Happily, fewer Belize businesses surcharge credit cards -- the bigger, more successful businesses rarely do -- but it still happens. While the practice violates charge card agreements in the U.S., in Belize I think some merchants get around it by saying they offer a discount for cash, rather than charging a surcharge for credit card use. It's done routinely and I have never heard of a business losing its card privileges for this reason.
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On the subject of exchanges rates and casas de cambio, the ones I checked last week all were paying 2.05 to 1, though they would do a little better than that for larger amounts. At the Mexico-Belize border, from the gray market money changer there the best I could do was 2.05 for small exchanges, again a little better for larger ones. At one point 2.20 or better was the going rate, but it's dropped back.
--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com
AmbergrisCaye.com 
