Belize: Things to do

[steeliejim]

I'm curious to know if you had a good dive master at Blackbird, and if you rented, how the equipment was. My companion and I visited the end of June, and while the accommodations and location were very good, as was the help, the manager was disinterested, the rental dive equipment was faulty (I had my own, but my companion was completing her open water dives for getting her certification and was given two bad regulators and a bad tank), and the dive master we had (not a permanent employee of the resort) was the worst I've experienced.

 

[DiveMaven]

We're leaving in less than two weeks for our Nekton cruise in Belize, and we booked a 3-day package with WindyHill Resort for after our dive vacation. They'll pick us up at the Nekton boat, we'll go to Xunanuntuch, the zoo, spend a full day in Tikal, then transportation to the airport later, all included in the tour price along with food and lodging.

Although this isn't how we normally travel (we're typically not "packaged tour" people), we figured since we only have a couple of extra days, this would be the best way to see a little of Belize with the least hassles after our Nekton cruise.

Can't wait to go!!!

 

[pediatron]

I'm curious to know if you had a good dive master at Blackbird, and if you rented, how the equipment was. My companion and I visited the end of June, and while the accommodations and location were very good, as was the help, the manager was disinterested, the rental dive equipment was faulty (I had my own, but my companion was completing her open water dives for getting her certification and was given two bad regulators and a bad tank), and the dive master we had (not a permanent employee of the resort) was the worst I've experienced.

Our dive master was the manager. But that was in May and he and his wife were leaving when we did. As far as the equipment we brought our own so I can't speak on that. All the others on our boat had their own also.
Steve

 

[SStrecker]

We also just returned from Belize and had a great time. Spend a few days in San Ignacio in the Cayo district and did some bird watching, cave exploring (Barton Creek Cave) and a side trip to the fantastic Tikal ruins in Guatemala (used Mayawalk Tours to get there). We stayed at Martha's Guesthouse (http://www.marthasbelize.com/) in San Ignacio which I would recommend and they have a great food too. Then returned to Belize City and took a water taxi to Caye Caulker which we used as our base for diving. I would agree that Belize City can be skipped as it is hard to walk down the street without being harrassed by tourist guides left and right.

I am taking a similar trip, in about two weeks, with most of my time spent at the Mopan River Resort (near San Ignacio), followed by a few days at San Pedro (on Ambergris Cay), to dive the Blue Hole & vicinity. My primary focus will be on Mayan ruins.

Do you have any local culture or restaurant suggestions for San Ignacio & vicinity, for Christmas time?

 

[hopefulist]

Have you asked this on the Belize Forum? Here's a link to our travelogue from 2003 - we loved everything we did during our 3-4 weeks in Belize:

http://www.belizeforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=000362

Happy trails!

 

[George Scherman]

My top reccommends are 1. Go to Tikal. This can be done in a day but is better in 2. These are spectacular ruins in an incomparable setting. When we were there there were more Coatis than humans. 2. Do a cave trip. If you are fit and adventurous, the Waterfall Cave at Caves Branch is fantastic. Google Actun tunich mal for another highly reccommended cave trip.