Who has been to Belize before?

[jakenashleysmom]

We did a snorkle excursion to Rendezvous Caye a couple of years ago from Enchantment. We chose a ship excursion because we had heard it was not the safest place to wander around. We tendered ashore and had lunch and a drink, then headed to the catamaran for a 30 minute boat ride. Just when it seemed you weren't ever going to see land, there it was, the cutest little island in the middle of nowhere! Ever see the begining of Spongebob? I swear it was Bikini Bottom we were snorkeling at! Not being much for snorkeling, I made it from the boat to the island and parked my carcass on a floatie and enjoyed the unlimited rum punches while floating in the warm ocean. Heavenly! They returned us directly to the ship afterwards, which was awesome!

 

Enjoy what ever you do!:D

[mom2girls]

I love Belize. I've been twice and thouroughally enjoyed the excursions. We did Cave tubing through a private company. We rode in a van, so the ride wasn't as long. When we walked through the rain forest the guide pointed out interesting things. We got to see a pregnant tarantula! The second time I went we went snorkeling. It was absolutely amazing to swim over the coral. We also saw some beautiful fish. I really have enjoyed my visits to Belize!

[jab47]

Did a SNUBA excursion in Belize. There was a kid in our group of 4 who just couldn't do it but continued to try. I don't think I ever got more than 20 feet from the boat. However after that we went to Bannister Caye where we stayed for 4 hours or so. Very, very nice place. Had food and drinks to purchase. We really enjoyed that afternoon.

[Murphy]

I did the shark/ray alley snorkle with beach, OMG it was so great.

 

This is the excursion we took as well. FABULOUS! I've been to lots of ports and done lots of excursions and this is my second favorite excursion of all I've been on. The Costa Rica Ciorabici River raft is my favorite, but we LOVED Belize and the shark ray snorkel particularly.

 

I agree with what others have said, book an excursion here! The port and shopping is not great, but if you get out there and see the water or rainforest options I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[debkaysmith]

The port is a small strip mall area with the usual shops for selling kitschy stuff to tourists. The countryside, however is beautiful. We took a bus tour to the Zipline Activity and loved seeing all of Belize. The tour operator gave a wonderful narration of his country and the Zipline was sooo much fun. Be sure to bring bug repellent though, the mosquitos were hungry!

[whitsmom]

We did a snorkle excursion to Rendezvous Caye a couple of years ago from Enchantment. We chose a ship excursion because we had heard it was not the safest place to wander around. We tendered ashore and had lunch and a drink, then headed to the catamaran for a 30 minute boat ride. Just when it seemed you weren't ever going to see land, there it was, the cutest little island in the middle of nowhere! Ever see the begining of Spongebob? I swear it was Bikini Bottom we were snorkeling at! Not being much for snorkeling, I made it from the boat to the island and parked my carcass on a floatie and enjoyed the unlimited rum punches while floating in the warm ocean. Heavenly! They returned us directly to the ship afterwards, which was awesome!

 

Enjoy what ever you do!:D

 

I think that is my kind of excursion, I can snorkle okay but DH is great at it. I enjoy just floating around and having a very relaxed time. I hope that have this excursion in January.

 

whitsmom

[papermans]

We were there in 2005. There was political unrest. Really a waste of time and confusion. Many tenders were on the way in when they were told to return to the ship because it was too dangerous. We were finally allowed to tender in but were confined to the fenced pier area.

[silentbob007]

If you want to see the "real" Belize, just take the cave-tubing tour and have your bus break down in the countryside ... twice. I'm all kinds of luck. :)

[sasysutler]

We did Altuna Hun ruins. Best advice... TAKE BUG SPRAY. We also did the river cruise. Saw one manatee and one iguana. Not worth the money. Very dirty town, doubt we will ever go back

[TrinaLC]

The lamanai excursion was amazing - really 3 excursions in one. Bus ride through the city to the river, great run up a beautiful river, and amazing ruins.

 

Just make sure to do this one on a ship sponsored tour. It is a long way, and cuts it close.

 

One of the best excursions I have ever taken.

[Guest scfjjb]

Scuba - great

 

Snorkeling - good

 

Cave tubing - good

 

Zip line/canopy tour - fun!!

 

Wildlife tours - good

[marci22]

Saying Belize is just a 'dirty town' is like coming into Newark airport and basing NJ on that.

 

Belize is undeveloped, but I'd much rather have someone pestering me to buy something than see a McDonalds and a Wendy's on the street. Most people seemed to make a beeline for Diamonds International. :confused:

 

Beyond the port area, Belize is beautiful. An organized tour of some kind is advised here. On one of our cruises there, we met a couple who had chosen the cruise solely for the Belize stop; apparently there is excellent scuba diving.

 

We did the cave-tubing with a non-ship company and the ride to the site was a quite enjoyable, if somewhat rickety bus ride lol. The guys taking us played Belizean music and passed out samples of cashew wine. The countryside was gorgeous. We stopped to pick up some teachers from the U.S. who were backpacking through the country. On the way back we stopped at a local place for lunch. The kids remember this excursion vividly.

 

Not really a resort-type atmosphere but there are other places to do that.

[cruiseguy1016]

Take an excursion that will take you inland from the city. This will allow you to see the city as you pass through. There is sooo much more to see than just the city. There are mountains and jungles to see. Sure, the ride may be long but in my opinion, it's worth it. Have your camera ready.

