Cerros Maya Archaeological Site
One of Belize's most dramatically situated Maya sites — Cerros sits on a peninsula in Corozal Bay, with preclassic temples rising above the water and accessible only by boat.
CZH · MZCZ · Belize
Corozal Airport
Corozal — Corozal — Northern Belize. 5 min to Corozal town / 30 min to Chetumal Mexico.
Runway
800m
Surface
Asphalt
Elevation
8m
Hours
6am-6pm
Book your private flight to Corozal
Airport at a glance
Corozal — Belize
Corozal is the last town in Belize before Mexico, and it feels like it. The town sits on Corozal Bay with a seafront promenade, a Mexican-influenced food culture, Spanish spoken as often as English, and a history that begins with refugees from the Caste War of Yucatán who crossed the border in the 1840s and founded the modern town.
The airport, formerly the Ranchito Airstrip, is the northern anchor of Belize's domestic network — and the reason is one specific route.
At Corozal Town, Corozal District. ICAO: MZCZ. Coordinates: 18°22′54″N, 88°24′42″W. Daylight operations, served by Tropic Air.
This is a short daylight-only strip: Cessna Caravan and Islander class.
Getting there
Corozal Airport — Getting there
Corozal to San Pedro is about 20 minutes by air. By road and boat it is the entire length of northern Belize — three hours to Belize City, then a water taxi.
That matters because Corozal is 15 minutes from the Mexican border at Santa Elena, and Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo, is immediately across it. For travellers coming down from the Yucatán — Tulum, Bacalar, Mahahual — Corozal is the point of entry into Belize, and the flight to Ambergris Caye from here replaces most of a day's travel.
It is one of the most useful and least known routes in the Belizean network.
| San Pedro | ~20 min | ~3 h + water taxi |
| Belize City | ~30 min | ~2.5 h |
| Sarteneja | ~10 min | ~1.5 h |
Nearby
Things to do near Corozal
Cerros (Cerro Maya), across the bay and reached by boat or a rough road, is a Late Preclassic Maya trading centre built on the shoreline — one of the earliest sites in Belize to show monumental architecture, positioned to control the river trade into the interior. Parts of it are partially submerged, and the setting on the water is unlike any other Maya site in the country.
Santa Rita, on the edge of Corozal town itself, was the Maya settlement the modern town was built over. Shipstern Conservation and Management Area, southeast towards Sarteneja, protects a large tract of northern hardwood forest and lagoon.
The Corozal Free Zone at the border is a duty-free commercial district serving Mexican shoppers — commercially significant, of no particular interest to visitors, and the explanation for the traffic on the border road.
Corozal Town as it stands today is younger than it looks. Hurricane Janet flattened it in 1955, and most of what you see was built after that — which is why the seafront is open and low, with the bay visible from most of the grid rather than walled off behind it.
The country inland is sugar. Northern Belize — Corozal and Orange Walk districts — is the country's cane belt, and through the harvest season from roughly December to June the roads carry loaded cane trucks towards the factory. It is the industry that built both towns, and it explains a landscape that looks nothing like the forested south.
Four Mile Lagoon and the shallows of Corozal Bay hold West Indian manatees, and the bay is calm enough almost year-round for kayaking straight off the shore.
Santa Rita, on a rise at the edge of Corozal Town, was the Maya settlement the modern town was built over. It controlled the trade route between the Río Hondo and the New River in the Postclassic, and the murals recorded there in the nineteenth century are among the most important Maya paintings documented in Belize, even though little survives on site today.
Private Navigation — Corozal Bay
Exclusive boat tours of Corozal Bay — crystal-clear Caribbean water, mangrove cayes, manatee watching and the atmospheric border region between northern Belize and Mexico's Bacalar Lagoon.
Sport Fishing — Corozal
Excellent flats and reef fishing in Corozal Bay — permit, bonefish and snook in the clear northern waters of Belize, with easy access to the barrier reef and the Bacalar Chico reserve.
Private Archaeological Expeditions
Exclusive visits to Corozal's Maya sites — Cerros, Santa Rita and the preclassic sites of northern Belize, with expert guides and boat access to the most remote locations.
Nautical Tours — Belize-Mexico Border
Private boat expeditions along the Belize-Mexico border waterway — the Bacalar Chico National Park, the Rio Hondo boundary and the extraordinary transition between Belize's reef and Mexico's Bacalar Lagoon.
Helicopter — Corozal to Bacalar Chico
Private helicopter from Corozal over the northern barrier reef and into the Bacalar Chico National Park — the Belize-Mexico channel from above, the remote north tip of Ambergris Caye and the extraordinary blue lagoon system of Bacalar.
Kitesurfing — Corozal Bay
Corozal Bay's consistent Caribbean trade winds create excellent kitesurfing conditions — private instruction and guided sessions on crystal-clear shallow water, with the ancient Cerros Maya site visible from the kite.
Archaeological Expedition — Cerros
Private boat and foot expedition to the Cerros Maya site — preclassic temples rising above Corozal Bay, accessible only by boat and guide-escorted, with the archaeologist who excavated the site in the 1970s available for private tours.
Where to stay
Hotels near Corozal
When to fly
When to fly
Northern Belize is the driest part of the country — considerably drier than Toledo in the south. Dry season roughly February to May; wet June to November. Hurricane season June to November with peak risk August to October.
FAQ
Corozal Airport — Frequently asked questions
Where is Corozal Airport?
At Corozal Town in northern Belize, on Corozal Bay. Formerly the Ranchito Airstrip. ICAO: MZCZ.
How long is the flight from Corozal to San Pedro?
About 20 minutes, against roughly three hours by road plus a water taxi.
How far is Corozal from Mexico?
About 15 minutes to the border at Santa Elena, with Chetumal immediately across it.
Is Corozal a good entry point from the Yucatán?
Yes. For travellers coming from Tulum, Bacalar or Mahahual, Corozal plus the flight to Ambergris Caye replaces most of a day of travel.
What is Cerros?
A Late Preclassic Maya trading centre on the shore of Corozal Bay, partially submerged, positioned to control river trade into the interior.
Is northern Belize drier than the south?
Considerably. Corozal receives a fraction of Toledo's rainfall.