Driving from Belize to Texas - Shortest Route?

[Clausont]

We are planning on driving our old Chevy van from Belize to Texas in the next couple of months. We will be crossing at Chetumal into Mexico and from there, I would like to know the best, shortest route to Texas. Doesn't really matter which crossing we use in Texas. Our Chevy is a USA vehicle that we imported into Belize so it now has a Belize title and Belize plates.
Does anyone have any experience with this? What can we expect driving through Mexico and what can we expect at the US border with our Belize plated vehicle?
We made this trip down to Belize last year going down the West coast all the way after crossing into Mexico at Nogales, Arizona. Beautiful drive with no problems of any kind (except rough roads). We took almost a month going down and camping at various places along the way. Same van going back, but will be crossing into Texas instead of Nogales and will not have a tent trailer with us. The van looks it's age pretty much (more than 10 years old).
Any info would be great.
Thanks.

[reed_cundiff]

We prefer 57 through Matehual, arce norte around Mexico City, Puebla, Orizaba etc. Keelhauler has many years more experience than we but we just do not like the coastal roads, Tampico, etc. The only problem with central route is the stretch on 150D between Orizaba and Puebla. Adabatic winds in late afternoon (warm moist air from Caribbean hitting the cold air from the glaciers on Pico Orizaba) can turn the top portion into complete white out as we discovered to our sorrow. Mexico Mike wrote us to always do this portion of the drive in early morning.
Reed and Elaine

[keelhauler1]

MX180 from Vera Cruz to Emerald coast is new pavement last year. No pot holes. After Emerald Coast be sure & take the Cuota that bypasses Poza Rica. At the end turn left and take road through Alamo rather than through Tuxpan.
The only place the route is tricky is driving through Tampico. I go through the city follow signs to Airport, pass the airport and you are on MX180 with signs to Altamira & then Matamoras.

[Clausont]

briansue wrote:
Agree that we do not worry a lot about which route is safer than another as far as crime goes - crime can happen anywhere. We do not like the coast route because we have a large motorhome and find the roads to be narrow and rough and not always easy to find the correct turns to stay on the correct route. Taking Cuotas up to the Arco Norte around Mexico City and then 57 to Saltillo and then 85 up to Laredo provides better quality roads similar to US Interstates - though longer and more expensive toll-wise this Cuota route could be faster and easier. Depends on your personal level of comfort as far as types of road driven - and you budget as this route certainly costs more. In a smaller vehicle you may not experience the level of difficulty we found on the coast route. We travel many back roads all over the US and Mexico and found that coast route to be one of our least enjoyable driving excursions. That was years ago and the coast roads may have improved by now.

That is some good input BrianSue. The only part that concerns me then is signage along the coast route. I had a poor time trying to make it through Acapulco once - don't really want to duplicate that experience 🙂 If it was years ago, can anyone (keelhauler?) update on if the roads are signed well enough that I should not miss the turns I need to make?
I hear that they are continually improving the roads in Mexico. Does this include the coastal route roads? I'm going to have to go back and read Keelhaulers posts a bit closer again 🙂
Thanks,

Tim

[briansue]

Agree that we do not worry a lot about which route is safer than another as far as crime goes - crime can happen anywhere. We do not like the coast route because we have a large motorhome and find the roads to be narrow and rough and not always easy to find the correct turns to stay on the correct route. Taking Cuotas up to the Arco Norte around Mexico City and then 57 to Saltillo and then 85 up to Laredo provides better quality roads similar to US Interstates - though longer and more expensive toll-wise this Cuota route could be faster and easier. Depends on your personal level of comfort as far as types of road driven - and you budget as this route certainly costs more. In a smaller vehicle you may not experience the level of difficulty we found on the coast route. We travel many back roads all over the US and Mexico and found that coast route to be one of our least enjoyable driving excursions. That was years ago and the coast roads may have improved by now.

[Clausont]

keelhauler1 wrote:
My suggestion was to take the coastal route not the mountain route which everyone claims is safer. It is 100 mi longer, $100 more tolls and the danger of fog near Orizaba. See my link.
Belize scares me much more than anywhere in MX. They actually flattened my tire there so they could change it for me.
You will probably be searched and x-rayed anywhere you cross the border.

