What Else Is There?

[HUBison2008]

DH doesn't want to do cave tubing( BOOOOO!), so what else is there to do in Belize?

 

From looking at this board I've gathered the following:

 

Cave Tubing - as mentioned not an option for us

 

Ruins - a possibility

 

Museum - also a possibility

 

Shopping - not interested

 

Ziplining - Going to do this in Honduras so not an option here

 

Fishing - not our cup of tea

 

Did I miss anything? We don't want to stay on the ship, but we will if there isn't anything to do.

 

Thanks

[psbtrvlr]

there is a brewery tour that's interesting.

[CENTEX CRUISER]

We enjoyed Bannister Island...

 

[acook620]

Snorkeling? Check out Coral Breeze Tours, they are highly recommended

[HUBison2008]

Snorkeling? Check out Coral Breeze Tours, they are highly recommended

 

Forgot about snorkeling, but that's not something we're interested in. Thanks anyway

[Cruisegirl6]

We worse because:

1- Father in law can't swim, watersports out but thats fine with me

2- No cave tubing, again the water thing

3- No beach honey hates the sand not now if a nice beach bar that has shade and a floor and no sand would like to have music there if we find a place like this

4- No zip lining we not trust those things and we all hate heights

5- Shopping do it all the time at home not interested

6- Fishing no way ever

7- Ruins, is it worth travelling such a long time to see this little ruin and in the heat not think so

8- Museum been to the best in NY not interested

 

Were going to stay on the ship unless somebody can figure out for us what we can do lol

 

If we hire a cab what is there to see? Not sure if its worth doing any suggestions?

[Litewait]

Tell me more? Bored with the Cave tubing~ Going with a group of 8 women 48-65 yrs old. All still with a spring in their step LOL!

[heathero]

I was thinking the same about Belize, untill I found Coral Breeze 'Taste of Belize' Tour

 

www.coralbreezetours.com

 

 

Sample the full flavor of Belize with our Food and Drink Tasting Tour. In the course of a few hours, we'll introduce you to the ingredients and culinary techniques that make Belizean cuisine special. You'll snack your way through the country's most bountiful farmers' market, learn to make ceviche Belizean style, and visit a renown rum factory. Along the way, you'll also take in the most impressive historical sights of Belize City.

 

So I have booked this tour for December, will let you know what it is like then.

[HUBison2008]

I was thinking the same about Belize, untill I found Coral Breeze 'Taste of Belize' Tour

 

www.coralbreezetours.com

 

 

Sample the full flavor of Belize with our Food and Drink Tasting Tour. In the course of a few hours, we'll introduce you to the ingredients and culinary techniques that make Belizean cuisine special. You'll snack your way through the country's most bountiful farmers' market, learn to make ceviche Belizean style, and visit a renown rum factory. Along the way, you'll also take in the most impressive historical sights of Belize City.

 

So I have booked this tour for December, will let you know what it is like then.

 

This does sound interesting. I might let you know as we're going in November. I'll run it by DH. .

[askimdog]

I had certain goals for Belize on my last cruise:

 

Eat Gibnut

Drink Barrel 1 Rum

Tour Belikin Brewery and drink Belikin and some Guiness there.

Try Cashew Wine

Try to buy Don Omario 10 year old rum.

 

All but the last was completed!!! The Don was hiding, stopped everywhere and all said they couldn't get it

[girlscruise2011]

We are going in November and the Cave Tubing doesn't interest me at all. We have Beach and snorkling at our other stops, so we are doing an Belize Rainforest Jungle ATV Excursion with Shoreexcursioneer dot com.

 

Seems like fun and something different to do. There have been a few reviews on these boards of others that enjoyed it.

[must2cruz]

Just my opinion. We always get off the ship even if we only walk around the port. However in Belieze we have stayed near the port when not doing a tour. You can always return early to the ship but at least you have done something.

