Belize vacation Planning 2 weeks..one week wet, the other dry.

[diverrex]

If you plan on overnighting in Tikal you may want to do what you suggest and go AC - Tikal - San Ignacio, so you only get the car for the San Ignacio portion. As Peter suggest depending on your plans you may not need a car. When we did the ATM tour for instance it pretty much took the day and the tour operator picked us up at the resort and brought us back. If you like adventure I would not miss the ATM, it's maybe the single coolest thing I've done.

Tropic Air is the best, you can book online.

There are only three hotels right at Tikal, check out info here or below:

Hotel Tikal Inn
Jaguar Inn
Jungle Lodge

The advantage of staying overnight at Tikal vesrus a day trip is you can visit in the coolest part of the day, morning and late afternoon, which is also the least crowded. And you can listen to howler monkeys at night.

 

[Storm]

Well as far as the accomodations for the AC portion are concerned I'm definately getting confused.

I'e got "The List" pared down a bit, but some suggestions/comments would be appreciate.

On the short list so far:

Belizean Shores
Paradise Villas
Banana Beach
The Palms

Acceptable price range is USD 160.00 to USD 300.00 and as far as start rating, anything 3+.

I've noticed a lot of condos, but we are just two, so suites and large condos are really a waste hence we would prefer resort/hotel style rooms, or small condos

Thoughts??

 

[peterbj7]

Belizean Shores is some miles north of town, and access will be by boat. Banana Beach is a couple of miles south so you will be taxiing quite a bit. Paradise Villas and The Tides are both at the northern edge of town and walking distance from it, The Tides being slightly further out. None of these has its own dive center except The Tides. Belizean Shores will be the most expensive, Banana Beach and Paradise Villas about the same, The Tides cheapest. Paradise Villas is the most likely to have the cooking facilities you want, but all will have something.

 

[Darnold9999]

Stayed at the Tides a few years back and found it to be excellent value. Nice rooms - not luxury, but not motel 6 either. The pool and patio were nice. The owners great to deal with and the dive shop very accomodating. A bit of a walk into town, but only a bit. Don't think we ever took a taxi, just walked down the "beach". Don't recall seeing anything else we would have rather stayed at.

 

[peterbj7]

I know one large dive club in the States that dives all over the world, and makes one or two trips to Belize each year. Always use The Tides and Patojos, though they tried a few others beforehand.

 

[Storm]

You guys mentioned "The Tides", but iut was noit on my list...just wondring if it was a new suggested place to stay?

The reason I ask is that some of the reviews for The Tides in tripadvisor were not very complimentary.

While Judy and I are not the "has to be 5 star" nor AI Resort typwe, were not looking for a rough it experieince this time out.

 

[peterbj7]

Be very careful in interpreting what Trip Advisor says - IMO a dreadful site that I rarely read and never take note of. The Tides is not a luxury hotel, it's family run by locals and is a very pleasant and honest place to stay. The owner Patojo is one of the most experienced dive guides in Belize. Staying there is very far from "roughing it". I'll send you a PM.

 

[Gaz]

Be very careful in interpreting what Trip Advisor says - IMO a dreadful site that I rarely read and never take note of. The Tides is not a luxury hotel, it's family run by locals and is a very pleasant and honest place to stay. The owner Patojo is one of the most experienced dive guides in Belize. Staying there is very far from "roughing it". I'll send you a PM.

The Tides is a small kind of like a dive lodge located right on the beach just north of San Pedro within easy walking distance into town. Patojo the owner is a local San Pedrano who run the place and has his dive shop right in front and also has a little beach bar there also.

I would say it is a mid range property but certainly not roughing it although as a previous hotel owner I have had people say they were roughing it at my hotel which was a bit ridiculous but each person has a different perception of what they consider roughing it.

I found that those that are used to the Four seasons consider anything less than that 5 star treatment is roughing it even though the place is very nice.

Now as far as Trip Advisor is concerned like it or not it is the leading travel advisory site on the internet with 32 million visitors a month and growing. Millions of people use it to plan there holidays and if you are in the tourism business you cannot ignore trip advisor, and it is prudent to track what is wrote about your business and sign up with them to be able to comment on visitors comments, as you will have people that will have bad experiences that is just part of the business. If you operate an excellent business Trip Advisor can be also be an excellent form of marketing which can provide SIGNIFICANT additional bookings.

Gaz Cooper

 

[Storm]

I read,on a anohter board, a post that loosely compared TheTides to the Lions Dive in Curacao. Has anyone here statyed in both that could prodive atheir opinion as to whether these arer similar types of accomodations? We've stayed at the Lions, so we know one side of the equation and that would definaytely help in our decidion making process..

 

[Hamanasi]

Hi Storm,

Consider coming to Hopkins. Here at Hamanasi, we offer daily dives to the Southern barrier reef and arrange dives to The Blue Hole, Glovers and Turneffe. We also arrange exciting inland tours to visit rich jungle/rain forest, waterfalls and caves. Feel free to visit our website at The Best of Belize Hotels & Belize Resorts | Welcome to Hamanasi! or send us and email at reservations@hamanasi.com and we will surely send you all details.