Sounds good Keelhauler. 57 is the mountain route then? That makes the coastal route more attractive to me.
I would expect to be x-rayed and searched at any crossing. That is not a concern. I will have to figure out what to do about US insurance when we cross into the states and it may be interesting since we have Belize plates.
Belize is an interesting country. Dangerous? Yes. Beautiful? Yes.
Most dangerous part is Belize City. Had a stray bullet come through the back window of the van. That was $450Bz to repair, but at least the kids weren't in the van at the time.
So can things happen? Oh, ya.

Thanks,

Tim

[keelhauler1]

My suggestion was to take the coastal route not the mountain route which everyone claims is safer. It is 100 mi longer, $100 more tolls and the danger of fog near Orizaba. See my link.
Belize scares me much more than anywhere in MX. They actually flattened my tire there so they could change it for me.
You will probably be searched and x-rayed anywhere you cross the border.

[Clausont]

keelhauler1 wrote:
That route does not skirt the state of Tamaulipas. Which you are in from Tampico North. I think the safety concerns are exaggerated. Something bad can happen anywhere. Just because something bad happened at one place doesn't mean it will happen at that location again. And just because it was safe once doesn't always make it safe.

Oh - I see. It looks like it goes through the edge of Tamaulipas from Matehuala to Saltillo.
Too many choices 🙂 I agree that because something happened once, doesn't mean it will happen again and vice versa. I also don't expect something to happen as we drive (flat tire maybe?) but recognize that it could. As well as it could before we leave Belize or after we enter the US.

It would be nice to take the shorter route. Since we won't be towing a trailer this time, the roads being a bit lower quality shouldn't be a big issue.
Putting yourself in our place, what route would you personally take? (Not saying we will or won't, just asking for a direct opinion).

Do you do much or anything about carrying cargo etc into the states from Mexico or Belize? Just curious. we will be shipping some household things back if we find reasonable shipping, but I think that may need to be a different thread.

Thanks

[keelhauler1]

That route does not skirt the state of Tamaulipas. Which you are in from Tampico North. I think the safety concerns are exaggerated. Something bad can happen anywhere. Just because something bad happened at one place doesn't mean it will happen at that location again. And just because it was safe once doesn't always make it safe.

[Clausont]

almalibre wrote:
We have gone both routes. The central 57 route has much better quality roads.

Ths sounds like another good option to look into. On 57, we would go up and go around Mexico city, then just stay on 57 the whole way and cross at Piedras Negras? How long does this route take? Are there motels to stay at with kids along the route?
Thanks

[Wm_Elliot]

57 is a very good road - Mexico's major north south trucking route.

[almalibre]

We have gone both routes. The central 57 route has much better quality roads.

[Clausont]

Sounds good Keelhauler. I will have to go back to Google maps and look again. So far, it sounds like we are going to skirt around Tamaulipas area to err on the side of caution. We will have our five kids with us.

[keelhauler1]

I mention taking the new route toward Ciudad Victoria instead of going through Soto La Marina to avoid construction on MX180. Is that what you mean. That route is well signed and good freeway type roads but a little longer. The signs say Matamoras right after Tampico.
Many people say that this route is not safe, but it is loaded with first class buses and traffic and I just stay with the traffic.

[Clausont]

tepetapan wrote:

keelhauler1 wrote:
I always go through Villahermosa, then take MX-180 through Vera Cruz, Tampico, and cross at Los Indios. No mountains, but road is bad in a few places, See my last trip in March from this link.
Coastal Route

The coastal route, also known as the Gulf Coast Highway 180 is the shortest and fastest way to Texas every time. I once made it from Catemaco to Brownsville, by SUV, in a little more than 14 hours.

Just got done reading your post Keelhauler. It seems that unless there is some compelling reason to go a different route, this is the way we are looking to go. To your knowledge, has there been any real problems along this route in the last few months (especially Tamaulipas). You mention going around one city in the post, I will have to look at that more closely. Is this route pretty well signed? I'm not sure we still have a functioning GPS after a year in Belize.

Thanks,

Tim