What company in Mexico allows cars to foreign countries? – What documents to prepare? – How to bring a Mexican rental car to Guatemala and Belize? – How to get Guatemala Insurance? – Crossing Mexico-Guatemala, Guatemala-Belize and Belize-Mexico borders by car? – Gas prices in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize? Road conditions in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize? – Is it safe to drive in these countries?
When we came up with the plan to drive a rental car through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, and do it the long way, via Chiapas, I thought “wow, that’s ambitious”. But we wanted it to be a circle, because we didn’t want to come back the same way, and I wanted to see Palenque. Well, the extensive research paid off – we did it! One month, almost 3000 km, three countries, multiple towns and villages, beautiful nature, ancient Mayan ruins and tons of adventures and memories. The main points of the trip were the following:
Cancun – Merida – Campeche – Palenque – San Cristobal de las Casas – Panajachel (Lake Atitlan) – Antigua – Rio Dulce – Tikal – Belize City (Caye Caulker) – Bacalar – Playa del Carmen.
We didn’t quite complete the circle, because we decided to stay in Playa del Carmen for the rest of our stay, but I can say – this was an amazing trip and I prepared a detailed description of the “logistics” part of it, in hope that it helps somebody, just as the Internet reports of other travelers helped us.
All the information is as of September 2018 – keep in mind, that prices and border fees may be different, so please do your own research on that!
Mexico/Renting a car
There is only one car rental company in Mexico, that lets you travel by car outside the country. It is called America Car Rental. Some offices are called in a different way, for example, Caribbean Car Rental, or Car Rental USA, but in fact it is all the same company –and they have a pretty big list of countries they allow you to take their car to.
America Car Rental has offices in the following cities of Mexico:
We used the Cancun downtown office, and the agent, Christian, spoke very good English.
To take a rental car abroad, you need an affidavit for every country you want to visit and the rental company will prepare it for you.
Belize – free of charge and ready immediately
Guatemala – US $180 and make sure you allow at least 2 days for it to process.
We requested the cheapest option, and we did get the most economy car –a small Volkswagen Gol (Michael says: “it was so small that they didn’t even add an “f” to the name”). Skeptical at first, we still decided to give it a spin.
Mexican Car Insurance
is included in the price, but the company recommends purchasing additional tire and window insurance and roadside assistance. I do recommend buying the tire and window insurance, because of the quality of the roads, especially in Belize and sometimes in Guatemala. When you return the car, the persons who check it are very picky about tires and windows, and I have heard stories when the customers were forced to pay for any tire damage out of their security deposit!
Roads in Mexico
are good pretty much everywhere. There are several toll roads. The Cancun-Merida one is the most expensive, about $28 in total, but it is an excellent highway, with fully equipped rest areas. All the other paid roads were a lot cheaper. Beware of dishonest policemen – they stopped us twice at checkpoints and lied that we were speeding. How to get out of this situations, READ HERE.
One of the main precautions to take is do your best not to drive after dark. Apart from obvious “human” dangers, you need to be careful about road imperfections, pot holes and speed bumps. The speed bumps are called “topes” in Mexico and “tumulos” in Guatemala. Most of them are marked, but there are some that are not. With time you will know where they usually are and will learn to anticipate them. Mostly they mark beginnings and ends of villages, sometimes there are additional ones at pedestrian crossings or school zones. Michael and I even used to laugh: “well, this is a one-tope town. Oh, this one is a 3-tope town!”
Road signs in Mexico might present another challenge. Most of them are pretty self-explanatory, but there are some that differ from what people (especially from the Unites States) are used to. Use THIS GUIDE to educate yourself about Mexican Road Signs!
Gas in Mexico
is about 19 pesos per liter for regular and 20 per liter for premium. ($3 to $4 per gallon). I have heard many reports about Mexican gas attendant scams, where they didn’t reset the counter to 0 before pumping, or pretended that you gave them a 20 peso bill instead of 200, but we have never experienced that. Maybe having Michael outside the car by the pump warded off these attempts. We also read that gas stations were few and far between but we quickly learned there were plenty of them around. Most stations were major gas companies and every one of them accepted credit cards. Every now and then we had the attendants wash the windshield and check the fluids and tire pressure – it is also included in gas station services.
