Belize/Roatan Questions

[aliecon]

IMO another thing to consider is to check Cruise schedules. In Grand Cayman we had about 10 (yes 10) boats floating above us. It was so crowded underwater that we ran into another group and tried to seperate from them.

Cozumel was as good as Roatan for me. No boats except ours and have seen almost everything. If the place is "hot", it attracts so many people and they scare away everything and there is not much to see.

 

[diverdowndh]

Wow, what sites were you diving in GC? If you go to GC try RedBaronDivers.com. Nick and Patrick will take you where the other people are NOT. Tell them I said hello! I've had really good luck on GC with these guys...

 

[Sherald]

We stayed at Banana Beach Resort on Ambergris Caye over Thanksgiving. It was clean and the staff were helpful and friendly. I was not impressed with the Caye. The diving was good but I was expecting something more. The trip to the Blue Hole was $250.00 and a 2+ hour boat ride to get there. We did not get to go due to weather the day we were booked. We went zip lining and cave tubing, that was fun. I would not go back to Ambergirs, it is expensive. If I go back to Belize it will be to Turneffe.

 

[yakivet]

Don't drink the water, especially if it is out of an already opened water bottle! Do not believe that it is refilled with purified water, 'cause you'll end up like I did, sick for most of your vacation.... really, really sick.

Why would you EVER drink ANYTHING from an OPENED water bottle that YOU didn't fill up?

 

[VivaCaribe]

quick comments, perhaps of some help to you...
1. Caye Caulker smaller, cheaper, and more laid back than Ambergris. Diving similar.
2. Diving off Ambergris and Caulker not the greatest. Not as good as barrier reef farther south and certainly not as good as the atolls. "Shark Alley" ... only if you like feeding "tame" rays and nurse sharks. (It is next to Hol Chan, which is a decent night dive area off Ambergris)
3. If you can get to Turneffe and especially Lighthouse, will be world class. No longer easy trip as I dont think anyone does overnight trips (previously could go out 2-3-4 days, stay on Half Moon or the boat) and it's a haul to Lighthouse (Lighthouse includes Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye) for day trips.
4. Cayo area (San Ignacio) is nice. If you can spend a day going to Tikal in Peten, well worth it. If you like birding, canoeing, finding the baboons (howler monkeys)...pretty good area. The trendy inns are expensive (DuPlooys, etc). They are nice tho. There are cheap spots. You can rent-a-wreck in cayo and get around nicely. Trip to Caracol is a long day but worth considering.
5. Roatán? that would be a whole other trip. South side (CoCoView) is consistent, easy, decent wall diving and CCV gives you 4 dives a day and some do 5 (hearty souls). Self-contained so a little confining. You will dive, eat, drink, sleep, period. Fantasy Island is a couple hundred meters away, fancier, less serious-diver oriented. (Ive never been there).

 

[Scuba Scotty]

Just got back,

Well if reading this board and reconciling my experience shows anything, it's that personal preference trumps all.

We had an absolutely fabulous time in Belize. Loved Caye Caulker, weren't hassled for drugs at any time and we're prime candidates in our mid-twenties. Great diving, nice and cheap, good food.

Loved San Pedro and Ambergris Caye! Expensive? I guess it depends on your style, it was cheap for us and had great variety, super fun. A few marginal dive sites, mostly great diving though. Pretty damn good corals, and wildlife like crazy.

San Ignacio was great. Did ATM, went to Tikal, tons to do in this area.

Placencia - we had a great time there and enjoyed the decent beaches. This place is so in flux though, it identity is changing and the place doesn't seem like it will be at peace with the changes for a long time to come. We didn't enjoy the endless gringo developments - homes, second homes, exclusive hotels... gives the place a weird feel. It seemed like most of these new inhabitants had no interest in assimilating into a Belizean lifestyle, they just want their own piece of paradise and they're happy to push out the locals in doing so. We me some great locals and had a great time, but I doubt I'll ever be back...

