The well known Mexican bus company ADO has launched a much needed daily bus service linking Belize with the southern cities of Cancun, Tulum and Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula. This long awaited service will have a positive impact on trade and passenger service between Mexico and Belize, but more importantly, will facilitate tourism arrivals in Belize via Cancun. ADO (Autotransportes De Oriente) is the leading bus company operating in southern Mexico.
Belize is a popular tourism destination but air fares are high compared to other countries. Cost conscious travelers from North America and Europe use Cancun as hub from which to travel to and from Belize, as air fares to that city are reasonable. But the transfer between Cancun and Belize has until now being somewhat tedious involving bus and taxi transfers. The new service is an express run with air conditioned Pullman type equipment with no need to change buses or hop between bus terminals in taxis. The press release from the Mexican Embassy:
The bus company ADO Group, explained today to the Belizean Media its new transportation services, that will benefit Belizeans.
The first one, called “The Hospital Route”, which starting point is Belize City will travel through Orange Walk, Corozal and final destination Merida, Mexico. In Merida, the Bus makes courtesy stops at the most important hospitals of the city and finish at Merida’s Terminal. The return portion calls the same stops.
The second one departs from Belize City, calling Orange Walk, Corozal, Playa del Carmen, Cancun Airport and final destination Cancun’s bus terminal. The return portion calls the same stops and additionally Tulum, where ADO is promoting Belize and offering special deals to international tourists. This route will facilitate international tourist to travel to Belize.
None of the buses will stop in Chetumal in either direction.
In both cases, the departure time from Belize City will be after the last service provided by Belizean transport companies. This will not affect their normal services.
When travelling in the direction to Merida or Cancun, passengers will be allowed to board the buses in Belize City, Orange Walk or Corozal ONLY if their final destination is Merida or Cancun. From Belize City, passengers will not be allowed to descend in Orange Walk or Corozal, neither to travel between those cities.
From Merida or Cancun to Belize City, passengers will be allowed ONLY to descend at the corresponding stops of each route. Passengers will not be allowed to board in Corozal or Orange Walk in order to travel to Belize City or between those cities.
The service is designed to benefit Belizeans. We realized that it is easier for Belizeans to take the last bus from Belize to Merida, and Belize to Cancun, at 8:00 pm and 8:15 pm and arriving to the final destination at 6:15 am and 7:00 am.
This will bring great savings for Belizean families, because people who need to travel will not need to spend money on an extra night at a hotel or make their family to go and pick them up.
We are trying to make transportation to Mexico easy for Belizeans and also to provide international tourists the easiest and most comfortable way to travel to Belize. We foresee that the new routes will increase the number of tourists entering Belize and to contribute to the tourism industry.
Editor’s Note: We now have the complete ADO Belize-Mexico Bus Schedule.
All I want to know is How can I get a free ticket?
or Maybe two.
finally someone came with a great idea.
Great news. Save me three seats at the end of Sept.
This is awesome. I am so glad that our beautiful Belize is moving forward. I applaud Mexico for working not only to have a more formidable relationship with Belize by allowing the ADO bus company to ferry Belizeans back and forth between the two countries. By the same token Mexico is also looking out for our best interest.
I am from the UK and have relatives in Belize consequently I travel there at least once a year. I always use the Cancun route because of the cost savings (although this is starting to get expensive) but it has often become a bit disjointed at the Chetumel location. This new route should rectify that AND I shall try it out within the next few weeks. Well done to both the Mexican and Belizean authorities for working together for the greater good of all.
The new bus route is great for many travelers and a good alternative. I’m not sure if I’m correct in my calculations but it sounds like the route from Cancun to Belize City takes about 11 hours. I’m not sure how many International travelers will be willing to ride the bus that long to save a few bucks on airfare.
The schedule is brutal…almost like it was made in order to fail. It’s not practical as it’s just a red-eye bus trip when going from one end to the other. It pretty much forces a hotel stay on one leg so no real savings. I kinda think the Belize City based airlines had some pull in putting this schedule together.
Oh well…maybe one day they’ll come up with a practical schedule like a morning departure at each end. Duh.
The ADO Belize-Mexico Bus Schedule is now available.
For details please consult the Belize-Mexico ADO Bus Schedule.
Is there any way to communicate with ADO in English and do they have a toll-free phone number? The numbers listed on their site are incorrect. The numbers on your site are correct, but they only speak Spanish. How does an English speaking person from the U.S. make reservations or ask questions?
BEWARE!!!! MEXICANS ARE CONNING OTHER CITIZENS CROSSING THE BORDER TO BELIZE
My family is from Belize; I have a US & Belize passport! I traveled on ADO in December 2011 to Belize. At the Mexican border into Belize, the little man in the window attempted to charge me money to cross the border (approximately $10 USD). I refused to pay and was allowed into Belize. I recently came back to Belize through Mexico (June 12, 2012) and the little man in the window at the Mexican border charged the entire bus $26.00 USD each. No matter what I said, they still took our money. THIS IS A CON!!!!!! But, at the early hour of the morning, what can you do! WHAT WE CAN DO is begin blogging, twittering, face-booking and telling news stations that this CON is occurring and effecting not only US citizens but ALL those traveling into Belize via Mexico! I am in the process of contacting DATELINE investigative reporting. There is nothing that can be done locally, we need to SPREAD the WORD!!!!! Please pass this message on so we can stop this harassment by the Mexicans!!! It is NOT legal. If anything, request a receipt!
ADO Operations Manager: Luis Perez
Public Relations Officer for the ADO Group: Gabriela Osuna,