Chetumal

Chetumal is the capital of Quintana Roo in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. It is on the Bay of Chetumal, a sheltered inlet of the Caribbean Sea at the mouth of the Rio Hondo. This bay, together with the Rio Hondo, forms the border between Mexico and Belize.

Understand
Lying by the border of Belize, Chetumal is much more than a mere travel hub between Belize and Mexico. It offers many tourist attractions. English is fairly generalized, whereas Spanish happily coexists with Maya, Criole, Lebanese Arabic and an impressive set of the growing multinational population of the city. There is a bit more than 260,000 Chetumaleños. The City of Chetumal is the capital of the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, and the capital of the Municipio (County) of Othón P. Blanco. Othón P. Blanco is the only municipio of Mexico, that has land borders with two nations (Belize and Guatemala), thus sharing this characteristic with the state of Quintana Roo.

History
The city was founded by the military, in 1898, who had the mission of protecting the borders (after more than 50 years of disagreements) accorded by the governments of Mexico and Great Britain. A lot earlier, it had been a Mayan realm governed by Nachan Ka án. He was given two Spanish slaves, one of whom was Gonzalo Guerrero. Guerrero assimilated to his new society, learned the language and taught new war tactics to Nachan Ka án's warriors. With this knowledge, the warriors defeated incoming Spanish conquistadors and Nachan Ka án became a great leader. He made Guerrero a captain and gave him one of his daughters, Zazil Há. Guerrero and Zazil Há had many children who are known to be the first mestizos in America by matrimony. For this reason Chetumal is called Cuna del Mestizaje (cradle of the Mestizo).

By plane
Chetumal offers a limited selection of flights to cities in Mexico and the US. It is also possible to fly to Belize City or Corozal  across the border in Belize, and cross by land into Chetumal. Another option is to fly into Cancún or Merida. From the city of Merida go first and second class buses to Chetumal. From the Cancún International Airport take an ADO bus to Playa del Carmen. And from there a first or second class bus to Chetumal.



By car
Mexico's Federal Route 186 traverses the sparsely populated southern half of the Yucatán between Escárcega and Chetumal. After Ucum, the only municipality with services such as gas and lodging between Escárcega and Chetumal is Xpujil. Federal Route 307 branches off Route 186 to the north towards Cancun, from a point about 30 km west of Chetumal.

By bus
Several bus companies offer routes across the Peninsula from Escárcega, or north from Cancún and other cities on the Mayan Riviera. There are two ADO terminals:

You find the schedules and prices of ADO, OCC and AU buses in the ADO app or website. The schedules of second-class Mayab buses you see on the LCD monitor of an employee inside a Terminal ticket booth. The price for Mayab from Tulum is M$270, Feb 2022) and M$353 (April 2022) from Playa del Carmen.

If you're arriving from Belize, your bus might arrive to the "old ADO station" (la terminal antigua de ADO) on Salvador Novo street near Av. Insurgentes and Av. Belice. This is also where you go to catch BBOC buses to Belize. Buses no longer stop at the New Market (Nuevo Mercado). In May 2024 there is a single daily ADO bus from Belize City to Chetumal leaving at 19:00. This return trip does not appear on the ADO app/website. You can call the Belize City office at to confirm the time.

If you are arriving from Flores (Guatemala), San Ignacio (Belize), Belmopan, Corozal Town or want to arrive earlier in the day then the ADO bus from Belize City, consider Marlin Espadas. It is an air conditioned van. Book a spot on their website to get a confirmation of reservation send them a WhatsApp message. Very responsive on WhatsApp and phone. Pay by card at their office during the stopover in Belize City. Belmopan stop is at Wings and Feathers cafe. Chetumal stop is at their office across town from ADO bus station. Taxi from there is easy and around M$30-50. It can take a long time to get everyone through the border, so bus may arrive very late. You can message them on WhatsApp to find out the estimated time of arrival. Passengers are almost all backpackers.

When leaving Mexico at the Belize border, you will be charged a tourist tax fee of M$594 (Oct 2021).

By colectivo
Coming from Bacalar or Xu-Hal you may think about taking a colectivo to Chetumal. Just note, that the combis don't have a car trunk. You need to store all your luggage at your seat. For travelling with your luggage, the colectivos are less convenient.

By train
Intercity trains from Cancún will commence in 2024.