After Campeche, the road becomes a regular 2-lane highway. We stopped at a small restaurant for lunch, and chatting with our waiter, told him that we were going to Palenque and that GPS sent us through Sabancuy. “Don’t go there” – said the waiter, – “the road is really bad! Go through Escarcega. It is a bit longer, but you won’t regret”. We followed his advice and after passing Champoton, turned to the road to Escarcega. We didn’t regret – the highway was a 2-lane road, but very good, no potholes, no stress.
After the last turn towards Palenque there is a big construction zone and the road is nothing but mud, dust and gravel (I hope they finish it soon!), so prepare to get dirty. However, there are guys at the Palenque parking lot who will offer to wash your car for 80 pesos.
I wrote about the famous road from Palenque to San Cristobal HERE, so I will not repeat myself. Consult the latest TripAdvisor reviews about the current situation on these roads, do your research and you’ll be fine.
Mexico-Guatemala Border
This border had the least resemblance of a border that we’ve ever seen! Even though we have read about it in numerous blogs, we still missed the Mexican check out and had to come back from the Guatemala side! You have to check out in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc. As soon as you approach the town, keep your eyes open. You will see some buildings that look somewhat official and a bunch of red taxis and tuk-tuks. There are no gates, no officers, but this is it! Park the car and look for a door that says “Migracion” – stamp your passport there. If you are driving a Mexican rental car, you don’t need to do anything with it at this point. If you haven’t paid your tourist tax at arrival, you will have to pay it at departure– it is 500 pesos or 30 US dollars each.
Then you drive about 4 km to La Mesilla, go through a busy souvenir market and then suddenly, out of nowhere, you will see a big black and yellow arm (it was actually open and tied up with a rope to prevent it from closing, which, considering that it was actually a border, was almost funny!). Before the arm you will see some orange cones. Don’t drive around them (like I did LOL), go where they are leading and stop. The guys will fumigate your car for 17 Quetzals (1 US dollar is roughly 7Q).
After fumigation they will show you where to park. You need to go through Migracion (pay approximately 10Q per person) and head to a small kiosk for The Vehicle Importation Permit. That took the longest, the guys there are not in a hurry whatsoever! Don’t think about them missing their football (soccer) game on TV! They needed 2 copies of everything: affidavit, driver’s license, passport and the page with the new Guatemala stamp, the rental contract with the vehicle registration (circulation), so they sent us to the nearest bookstore, which was on Guatemala side, so we simply walked back and forth between two countries among the souvenir stores and street vendors.
After we finally collected the necessary paperwork and paid 160 Q in the bank (the door to the bank is directly to the right from the vehicle kiosk, but it took us a minute to find it because the door was closed and not transparent – only a sign ABIERTO on the door made us knock). After another half an hour of patiently waiting, we finally had our Vehicle Importation Permit and the agent stuck a big blue sticker on our windshield. The blue sticker actually became our friend, as any officials or police were kind enough to wave us through all checkpoints after looking at the sticker. Unlike Mexico, the police in Guatemala actually help the tourists! We didn’t have to take our luggage out, nobody searched the car and no one even checked our passports when we drove through the gate. Welcome to Guatemala!
Guatemala Car Insurance
This is the question asked the most on TripAdvisor. Third Party Liability insurance is not mandatory in Guatemala, and there is nowhere to buy it at the border. Someone online mentioned a company called Todo Riesgo, but they bought the insurance in person in Flores. I tried my luck and before we left San Cristobal, I wrote an email to their office in Guatemala City. The agent Daniel Alvarado, who replied to my message, was very nice and knowledgeable and our correspondence was in English. He needed a copy of the passport, driver’s license, rental contract with clearly visible car registration info, affidavit, a couple of photos of the car and a completed credit card authorization permit (he sent the form). I made good quality photos of everything and it was sufficient.
