Belize

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Anyone here ever have been to Belize and have any "must do's" or "meh fuck that's" ?

Wouldn't be my typical place for a vacation, but a good friend is having a destination wedding there, and well...we're going. Looks like the wedding is on Ambergris Caye which is a little island a short 30 minute flight from Belize City from what I've figured out so far. The wedding shebang is 3-days or so.

Wondering if I should stay longer and explore other parts of the country? Or since I'm down that way...maybe explore some other countries? (i.e. Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, etc.). Never been Central America...closest I've ever been I guess was Jamaica which isn't really all that close.

Don't surf. Don't scuba (plenty of time to learn though as this trip isn't until August).

Debating whether to stay longer and explore, or get in and out as quickly as possible and save my vacation days for other places that I normally choose to go on my own.

[Flyoverland Captive]

I stayed at Ramon's Village in San Pedro (Ambergris Caye) a couple years ago at the start/end of a sailing trip. Quiet little town, touristy but laid back. Some great day-trips to the reef for snorkeling, no scuba exp. required. Highly recommend you take one of these trips; they take you to a couple spots along the reef where they have sharks, rays, turtles, and all kinds of fish; very cool.

I'd recommend a day/night just south on Caye Caulker too; a little bit more laid back, and easier snorkeling right off the beach.

Avoid Belize City like the plague.

[DeathVan]

Do you fish?

A quick search brought up a bunch of info on Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon+ and guide recommendations.

You are heading to a mecca of sorts and it would be worth getting on the water.

[saukit]

I was on Ambergris in November for my honeymoon. It rained a bunch so we didn't get to do any of the ruins trips on the mainland but they run those when it's dry, looks pretty cool.

I would definitely go snorkeling, blows Hawaii out of the water. If you like to fish you can catch bonefish off the beach or reef fish from a boat.

Elvi's Kitchen is a must visit for eats, Hurricane's Ceviche Bar for drinks and Daniel the owner is also a jack of all trades guide.

Definitely stay away from Belize City, it is pretty sketchy.

[AlpiNord]

I stayed at Ramon's Village in San Pedro (Ambergris Caye) a couple years ago at the start/end of a sailing trip. Quiet little town, touristy but laid back. Some great day-trips to the reef for snorkeling, no scuba exp. required. Highly recommend you take one of these trips; they take you to a couple spots along the reef where they have sharks, rays, turtles, and all kinds of fish; very cool.

I'd recommend a day/night just south on Caye Caulker too; a little bit more laid back, and easier snorkeling right off the beach.

Avoid Belize City like the plague.

Belize has the second largest barrier reef in the world and worth a look....but it's degrading compared to when I was there. And there's the Blue Hole. The first couple days I was there at San Pedro, we snorkeled and then my buds stuck a tank on me and threw me in for my scuba lesson. We had a case of Belikan beer delivered to our door every morning and the days went from there. IIRC the local drink was called Roots and looks like compost. Be careful and have fun.

[hutash]

Never been, but an archeologist friend says Tikal in Guatemala is an absolute must. One of the best ancient ruins in the world.

Great bird life if you are into that and SCUBA/snorkeling is some of the best in the northern hemisphere.

[Stikki]

3 days is about perfect for the Cayes. The Mayan ruins at Altun Ha is pretty cool and only a 45 minute (?) drive from Belize City. Best bet would be to go straight there from the airport then back to Belize City for the boat trip to the cayes. If you can pull it Caye Caulker is better than Ambergris; smaller, more laid back, less commercial and less expats. You'd have to boat back for wedding stuff but water taxis are always around. The basic routine in the cayes is snorkel/fish, eat, lounge, repeat. Snorkeling is a must do, shark alley is fun too. Unless your thing is snorkeling/scuba/fishing an active vacationer might get bored pretty quick on the cayes. Myself and friends found Belize to be "generic", there just wasn't a distinct culture, which makes sense since the country is a mix of British/Mayan/Caribbean/Latin American. It was nice but I thought a one-and-done place to visit. (For the record I was also down in Placencia and Mayan villages near the Jaguar preserve.)

