Belize with two year old

[lisamorg]

Hi everyone! I am new here and was hoping for some great advice! We are traveling with our two year old little girl and would love some ideas.

 

Thanks!

Lisa

[driftwood]

This is a country of MUCH SUN, and if you have EVER had a sunburn before in your life, you will know that you DON'T WANT A CRUISE WEEK WITH A SUNBURN!

 

Now for a safe and inexpensive day that might be fun for the whole family, a very short cabride north of Belize City is "Old Belize," a new-built museum with its own waterpark, "Pineapple Beach," attached. The museum is small but attractive, trying to exhibit all of Belize in a postage stamp, so to speak; there are a number of parakeets in a cage outside, and perhaps a few other creatures of interest to small children; there must have been many a ton of sand brought in to create the Pineapple Beach, and it APPEARS to me that it was created primarily to accommodate young children safely and with much to amuse them, while providing plenty of sun to young moms in their briefest bikinis. Of course if that is not enough to make the day for young dads as well, I apologize--just an older generation, I guess! :rolleyes:

[lisamorg]

Driftwood- Thank you so much for your advice on Belize! I appreciate your taking the time to answer me. That does sound like a wonderful day. We will be prepared with lots of sunscreen for our week. We don't go anywhere without it. Growing up in Florida, we have learned it is an everyday necessity:)

 

Any advice on Roatan???

[driftwood]

Can't recommend ziplining in Roatan, however, as they have recently had a fatality, and it was a cruiseship passenger . . . . :( Roatan is just an island, unlike Belize, so I would imagine it is beach and more beach and much like a cruiseline island--plenty to drink, anyway!

[Travel Lover]

I took my now 8 year old to Belize on a cruise when she was 3 and I am taking my soon to be 4 year old this year.

It is hot there for sure so remember that when packing and dressing for the day. Also take water with you...

We did the Baboon Sanctuary which she loved. It was great. Back then we just paid a few dollars and a guide walked us thru the jungle let out a few monkey hollers and down came all the monkies... There was even a baby one. We were able to feed them leaves. I got some great pictures of it. I will do that again with my girls this go around. We also went to Altun Ha. It was nice. It was a little bit of a drive and very hot and sunny while there. But plenty of room for a kid to run around. Not sure if I recommend it for a 2 year old or not. I would not do it with my now 4 yr old. But it just depends on their personalities.

[Travel Lover]

Oh I did not see you asked about Roatan too. We took her to the iguana farm there. It was neat but gross too. There were 100s of iguanas all over small, big, and massive !!!!! Also some big turtles down in the water. We did some other things but that is what she liked. We went to a beach "resort" named Fantasy Island I think. It was nice but it started to rain so we left. I would go back there. IT was a safe beach to play.

[Peacechik]

Hi,

We'll be in Belize City at the end of May on the Carnival Valor with twin two year olds. I've been lucky enough to have visited Belize a couple of times independently and I loved the Belize zoo. And I'm not a zoo-lover. It's been a long time since I was there last, but it was on a smooth major road about 40 min. from the city. It was a fun, naturalistic zoo where you get to see many of the animals in Belize, some which are quite different from any I'd ever seen in zoos at home in the U.S. It was hot there.

 

Our cruise also stops in Roatan, which to me is great for snorkeling/diving, not for incredible beaches (be wary of biting sandfleas), but I'm spoiled by the beaches of Cozumel and the Yucatan. I don't think we'll be going to the iguana farm as knowing my girls, they will be plastered to my side asking to go home if there were hundreds of crawling iguanas around them. Since we're also stopping in Cozumel and Grand Cayman, those will be our beach days. In Roatan, I'll probably try to book something like a flexible half day tour with a guide and a/c car. My girls have never been good car-nappers.

 

I had not heard of "Old Belize". Perhaps that will be our plan B. Thanks for the great tip, as always, Driftwood!

[lisamorg]

Driftwood- I have been trying to do more research this weekend and can only find Old Belize cucumber beach. Is this the same as Pineapple beach? If not, can you tell me where to get more info?

[lisamorg]

Is this excursion offered on Carnival???

[HappyChick]

We stopped in Belize January 07 w/our then 3 y/o and 9 month old sons. We took a water taxi to Bannister Island for the day. Please keep in mind, it was an overcast day, so it was not crowded at all. But, we had a wonderful day. The beach is very nice, soft sand, gentle slope. The boys loved it. There was a small playground there, lots of beach chairs/palapas, clean restroom facilities, etc. We are planning on going back w/them this Christmas (they'll be 5 y/o and 2 y/o).

 

Also, in Roatan, we booked an excursion through Shore Trips to a resort (however, I don't see it listed anymore). I honestly can't remember the name now. It was a small resort w/a wonderful beach and pool. Lunch was included, and it was just wonderful. We loved Roatan and had a great day there.

 

Our boys love to play in the water and sand, and are not much for riding around sightseeing. So, we just plan beach days w/them, and they usually have a blast.

 

Hope you have fun!

 

Lisa

[lisamorg]

Thank you Happy Chick! I want to plan an excursion in advance, so I think I am going to go with Bannister Island. It seems there are a lot of happy travelers and a beautiful beach. I know DD will love it and the playground. Thanks for the tips!

[driftwood]

Cucumber Beach is NOT Pineapple Beach, but essentially just a small water park attached to the Old Belize Museum. If you would like to see more about the operation, here is a link:

 

http://www.oldbelize.com/index.php?section=1

 

This site is not exactly up to date on Cucumber Beach, but when we were there in January it appeared to be open for business. The advantages I perceive are only three: that it is a contained area where it would be easy to keep track of children and would not have the hazards of open water; that it is very inexpensive to get to and to visit; and that a visit would require no prior planning, as the taxi ride is so short anyone could take you there and bring you back.

 

There is an email address given on the website in case you wanted to ask them particular questions (I have not used the email address myself).