What to do in Belize?

[Sheffie]

I have posted this on the Belize board, but want your input too.

 

I cannot figure out what to do in Belize. I have heard that it is a fantastic scuba destination, but how is the snorkeling?

 

Cave tubing sounds great, but I cannot walk for the 1/2 hour to get there from the taxi.

 

I hear the ruins are magnificent, but which ones are best? (remember I cannot do a lot of walking or climbing)

 

Such a dilemma!!!! Who knows if we will ever get to go there again?!? Please give me input.

 

Thanks, Michelle

[mtchg]

and unlike your other choices, not available in many (if any) other ports,

You will have to walk aways with a big inflated tube over your shoulder. It's

a fascinating hike..and the tubing itself is a real gas. If the walk is impossible for you, diving would be my second choice. I am not as impressed with ruins

as some. Did Myan ruins in Mexico. Fascinating, but I wouldn't do it again. Kind of a "been there/done that" feel.

 

A suggestion. Whatever you choose..DON'T use the ship tour. Book it independantly. You will save money, have a better experience with fewer people. And these outfits LIVE on cruiser dollars, so they know the ship schedules and are VERY good at getting you back when you need to be.

With an exception now and then, I avoid the cruiseship "cattlecall". The

waiting in a lounge and "hurryingup-to-wait" for 100 or more folks just sucks the joy out the experience. And you pay a premium price to boot!!

 

Whichever you choose, have a wonderful time!

 

Mitch

[banderboo]

Have to give my vote to cave tubing! It was an awesome experience. The walk was a little long but nothing to difficult. As the previous poster stated whichever excursion you decide book independently.

[B16SNE]

Cave tubing was an amazing experience. Definately recommend it!

[B16SNE]

Cave tubing also gets my vote. Amazing experience.

[scarborough]

Just got back yesterday. We didn't book any excursions. We took a horse and buggy ride tour thru Belize. Enjoyed this very much. Outside the gates they offer this as well as other tours. We had heard much about being careful about booking independent tours here. We talked with several of the police and they recommended the buggy tour we took. They also said any of the taxi drivers that had the proper identification would be safe. Many of the "cheaper" taxi's are not licensed. Don't take these. I'll be glad to answer any more questions you might have.

[Murphy]

We've snorkeled many places in the Caribbean, as well as Hawaii and the Mexican Riviera and the Shark Alley snorkel tour we took in Belize is by far the best snorkeling experience we've ever had. A lot of places we've been have great sealife OR coral, but not both. I was actually quite disappointed in our snorkeling of Lanai in Hawaii because of the lack of sea life, but Belize had it all. I know some people who took the Rendevous Caye excursion in Belize and weren't as impressed with it, but I can highly recommend Shark Alley.

[scsagh]

Murphy,

 

Who did you do your Shark Ray Alley snorkel excursion with? Did you book through the ship our with an independent?

 

Thanks,

Sandy

[mtchg]

..I WILL try Shark Alley, just to see if it is as good as some have said.

Love great snorkeling (but again, Cave Tubing is pretty exclusive to Belize...)

 

Mitch

[PNWgal]

We went cave tubing with Reggie on our last cruise. It was the best shore excursion I've ever taken. But since you can't walk a lot, it might not be the best choice for you. I've heard that the snorkeling and diving is great. You will probably be happy with either.

[BobbieSu]

Sheffie,

For me Belize was the hardest port to decide what to do. Cave tubing was my first choice, however like you, my husband would not have been able to handle the 30-45 min walk carrying a tube. I really wanted to go snorkeling on the reef somewhere, but finally realized that what I wanted to do there would take longer than we had in port with the tendering and distances involved. So settled on ruins. We will be going on the new river/ Lamanai trip in three weeks. Lamanai won out because it actually seemed to be the most significant, the largest (in area), and would add in a jungle experience as well.

I will post my thoughts on our return.

 

Su

[Murphy]

Sandy,

We booked thru RCCL, mostly because I am not comfortable at tender ports booking anywhere else. We were supposed to dock at 7:00am in Hilo and I had booked golf tee times for 9:45am and we nearlly missed getting there in time because they debarked all cruise excursions first. I have heard good reviews from people booking locally, however. If you are comfortable with that go for it. Coral Breezes I think is the recommended company. Check out the port of call boards for Belize for more info.

