Hi everyone,
Going for a trip un Belize next month and i will need to get some data for mails/internet/etc..
How is the coverage in Belize ? Is there good mobile data ?
Planning to stay at San Ignacio / Lamanai / Chan Chich / San Pedro.
Thx for suggestions.
Posted Feb 11, 2020, 4:00 PM UTC
_XI Jinping in fact does not look acceptable
Data is alright, I buy plans of 165 mb for 1.25 BZD (because Im cheap, lol) As for coverage, it starts to fade the deeper you go into bush/mountains. Generally, works consistently well in urban areas.
If you're planning on getting a SIM here in Belize, digicell is the biggest provider. Fairly reasonable prices to go with their LTE.
If you're bringing your own SIM, it depends on their contract with who they will be borrowing towers from.
Digicell has a Tourist SIM package which isn't terrible price wise. US$30 for 3GB, 300 minutes, 300 SMS, 30 minutes for International (USA, Mexico, or Canada) calls, and 300 international SMS - all good for 14 days. After 21 days, the number you receive expires.
I usually carry two phones and note that my signal is much better with my Digicell SIM than roaming with ATT (which often uses SMART).
Can u buy it at the airport?
Will it work with a iphone from europe ?
You used to be able to buy them at airport, but I am not sure if you still can. I've heard there is place to do so across the street from the airport, but also still not sure. I pick up mine up in the BTL office in Dangriga (there are BTL offices in most/all larger towns). Typically tourist packages aren't that great of a deal, but I actually found this very easy to use and had perfect amount of data.
iPhone should be fine. Just needs to be unlocked and GSM. I used it on iPhone 7 and iPhone 11 without issue.
I would recommend, if possible, getting a SIM from DigiCell for your time here. It will allow you to get data and make local phone calls. You add credit in dollar amounts at a top up location(which there are PLENTY of). I believe the cost is ~22$BZ to get the sim and it comes with 10$BZ phone credit which will get you a decent bit of data.
Having it will also allow you to call your own taxis if that will be tour method if transportation, which can be cheaper than having a hotel get them for you/if you find a taxi driver you like you can use them again.
I’ve found the coverage to be pretty good with DigiCell. The only times I’ve had issues are when going from San Pedro to Belize City. There’s a dead spot between Caye Caulker and Belize City, and very very far in the mainland.
Best of luck!
Thx for ur advice !
I live in Belize and travel all over the Country. I'm always able to get a good connection in post of the hotels. May I suggest you read on the locations you plan on staying and address your concerns with the visitors that have stayed there. Check the dates of the post. In the last 18 months, internet has changed for the better throughout our Country. Welcome and enjoy the smiles.
Thx for ur advice !
May i ask you another thing ? : what do we need to except reguarding the currency ?
Is tips mandatory ? If yes, how much ?
How much cost a meal (san ignacio and san pedro )?
As europeans, were not use to tips and i dont want to withdraw cash in belize.
Ty by advance
Currency is $1us equals $2bz
Yes - tipping is highly recommended. Average daily pay in BZ is $50bz.
Cost of meals - well, that completely depends on your taste. Rule of thumb is: if you live on an island, everything cost more due to getting to an island.
If you don't want to deal in cash, maybe Belize isn't going to be a good fit. Credit cards add charges. Most of the tourist traps take cards and US$ to pay with. Exchanging funds from other Countries, well, can't help you there. Maybe check with your banks where you live.
san pedro is best at up to 130Mbps installed by Huawei marine a couple of years ago. Crap installation meant a lot of outages, maybe thats been fixed by now.