Belize & Roatan

[lilbit]

Can anyone suggest what to do in Belize & Roatan if your not taking an excursion with the ship?

[Aliann]

If you check the Port boards you'll find tons of suggestions and info on booking your own excursions outside of the ship. In Belize, I've done snorkeling with the sharks booked through Coral Breeze (you'll find them on the port boards). Haven't been to Roatan, but when I get there I want to do the Canopy tour on a zip line.

 

It's important to know that in Belize you should have something planned, do some reasearch and know where you want to go etc. It doesn't have to be something booked from the ship, you can take the tender to the Tourist Village and get a cab to tour with from there, but it's always suggested that you don't just get there and walk out of the gates on your own without having something specific in mind. Don't say this to scare you, and Belize is absolutely gorgeous and shouldn't be missed, but again, just don't walk around outside of the tourist village aimlessly.

 

While I and tons others in our group did the snorkeling with the sharks, others just got a cab and had a little tour, stopped at the zoo and several other places.

 

You can take a cab to the ferry and take a ferry over to Caye Caulker, a small little island you can rent a golf cart on and drive around. We had a blast doing this.

 

Again, so much more can be found on the Port boards, just click on your destinations and read, read, then read some more.

[lilbit]

Aliann

 

Thanks much for the info. Funny you mentioned Caye Caulker. I was in the internet yesterday and saw that. I decided we would take the ferry over there in deed. Gold carts...sounds like fun!! Where did you rent from?

[thunder_lin]

We pre-booked cave tubing with Yhony @ cave-tubing.com which I highly recommend. On the way to the caves Yhony and his crew gave us a history lesson about Belize. In Roatan we just grabbed a cab and spent the day at Foster Beach Club. Our cab driver Lina was terrific and stayed with us the whole day, made sure our every need was taken care of and gave us a nice tour of the island.

In both Belize & Roatan they had us back to the ship area in plenty of time to do a little bit of shopping in the area without having to rush back to the ship.

Belize was very nice but Roatan was beautiful. Roatan had nicer woodwork and better prices. I purchased a beautiful huge salad bowl set in Roatan and some nice small wooden containers. The girls had their hair braided in Roatan at Fosters. Whole head price was $25.00. I brought my own combs and then left them with the girls. I don't think you'll find a cheaper price anywhere.

Hope you enjoy the islands.

[high desert drifter]

We went to Belize and Roatan in July 2005. In Roatan, we hired a van, with A/C, and driver at the pier in Roatan. We had a group of 6, $20.- a head and we had the van and driver for the day. They gave us a tour guide as well, he was separate from the initial cost and we tipped him accordingly at the end of the day. We went all over the island. Stopped at the iguana farm, went up in the hills, stopped at a roadside restaurant/bar with a great view, cold beer and some nice wooden trinkets at a stand out front. Then we ended up at a restaurant at the new Mayan Princess Resort, I believe that's the name, awesome $15 lobster tail(3 per plate) lunch and amazing concotion called a Monkey La-La. Gotta try this drink when you're thier, it's like a mudslide with hints of banana and coconut We then walked down to Fosters to snorkel and more Monkey La-La's. We brought our own gear. Snorkled for an hour or so and then off we went to the port area for shopping. Our tour guide didn't leave our side, local kid, about 19 and very knowledgeable, until we hit the shopping area. It was a five minute walk back to the boat. We did see some areas that were very poor, kinda put things into perspective for us and may shock you but overall this was an awesome experience and is an island with many friendly people.

 

In Belize, we did cave tubing thru X-Treme and would do it again. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. Be prepared for a bumpy ride though, the roads out to the park are unpaved. But a great time was had by all! Just writing about this brings back a flood of good memories.