The following is a brief summary of my experience with Maya Island Air back in 2013. It was certainly an interesting experience, and one that I vowed to do again someday (which I haven’t). That said, it’s a great little airline with neat little airplanes. Check this out:
Segment 1 0f 2: Belize City to Dangriga
Maya Island Air from Belize City to Dangriga was a flight that I was looking forward to! I’ve never been on a little airplane such as the Cessna 208 Grand Caravan before so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
I’ve heard quite a few horror stories with references to uncontrolled vomiting and severe nausea from being bumped around so much, but that didn’t really stop me from being highly curious about it all.
Maya Island Air
Belize City, Belize (BZE) – Dangriga, Belize (DGA)
Saturday, April 20 2013
Aircraft: Cessna 208 Grand Caravan
Registration: V3-HGP
Duration: 15 minutes
Seat: —
BZE is an open airport with no jetways, so you have to walk out of the terminal building an onto the ramp to board any airplane here.
I took my time as they announced boarding for our flight, and stayed back to take as many pictures as I could without looking too much like a geek – as well as attracting the wrong kind of attention from security. Once aboard, I took a seat in the very last row (there is no assigned seating).
The flight time to DGA was a short 15 minutes, and I’m happy to report that my fears of vomiting uncontrollably were unfounded. Yes, it was bumpy, but overall the experience was was loud, fun, and very scenic. I loved every minute of it!
Segment 2 of 2: Dangriga to Belize City
After a fun-filled week of living life pretty much exactly like what you see on a Corona beer commercial, it was time to return home. My family would be flying back to MIA, but since I was headed back home to SAN, it made more sense to connect through DFW instead.
We would fly from DGA to BZE on a Maya Island Air Cessna Grand Caravan together (just like the one we flew in on a week earlier), and say our goodbyes there.
Maya Island Air
Dangriga, Belize (DGA) – Belize City, Belize (BZE)
Saturday, April 27 2013
Aircraft: Cessna 208 Grand Caravan
Registration: V3-HHA
Duration: 15 minutes
Seat: —
We we arrived at the the Dangriga airport about 2 hours before the next flight to Belize City, and we promptly made our way to the check-in desk to drop our bags off. For some one like me who lives in an overly security-obsessed country, this was positively the most refreshing and easiest airline check-in process I’ve ever experienced.
Basically, we walked up to the counter, and they asked for a name of someone on the reservation. There were seven of us, and it didn’t matter what name we gave. They didn’t even check ID. All they needed to know was that we had arrived and that we were ready for the next flight. They told us to have a seat and someone would call us up when it was time to go.
That’s it. No triple-checking ID’s, stupid security procedures, etc. Just warm, pleasant staff who were happy to see us and to make sure we were comfortable while we waited for our flight. I had a thought that this was probably what it used to be like waaaay back in the early days of commercial flight. I could get used to this.
We waited in DGA’s small waiting room for about an hour, and 25 minutes before departure they called us back up to the desk to hand us our boarding cards. Each one was a different color, with interesting bits of information about Maya Island Air and Belize printed on it.
The incoming airplane landed right on schedule, and we boarded as soon as the last passenger had disembarked. How’s that for a quick turn-around time?
Once again I took a seat at the back of the plane and enjoyed the views during the 15-minute flight up to Belize City.