The insurance for 15 days cost 229 Q. He sent me the paperwork and I printed the policy out (you can do it in the hotel or in any copy shop; there are plenty of them everywhere). Important: for some reason they can send you the insurance only the day you specified as a policy start, and not a day before, so keep it in mind when you plan it. We specified the day we actually wanted to cross the border as a start date and had to wait for his office to open that morning and for him to send us the policy, and it made us miss an early start. We should have specified the previous day!
Thankfully, we didn’t have any problem, so I don’t know how they handle claims, but the fact of having the insurance gave us tremendous piece of mind!
Gas in Guatemala
costs around 28Q per gallon (they use gallons).
Roads in Guatemala
are of every kind imaginable from really bad to really good. The Pan-American Highway you will take is everything but boring and it requires your full attention. However, not long before the final turn to Panajachel, it becomes a beautiful 4-lane divided highway and keeps like this all the way to Guatemala City.
A 2-lane road from the Pan-American Highway to Panajachel is narrow, but good and new. Be very careful on the sharp turns – there are plenty of them and it is hardly enough space for two cars! After visiting Panajachel our GPS threw us another curve ball – instead of backtracking, it led us forward via another road, so we could rejoin the PAH at a different point, closer to our destination.
Approximately half-way there was a construction zone, a sign “road work finished” and an abrupt end of pavement. There were pretty large two piles of sand and two construction workers, waving us through. I honestly thought we wouldn’t be able to scale those piles, but it was ok. Usually, the dirt road stretches don’t last too long, but not this time! We persevered and stumbled through the dirt and pot-holes for quite a while. Sharp turns, serpentine and clouds of dust! It was pretty enervating. Thank God, there was no traffic and it wasn’t raining!
We were expecting the good road to start any minute and there were already some remnants of asphalt, when suddenly we saw a sign “bridge ahead destroyed” and sharp edges of broken surface. A little trail led to the side, so we took it. It crossed right through a small creek. Oh no! Only about 10 km left to the Highway, versus a two hour drive all the way back! There were tire tracks leading through the creek, so I rolled my pants up and went to investigate. It was shallow and pretty flat, but even then we were scared that our little car wouldn’t be able to pass, in the end, it was not a 4-wheeler…But anyway, Michael carefully followed me in the car and luckily, we did it! We were so happy to finally merge with PAH again!
I guess, what I am trying to say, it is safer if on the way back you use the same road you came on, and don’t try any new one 🙂
Shortly after Guatemala City the highway becomes a 2-lane road again, but it is pretty good, except for some stretches of construction, which, by that time, you will get used to and treat it as a necessary evil. The mountains end, and the road becomes very straight, which, after all of the above, feels like a stroll in a park!
SEE THE LIST OF THE RECOMMENDED HOTELS FOR A ROAD TRIP ACROSS GUATEMALA
Guatemala-Belize border
After Guatemala-Mexico crossing, this one is a lot easier,because you know what to expect and it is a bit more official. Once you enter Melchor de Mencos, look for a gas station – there is a spot with Shell and Texaco in one place. Gas prices in Belize are outrageous, so even though the border gas stations in Guatemala area bit pricier, than normal, fill your tank and you’ll be grateful you did.
When you approach the bridge, you will pay a small toll (the last time you have to pay something with Quetzals) and be approached by money changers. It is up you if you want to exchange the money, the rate is easy 2 BZ dollars for 1 US dollar, but it is not necessary – US dollars are accepted everywhere in Belize, including the border. Don’t believe it if the money changers tell you otherwise.
After crossing the bridge, stop and do your exit formalities in a small kiosk nearby: give up your vehicle permit and stamp your passports. You’ll have some teenagers approach you and try to help. The process is pretty straight forward, but the guy who wanted to help us tried so hard, so we tipped him 5 dollars. I hear that is what others so as well. Not a big expense to leave the country on a grateful note.
