Turn off in Belize

[bay guy]

Visited Bleize 2 weeks ago on Independence OTS. Since we weren't interested in any of the water sport related tours, we didn't book a tour in advance and figured we'd just walk around town and check things out. WRONG DECISION!!!

 

As we got ready to leave the port area where the tenders dropped us off, we saw a large group of males holding up tour signs at the gate. As we approached them a very aggressive feeding frenzy broke out among them trying to get us to hire them for a tour.

 

When we politely told them we just wanted to walk around on our own, that was acceptable to them and they kept following us as we tried to walk down the street.

 

We walked about half a block with a couple of them still aggressively approaching us and decided to trun around and go back into the dumpy "protected" port area and head back to the ship.

 

If Belize wants people to visit, the authorities need to get better control of what happens in this area.

 

When we visited Costa Maya and Cozumel, there was a 1000% difference in the attitude of the locals and everything was much more visitor friendly.

[tomko2]

Visited Bleize 2 weeks ago on Independence OTS. Since we weren't interested in any of the water sport related tours, we didn't book a tour in advance and figured we'd just walk around town and check things out. WRONG DECISION!!!

 

As we got ready to leave the port area where the tenders dropped us off, we saw a large group of males holding up tour signs at the gate. As we approached them a very aggressive feeding frenzy broke out among them trying to get us to hire them for a tour.

 

When we politely told them we just wanted to walk around on our own, that was acceptable to them and they kept following us as we tried to walk down the street.

 

We walked about half a block with a couple of them still aggressively approaching us and decided to trun around and go back into the dumpy "protected" port area and head back to the ship.

 

If Belize wants people to visit, the authorities need to get better control of what happens in this area.

 

When we visited Costa Maya and Cozumel, there was a 1000% difference in the attitude of the locals and everything was much more visitor friendly.

 

I agree that Belize authorities need to determine whether or not they want tourists. My DH went on an RCI horse-riding excursion which was fine. I wanted to see beyond the tiny port area but saw the guard dogs and guards with guns so I knew I didn't want to venture out alone. Ended up hiring a female taxi driver to walk thru town with me for an hour. This lovely lady kept all the vendors at bay on my behalf.

It was so enjoyable; she was so interesting; a mother of 8 young children and very proud of the school and town library. (we were on the Independence OTS last December).

 

In January we will again visit Belize (Liberty OTS) however we have already decided to stay onboard as we know of no nice beaches to visit.

 

Kathy

[Eeyoregon]

Visited Bleize 2 weeks ago on Independence OTS. Since we weren't interested in any of the water sport related tours, we didn't book a tour in advance and figured we'd just walk around town and check things out. WRONG DECISION!!!

 

As we got ready to leave the port area where the tenders dropped us off, we saw a large group of males holding up tour signs at the gate. As we approached them a very aggressive feeding frenzy broke out among them trying to get us to hire them for a tour.

 

When we politely told them we just wanted to walk around on our own, that was acceptable to them and they kept following us as we tried to walk down the street.

 

We walked about half a block with a couple of them still aggressively approaching us and decided to trun around and go back into the dumpy "protected" port area and head back to the ship.

 

If Belize wants people to visit, the authorities need to get better control of what happens in this area.

 

When we visited Costa Maya and Cozumel, there was a 1000% difference in the attitude of the locals and everything was much more visitor friendly.

 

Thanks for the heads up. We had the same unpleasant experience in Cabo San Lucas and if I ever cruise the Mexican Riviera again, I will NOT get off the ship in Cabo. It was overwhelmingly scary.

[mystone99]

Visited Bleize 2 weeks ago on Independence OTS. Since we weren't interested in any of the water sport related tours, we didn't book a tour in advance and figured we'd just walk around town and check things out. WRONG DECISION!!!

 

As we got ready to leave the port area where the tenders dropped us off, we saw a large group of males holding up tour signs at the gate. As we approached them a very aggressive feeding frenzy broke out among them trying to get us to hire them for a tour.

 

When we politely told them we just wanted to walk around on our own, that was acceptable to them and they kept following us as we tried to walk down the street.

 

We walked about half a block with a couple of them still aggressively approaching us and decided to trun around and go back into the dumpy "protected" port area and head back to the ship.

 

If Belize wants people to visit, the authorities need to get better control of what happens in this area.

 

When we visited Costa Maya and Cozumel, there was a 1000% difference in the attitude of the locals and everything was much more visitor friendly.

 

Because of reading similar stories, DW and I decided on seeing the ruins in Xunantunich when we were in Belize early this month. It is a long bus ride out and back, but it gets you out of Belize City and you're able to see some of the country. And at the stops we made, for lunch and souvenier shopping, the people were very friendly. We walked around at all our other stops, but I would only did an organized tour in Belize.

[Warrior1]

I would second that once you get past the gate by the "protected port area," the people were friendly. We took a city tour and went to the zoo and found it to be an enjoyable experience. It looked like chaos beyond the gate when we walked around the port shops after our tour. I heard many people talking about how much they enjoyed the cave tour in Belize.

[blessedwith12]

Within the port area, I was so impressed with the people of Belize. While they would approach and offer us tours, if we looked them in the eye and told them we were already booked, they would graciously smile and wish us a good day. However, like the OP said, the group by the gate at the back very much intimidated me. They were more aggressive and did not understand "no". Similarly, when we arrived on Caye Caulker, the vendors once again did not understand "no" and followed us quite aggressively.

While on Caye Caulker, we had the opportunity to talk to the owner of Herbal Tribe, who is an American. He explained that he found the Belize people to not pick up on verbal subtleties and that he had to be almost rude to get them to understand "no". He felt Caye Caulker was very safe and felt comfortable letting his children run around the island.

When the water taxi left us on Caye Caulker and we had to make very quick arrangements to make it back to the port, we found the people to be very helpful. So, in my opinion, while we may be very uncomfortable with the aggressive sell, I think the people are harmless. I don't think Belize is like what I've heard of Jamaica, for example.

[rvrgirl]

Thanks for the heads up. We had the same unpleasant experience in Cabo San Lucas and if I ever cruise the Mexican Riviera again, I will NOT get off the ship in Cabo. It was overwhelmingly scary.

 

OMG! You have to be kidding.........anyone that knows anything about Cabo would highly disagree.........:rolleyes:

[SusieQT]

We have used Coral Breezes to snorkel, they are great. Caye Caulker is fabulous, we went there with CB, so maybe that was the difference? I don't remember any tour guides at CC waiting to sell us stuff. You don't just end up there, like you do the port/tender area at Belize City.

 

We are using CB again this week, I will post our experiences.

 

I do agree that there is not much to see if you aren't on a pre-arranged tour and when we were there a few years ago, the chain-link fence was a surprise. I travel a lot to 3rd world nations and I wouldn't recommend getting off the ship in Belize if you don't already have arrangements unless you are very skilled with this type of activity.