[askimdog]

This place ranks VERY high on our list of favorite cruise ports. We normally just walk around and tour places preferring not to zipline,atv, cave tube etc. Belize City first off has some of the nicest folks of any port. Many many stores in town are NOT those who cater to tourists, so you get a more true look at this place. It feels different here and looks different than cookie-cutter ports like Cozumel, Grand Cayman etc.. The early architecture is wonderful in town, very colonial british feeling.

 

To just wander the tourist village is NOT seeing Belize City. Town looks a bit rough and run down, but we felt totally safe and had many friendly greetings and conversations with locals.

 

As with most ports, we tend to get off ship and go several miles inland to explore. Closer to the ship, more fake the experience. I'd rather hit a street vender for food than ever step foot in a Carlos & Charlies/Margaritaville/Fat Tuesday establishment. Plus the $1 beers in town are as cold as the $5 beers in those chain bars.

[funfamilyof6]

Just back from our cruise, and without a doubt, Belize is the worst port we have ever been to.

 

We did a private excursion to Altun Ha and Baboon Sanctuary (very expensive), and we feel like we got robbed. We are not picky people. As a matter of fact, many people complain about Jamaica, which happens to be one of our favorite ports.

 

If you really need to get off the ship, go to the Chocolate Factory. It is located right at the port. You can make chocolate bars and put what you want to in them. I wish we had done this and saved a lot of money! :(

[Kim_KS]

This place ranks VERY high on our list of favorite cruise ports. We normally just walk around and tour places preferring not to zipline,atv, cave tube etc. Belize City first off has some of the nicest folks of any port. Many many stores in town are NOT those who cater to tourists, so you get a more true look at this place. It feels different here and looks different than cookie-cutter ports like Cozumel, Grand Cayman etc.. The early architecture is wonderful in town, very colonial british feeling.

 

To just wander the tourist village is NOT seeing Belize City. Town looks a bit rough and run down, but we felt totally safe and had many friendly greetings and conversations with locals.

 

As with most ports, we tend to get off ship and go several miles inland to explore. Closer to the ship, more fake the experience. I'd rather hit a street vender for food than ever step foot in a Carlos & Charlies/Margaritaville/Fat Tuesday establishment. Plus the $1 beers in town are as cold as the $5 beers in those chain bars.

 

Are the areas you visited close enough to walk? We are planning to take a walk around town at this port - shopping, lunch, etc. Is there anywhere you would recommend that we don't miss? Thanks!

[milanojosh]

We worse because:

1- Father in law can't swim, watersports out but thats fine with me

2- No cave tubing, again the water thing

3- No beach honey hates the sand not now if a nice beach bar that has shade and a floor and no sand would like to have music there if we find a place like this

4- No zip lining we not trust those things and we all hate heights

5- Shopping do it all the time at home not interested

6- Fishing no way ever

7- Ruins, is it worth travelling such a long time to see this little ruin and in the heat not think so

8- Museum been to the best in NY not interested

 

Were going to stay on the ship unless somebody can figure out for us what we can do lol

 

If we hire a cab what is there to see? Not sure if its worth doing any suggestions?

 

If you, by chance, enjoy casinos, we visited the Princess Hotel & Casino several years ago. A cheap, close cab ride from the tourism village.

[Abear2]

I have been to Belize a couple of times before, but never saw a chocolate factory! Can you please tell me a little ore about it, location once you get off the ship etc... We will have my 4 year old grandson with us, so this sounds like something he would like to do. Thanks so much!

[funfamilyof6]

I have been to Belize a couple of times before, but never saw a chocolate factory! Can you please tell me a little ore about it, location once you get off the ship etc... We will have my 4 year old grandson with us, so this sounds like something he would like to do. Thanks so much!

 

I think it depends on what ship you come from. For us coming from Carnival Liberty, it was to the left. The area is not really big, so you should be able to find it easily. We passed it on the way to our private excursion. The Chocolate Factory is before you go outside the gate, so you will be safe. The people I know who did it really enjoyed it. Since I didn't do the Chocolate Factory myself, I can't give you more details. I know it doesn't take that long, just about a half hour. I'm sure a 4 year old would love it. :)

[JZADI]

DH doesn't want to do cave tubing( BOOOOO!), so what else is there to do in Belize?

