Review: Maya Air Belize City-Caye Caulker Cessna Caravan
Intro
The main purpose of this trip down to Belize, featuring the Copa Airlines 737 max 9 & the 737-700 in Business Class, was to fly on Maya Air in the cockpit of a Cessna Caravan. Flying in the First Officer's seat is a privilege no matter which aircraft you are on, but it was especially special on this flight with Maya Air.
The routing for this trip is as follows:
CM473- Los Angeles- Panama City- Business Class- 737 Max 9
CM280- Panama City- Belize City- Business Class- 737-700
2M2064- Belize City- Caye Caulker- FO Chair- Cessna Caravan
AA700- Belize City- Miami- Business Class- 737-800
AA23- Miami- Los Angeles- First Class- 777-300ER
AA2201- Los Angeles- New York- Business Class- A321T
AA976- New York- Santa Ana- First Class- A321T
After reading some reports online about Maya Air, I was a tad concerned with delays and such. However, our plane only left 10 minutes late, and everything else ran very smoothly.
Let's get into it!
Route-Belize City Municipal-Caye Caulker
Plane- Cessna Caravan
Seat- FO Seat
Flight Number- 2M2064
Date- April 27th 2024
Flight Time: 0 Hours 10 Minutes
Price Paid- 56$
How I Booked
Fares are notoriously lower than at the Belize City Municipal Airport than at the international airport. There seem to be added taxes when departing from the international airport, so my advice is to fly out of the Municipal. It's also just a cooler experience.
56$ for a flight in a first officer's seat? I don't see that as a bad deal at all. Keep in mind that the ferry that runs between the two islands set me back about 20$ and was 7x longer. Tropic Air's fares sit around 159$ for the same route.
Check-In
After leaving the Airbnb in Belize City, I made my way to the airport barefoot along the streets. Never in my life have I walked to an airport; this was crazy to me. Looking back, if I could do this over again, I wouldn't change a single aspect.
A couple of minutes later, I arrived at the entrance to the airport.
The first building is Tropic Air, and the second is the cargo.
Lastly, there was the big Maya Air sign at the end of the buildings.
Check-in was like nothing I had ever experienced either (in a good way). Two desks and the agents checked to see if they could put me on an earlier flight (sadly the earlier flight wasn't stopping in Caye Caulker).
They took my bag, and with an hour to kill, it was time to do some plane spotting! I would recommend arriving 20-30 minutes before your flight at the Municipal airport.
This has to be one of the coolest boarding passes I have seen, although it is a shame I couldn't keep it😒.
Plane-Spotting
During my hour of waiting, a couple of planes landed and took off. It's surreal to see runways shorter than 3000 feet in person.
Our inbound aircraft arrived at 8:25 for our scheduled 8:30 am departure.
Boarding
Boarding commenced 5 minutes late (it is island time), as passengers were escorted by an agent to the plane.
I spoke with the agent and let her know I had contacted Maya Air about flying in the cockpit. She happily guided me to the right side of the aircraft instead of the back left door.
If you want to fly in the co-pilot seat, it is not guaranteed. However, when checking in, ask them and see what they say!
Just like that, I had taken my seat for this very short flight over to Caye Caulker. The captain informed me how to strap in since it had been a minute since I had flown in the cockpit🤗.
Departure
Interestingly, there is no ATC (at least what the captain said) at the Municipal Airport and when heading to the islands.
Engines were rolling by 8:40 am, and we were on the way to the runway.
It's one thing to see these on my cockpit visits, but a whole other experience of taking off and landing with the instruments in front of you on a commercial airline😱.
A couple of minutes later, we arrived at the runway. The captain checked right and left (before crossing the road), and we made our way onto the runway.
Takeoff was approximately 8:45 am, and what an amazing takeoff it was. In the Caravan, I could feel the slight crosswind we had as our tail blew west.
The Flight
To the ordinary person, this flight may be uneventful. However, to me, this flight was so special as we emerged across the beautiful waters of Belize.
I got into a conversation with the captain a little about the flight and what they do instead of ATC. For those wondering, there is no IFE, inflight snacks, or anything else provided. It's a 10-minute flight to experience these views; who needs all that?
Just like thar we were on final approach into Caye Caulker. Such a shame since I wanted to keep flying longer😂.
Arrival
We touched down at 8:55 on the small runway of Caye Caulker in Belize. The captain buttered the landing!!
It was a short taxi to our remote stand for parking (very different to JFK on a Monday morning😂.
An agent came to open the door for me and retrieve my luggage for me from the cargo hold. Everyone at Maya Air is so nice, including their instagram team!
Here are some more pictures of this Maya Airplane!
The agent bid me farewell, and I was off to the town of Caye Caulker by foot again! For those wondering, it's about a 15-minute walk to the center of town from the airport😂. How lovely life is in Belize.
Erm, but a little preview: what kind of rum is this? A long night incoming.
Final Thoughts
0 complaints here to Maya Air; in fact, the opposite. For the price I paid compared to Tropic Air (56$), I think Maya Air offers a great product on the hops around Belize. Maya Air was on time and very friendly, and it allowed me to sit in the co-pilot's seat for the flight. I would seek out flying Maya Air again in a heartbeat and cannot wait until I return to Belize to do so. Thanks for the flight!
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