Belize

[LindsayMD]

What is there to do in Belize?? Is there anything good to do there? We have never been here but I hear not to venture in the city not on an excursion. Anyone have advice?

[RCI_FADM_76]

You should check out the Ports of Call forum for Belize:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=109

 

Mayan ruin tours are quite popular here.

[cruzeluver]

We've been twice and enjoyed it immensely. Both times we have done cave tubing which is one fo the most popular excursions in Belize. If you go to the ports of call boards and look for Belize you will find a lot of other suggestions.

 

As far as walking around Belize City, most of the dire warnings come right from the cruise lines. Although I cannot prove it with absolute certainty, I believe they discourage independently walking around Belize City in an effort to scare cruisers into booking only ship-sponsored excursions and shopping at the cruise-sponsored stores right at the port area, inside the fences. Both times we have gone we walked around outside of the fenced in area without any problems and have really enjoyed meeting and talking with numerous locals.

 

Go and enjoy this beautiful country!

[LindsayMD]

Thanks! I did not even know about the ports of call forum! Thanks for the suggestions!

[BillOh]

What is there to do in Belize?? Is there anything good to do there? We have never been here but I hear not to venture in the city not on an excursion. Anyone have advice?

 

I've heard the snorkeling here is 2nd to none. Unfortunately, I can't personally verify that. Before my cruise there in 2009 I bought 2 sets of my own snorkle gear and hauled it along with me on this cruise. We got off the ship, took the long tender ride into the pier, waited in line for our excursion only to have it canceled after we waited for close to 2 hours. We shopped the local area inside the gates and then took the long ride back to the ship.

[KirkNC]

Belize has some of the best snorkeling and diving in the entire Carribean.

[BillOh]

Belize has some of the best snorkeling and diving in the entire Carribean.

 

I might have to book that cruise again then.

[wwcruisers]

While I respect everyone's individual opinion, and acknowledge that each person's experience is different, I would advise against setting out into Belize City on your own. It's not absolutely necessary to book an expensive ships tour -- you can get info on private excursions over on the Ports-of-Call boards. We took the RC Lamanai/New River tour, and enjoyed it very much. However, when the tour was over, they dropped us outside the gated area at the pier. No joke -- before all of us could get off the bus and walk 10 yards to the gate, we were MOBBED by street vendors. I'm talking about blocking our path, pushing, shoving, and grabbing. Some of the older people in the group were clearly frightened -- especially since the guard at the gate was doing nothing to help, and our tour bus driver was already driving away. The next time we were on a ship that stopped in Belize -- we stayed on board.

[C Cruise Dude]

What is there to do in Belize?? Is there anything good to do there? We have never been here but I hear not to venture in the city not on an excursion. Anyone have advice?

 

I have been there twice and took the barrier reef snorkel and private island. I have to do a land tour the next time. Review of first barrier reef in my signature. It was much better the second time. :D

[longwood]

We've been to Belize twice. The first time my wife and I did leave the pier with the intention of walking about the city which is about 1/2 mile away. Walking out of the gate, we did get hammered by pushy vendors and cab drivers offering souvenirs and private tours. However, once we pushed our way to the street, no one bothered us.

 

With that said, I wouldn't recommend doing it. Honestly, although we had no problems, I didn't feel completely safe and there wasn't really any shops or restaurants that looked appealing. The downtown area was really not geared for tourist so I felt like it was a waste of time.

 

Take an excursion or stay in port.

[Bigtex1622]

I had my L5 vertebra removed a week after that cruise.

My back was killing me and was taking pain meds, to no help.

We stopped in Roatan first, and I did snorkel. It was OK, but I really did NO good to my back.

So the next day I did go snorkeling in Belize, OH WOW, how beautiful it was.

But since I killed myself the day before, I could only stand about 5 minutes in the water.

If you look at my link below, the Voyager April 2011 trip, you can see the pictures and video.

Belize is so much better than Roatan, that is why we are going back.

I have to do Belize again and I am just going to shop a little in Roatan, I do not want to be hurt again !

I am bringing some cheap floats with us, so we can just float with heads in water.

Sounds easier, than trying to stay afloat while snorkeling!

It is a RC excursion, the Barrier reef and private beach.

 

 

:rolleyes:

[blueblock]

Belize is a gloriously beautiful country and there are many things to do, including diving and snorkeling, cave tubing, zip lining, river boat cruises, and some spectacular Mayan ruins. You don't have to do the ship's excursions, but my opinion is that you will have a better impression of the country if you do something that gets you out of Belize City, which is not at all the most attractive part of Belize.