By ferry
San Pedro Belize Express has air conditioned boats leaving Caye Caulker at 07:00 & San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize to Chetumal daily at 07:30. The boat returns from Chetumal at 15:30. The terminal is on the pier in front of Wahoo's Bar and Grill in San Pedro, in front of the basketball court in Caye Caulker, and from the Municipal Pier in Chetumal. Tickets can be purchased at their website.



Get around
Taxis for a short hop cost about M$25-30 (April 2022).

Buses to the border Depart from a small office on Av. Primo de Verdad between 16 de Septiembre and Miguel Hidalgo. It is walking distance from the Maya Museum and the cost is M$14 (Dec 2018).

Archeological sites
There are many archeological sites around Chetumal and they're relatively close to each other. The ones below are open 08:00-17:00 daily, admission only until 16:20. Bring a lot of water and some snacks with you as many of the sight stores are not always open. A mosquito repellent doesn't hurt either.



Work
Chetumal is more and more becoming the Mesoamerican center of environmental friendly technologies. Efforts by individuals belonging to the private sector, in this direction, have begun to show signs of success.

Buy
Low withdrawal fees in the city center have the ATMs of: • Banca Inbursa • BanCoppel • Banjercito • Banco Azteca • (citi)banamex • Santander And around the bus station are: • BanCoppel • Banco Azteca • (citi)banamex • Santander

For buying groceries in the center Oxxo and minimarkets (tiendas) are around. A bigger variety have Dunosusa in the north, Super Willy's in the middle of the center and Waldo's in the south. Large supermarkets are Super Aki west and Soriana north. For buying meat, the butcher shop Maxicarne is in the center. Around the ADO Terminal Chetumal is the supermarket Bodega Aurrera and the large supermarket Chedraui.

Finding other than Mexican products from Chetumal is not easy. As there are not many tourists, most of the stores actually sell stuff to the locals.



Eat
Typical local joints can be found here and there around the city. For fancier places go to Boulevard Bahía. The fishing village Calderitas' main economy is restaurant industry and you can find a lot of good seafood restaurants there.

Street food
There is some street food in Chetumal, in the city center especially along the Av de los Héroes.



Drink
Also the bar scene of Chetumal is quite thin. Boulevard Bahía has some bars.

Sleep
There are at least 20 places to sleep in at Chetumal. Get a copy of a guide magazine from the Mayan culture museum or ask a taxi driver if you don't know where you're going.

Around the ADO Terminal Chetumal




Stay safe
Chetumal is quite safe. Since there are not a lot of tourists, you can easily get through a week without anyone trying to fool you. Taxi drivers don't usually try to drive you into places more expensive than what you are looking for.

Go next
Your next destination for staying can be:

To the west
Follow the Ruta Rio Bec to the Mayan archaeological sites near Xpujil.

Escárcega – From there to Palenque and San Cristobal de las Casas.

To the north and north-east

 * Bacalar
 * Mahahual (Costa Maya)
 * Costa Maya
 * Valladolid
 * Tulum – The second class buses from the ADO Terminal Centro depart at 06:00, 12:00, 15:00 and 17:00. And there is a 23:00 departure from the ADO terminal outside the city center (April 2022).

To the north-west

 * Merida
 * Campeche

To Belize
There is a departure tourist tax when leaving Mexico of M$594 (Oct 2021).

By car
Get on the Chetumal-Belize highway and drive to Belize.

By bus
To get a bus to Belize, you go to old ADO terminal. Buses from old Ado terminal to Belize City run fairly often via Orange Walk where a break of 15 minutes is usually scheduled. These buses are older and have no A/C, and they stop often. Once you arrive at the old ADO terminal, someone will approach you and tell about the schedules. These guys are working for the bus company and not just there to rip you off.

The new ADO terminal also has a service to Belize but it's less frequent and more expensive.

By boat
You can also get a boat from Chetumal to San Pedro on the island Ambergris Caye, from where you can continue to the island of Caye Caulker or to Belize City. A one-way trip from Chetumal to San Pedro is US$71, to Caye Caulker US$77 on Belize Express Water Taxi. You need to book the tickets in advance.

The office from San Pedro Water Taxi seems to be closed and there are no boats from them at the docks - but you can purchase tickets online - it's unclear if they're still operating. (Aug 2023)

By air
Chetumal has direct low-cost flights to Mexico City and Guadalajara. (updated April 2022)