Orange Walk and Lamanai were interesting and fun. Barely saw any other travelers in town, and we really got a taste of normal life in inland Belize. Lamanai was awesome, different than Tikal, had its own special charm.

Belize City, run down and feels a bit scary at first but we ended up doing a lot there with no problems, people were actually quite friendly, and we had fun.

Belize Zoo, great fun for a few hours. We got there early and had the place to ourselves, it was a special and unique experience.

Diving: The local dives were great, of 10 local sites we dove only 2 to were marginal. Turneffe was awesome and had much better corals, similar marine life. We were rained out 5 days straight for Blue Hole/ Lighthouse. Much cheaper of Caye Caulker and, in our opinion, more solid operators. We dove with a few shops, all were safe, most were great and left nothing wanting, some were a little less organized...

Belize is great, we'll be back for sure. Very surprised to hear by the negative tone of this thread, it seems almost like we visited different places. I wouldn't hesitate to send any friend to any of the places we went.

-Scotty

 

[diverdowndh]

I am glad your experience was good, you have me almost wanting to give it a second chance. I loved Ambergris, just not Caye Caulker. We (my GF and I) came back home wanting to go on another dive trip - not like usual, where we are so pumped up about diving we want more, but felt like we didn't get our money's worth. Enough of the negative waves! Your experience was good and apologize if I made you apprehensive in any way! I've dove all over and that was just one trip that I wish I could have back to redo.... probably elsewhere.
And yes, yakivet, I'll never drink from an already opened bottle EVER again. The dive shop had a cooler on the boat full of water bottles on ice - I had never seen that but was really thirsty and that is all they had on the boat to drink...

 

[Hank49]

Just got back,

Well if reading this board and reconciling my experience shows anything, it's that personal preference trumps all.

We had an absolutely fabulous time in Belize. Placencia - we had a great time there and enjoyed the decent beaches. This place is so in flux though, it identity is changing and the place doesn't seem like it will be at peace with the changes for a long time to come. -Scotty

I've always said that Belize is the friendliest place I've ever lived or been. When people here say, "whey de gwan"? or "how are you"?, it's not just a passing greeting....it's like they really want to know and if you stop and talk, it can go on for half hour or more. I figure it's because the place is still basically very rural and like most places, city people aren't as outwardly friendly as country people.

Placencia is changing fast. It's nice but I've often wondered what attracts people there which has driven land price there sky high. It's just a sand bar and 20 miles from the reef. ?? This is kind of a last frontier though. The undeveloped coastline here isn't going to stay that way for long. Enjoy while we can.

 

[jeremyl]

Went to Belize a few years ago. 5 days inland... Zoo, Cave tubing, drove around and saw the various inland towns. Enjoyed it very much. Bring insect repelent. Went to Amergris and stayed at Banana Beach. As mentioned above it was a very nice clean place. Dove 5 days, including a day outto Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye. Agree, Blue Hole is overrated, but we did have a nice school of sharks check us out. Cool! Half Moon Caye was awesome. I do plan to go back to Belize but I will do a liveaboard. Why not Turneffe? Because a liveaboard (Aggressor or Hughes) is ~ same price and since everything is a boat dive anyway this way we visit a little more places... at least thats my view.

I am off to Coz in 6wks, and then I need to decide if my first liveaboard will be Belize or Roatan - which I have not been to so maybe I will do that.

If you have that much time you can see a LOT. Take your time and get local. You can do things pretty cheap and have a great time. A lot of the "tourist" restaurants and such can be on the spendier side, but local places are great and cheap (but standards can also be low - had bedbugs in a few places inland that were on the cheaper side).

And yes, One Barrel rocks. Running low too, better get back for a refill.

 

[hopefulist]

For what it's worth, even with nearly a month skipping to another country doesn't make sense to me, especially on a budget. Our family had a blast at Glover's Atoll Resort (though a resort, it's not) in 2003 and are looking forward to a return trip. I'll split 3 weeks again this summer between Utila and Roatán and love them, too. Actually, I'm the sort to love everyplace I stay. My photos and travelogues might be of interest. Happy trails!