[iceman]

Gah.

Now Tyrone, you know I love you like the black brother I never had, who wasn't actually black but had a blackish name, who used to post here and have fun but doesn't but ISN'T dead to me, not much, anyways, but MUTHAFUKKIN SEARCH FUNCTION YO!

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...archid=5205822

For the record I found Belize to be humid, breezeless and scorpion-ridden. Others seem to like it.

[Flyoverland Captive]

Lobster tails are cheaper than steak down there; plan on a shitload of grilling.

[TacocaT]

When we went we planned 1 day/night in San Ignacio ended up spending 3. Might have stayed one more if I had the time You can visit caves, swim in waterfalls, and of course visit an number of archeological sites. You can also day trip to Tikal from there which is totally worth it.

The cayes are nice but touristy. Some of the smaller beach towns on the mainland like Dangriga and Hopkins are cool but the beaches are not exactly resort like. You can get some cheap boat rides out to the nearby reef and islands in Dangriga. It seems foolish to go down there and not see some more of the country.

[BaNosser]

Do you fish?

A quick search brought up a bunch of info on Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon+ and guide recommendations.

You are heading to a mecca of sorts and it would be worth getting on the water.

Belize is a warm water flyfishing mecca... bonefish that'll rip thru your backing.. tho if you flyfished.. you'd probably already know this.. You could become proficient enough by Aug tho to have an awesome day or two chasing bones.. you'd have to put quite a bit of time in.. but then you'd have a awesome new skill that can be put to use in your local mountain rivers and streams.. and stories of chasing bonefish in Belize to torment fellow fly-fishers with.. and.. chicks dig it..

[ate'em]

Never been, but an archeologist friend says Tikal in Guatemala is an absolute must. One of the best ancient ruins in the world.

This. Hop a flight from Belize City to Flores Guatemala. Hour drive to Tikal. Truly an amazing site, words cant describe how awesome it is. It is definitely among the best anywhere, period. Some really cool other sites just outside Tikal too.

And seek out Caroline's Restaurant when on Ambergris. Still talking about them shrimp at Caroline's. Local joint, serious mamma cook.

[Benny Profane]

Don't bother learning to scuba, the snorkeling is fantastic and much less involved, especially if you don't plan on spending a lot of time in the water down the line.

[flatlander#2]

My friends own this http://www.tflats.com/

[char]

Snorkeling is pretty amazing and cheap in comparison to scuba.

Tikal is amazing. Crazy to be told how many people lived in the area compared to today.

Caye Caulker is a great place to lay around and drink beer. Not much going on otherwise, although I'm pretty sure I could entertain myself by kitesurfing and fishing for a long time there.

Never made it to ambergris. Seemed more touristy, more expensive, didn't offer anything better than Caye Caulker for my travel style.

[Dhelihiker]

San Pedro is fun, personally I think learning Scuba is worth it for Belize. I think the Blue hole is a must do. There are also some nice reef dives.

Jaguars Club has some fun Rums to check out and the street food at night across the street is killer. Maybe it was the rum The beer is nationalized and not that great IMO, stash a few IPA's in your bag. There is also a hot sauce that Ive only seen in Belize. I brought lots home and it wasn't enough.

A golf cart rental is is fun for a day or two, you can drive the coast and pass a few little cafes and resorts. We spent a day at Captain Morgans drinking and enjoying the scenery.

Its a solid beach spot, they speak English, spend US dollars and if you avoid a hurricane you'll dig it.

[Tippster]

Don't bother learning to scuba, the snorkeling is fantastic and much less involved, especially if you don't plan on spending a lot of time in the water down the line.

Spoken like a non-diver. Life begins at 50ft, dood.

Shoe: get certified. Do your paper and pool work in your hometown and your cert dive(s) down there. PADI cert is good for life, so just another trick in the bag for the future. Even if you go years without diving you can do a refresher for small money at any resort you end up in.

My brother-in-law is a leading Archaeologist and expert on Mayan culture. His is one of the teams doing research at Lamanai, and he thinks it's a cool place, especially since it's the "longest continually-occupied site in Mesoamerica."