[Trekker954]

I've done the private island beach tour - awesome. We also were to do cave tubing last month, and after taking the long tender to the pier, found our tourguide only to be told due to the river swelling, the tubing was cancelled. If only someone had told us this happens often, we may have tried to contact the company prior to getting on the tender. We turned right around and reboarded the tender. Many other went zip lining instead.

 

Belize is also renown for scuba/snorkling.

 

There is also an excellent pharmacy within the port that has excellent prices, so we stocked up.

[Ohiocruiser]

When we were in Belize we took a tubing tour by a man named Reggie, who was well recomended on these boards. What a delight it was!! He also to us to a place that I would have never ventured into by myself... but to our surprise, it was probably the best local diner that I have ever been in!! Imagine that, the food was great, and we had plenty of it, for like $6.00 and that included your drink. I know that we were prety far from where the ship ws docked, so I can't even remember the name of the place. But I believe that if you are with a local person you should just jump in and enjoy yourself. The tour was far cheaper than the cruise line was offering, and because he was so well known on these boards, we had one of the best tours on any of our cruises. I do not think that I would have gone with just anyone from the pier, but we felt very safe with Reggie, and his son. He met us where he said he would, and delivered everything he said that he would. This cruise was about 5 years ago, so I hope that he is still in business.

[SRQfireman]

I have been there 2-3 times, and I was happy doing the cave tubing the 1st time, I've done it the other times I've been back. I highly recommend cave-tubing.com....when you go to the Belize shore tour section on this website, I'm sure you'll see their name on their.....I don't work for them or get any "kick backs" or anything...I'm just a satisfied customer. They also do an ATV adventure kinda thing that is fun as well.....it's a beautiful country

 

Enjoy your cruise

[temple1]

We did the jungle bike tour and really enjoyed it. At the end of the ride we were able to have lunch and splash in the pool before taking the bus back to the pier.

[TDH530]

Can't say enough about Rendezvouse Caye Island. We purchased the excursion thru Carnival and found it to be a reasonable price per person and included the boat ride and equipment. We were picked up from the ship for a forty minute boat ride with informative and intersting facts, maps and photos of Belize and its history shared by enthusiastic tour employees, while equipment was being matched to your size. The island is small, picturesque and Cozy (something you would expect to find as a screen savor photo for your PC) The snorkel equipment was the newest I've seen on any of our excursions. I had no concerns using the equipment. The staff was very freindly, helpful and 3 levels of snorkel fit everyones needs for an enjoyable experience. My husband prefers the scenery of diving but said the coral and sea life was well worth it and he got lots of beautiful under water photographs.

Burgers, and dogs were cooked to order and VERY reasonably priced. Drinks and snacks were available as well as fresh made coconut drinks made with the local Belize Rum "One Barrell". These too were very reasonably priced and generous portions.

Beautiful clean white sand, shade palapa's, clean restooms and changing rooms added to the list of conveniences.

My only complaint: I would have liked to have stayed longer, but Carnival only gave us a 7 hour stop. I look forward to returning to this Beautiful ocean isle again soon, but I think I will book directly with www.AWholiday.com

Rodney with the tour company said the island is available for private functions such as reunion's and weddings and is comfortable for as many as 300 people. A wedding/event coordinator is also available to help plan an unforgetable event. Contact www.AWholiday.com for directly for all tours and pricing.

[Sh1035]

Can't say enough about Rendezvouse Caye Island. We purchased the excursion thru Carnival and found it to be a reasonable price per person and included the boat ride and equipment. We were picked up from the ship for a forty minute boat ride with informative and intersting facts, maps and photos of Belize and its history shared by enthusiastic tour employees, while equipment was being matched to your size. The island is small, picturesque and Cozy (something you would expect to find as a screen savor photo for your PC) The snorkel equipment was the newest I've seen on any of our excursions. I had no concerns using the equipment. The staff was very freindly, helpful and 3 levels of snorkel fit everyones needs for an enjoyable experience. My husband prefers the scenery of diving but said the coral and sea life was well worth it and he got lots of beautiful under water photographs.

Burgers, and dogs were cooked to order and VERY reasonably priced. Drinks and snacks were available as well as fresh made coconut drinks made with the local Belize Rum "One Barrell". These too were very reasonably priced and generous portions.

Beautiful clean white sand, shade palapa's, clean restooms and changing rooms added to the list of conveniences.