After all the Guatemalan formalities you drive through the fumigation station (US$5), which is impossible to miss because it is automatic and looks like a car-wash, and you are on Belize side. Find a parking lot, leave your car and do your entry paperwork. We paid US $15 + fees (all together US $20)per person as an entry fee. You will have to take your luggage out and bring it through the customs. They asked us to open our suitcase and just lifted a couple of shirts, asked if we are bringing any alcohol or food (there is a sign that you may not bring any food or any drink, including soda!) We said the only thing we had was Guatemalan coffee, and they smiled and let us through. On the other side Michael stayed with the stuff and I returned back to the car and drove it through.
Car Insurance in Belize
Third party liability in Belize is mandatory. Right after you cross the border, you will see a parking lot on the right with several small houses – they sell insurance. We chose one of the houses and bought our insurance from ICB (Insurance Corporation of Belize). It took about 15 minutes to process and cost BZ $29 for 7 days. The agent glued a sticker on our windshield and off we went.
Roads in Belize
Right after the border I was shocked: is it like this throughout the whole country? The road was horrible, full of pot-holes and lots of confusing detours. All in all,the roads are worse than in Mexico and Guatemala, but I think the situation is starting to change. At least the highway from the border to Belize City, after this horrible stretch, finally became decent. Even though mostly without any painted lines, it looked new and the surface was good. There is a lot of road construction around Belize City. I think in a little while it will be a pleasure to drive there. Right now the roads are rough in places, but at least the land is flat and it makes it easier to drive.
Gas in Belize
is about US $5 to $6 per gallon. See above about filling your car in Guatemala.
Belize – Mexico border
This one was the most official out of all three borders, located in Santa Elena. You will not miss this one for sure LOL! Exiting Belize, I saw some cars doing some sort of a drive-through, but we decided to park the car and do it on foot. We cancelled our Vehicle Import Permit and stamped our passports. Then we drove a road between two walls with barbed wire on top and soon we were on the Mexican side.
First officials told us to go to a little room behind a corner and get the forms. Then you need to go to the main building and do all the formalities. Why they didn’t have any forms there, I have no idea! Anyway, you fill out the forms, pay your tourist tax (I don’t know if they have it already in the system, but just in case, save the receipt so you don’t get charged again at your departure) and get your entry stamps. If your car is a rental Mexican car, you don’t need the Vehicle Import Permit: you don’t have to do anything. We didn’t have to take our luggage out this time, just a quick fumigation at an automatic drive-through station (85 pesos), and we were back to Mexico.
The change in road quality was drastic! All at once we had a wonderful 4-lane divided highway, that later became a 2-lane road, but excellent as well, and shortly before Tulum it turned into a 4-lane again, and remained so until we arrived at Playa del Carmen.
Returning the Rental Car
We probably didn’t have to do it, but we know that sometimes the first impression is a big thing, and that the rental car agents are picky about car returns, so we decided to go through a car wash. The car was awfully filthy ever since getting out of Belize, where someone passed us on a dirt road after the rain, and … well, you can imagine! The complete car wash with wax, wheels cleaned and towel dried, and cleaning of two front floor mats was 115 pesos. The car looked like brand new again.
We have been talking for a while about staying in Playa del Carmen till the end of our time in Mexico, so we had called America Car Rental and asked them if we could drop the car in Playa. It took them a couple of minutes to put it in the system and – which was a nice surprise for us – there was no extra charge! Wonderful! It saved us the whole day of driving to Cancun and taking a bus back!
The agent inspected the car, I must say he did a lot more thorough job than anyone in the United States -thank God, he didn’t find any new scratch beyond what was described as pre-existing. It went without a hitch! We took care of the car, and we were amazed how this tiny Volkswagen carried us through this journey. Good little car! All in all, dealing with America Car Rental was very painless and in a little while we were heading to a nice place to have a Margarita and celebrate the end of the journey!
All in all, if anyone tells you “Don’t do this! This is dangerous! You are out of your mind!”, don’t listen to them. Don’t miss out on incredible memories, and amazing off-the-beaten-path places that you can visit only because you have the freedom of a car.
We found that planning ahead, doing your research and using common sense is enough to keep you safe. Have a wonderful trip!
