Any Belize suggestions for non-touristy/commercialized, more natural & remote areas?

[Tabbykatt3]

Any Belize suggestions for non-touristy/commercialized, more natural & remote areas, lodging and dive operators?

Two families with adult children and friends. 10 people in total. 6 divers and 4 non divers, but like snorkeling. All also want to experience non-diving adventures. One diver is in a phd program on Ecosystems Science and Management specializing in the coastal environment. Another diver is an environmental scientist and engineer specializing in wetlands.

In January we went to natural, remote and empty Little Cayman Island for diving and exploring after spending 2 days touring commercialized and crowed Grand Cayman. In Little Cayman we stayed at Conch Club Condos (needed 2-3 rooms per family) and dove with non-cattle boat Conch Club Divers. Had an outstanding time diving Bloody Bay including Bloody Wall and Jackson Wall.

Thus looking for location, lodging and dive operator suggestions for Belize which are more natural, remote and uncrowded like Little Cayman. No cattle boats. Need 2-3 bedrooms per family. Any must do dive sites? More presitine and less visited dive sites?

Also looking for suggestions for tour operators/ideas for non-diving eco/natural tours and historic sites/activities such as jungle tour with zip line, ruins, kayaking in the mangroves, etc..

Thanks for your help.

Kurt

 

[robint]

you have a bit of a problem in that all the diving is done on the outer atolls, all the eco stuff is on the mainland. You can't really do both easily each day without some travel involved.

check out this website: Ecotourism and Adventure Tours in Belize, Central America by Discovery Expeditions

I would suggest you do a resort out on one of the atolls, like Ambergris for most of trip and dive from there. The non-divers can do some of the trips to mainland if they wish but then all of the group should do a few days inland at one of the resorts near the ruins in the jungle. Just a thought.

 

[peterbj7]

A remote and apparently lovely diving venue is Thatch Caye - no doubt they'll come on line here shortly. But Robin is right - you have to choose your type of activity, so maybe a two center holiday is what you need. It's easily arranged.

 

[Thatch Caye Belize]

Hi, Thatch Caye I think is what you may be looking for. We are an eco resort located right on the edge of the South Water Caye Marine Reserve and we also do inland tours to waterfalls, caves, and Mayan ruins. We cater especially to diver/non-diver groups and to families. We even have a family villa complex that we rent out as a whole to families. We do daily snorkelling trips out to the reef and we do daily dives as well. We also have packages that combine Mayan ruin tours, cave tubing, waterfall sightseeing, and medicine trail hikes with a good week of diving and snorkelling. And we can do all three atolls from here as extras to your package. Check us out on the net and then keep in touch with me if you need further info.

 

[Thatch Caye Belize]

We do mangrove kayaking here also. Today we are taking two of our tourists to do some mangrove kayaking with our guide. He will take them snorkelling in the mangroves as well and show them fire sponges, juvenille fish, anenomes, baby lobster, etc. in the mangrove roots. While kayaking they will be looking for manatees, which are abundant in our lagoons around here.

 

[Bubba1]

Thatch Caye ,
I'm going to have to come see you myself.
I curious now.

 

[Hank49]

I'll be going to Thatch Caye tomorrow. I need a break and want to go on a boat where I don't have to do all the work when I get home. It's nice to come home and only have to wash my gear.
But you Ambergris guys should arrange to come down and we'll check out this area. I'm really familiar with the cayes off of Placencia and have free dived a lot of that area. But between Tobacco and Crawl Caye to the south, I've yet to explore...other than a few dives off of Southwater Caye. I do know there's a lot more fish down Tobacco and Thatch caye and farther south than there is up here around Southern Long to Rendezvous though. It's fished out here.

 

[Thatch Caye Belize]

Come one, come all. We will treat everyone with lots of friendliness and good dives and snorkels and whatever else is within our powers to provide you with. Hank can tell the board his impressions after tomorrow.

 

[Redondoscubadude]

You might check out Isla Marisol on Glover's. Very remote and incredible diving.

 

[Hank49]

I was at Thatch Caye Belize yesterday and last night. I'd been by there on my boat a few times but didn't realize it's proximity to Dangriga, which is only about 20-30 minutes by boat depending on the weather. This makes it convenient to get to the land based activities for a day trip, including cave tubing or hiking or Mayan ruin trips. But more importantly...for me anyway...puts it about 15 minutes from some of the better diving in Belize. Nice walls on the reef down this way. Woke up at 5 am to glass calm seas and could hear the waves on the reef a ways out. Too bad I had to get back to work early this morning.
Nice rooms, great food...especially the fresh grouper ....and a nice touch with some of the local wildlife roaming the island.