[Seaside2358]

Looking for opinions on booking cave tubing in Belize. I was going to go with Xtreme but I have been hearing alot about Reggie. Are they about the same?

[98Charlie]

If you are a follower of Carlos & Charlies, Senor Frogs or Hard Rock, don't miss the Wet Lizzard. It's hard to miss - right there at the tender dock. Great view of the port and cruise ships in port. The staff are willing to answer any questions about their area and the dress code is - laid back, be who you are and have fun being that person.

 

Dianne

[cruisin' 4 fun]

Just back on 1/8/05...

 

we passed on all the above, and did the Airboat tour through the preserve. It was a 20 person boat (or so). was erally cool to see the mangroves, and grassy marsh-type area. saw crocs, iguanas, lots of birds. very professional tour-juice/water/pop before, a brief intstruction period before, and someone riding point to show the birds on a hand-held guide for you. we stopped several times for detailed area descriptions.

 

The boat got stuck at one point, so several of us jumped out to help (free beer offer by boat pilot hard to pass up), but was only few inches deep,a nd no threat from wildlife. got a free t-shirt when we got back too!

 

would do it again if i were there for several days.

 

by the way, port areas are nice, and clean, but just out of the gates is the usual crowd trying to get you to their booth. The area is poor looking, but is making progress. I thought the town was similar to St Lucia and Antigua.

[Linda/Ohio]

Are there any "just beach" type things to do in Belize? You know relax on the sand???

 

Linda

[csk47]

I, too, would like to know about any beach places...just looking to chill.

Since I have never been to Belize, is there a town where the tender lets you off...like in Key West.

[dexter]

You won't find any beaches in Belize city...you'll have to go to Ambergris Cay or to Cay Caulker. Belize is mostly mangrove areas...not much sand.

[2112]

There is no correct way to spend your time in Belize. Cave tubing is fun, snorkeling at Shark-Ray Alley and Hol Chan Preserve is fun, the Mayan Ruins are interesting, and even the Belize Zoo is worth your time. The only recommendation I have is that if you have already seen a number of good Mayan Ruins, then Altun Ha likely will not impress you as so much of it is covered with tarps. My favorite of the ruins that you can do as a cruise ship excursion is Xunantunich, but it is quite a distance away. You can see photos of all of this stuff on my website at http://www.pbase.com/2112 (Belize is in the Central America gallery - NOT the Caribbean).

[cruisinfever]

We went snorkling at a coral reef. Very dissappointed - there were very few fish. The snorkle equipment was not cleaned after use. The next day I

came down with a bad cold and flu symptoms (don't know if it was related to the equipment) but it ruined the last two days of my cruise.

[kwaa]

My suggestion is that you should do the snorkeling, the water's a bit cold and very salty but they've go great fish to see. Or if you plan good you d probably do two things.snorkeling is a usally a 1 hr. thing because it really hot and you'll be on your back but you probably could do somthing else. Hope that helped

Kwaa(kid with an aditude)

[samemily]

My DH and I loved San Pedro on Ambergris Caye so much we plan on spending some time there when I retire Jan 06. We did the ship excursion to Shark Ray Alley, first time my DH had snorkeled. He loved it. This was a great snorkel and I would recommend it. The only drawback was how long it took to get to this spot. We had Belizean chicken at a little restaurant on San Pedro, it came with the excursion and I thought it was very good. I know you will enjoy whatever you do in the Belize port.

[KAZ35]

Book an excursion ... otherwise, there's not much to see at the port in Belize. You pretty much have to stay in the gated village area, as it's scary beyond the wrought iron fencing. Natives were sticking their arms through and begging. We literally stayed/shopped for only 45 minutes and went right back to the ship.

[travel2cruise]

It was an amazing experience! I highly recommend it.

[setsail]

Belize reminds us of Ocho Rios. You do not have to stay inside the gates. Just walk out and all is well. There are some pushing tours but a polite no works fine. We hired a taxie van for 40$ for 1 hour for 4 people outside the gate. Just use common sense. Most are poor, we noticed the banks had armed guards out front(looked like m16s) but we got to see the whole city and the cab driver we picked at random gave us a fact filled tour. We tried the Lizzard, good servive and the food is not as good as Pancho's backyard in Cozumel, but a great place for a cold one and a snack.