Belated honeymoon in Belize, suggestions?

[firebirdgold]

I''ve maintained that 3 days of post-wedding vacation spent with his parents, does not a honeymoon make! Even if it was in Hawaii!!(admittedly my parents were around too). So before moving to our new house this summer we''re going to go to Belize for a proper honeymoon!

I''m not so keen on being totally on our own in central america so I want to do some kind of guided tour. We were thinking something that covers Mayan ruins, cute wildlife, and lots of snorkeling.

I''ve never been south of the US border, and I''ve also never been on a guided tour so I''m a bit nervous on both counts.

Has anyone gone to Belize? Do any of you know of reputable and good tour operators?

 

[Maria D]

A belated Congratulations Indie! I agree that you should have an alternate honeymoon if the ''rents were on the same island. Of course, every day is a honeymoon for newlyweds, no?

I''ll be interested to hear the responses; Belize is on our "to do list" for possible vacations. A couple of years ago we went to Costa Rica (Tamarindo area) and absolutely loved it. We went with friends of ours (a whole family) and it''s the one vacation we''re all still talking about. So yeah, who has been to Belize????

 

[cara]

Went to Belize for a friends wedding and had a great time - after coming down from a totally stressful loss of passport discovered 8 hrs prior to our expected departure time!

We stayed at Ambergris Caye, about 4 mile north of the main city San Pedro (?) on the caye, which is a short hop from the capital you fly into. Lodging was quite inexpensive for a nice place on the beach. But the restaurants and drinks in this tourist area were all (overpriced) US prices and the groceries are shockingly high. All of the day-trip type things you can do will pick you up by boat from whatever resort you are at and you will be totally taken care of. You can fly to Guatamala (sp?) for the day to see those ruins, see other Belizian ruins, go up a river to the Belizian jungle, etc.

We didn''t do any of those things ourselves between the wedding and our shortended vacation (see part about lost passport above) but did go in on chartering a sailboat to take us snorkeling on their reef. Truly spectacular. Rivals the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. And this was definitely not too expensive for a private charter with equipment included.

Everyone speaks English but the country feels tropical, third-world, slightly caribbean in influence. Definitely don''t recommend driving on your own much. I think you could do stuff MUCH cheaper - but there are advantages to staying in a tourist area. Everything can be set up for you - there will be concierges at all the resorts to book stuff for you so you wouldn''t have to do the whole trip pre-set up, and the prices, while not third-world appropriate, include pick-up and drop off at your resort and meals usually.

Oh, there was this horror story on the knot of someone''s prebooked Belizian honeymoon that they went on. A tropical storm came thru and lets just say they flew home early and were out thousands of dollars. Something to thing about if you are going during hurricane season.

Also - it is hot. The sun is intense. And on the beach, the wind is just as intense. Constant, 15-20 mph trade wind. It wears on you just as much as the sun. Definitely splurge for a/c and bring sunblock and clothing to keep you OUT of the sun/wind.

 

[EAT]

I love Belize...I went about five years ago, but did not use a tour guide, planned it all myself. It actually was pretty easy to get around, there are a lot of great forums and message boards that I used for planning the trip. I''ve tried to find some of them, but its been awhile, and I haven''t been able to find the ones that I used, but I will share them if I can track them down. I spent about 9 days in Belize / Guatemala. Went to the Mayan ruins in Tikal, Guatemala, which are just amazing. Actually spent the night in a tent at the park (not sure i would recommend it now, its roughing it a bit, back then, I was just out of college so it was ok at the time), but what is really cool about that, is that you can get up right before sunrise and climb to the top of the ruins, above the clouds, and watch the sunrise and the rainforest wake up. Spent another day at a lake in Guatemala, which was neat. Also spent some time in the mainland of Belize, went kayaking in the rivers, did a lot of hiking. Spent the rest of the days at Ambergris Caye, which is one of the larger islands. Caye Caulker is the other island, which is super casual; a lot of backpackers go there. Ambergris is known for some of the best diving in the world, it is on a very large barrier reef. I didn''t go diving (not certified), but did some snorkeling and swimming with the nurse sharks and giant sting rays which are great. On the island, there are plenty of offices that arrange all sorts of trips like this. Local food is great, and cheap. Airfare aside, it was a relatively economical vacation.To get around, basically did a lot of walking in Ambergris Caye, took a boat from Belize mainland to Ambergris Caye and a bus to Guatemala. I didn''t go, but Francis Ford Coppola''s place, Blancaneaux Lodge, looks amazing, on the mainland. He has a bunch of places out there. Belize is a great place if you want a bit of adventurous vacation, its not really a place to just sit on the beach for several days. Anyway, hope that was a good start. Its been awhile, but I will post more if I can remember it!