carried 24 passengers, and had no stops for three hours, not to mention it was late, so departure didn’t happen until 2pm.

Border arrival. In Belize you have to check out of the country and pay a small fee for your use of their resources (entry into Belize was free, you just have to pay to leave) and there are a bunch of checks done to double check you paid the fee and were here legally in the first place… And, that was when it happened, the first time I have ever witnessed this. One of the passengers on our shuttle bus actually hiked into Belize from Guatemala and did not check to see if that was okay. Well, it indeed was not okay. Since he had no entry stamp he could not get an exit stamp. Apparently, Belize likes it better when you ask for permission to enter their country. Imagine this now, this man was on a shuttle, within minutes of exiting the country, but instead he was arrested, told he would spend up to a month in jail, then deported and banned from ever returning to Belize again. Well, at least the shuttle bus is a little less crowded now.

The shuttle bus continues on through the “free zone” and arrives at the Mexican Border Patrol. Typically, entering from the north via Mexicali or Tijuana or any other border crossing from the USA, the Mexican officials are extremely welcoming and rarely even stop people for questioning. But Mexico's southern border is a whole different story. Apparently, they do not appreciate people coming in from the Central American countries and taking their resources. Entry was the most complicated and time consuming we have ever experienced at a Mexican Border crossing.

First you meet with what I would call a triage officer, he split us into short term and long term tourists. Rochelle is flying out of Cancun in a few days, so she got in the short term queue, mine on the other hand - much more complicated. Next was the agricultural check. “Food?” “No” Done. Here is my one pet peeve, yes we are coming into a Spanish speaking country, but Belize is an English speaking country, wouldn't the Mexican Border Patrol want to have some bilingual English speakers for this entry point? It would make things so much easier. Okay, Step 3, fill out your FMM form for a tourist visa for the long term. Rochelle had it easy. Me, not so easy. They couldn’t understand that I live on a boat in Mexico. They had no idea what my USCG registration for Karma was, or what the TIP for Karma was, or what a sailboat looked like via pictures. After twenty minutes, they finally didn't give me what I wanted and said I only got 140 days. Okay, not sure what the difference between 140 days and 180 days is, other than 40 days of supporting the Mexican economy… But I will take it and be happy about it!

Oh but wait, she hands the form back to me with a bunch of other papers, points to the Bank teller across the hall and says, “Go pay the tax”, which is 985 pesos as I remember. All that happens and I am sent back to the end of the line to once again chat with the woman that now verifies everything and stamps my passport. Finally! We are done!

NOPE! Next stop, X-Ray machine, metal detector, and advanced inspection if you look suspicious… that is something I am not. So that was uneventful for us. Almost done!

The last little bit, the shuttle bus had to be inspected too, verified, and double checked. And, then all (except the guy that got arrested) boarded back on the bus for the last hour of our trip to Chetumal, Mexico. When we arrived in Chetumal, we quickly arranged an Uber to our hotel, which turned out to be the quickest, smoothest transition of the day. To our surprise, we arrived at Chetumal on their founders day (every city and town in Mexico have their own founders day celebration every year), so the roads were closed causing our Uber driver a few headaches and ultimately, we had to hike it to the hotel.

Fourteen and a half hours later we were checked in to the Ala Residencias (condos for rent) ready to crash but not before we grab some Al Pastor tacos and Limonada from the festival. We have stayed here before, definitely one of the most comfortable beds we have slept in. And, sleep, we did, a solid 12 hours.