Skip Belize if cost per day is your main concern
Belize costs more than Mexico and Guatemala for many comparable expenses. A shoestring traveler can manage on roughly US$60 to US$90 per day using hostels, local buses, and inexpensive restaurants. The challenge is that the activities that make Belize special are also the expenses that are hardest to remove.
An ATM Cave day with a licensed San Ignacio operator runs about US$145 per person with lunch included, and a full day sail to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley is around US$150. Diving or flying over the Great Blue Hole costs several hundred dollars. Belize also imports many of the products we use, and fuel is expensive. The Statistical Institute of Belize put the June 2026 national average at BZ$13.78 a gallon for regular and BZ$15.55 for premium, which is US$6.89 and US$7.78. Those fuel costs eventually reach your taxi fare, tour price, restaurant bill, and hotel.
Two taxes catch visitors out. Tourist accommodation carries a 9% tax that is not always inside the nightly rate you were quoted, and on Ambergris Caye golf cart rentals add 12.5% on top of the headline price. Neither is large on its own, but both land after you thought you had budgeted.
My verdict
If you want to travel for several weeks on the smallest possible budget, choose Guatemala or Mexico. If you can afford a shorter trip built around two or three unforgettable activities, Belize can justify the difference.
