Shopping and Beaches

[alleyoop122377]

I will be going to Belize via the Carnival Valor in October. I had a few questions. Is the shopping are in close range to the tender area?? I have read that you do not want to wander to far on your own away from this area. Also are there any nice beaches to go to. If so, where are there and how do you get there?? :confused: :eek:

[alleyoop122377]

Anyone??

[huskerdude]

We haven't been there yet, but from what we have read there is the Belize Tourist Village at the pier where they drop you off. They have a web site belizetourismvillage.com I have heard that shopping is a little cheaper in town. My understanding is that there are no actual beaches in Belize City that you would have to go to one of the little cayes to be on an actual beach. You could only get there by boat. I could be wrong , but it is what I have gathered from everything I have read. Hope this helps.:)

[booboo4031]

There is a 'tourism village' shopping area right where the tenders drop off. There are a bunch of shops and restaurants there. Out the back there is a native flea market.... but I can't say that I was in the mood to venture out there after doing the city tour!

[rosej]

We were in Belize last week. At the end of our tour, our guide said to shop outside of the "pier." He told us that we would find better prices and a wider selection of goods from the people just outside the pier. So I took a little walk outside. I went to the Handicraft Center and toured the little flea market. Maybe it was stupid but I did this alone and didn't feel unsafe. There were a number of other cruise passengers wandering about having just gotten off their tours.

 

I was lookng for hot sauce as I had read about it on the boards. I ended up getting the best deal inside the pier area. One place had the little bottles for 75 cents each and the bigger ones three for $6. I didn't see anything outside in the flea market area that I thought was a better price or more unique than what was inside the pier area. But then I'm not much into bargaining/haggling and I didn't have a lot of time to spend.

 

The "best deals" (IMHO)..... if you were looking for wooden bowls or those wonderful wooden canes was at the Altun Ha Mayan ruins site (where our tour had just come from).

[PDC55]

My travel mate and I went outside the gates when we were there last September but with a local guide that I arranged a tour with right there at the gate (mainly because it was very hot and his van was air conditioned). After driving around and showing us the sights, he took us over to a factory where most of the tshirts that are sold on the pier are made . We ended up with 4 tshirts, a hat, a shot glass, and very nice frame for a little more than what we would have paid for a tshirt at the pier. I did this mainly because of a conversation that I had with the crew of the tender that took us to shore. They said that most of the shops at the pier are owned in part by Americans and that very little of the money that is spent there goes to Belize. They all said that they were upset that the cruise lines made such a big deal about how dangerous it was to go outside the gates. One of the ladies made a good point about it not being anymore dangerous than most of your larger cities in the states. You just have to be aware of your surroundings and not venture way off the beaten path.

[evildiva]

As far as beaches in Belize there really arent any that you could get to easily, you would have to take a boat or small plane to get to the really beachy places. The shopping is exactly like what everyone has been saying, the shopping outside of the pier at the flea market is okay but they can be very pushy and hard to deal with. You can haggle with them a bit and get a deal but some of the people can be intimidating. We did not count on this day to be a shopping or beach day but toured the Altun Ha ruins and Baboon Sanctuary, it was a very cultural day.

[jaycee888]

Has anyone ever taken the Aerial Trek and Cave Tubing tour while in Belize. I will be going there in Feb 2006 on NCL Dawn and was looking at this excursion as a possibility.

 

 

Any feedback would be great

[mumsiesof2]

How did you find the "right" local guide to take you around, and exactly where was the factory that you went to. How long did you have the guide for and what was the cost you agreed on before using him ?

 

Thanks for the info:cool:

mumsiesof2

 

 

 

 

My travel mate and I went outside the gates when we were there last September but with a local guide that I arranged a tour with right there at the gate (mainly because it was very hot and his van was air conditioned). After driving around and showing us the sights, he took us over to a factory where most of the tshirts that are sold on the pier are made . We ended up with 4 tshirts, a hat, a shot glass, and very nice frame for a little more than what we would have paid for a tshirt at the pier. I did this mainly because of a conversation that I had with the crew of the tender that took us to shore. They said that most of the shops at the pier are owned in part by Americans and that very little of the money that is spent there goes to Belize. They all said that they were upset that the cruise lines made such a big deal about how dangerous it was to go outside the gates. One of the ladies made a good point about it not being anymore dangerous than most of your larger cities in the states. You just have to be aware of your surroundings and not venture way off the beaten path.