Worth getting off the boat??

[lollylew]

I have read in other threads that you don't go wandering on your own while in Belize (only go on excursions) and now with the murder of the manager at Barrister Island, I am wondering if I should just stay on the boat while in port (we weren't planning on doing any excursions while there...just really wanted to go to the beach). What would you do?? Stay on boat or get off? Just curious :confused:

[stlrboo]

From what I've seen of Belize, it is NOT like Costa Maya, GC or COZ, where you can get off the ship and 'head for a beach'..:rolleyes:

The 'better' beaches can be found thru a short excursion thru one of the 'at port' vendors..:)

 

Cruise passengers are warned not to venture 'thru' the gate.. into Belize... Everything inside the gate is fine, but no beach access, so to speak..

 

We hate to NOT get off the ship in a port we have never visited.. At least grab the tender and wander around at the pier.. Just don't expect the 'FREE beach access'..:p IMHO! :cool:

[simkoreb]

I've been there 3 times, 4th in a few weeks...

We did cave tubing, ruins, and the 3rd time stayed on the boat. It was nice to not have to worry about tendering. Actually, we did get off for about an hour and walk around the shops, but it was just a quiet, relaxing day. Definatly nothing wrong with that if you don't want to pay for an excursion.

[lollylew]

I've been there 3 times, 4th in a few weeks...

We did cave tubing, ruins, and the 3rd time stayed on the boat. It was nice to not have to worry about tendering. Actually, we did get off for about an hour and walk around the shops, but it was just a quiet, relaxing day. Definatly nothing wrong with that if you don't want to pay for an excursion.

 

Yeah this might just be what we do...wander around "inside the gates" and do some shopping. :)

[RVman]

We walked outside the gate across the river into the city, although we never really felt threaten I never felt safe either.

I never saw any warnings about not going into the city on your own. I might have reconsidered our actions if I had.

We had a couple beggars come up and ask for money and a few offered us pot for sale but other than that we weren’t bothered just looked at.. Would I do it again? No I’ll do an excursion next time

One other thing that I haven't seen anything on that I found out about later and that's the prevalent of T.B. that's there

We might just stay on the ship ourselves when we return in September.

[RVman]

Yeah this might just be what we do...wander around "inside the gates" and do some shopping. :)

 

If any of you are beer drinkers there was a little place that sold beers for two for 5.00 inside the pier area.

We might just do that and then head back to the ship

[Perfect Stranger]

If any of you are beer drinkers there was a little place that sold beers for two for 5.00 inside the pier area.

We might just do that and then head back to the ship

 

Would that be the Wet Lizard? Is that place considered "inside the gates"?

[cricket59]

We are booked with a private tour company who's owner is an American and has lived in Belize many years, we are booked with them for the third time in April. I sent him an email to ask his opinion of the safety of the area around the dock and the overall situation in Belize, I'm curious about his opinion of the situation, although just an opinion, it will be a different point of view. I'll pass along any info I get.

 

PS - love the Wet Lizard, their T-shirts make the best souvenirs!

[gt95stang]

Can someone please explain the difference in the area "inside the gates" and "outside the gates"? All I'm picturing is something like the "green zone" in Baghdad, which I'm assuming is a bit of an extreme analogy.

[simkoreb]

It's been a few years, but this is what my foggy memory remembers...

 

You tender into a large area filled with shops. It is surrounded by a fence (if I remember correctly) and there is a gate to enter/exit this fenced off area. I believe it is to keep regular Belize citizens out, and if you do exit, I am almost positive you have to show your ID to reenter. I left the area once for a tour when I did cave tubing, and I'm pretty sure we had to verify we were cruise passengers to get back into the "fence." I have never wandered outside the fenced area by myself.

[RenfrewSue]

Just got back and Belize was the best part of the trip by far. Do yourself a favour and book a trip to the caves with Coral Breeze. There isn't a lot to do inside the port area and it's not very nice looking. Getting out you see Belize and the cave tour we did was awesome. The lunch included was fabulous and we saw parrots and other cool birds. You have two full days at sea to spend on the ship so it would be a shame to miss seeing some of Belize!