[PhinsAndGills]

Loved it!

 

Went snorkeling on a little island made of conch shells (through the ship)

 

Ate at the Wet Lizard, yummy.

 

Had Taxi driver Alfred Humes drive us around. I would highly recommend him, he was excellent. He took us to his church, which was made of magogany, it was beautiful. He showed us many things around town, including the American Embassy. I would look him up again if I was to go back.

 

Have fun! My favorite souvie ever came from Belize. This man was selling treasure boxes that locked, and you had to know the "code" to unlock it. :) It's really cool. They were made of wood and hand painted.

[Nitra]

Actually Belize is a country, not a city. It used to be part of British Honduras but one thing led to another, yadda yadda, it became independent in the 80s I believe.

 

There are several cities. The beach area we went to was very Caribbean. Had a little place to eat and get drinks, beer was 2 dollars a bottle, they had people braiding hair and selling stuff on the beach.

 

It is all about culture, sure you could say it was dirty, but then most cities around the world are, some of the richest historical places seem a bit dirty but it is what you are looking for that you will see. Look for the culture and charm and that is what you will see, look for the beauty and you will see, look for the dirt and something to complain about, and you will see.

 

When I first got to Istanbul, I almost let myself fall into that "it is a dirty city" thought process, but then I backed myself up and looked at the beauty and spirit of the city, I looked at the good it had to offer, the charm, the difference from what I knew and fell in love with it.

 

Enjoy whatever you decide to do, there is a big world out there that can show us so much if we just open our eyes.

[bbbeachgirl]

We were there two years ago. Went on a river tubing expedition which was great fun. Great scuba diving there also. Long, rough ride on the tender so be prepared. Take a soft cushion for your tush! Lots of fun if you like a little adventure, but not a great port stop if you want to shop or go sightseeing. There is really nothing to see.

[Loucat]

I was just in Belize at the beginning of the month. Typical dirty town reminded me of a dirty Mexico city. I do however highly recommend going out to Caulker Caye! Very nice ride out there, nice little island and the snorkeling out at the reef was the best. Saw dolphins, eels, stingrays, nurse sharks, our boat captain said Manatees are all around the island.

 

Had lunch at a nice little place and did some shopping on the island. Can't wait to go back.

Agree with most posts, but there are some nice restaurants at the pier. How did you get to Caye Caulker?? We have been to Belize about 5 times and have never figured out how to get there and back on time to the ship.:)

[VernRDH]

We were just there a few weeks ago on our Legend cruise. We took an excursionto Bannister Island, snorkeling for DH and a manatee watch. Booked independently and enjoyed all of it except for the horrible sunburns we got!!! The tour was fabulous, as was our guide Mr. Big and our captain Erwin. The shopping area was interesting, and had we not been is sheer agony from our fried skin, we may have enjoyed looking around more or eaten at the Wet Lizard (which is where our tour met in the am). I would go back again and definately do a water related type excursion. Perhaps when dd (age 7) is older, say a teen, we may try the cave tubing/zipline thing as I hear that is a blast.

 

Go, enjoy, experience.

[Grammy111]

We did a city tour and airboat adventure when we were there in January. The airboat thing was a lot of fun.....saw lots of wildlife...birds, iguanas hanging out in trees.

 

We did that also and it was a great day ! Airboating was something I'd wanted to do and now I've done it! YAHOO!!

[Javadelcamp]

Actually Belize is a country, not a city. It used to be part of British Honduras but one thing led to another, yadda yadda, it became independent in the 80s I believe.

 

There are several cities. The beach area we went to was very Caribbean. Had a little place to eat and get drinks, beer was 2 dollars a bottle, they had people braiding hair and selling stuff on the beach.

 

It is all about culture, sure you could say it was dirty, but then most cities around the world are, some of the richest historical places seem a bit dirty but it is what you are looking for that you will see. Look for the culture and charm and that is what you will see, look for the beauty and you will see, look for the dirt and something to complain about, and you will see.

 

When I first got to Istanbul, I almost let myself fall into that "it is a dirty city" thought process, but then I backed myself up and looked at the beauty and spirit of the city, I looked at the good it had to offer, the charm, the difference from what I knew and fell in love with it.

 

Enjoy whatever you decide to do, there is a big world out there that can show us so much if we just open our eyes.

 

Very well said, Nitra. Wish I had found these words when I was posting!

[Lard Greystoke]

We LOVE Belize! We were there in February and did the coolest excursion to the Lamanai ruins. This involved a one-hour bus ride into the country's interior, and then a 45-minute ride down the Belize River to the ruins (you can't get to them by car). Our guides told us so much about the culture, the rainforest, we saw all kinds of exotic animals (including "baboons" which are actually howler monkeys). We found the people of Belize to be generous of spirit, and really funny and warm!

 

Don't be fooled by those who never made it past the pier (the one of you that said "typical dirty town", what a snobbish and rude thing to say!). We plan to return for a vacation and simply can't wait to adventure through the rest of this beautiful, safe and friendly country!

 

I also went to Lamanai. Got an earful of history on the way (in a late-model air-conditioned van), great boatride with lots of wildlife on the New River, and a nice tour of the virtually deserted ruins.

 

As far as the poverty of the area, it's nothing I didn't see in rural areas of Ohio when I was a kid.