Flores to San Ignacio is a morning shuttle or a do-it-yourself chain through Melchor de Mencos. Two companies publish a seat on their own sites, both leaving Flores at 06:00: Adrenalina Tours at US$30 and Gekko Trails Explorer from US$24. The chain on public transport costs a fraction of that and asks you to handle the border and a 3 km gap yourself. What changes the budget is Belize’s BZ$40 (US$20) departure fee, charged when you leave Belize, not when you arrive. The operator and official pages below were read on 25 September 2026, except SAT’s customs hours and Adrenalina’s Flores shuttle list, read on 24 September 2026.
This page is about San Ignacio, in Belize’s Cayo District. For the longer ride to the coast, see Flores to Belize City; for the crossing itself in more detail, see the Melchor de Mencos border page.
Quick summary
- Shuttle: 06:00 daily from Flores. Adrenalina US$30, 3 hours on its product page and 6 hours on its Flores shuttle list, from the I Love Peten letters to San Ignacio. Gekko from US$24, about 4 hours, and it states it manages the border.
- Reseller seats: Marvelus Travel lists Fuentes del Norte and Alvarado from US$25, Marlin Espadas from US$26, with no clock times.
- DIY: colectivo from the Santa Elena terminal to Melchor de Mencos, Q40, every 15 to 30 minutes from 07:00, about 2 hours; walk or taxi 3 km to Benque Viejo; bus to San Ignacio BZ$2.50, 20 minutes (nomadicbackpacker, published 1 August 2025, updated 13 July 2026).
- Fees: none to leave Guatemala; none listed to enter Belize; BZ$40 to leave Belize later.
- Hours: the Belize side is open 24 hours (Border Management Agency of Belize). SAT’s customs post at Melchor: 06:00 to 21:00.
- Map: Flores to San Ignacio on Google Maps.
The shuttles from Flores
| Seller (source) | Departure | Time as published | Fare | Pick-up | Drop-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adrenalina Tours (own site) | 06:00, daily | 3 hours (product page, 25 Sep) / 6 hours (Flores list, 24 Sep) | US$30 | In front of the I Love Peten letters at the entrance of Flores | Your hotel in the centre of San Ignacio |
| Gekko Trails Explorer (own site) | 6:00 AM, every day | About 4 hours | From US$24 | A meeting point; the listing names Flores Island and El Remate | San Ignacio |
| Fuentes del Norte (via Marvelus) | 1 time a day, no hour listed | 3 hrs | From US$25 | YO AMO PETEN entrance, Flores | Hodes Place, San Ignacio |
| Transportes Turísticos Alvarado (via Marvelus) | 4 times a day, no hours listed | 3 hrs | From US$25 | Entrance of Flores | San Ignacio |
| Marlin Espadas (via Marvelus) | 1 time a day, no hour listed | 3 hrs | From US$26 | Entrance of Flores | San Ignacio |
The rules differ more than the fares:
- Adrenalina: book 48 hours ahead; tickets are non-refundable and cannot be moved to another date or destination; not door to door; one big bag and one handbag, US$5 per extra bag. Its general Flores shuttle list (read 24 September 2026) sells the same US$30 seat at 06:00 but gives the duration as 6 hours, against 3 hours on the product page (read 25 September 2026), and ends at Yellow Belly Backpackers in San Ignacio; the product page says your hotel in the centre. Ask which applies when you book.
- Gekko: a shared air-conditioned minibus run by a local third-party operator, per its listing; changes or cancellations up to 24 hours before; one backpack or suitcase and one handbag, with extras priced in quetzales (additional backpack Q75, bike Q100, surfboard Q75). It describes the service as partially door to door, with stops at key pick-up points.
- Marvelus is a reseller: it names the operators and the seat type (a 50-seat reclining bus for Fuentes del Norte, 10- and 14-seat minivans for the other two) but not the departure times.
At the border
Leaving Guatemala at Melchor de Mencos
- No exit fee. Guatemala’s migration tariff, Acuerdo IGM-029-2023 as reformed by IGM-039-2025, Art. 3, numeral 4.2, carries no exit-fee line. Travellers’ reports of informal payment requests are on the Melchor de Mencos page.
- Hours: SAT lists the Melchor de Mencos customs office (Km 557, CA-13) as open Monday to Sunday, 06:00 to 21:00, and lists tourist permits (permisos de turista) among its services. The Guatemalan migration institute (IGM) posts no hours for this post on the pages captured for our border guides (checked 24-25 September 2026).
Entering Belize at Benque Viejo
- Hours: the Border Management Agency of Belize (BMA) lists the western border as open 24 hours, Monday to Sunday.
- Entry fee: the BMA lists its fees as departure fees; it lists no entry fee.
- Taxis: the BMA says taxis are available at the borders.
Leaving Belize later (the fee to budget for)
| Charge (Border Management Agency of Belize) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Departure Fee | BZ$30.00 |
| Border Development Fee | BZ$2.50 |
| P.A.C.T. Fee | BZ$7.50 |
| Total | BZ$40.00 (US$20 at the fixed BZ$2 = US$1 rate) |
The BMA says these fees are payable by everyone who is not a citizen or permanent resident of Belize, on departure “through any border point”. If you are going to Belize and back to reset your time in Guatemala, how many days Belize gives your passport and what the round trip costs are on border runs by nationality and what a border run costs in 2026.