[beardens]

We were just there last week and had a nice carriage ride.

We were approached by a woman and offered us 15 dollar pp (kids free) for a carriage ride around the city.

Here are some pictures:

The carriage and the couple we rode with

 

 

Houses we drove by

 

Belize school kids - running along the carriage

 

shops outside of the gates

 

There were a lot carriages outside of the gates waiting to give services.

I would definitely recommend to go out of the gates to see what Belize is.

[RVman]

We were just there last week and had a nice carriage ride.

We were approached by a woman and offered us 15 dollar pp (kids free) for a carriage ride around the city.

Here are some pictures:

The carriage and the couple we rode with

 

 

Houses we drove by

 

Belize school kids - running along the carriage

 

shops outside of the gates

 

There were a lot carriages outside of the gates waiting to give services.

I would definitely recommend to go out of the gates to see what Belize is.

 

Please don’t be offended but the horse we saw on the carriage ride was in poor shape, the poor thing didn't have any horse shoes and its huffs had worn down to almost nothing.

He looked very sick and NOT taken care of at all. Personally I wish people wouldn't rent them.

[beardens]

Please don’t be offended but the horse we saw on the carriage ride was in poor shape, the poor thing didn't have any horse shoes and its huffs had worn down to almost nothing.

He looked very sick and NOT taken care of at all. Personally I wish people wouldn't rent them.

 

Wow...I don't know anything about horses. Thanks.

Maybe people can pick a better taken care of horse?!

[jollycruise]

We LOVED Belize. We found a tour operator once off the tender. He took us on a private tour of the Mayan Ruins. We learned all about Belize, his family, the culture, the plants & of course the Mayan Ruins. It was a great tour!!! "Chicken" Road was a highlight ;)

[gt95stang]

We LOVED Belize. We found a tour operator once off the tender. He took us on a private tour of the Mayan Ruins. We learned all about Belize, his family, the culture, the plants & of course the Mayan Ruins. It was a great tour!!! "Chicken" Road was a highlight ;)

Where did you find your guide and how did you know he was "reputable"?

 

If I was visiting the country, I'd probably be willing to go with a a private tour guide I just found "on the street". But on a cruise, my concern would be that he drive me out in the country 30 miles and then extort me to get me back to the boat on time.

[GinDon]

In my opinion, it's always worth getting off the boat! You have a chance to see a country far removed from your own. Even if you just take a short "city tour" , offered by the cruise line, you'll at least get an idea what Belize is like. We did cave-tubing, and got to see some of the city along the way. There's lots of possibilites to do, if you research. Belize gets a bad rap because it's poor, but it's an experience.

[jollycruise]

Where did you find your guide and how did you know he was "reputable"?

 

If I was visiting the country, I'd probably be willing to go with a a private tour guide I just found "on the street". But on a cruise, my concern would be that he drive me out in the country 30 miles and then extort me to get me back to the boat on time.

 

Like I stated in my post we found the tour operator once we got off the tender. There are several tour company's there waiting to sell their tours. We had no idea if he was as you stated "reputable". We didn't just find him on the streets. We are open minded people and did a lot of research about this port. We found out prior to arriving that there are several tour operators waiting once yoiu get off the tender selling tours. We heard nothing but good things about these tour company's. The gentlemen we found was great and we had a wonderful time with him. He showed us the true beauty of his country. NEVER ONCE did I worry about being with him. He even took us to his daughters pre school so we could hand out toys we brought with us. It was wonderful to see the children. Our DS who is 13 had the most fun on our visit to Belize. He still talks about Manny (our guide) and we also have sent him e-mails thanking him for our tour and letting him know that we will refer him any chance we get. Belize is a port where having a tour or excursion is the best way to experience the area. If you are truly paranoid about extortion just stay on the ship