My only complaint: I would have liked to have stayed longer, but Carnival only gave us a 7 hour stop. I look forward to returning to this Beautiful ocean isle again soon, but I think I will book directly with www.AWholiday.com

Rodney with the tour company said the island is available for private functions such as reunion's and weddings and is comfortable for as many as 300 people. A wedding/event coordinator is also available to help plan an unforgetable event. Contact www.AWholiday.com for directly for all tours and pricing.

 

 

And your third same post today!!!

[Will in sunny FL]

What is there to do in Belize?? Is there anything good to do there? We have never been here but I hear not to venture in the city not on an excursion. Anyone have advice?

 

If your group enjoys snorkeling on a non ships tour without the big crowds & a local lunch on Caye Caulker, look up the site for Coral Breeze Tours. They run this trip from the Tourist Village & Heni the group leader does an excellent job of showing you the reef & also at the stop where you play with the Rays & Nurse Shark while in the water.

We go with this outfit two times a year & they are really super.

Enjoy Belize.

Bill in FL

[banditoo]

If your group enjoys snorkeling on a non ships tour without the big crowds & a local lunch on Caye Caulker, look up the site for Coral Breeze Tours. They run this trip from the Tourist Village & Heni the group leader does an excellent job of showing you the reef & also at the stop where you play with the Rays & Nurse Shark while in the water.

We go with this outfit two times a year & they are really super.

Enjoy Belize.

Bill in FL

Will, what happens with the Coral Breeze tour if the weather is really rainy and lousy?

[clackey]

We booked our first trip to Belize for the Cavetubing. This is a "MUST DO". Then there is the snorkeling. Then last, but certainly not least, is the ruins. There are several neat ruins tours. Altun Ha is the first to come to mind. We have been to Belize four times and enjoyed every one.

[Kajunswty]

This will be our second time in Belize. We did cave tubing through an independent tour the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. Be sure to research your tour company on here before booking if you aren't going through the cruise line.

 

This trip we booked the snorkel / beach excursion trough CCL.

[Travel Mom]

I am planning my3rd trip to Belize. First we did the ruins and was supposed to go to resort, but they cancelled that. I REALLY regrt seeing that blue water and not going to a beach! 2nd trip we went cave tubing....fantastic. This trip snorkling/beach! If you are a water person, skip the land stuff and find a snorkel tour and a beach....The water is sooo beautiful!

[americanrascal]

"What is there to do in Belize?? Is there anything good to do there? We have never been here but I hear not to venture in the city not on an excursion. Anyone have advice?

 

Have visited Belize 6 times on cruises and will be on number 7 in a few months. Have taken several different types of excursions. Have not done cave tubing as some time back read some threads that scared us away from them. All of our cruises were on Carnival- didn't catch your cruise line.

 

Once did a snorkeling tour to a small island (can't remember the tour or caye. ) That one was a disaster for us- small island - maybe an acre in size??? No cover- rain storm came up. No way back to the ship until the boat arrived to pick us up. Never again. We were there several hours and swam for about 1 hour. Was torture.:)

 

 

We fell in love with the Mayan history there.

 

Have done Xunantunich 3 times out of 6 visits (and will likely do it again). Did Altun Ha River Wallace tour 1X. Xunantunich is hands down the winner and a fantastic visit. You travel bisecting the entire nation getting a good flavor of the geography different economic regions, and the culture. Upon arrival at the site after about a 90 minute bus ride, you cross the River Mopan on a hand rope towed ferry (that's a hoot!!) . Then up the mountain top to the ruins site. There you can climb the main pyramid in the complex for a spectacular view of the surrounding central American area. The complex sits on the Guatemalan border.

 

Altun Ha is OK and we have visited several other ruins in the Yucatan. Xunantunich was and is the best!!. The views can not be described!!

 

Word of caution and suggestion. I urge you to use Carnival (or your cruise line)for the tour. Thats tough to swallow sometimes but this one is different. I believe they include lunch (and they have been good ones)and we did feel that as opposed to many other tours we've been on this one was priced appropriately and was of value.

 

The biggest reason is this is a day long 7-8 hour excursion and one needs to know the ship will wait or that you are covered in the event of a glitch on the tour. Its a very tight time frame but it works and is well worth it. The rate for food, access to the site and transport comes out to about $10.00 per person per hour (plus some change). And in the end we had peace of mind that our 6 was covered as related to catching the ship on a tight time frame in the event of a glitch in the tour.

[Will in sunny FL]

Will, what happens with the Coral Breeze tour if the weather is really rainy and lousy?

 

If the snorkel trip does not go due to the weather, you get a full refund, as far as I know.

The Coral Breeze Tours site should provide this info ?

It is a fine snorkeling trip & we always enjoy the local lunch on Caye Caulker.

Bill in FL