Don't Drink the Water?

[mzznlink]

We're going on the Legend on June 24th for a 7-day Western Caribean cruise. Everyone is warning us not to have mixed drinks or soda with ice when we're ashore. Just how sound is there advice?

[Scooter650]

We'll be on the Legend 6/24 also, cannot wait! We have been to Mexico many times and never had to worry about the water, I am curious about this also. If anyone has info, let us know.

[Sunshine827]

I also heard that you should not eat salads or any of the fresh fruits since they are all cleaned with the "water". Is this true??

[OttoCal]

You should be fine in restaurants, and soda will come in cans or bottles anyway. Locals drink their beer from bottles, draft beer is for tourists.

If you want water, buy bottled water, it will be available everywhere and is more convenient anyway.

 

Not sure how they do it in Belize City, but in the rest of the country, the drinking water is typically rain water that is collected specifically for that purpose, and you don't drink the regular water. I don't think we drank the water in our hotel from the tap, but I know that we had frozen drinks in restaurants, ice in some drinks, and water with no problems.

 

If you are somewhere that is serving frozen drinks to tourists, you should be fine and not worry about the ice.

[driftwood]

The Belize Tourism Industry Association publishes a (free) magazine entitled "Destination Belize [2006]: Mother Nature's Best Kept Secret." On page 16 under the heading "Water" it states categorically, "Tap water in Belize is potable." While I have not yet been to Belize to test it for you, I would think the BTIA would have a lot more to lose than even we do if the statement were not true. Certainly the water in Cozumel, Cancun and the Mayan Riviera is safe (and I have tested it in the past), as the tourism industry created out of whole cloth there has put in state-of-the-art reverse-osmosis water purification systems at enormous expense precisely because of the danger to the tourism industry of a sick tourist. :(

 

There are of course no guarantees on how sick you can get if you drink Margaritas immoderately! :D

 

As has been mentioned, bottled water is available everywhere, and usually you can pick up a couple of bottles of ice-cold water from your ship as you leave it to go on a tour. Heavy, but worth it! No matter what you do, you will be thirsty, and you will want to find a bathroom before you return. But your tour guides know this and will see that you are provided for.