what is a must do /see in Belize?

[melika091900]

thinking of booking a cruise to Belize, we have been on 9 cruises . never to belize, thinking of cave tubing, ? or snorkeling?

any suggestions?

it will be me, my husband and daughter whos 11

[World Gallery]

Cave Tubing is the best thing to do in Belize in my opinion. It is one of those excursions that will give you a very strong memory. My kids remember it well and it was 3 years ago. They loved it. It is unique. You can snorkeling in many other places but not cave tube.

 

It is about an hour drive one way.

 

In our opinion, cave tubing is the best Belize has to offer and after that, I wouldn't return. We have tried other options in Belize that were just okay.

[thescot123]

Go to Hoi Chan Marine Reserve, great place to snorkel. You will see lots of colorful fish, stingrays and nurse sharks. This is in the book 1,000 place to visit before you die.

 

I have been there 3 times and will be back in Oct. Plan on using the shark Ray Alley & Caye Caulker tour. After snorkeling you get taken to a small island (Caye) for lunch and shop.

 

Plan on using Coral Breezes since the ship (NCL) no longer offers the tours.

[World Gallery]

I am curious, where is Hoi Chan Marine Reserve? How far out? I researched last trip for new ideas and couldn't find any interesting options and can't remember reading about this option.

[thescot123]

Hoi Chan is also known as Shark Ray Alley. It takes about 40 minutes to get to by high speed snorkeling boat. Go to youtube and search shark ray alley.

[MichaelZ]

I've been to Belize a couple of times, and Belize's most unique attractions are the Mayan ruins or cave tubing. You can go snorkeling in Belize, but you can go snorkeling in many other locations on a cruise. But the well preserved ruins and cave tubing are two things you won't find anywhere else.

The cave tubing is fun. You will take a short hike through the rainforest to a river where you get onto your tube. The current carries you through 2 or 3 caves. From my travels, this is unique to Belize and we had fun.

For Mayan ruins, i have been to Altun Ha and to Lamanai. Both are beautiful and and you can explore the ruins, unlike places like Tulum, Mexico where the ruins are all roped off. Altun Ha and Lamanai have huge temples that are still intact and you can climb to the top and see an amazing view. Altun Ha is smaller than Lamanai but is the easiest to get to as it is just outside of Belize city. Lamania is in the jungle and you get to take a river boat up one of the old rivers. We saw monkeys and lots of colorful tropical birds on this tour. I have to say, between the two, Lamanai was hands down the most impressive. The tour was an amazing experience from the river boat ride to the massive ruins hidden in deep in the rainforest to the tour guides that explained the mayan lifestyle and culture. This was one of those trips i will never forget. You really felt like you were taking a step back in time to see how the Mayans lived.

We booked at http://www.belizecruiseexcursions.com/Lamanai_Belize.htm

Our tour was a small group, we didn't feel rushed in anyway and we were back to the cruise ship port with time to shop.