 

From looking at this board I've gathered the following:

 

Cave Tubing - as mentioned not an option for us

 

Ruins - a possibility

 

Museum - also a possibility

 

Shopping - not interested

 

Ziplining - Going to do this in Honduras so not an option here

 

Fishing - not our cup of tea

 

Did I miss anything? We don't want to stay on the ship, but we will if there isn't anything to do.

 

Thanks

 

I heard the Belize zoo was small but an amazing experience. It's definitely on my list of considerations...anyone have any adventures and details to share about the zoo?:confused:

[Mississippian]

I heard the Belize zoo was small but an amazing experience. It's definitely on my list of considerations...anyone have any adventures and details to share about the zoo?:confused:

We visited the Belize Zoo seven years ago after a trip to San Pedro. We spent one day on the mainland. It is a really neat zoo, all the animals are in a sort of natural habitat. Very rustic, with gravel paths. Not only did my children enjoy it, my wife and I enjoyed it greatly. And the zoo is not THAT small, but it is limited to animals found in Belize. I think there is a restaurant.

 

Here are a couple of photos that we took:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/28228023/travel/belize%20zoo%201.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/28228023/travel/belize%20zoo%202.jpg

 

We are planning a Western Caribbean cruise and the primary reason is to go to Belize and visit the Belize Zoo and other sites again. I will tell you our plans, always subject to change. We plan to rent a car, then take the Western Highway past Hattieville to the Zoo. We will allow 1.5 hours for this, although the drive itself should only take 25 minutes once out of the city, but it takes a while to get the car rented and out of town.

 

After visiting the zoo we will head back through Hattieville and turn north (left) on the Burrell Boom road. About one mile north of the Western Highway is the Belize Prison, and there is a giftshop on the road where there of lots of wood carvings and other things made by the prisoners for sale. They use the proceeds to buy soap and other toiletries. There are some good values here and it's kind of a neat place to visit.

 

After 30 minutes at the gift shop we will continue north to Burrell Boom where if we have pushed ourselves we will get an EARLY lunch at El Chiclero Inn. The only reason we're stopping here is because Dr. Karl Faulkner, age 81, is the brother of a friend. As a young man he leased a plantation in my home county before moving to British Hounduras (Belize), where he bought quite a bit of land, which he eventually sold, save for the inn. He was robbed and beaten up pretty badly a couple of years ago. Anyway, I met him by accident seven years ago and figured I'd drop in if the inn is still open.

 

Altun Ha is about a 30 minute drive from Boomtown. So we should have no problem making it to Altun Ha and seeing this great ruin. Last time I saw it was 1990 and my friend and I were literally the only ones there. Belize has more tourists now. After Altun Ha we will return to port and I expect we will have plenty of time to browse the shops at the artificial tourist village.

 

Obviously I'm looking forward to our stop in Belize. I hope the weather cooperates! I get a little distressed when people suggest that Belize is the worst stop on the trip! There are a lot of other neat things to do, but these are just the things we plan on doing when we visit.

[TriciaEMTB]

Hey cruise buddy!

 

You should come cave tubing with us and leave DH on the boat! :P!

 

I was looking at a ruin excursion through Carnival but unfortunately couldn't get my cousin to agree to switch, the pictures made it look beautiful though. IT was the X-somethingsomethingsomething one. It got great reviews. I'm really bummed, I was hoping to see at least one ruin. Cave tubing sounds fun though.

 

For the non swimmer I read on Major Tom's site that they take additional staff and safety measures to accomodate non swimmers, so maybe you could look into it if it interests you otherwise!

[americanrascal]

DH doesn't want to do cave tubing( BOOOOO!), so what else is there to do in Belize?

 

From looking at this board I've gathered the following:

 

Cave Tubing - as mentioned not an option for us

 

Ruins - a possibility

 

Museum - also a possibility

 

Shopping - not interested

 

Ziplining - Going to do this in Honduras so not an option here

 

Fishing - not our cup of tea

 

Did I miss anything? We don't want to stay on the ship, but we will if there isn't anything to do.

