What to do if you aren't doing an excursion??

[hnokes]

My family (husband age 49 and two grown sons ages 20 and 26) and I will be leaving in 11 days and heading to Roatan, Belize and Cozumel on the RCCL Navigator of the Seas. :D We will not be doing an excursion in Belize.

 

~Can anyone tell us what we can do in Belize without doing an excursion?

~Are there any beaches within walking distance from the port?

~Is there anything we should not miss while in Belize?

 

Any help before we leave would be most appreciated.

 

Thanks! :):)

[zqvol]

My family (husband age 49 and two grown sons ages 20 and 26) and I will be leaving in 11 days and heading to Roatan, Belize and Cozumel on the RCCL Navigator of the Seas. :D We will not be doing an excursion in Belize.

 

~Can anyone tell us what we can do in Belize without doing an excursion?

~Are there any beaches within walking distance from the port?

~Is there anything we should not miss while in Belize?

 

Any help before we leave would be most appreciated.

 

Thanks! :):)

 

If you don't do an excursion, either through the ship or privately arranged, just stay on the ship. There is nothing much in Belize City.

 

Yahoo lists it as one of the five worst cruise ports.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/the-worst-caribbean-cruise-ports-of-call-104735967252.html

[OCruisers]

There's not much to do when you don't book an excursion in Belize.

No beaches -- a trip to one of their barrier islands is needed to go to a beach.

Within the port complex there are a some shops and the Wet Lizard is an enjoyable bar overlooking harbor.

Enjoy your cruise! :)

LuLu

[crewsweeper]

By not doing an excursion, do you mean a ship sponsored excursion?

 

Reach out to one of the private vendors for cavetubing (info on this board). Or you can try your luck and see if you can hook up with one at the port (take as early of a tender as you can). Your family is at a great age to get out and see the country and cavetubing should be fun for your sons!

 

At the least, take a tender into port. Walk outside the port complex and to your right along the palisades and see the small light house. Circle back to the flea market outside the port which has better prices for souvenirs than inside the port. Then head up to the swing bridge, cross over and continue left to Bird's Isle and enjoy a nice view , a Belikin brew and some local cuisine in a tropical setting.

[houstoncruisers2001]

to your right along the palisades and see the small light house. Circle back to the flea market outside the port which has better prices for souvenirs than inside the port. Then head up to the swing bridge, cross over and continue left to Bird's Isle and enjoy a nice view , a Belikin brew and some local cuisine in a tropical setting.

 

I'd agree. If you have never been to Belize, I'd say get off the ship and wander around a bit. Not much to do is correct, but you don't have to stay long. The tenders come and go all the time.

[Green Onions]

To answer one of the original poster's questions, there aren't any beaches nearby, although there is a park with a concrete headwall along the bay not too far away.

 

On our cruise last week we went in to the port with the idea we would figure out what to do when we got there. We walked up to one of the many guys waiving a sign advertising tours, talked to him for about 3 minutes, and ended up with four others on a very personalized tour of Altan Ha and a city tour of Belize City. We learned a lot about the history, economy, agriculture, and culture of Belize.

 

Returning to the cruise terminal, we visited the Moho Chocolate factory and I enjoyed a Belikin Beer before boarding the tender back to the ship.

 

All in all the day turned out better than we had expected.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Green Onions

[NoOtherVacay]

By not doing an excursion, do you mean a ship sponsored excursion?

 

Reach out to one of the private vendors for cavetubing (info on this board). Or you can try your luck and see if you can hook up with one at the port (take as early of a tender as you can). Your family is at a great age to get out and see the country and cavetubing should be fun for your sons!

 

At the least, take a tender into port. Walk outside the port complex and to your right along the palisades and see the small light house. Circle back to the flea market outside the port which has better prices for souvenirs than inside the port. Then head up to the swing bridge, cross over and continue left to Bird's Isle and enjoy a nice view , a Belikin brew and some local cuisine in a tropical setting.

 

You saw all that by walking? Did you feel safe? We will be going to Belize with our children (10 and 13) and don't plan to book an excursion through the ship or otherwise.

 

Thanks in advance! :)

[hnokes]

We will not be doing any excursion as we have other excursions booked at the other ports. They get expensive when you are paying for four people so we decided not to do excursions in Belize.

 

Thank you for the input. I think we will do as stated, at least get off the ship to look around. If the tenders are often enough we can go back to the ship whenever we decide.

 

Thanks!

[danda0624]

If you get off the ship, you can get your passport stamped in a booth near the exit of the terminal. From there you can walk around the flea market that was previously mentioned or go explore. Be careful while there, the State Department has several warnings for Belize that you can access from their website. We took a bus on a little city tour that took us to a winery in town for a very small price. There are plenty of local excursions you can take from the pier.

[In2why]

This is my favorite place to hang out, shop, and people watch. Once you leave the gates you walk right to get to the small lighthouse and the shopping at the flea markets and stalls is much less expensive then in the ports. If you go left there is another bunch of stalls and a bridge that leads towards town.

[carlakruz]

By not doing an excursion, do you mean a ship sponsored excursion?

 

Reach out to one of the private vendors for cavetubing (info on this board). Or you can try your luck and see if you can hook up with one at the port (take as early of a tender as you can). Your family is at a great age to get out and see the country and cavetubing should be fun for your sons!

 

At the least, take a tender into port. Walk outside the port complex and to your right along the palisades and see the small light house. Circle back to the flea market outside the port which has better prices for souvenirs than inside the port. Then head up to the swing bridge, cross over and continue left to Bird's Isle and enjoy a nice view , a Belikin brew and some local cuisine in a tropical setting.

I love your response. We have been several times and have done excursions and had a wonderful time. We have also done exactly as you suggested and had a wonderful day, We never felt unsafe and were loving the hospitable Belize people.