Belize, things to do or see?

[cruiseroutfit]

Anyone been? What were the highlights? Lowlights? Where did you stay? Rent a car or public transportation?

 

[gijohn40]

I know the cruiselines have a one day excursion where you can do the zipline thru the jungle and the pictures they posted look great!

I was there in 89 for 3 days... we stayed on the beach in lounge chairs (3 days r&r with the army) and just walked to the small town near by.

 

[mbryson]

We've been there twice for a day. Did the zip line cave tubing thing both times. There's some pretty cool ruins to see in the area that I'll go see if I go again

 

[Jeepj667]

If you are scuba certified there is awesome diving in Belize. The blue hole.

 

[blznnp]

I don't know but interested to see what you come up with, we are wanting to go there later this year....or somewhere else. We want to go some where tropical for our 10 year. Anywhere to far away, mainly if it is long distance over water, then its out due to my wife not liking to fly over water.

 

[Cutrer4]

The cave tubing is amazing! Scuba diving can't be beat. Snorkeling in the marine preserve is awesome as well.

 

[Marsh99]

My dad has always said that was the best place to scuba dive.

 

[nnnnnate]

When are you going? One of my previous bosses went down a bunch for scuba as well...looks like you need to get a scuba cert.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Thanks for the intel, keep it coming!

Scuba is for sure on our hit list. My wife and I are both PADI certified and have enjoyed dives on many of our adventures.

 

[Jinx]

Isn't Roatan an island off of Belize?

We hit it on a Cruise stop about 10 years ago and it was one of our favorite stops...

BEAUTIFUL, back then it wasn't very tourist trappy yet...

 

[rholbrook]

Belize is probably the 2nd best place to dive behind the Barrier Reef. It is the best in Central America. I would suggest diving. There are lots of ruins in Belize but it depends on where you are going there. If you have time and are real adventurous you could always slip in to Guatamala and hit Tikal too. Two years ago by two oldest spent time waiting out a huricane there. The windows got blown out of their hotel even with them being boarded up. Took them nearly an extra week to get to and out of Belize City. They spent a 3 weeks in Guatamala and a total of nearly 2 in Belize. They had the time of their lives.

 

[idahoyj]

We did the cruise ship excursion with the zip line. It was awesome. We still talk about it semi-frequently! We did the cave tubing on that trip also, but I'm not 100% sure it was in Belize.

 

[mbryson]

Isn't Roatan an island off of Belize?

We hit it on a Cruise stop about 10 years ago and it was one of our favorite stops...

BEAUTIFUL, back then it wasn't very tourist trappy yet...

Roatan is off of Honduras. Was awesome 8 years ago when we went, less awesome when we went two months ago (still didn't suck). A few tourist trap places now. Belize from a cruise ship you have to tender to shore over brown water Not as appealing as other stops, but we have had good fun in Belize.

 

[ID Bronco]

sweet fly fishing, really sweet fly fishing

 

[MOODY]

Stayed at the Almond Beach Resort just outside of the village of Hopkins. Drank a lot of Belikin. Snorkel/Scuba/Ruins are all great. The US dollar is king. No rental of a car, we had a hilux come pick us up from the tiny airport.

 

[Cody]

Just stay away from Belize City. I've heard the islands are awesome, but the city was sketchy .

 

[spaggyroe]

I thought Belize city was sketchy. The cave tubing was pretty neat and it's really scenic once you get away from the city. Roatan island was much better IMO, and has a killer barrier reef to scuba in / around / over, or whatever you do while scuba-ing.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Isn't Roatan an island off of Belize?...

Wait, did I mention Roatan? Funny you do as that is Plan B (or in my wife's opinion Plan A). BUT, I've been to Honduras (not Roatan but Candace has) and I'd rather go someplace 100% new to both of us. Roatan does look very pretty.

Belize is probably the 2nd best place to dive behind the Barrier Reef. It is the best in Central America. I would suggest diving. There are lots of ruins in Belize but it depends on where you are going there. If you have time and are real adventurous you could always slip in to Guatamala and hit Tikal too...

Great intel, diving is a priority for us and we've heard nothing but good about Belize dives. PS we've done Great Barrier Reef and Tikal too

Just stay away from Belize City. I've heard the islands are awesome, but the city was sketchy .

Interesting... like Tijuana sketchy or hills have eyes sketchy?

 

[nnnnnate]

Copy/Pasta from a couple different sites:

While most visits to Belize are trouble-free, violent crime can be a problem. It is confined mainly to Belize City, but serious crimes, some targeting tourists, also occur in the Mountain Pine Ridge area and the ruins near the Guatemalan border. The use of common sense to avoid dangerous situations.

Due to the extremely high murder rate per capita, Belize is the sixth most violent country in the world, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, with an average of over 40 homicides per 100,000 residents.

A bit more detail. This link says the city is bad news but the islands are pretty safe.

 

[mesha]

Not sure about all the fun stuff, but we are heading there june of 2016. You will have to do a trip report so I know