 

Thanks

 

Think we've done a good bit of this place over 6 visits. The top rated place for us was Xunantunich. Its a great motor coach ride that bisects the country to Guatamala. Then across a small hand crank ferry and up in a van to the mountain top for a spectacular view across central America from a mountian top ruin. The tours we were on through Carnival had a nice lunch stop and a small bit of shopping. Ate up the whole day and was great (I'd only book this one through the cruise though as its a full day). We though it was a good value as an excursion.

 

The most awesome of the 3 (or maybe 4 ) separate excursions to Xunantunich was the time we planned tons of 35 MM photography. Loaded up lens(s) and cameras and away we went. Shot spectacular sites all day long on this tour. On the way back- opened the cameras---never loaded them with film. Guess we ought to go back again and do digital--- of we remember a battery.

[americanrascal]

Are the areas you visited close enough to walk? We are planning to take a walk around town at this port - shopping, lunch, etc. Is there anywhere you would recommend that we don't miss? Thanks!

 

Have been there a 6 times as we can recall and all of us on CC boards see and experience things in different ways. Of the many ports we've been to in the Caribbean over the past 2 decades none has made us feel more unsafe than Belize City proper outside the tourist village.

 

We have left the tourist village 5 of the 6 times there, but will never walk by ourselves around the city outside of an organized tour. We have seen some things that made us very uncomfortable passing through the city. Outside the city its very different and we have always had a great experience--- and there is much beauty in the land and many people in this country.

 

You will see many different views of this city on these boards. Please explore them carefully before you decide to go on your own outside the tourist village gates.

[pdmlynek]

Are the areas you visited close enough to walk? We are planning to take a walk around town at this port - shopping, lunch, etc. Is there anywhere you would recommend that we don't miss? Thanks!

 

I love Belize. It is a wonderful country. The nature, the cultural mix of people, the diving, the Mayan ruins, the islands, etc. are simply spectacular. My family and I, like so many other Americans, enjoy it very much.

 

Having said that, you need to realize that Belize is a Third World country. Corruption, drugs trafficking, poverty, and crime are rampant. Especially the last one. The country Belize has one of the highest crime rates in the world (4th or 5th; see for example ex-pat’s discussion on this at http://www.belizeforum.com/belize/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=214004&page=1 ). Yes, the murder rates in Belize are about 10 times greater than Syria, or Afghanistan, or other countries that make the nightly news.

 

But not the entire country is crime-prone. Some places in Belize are safer. And some places in Belize are more dangerous. Belize City falls into the second category. The majority of ex-pats, or visitors who are familiar with Belize tell newbies to avoid Belize City unless there is something that they really need to see. And there is not much to see in Belize City (“Well, there is the Swing Bridge, and …. the Swing Bridge, and …. oh yeah, the Swing Bridge! Did I mention the Swing Bridge?”)

 

So, Kim, if you want to look around Belize City, by all means go ahead, but you do need to know what you are doing. I would not recommend wearing touristy clothes, flip-flops, wearing fanny packs, wearing SLRs around the neck, just wondering aimlessly around. Especially someone who, judging from your picture, is a beautiful young woman. Know how to walk, know how to dress, know what you want to see, know how to spot trouble, know how to spot scams, know if you should or should not call the police if you get into trouble, etc. (In most places in Belize if you call the cops, the cop on the line will ask you to come and pick him up so that he can help you -- a lot of police do not have cars, because Belize is a poor country so they can’t afford them, and because any police cars that a police department has are generally unavailable for police work because the cars are used by the police chief’s wife/brother/cousin for various other reasons. And unless you have the cops on the payroll, there is not much that the cops would be willing to do for you. Why would they help you if you are in trouble? What’s in it for them? And you have to pay off the right cops; just ask what happened to Mr. McAfee when he happened to have the wrong police faction on his payroll).

 

Belize is beautiful, but just know what you are getting yourself into.

 

Good luck!