The do-it-yourself route
| Leg | How | Fare | Time | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Elena terminal → Melchor de Mencos | Minivan colectivo, every 15 to 30 minutes from 07:00 | Q40 | 2 hours | nomadicbackpacker, published 1 August 2025, updated 13 July 2026 |
| Border → Benque Viejo del Carmen | Walk 3 km, or taxi (no buses at the border, same source) | Taxi fare not given | - | nomadicbackpacker; BMA (taxis at the borders) |
| Benque Viejo → San Ignacio | Bus from the Benque terminal, hourly | BZ$2.50 | 20 minutes | nomadicbackpacker |
| Benque Viejo → San Ignacio | Scheduled buses, 02:15 (Silva’s Bus Line) to 19:00 (Westline) | Not on the sheet | 15 minutes where a row shows both times | Western Zone bus schedule, belmopanonline.com (PDF with no date stamp) |
The Western Zone schedule is a five-page table of west-to-east and east-to-west runs; the companies on it include Westline, Silva’s Bus Line, BBOC and Shaw’s Bus Line. Some west-to-east rows show only a Benque Viejo time and a Belize City arrival. It carries no date, so treat its times as a guide to how the corridor works, not a promise for your day. The colectivo fare and frequency are one traveller’s figures, not an operator’s; we have no operator source for the Santa Elena to Melchor minivans.
Our other pages cite other writers for this chain; the Melchor de Mencos and Flores to Belize City pages set out those fares side by side.
Coming back: San Ignacio to Flores
| Seller (source) | Departure | Time as published | Fare | Pick-up | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gekko Trails Explorer (own site) | 2:00 PM, every day | About 4 hours | From US$27 | Your hotel or hostel in downtown San Ignacio | Drop-off in El Remate available before Flores; a bus transfer at the border |
| Fuentes del Norte (via Marvelus) | 1 time a day | 5 hrs | From US$27 | Hodes Place hotel | 50-seat bus |
| Marlin Espadas (via Marvelus) | 1 time a day | 5 hrs | From US$27 | San Ignacio | Its trip note says the ride starts at the Belize City water-taxi station |
| Mayan World (via Marvelus) | 1 time a day | 5 hrs | From US$28 | San Ignacio | Same Belize City trip note |
| Transportes Turísticos Alvarado (via Marvelus) | 1 time a day | 3 hrs | From US$28 | Jodes Place | 14-seat minivan |
Gekko says the San Ignacio run is part of a wider Belize City to Flores route, so pick-up times can move with traffic. Two of the Marvelus listings print San Ignacio as the pick-up and the Belize City water-taxi station in the trip note; ask the seller which one applies before paying. You pay the BZ$40 departure fee at the Belize post on this leg.
Which way to go
- Least hassle: a 06:00 shuttle. Gekko is the only seller that says it manages the border; Adrenalina’s product page is the only listing that names your own San Ignacio hotel as the drop-off (its Flores list says Yellow Belly Backpackers).
- Lowest fare: the DIY chain, about Q40 plus BZ$2.50 plus any taxi, against US$24-30 for a shuttle seat.
- Staying in El Remate, near Tikal: Gekko lists El Remate as a stop in both directions. For getting from El Remate to Tikal itself, see Flores to Tikal.
- Coming from the Semuc Champey side: Lanquín and Cobán to Flores leaves Lanquín at 08:00 and is listed at 6 to 8 hours, so the 06:00 shuttle is a next-morning connection.
What is not published
- Clock times for the three Marvelus-listed operators (Marvelus gives only a count of trips per day); checked 25 September 2026.
- Guatemalan migration hours at Melchor de Mencos (only SAT’s customs hours are posted; checked 24-25 September 2026).
- A taxi fare from the border to Benque Viejo or San Ignacio from any operator or official source we read (checked 24-25 September 2026).
- A date on the Western Zone bus schedule (checked 25 September 2026).
Sources
- Adrenalina Tours, Shuttle Flores, Guatemala to San Ignacio, Belize, read 25 September 2026, and shuttles from Flores, read 24 September 2026
- Gekko Trails Explorer, Shuttle Flores to San Ignacio and Shuttle San Ignacio to Flores, read 25 September 2026
- Marvelus Travel, Flores to San Ignacio and San Ignacio to Flores, read 25 September 2026
- Border Management Agency of Belize, Travel & Cargo Fees and FAQs, read 25 September 2026
- Western Zone bus schedule (PDF, no date stamp), belmopanonline.com, read 25 September 2026
- SAT, Ubicación y horario de Aduanas, read 24 September 2026
- Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración, Acuerdo IGM-029-2023 (as reformed by IGM-039-2025), Art. 3, numeral 4.2
- nomadicbackpacker.com, Flores to San Ignacio: Melchor de Mencos Border Guide, published 1 August 2025, updated 13 July 2026, read 25 September 2026