[sar13]

Went down there in '05. Didn't hit Ambergris because we heard it was too built up - "resorty".

Cay Caulker was great for a few days and some fun snorkeling.

Spent 3-4 days in San Ignacio. Booked trips from our hotel/lodge. The caves were a blast and Tikal was totally worth it.

This place [URL="http://www.glovers.com.bz/index.html"/URL]
was the main point of our trip. Glover's Atoll Resort. You need to stay a whole week so maybe it wouldn't work for you but it was amazing. Thatched roof hut over the water. SNorkeling or scuba, guided fishing. Catch your own dinner or buy fresh fish from the guides. Kind of a tropical yurt trip.

[Cono Este]

Can anyone compare belize vs honduras?

I do hear Guetemala is becoming a nice spot too. I lived their when I was 5, and we would go out to some awesome barrier islands, then I was almost kidnapped and ransomed off so we left.

[Tippster]

Never been to Belize but spent 10 days in Roatan, Honduras X-mas 2011. Fucking great place.

[Gripen]

Wife and I went to Belize this past fall for two weeks. Half on caye Ambergris and half on Caye Caulker.

Caye Caulker is awesome, super chill and low key. Lots of fun little funky bars and restaurants. We loved it there and wish we spent more time there. We stayed at a great apartment right on the beach for a super reasonable rate. I'd be more then happy to PM you the info.

We also did a week on Caye Ambergris but didn't dig it as much as Caulker. It's way more developed and touristy. Would be worth a day or two though. The Lazy Kroc bbq makes that entire Island worthwhile. Best bbq I've ever had hands down. Eat at wish Willies on Caulker, also quite the experience.

We did the mayan ruins at Laminia and loved it but if we had more time $$ would have done the two day Tikal trip.

I'll post more later when I'm not on the phone.

Super fun place.

Edit. It's hot. Like my brain felt like it was melting our my ears hot. I've never felt anything like it.

Also avoid Belize City. It's one of the few cities in the world that really put me on edge.

[char]

RE-Belize City

Not the kind of place you want to wander around looking touristy, but I didn't find it particularly menacing. We even took the public bus out to San Ignacio from the downtown bus station. Helpful people who made sure we got on the right bus, etc.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

saweeet! Thanks everyone. And Iceman...thanks for making me laugh out lough brotha...I guess I don't hang around here all that much anymore, but I pop in and lurk a bit every now and then.

Anyway, to everyone who recommended fishing....yeah, i don't fish either. ha! I ski and ride all manner of bikes. Totally dig snorkeling though, so will probably do a bunch of that I'm sure and yes, would really like to check out the blue hole. Will definitely look into getting certified here locally for scuba and possibly doing that there too....always awesome to learn something new.

Didn't realize Belize City was that sketchy. Have only done a small amount of research on it so far, but thanks for that advice.

I need to go back and look at all your suggestions in more detail......

[H0G]

I'll be headed to Belize in 2 weeks. It will be my 5th trip in 8 years. My family has a place in hopkins. Here is the website: http://www.hopkinsbaybelize.com It is a small village South of Dangriga.

Ambergris was too americanized for me. I haven't been to Caulker yet. We have a boat down there and do a lot of snorkeling, fishing etc. I just picked up two spears to go hunting for lion fish.

Cave tubing is awesome. Have been to some smaller ruins. Natives speak English, currency is pegged on the dollar, & they follow British common law. Placencia is nice, but headed towards what Ambergris is, especially if that new airport ever gets built.

We fly into Belize City and take Maya Air or Tropical to Dangriga where we rent a car. My cousin drove from Belize City ONCE. It is a long car ride vs a 15 minute flight, so no comparison.

Get out of the touristy spots, relax and have fun.

[ate'em]

The beer is nationalized and not that great IMO, stash a few IPA's in your bag. There is also a hot sauce that Ive only seen in Belize. I brought lots home and it wasn't enough.

Huge understatements. The beer is fucking terrible. But the hot sauce is unreal. Worst and best, in the world, IMHO.