trying to get out to belize last week or so in may. i hear Ambergrise Cay is nice. do the whale shark go thru this part of belize this time of year?? what is the most exclusive and nicest place to stay. going to be my gf's only vacation until sept so i want to splurge. what is the nightlife like? is the area safe?
belize
- Thread starter zaf88
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You'll be very lucky to see a whale shark off AC, though it has happened. Now (full moon) is the best time for seeing them. The best place to stay for that is Placencia, further south on the mainland, though the special trips you need are probably all fully booked.
AC is safe. Not perfectly so - where is? - but very safe compared with most other parts of the world. Nightlife revolves around bars.
Do you really mean the MOST exclusive place to stay? That has to be Cayo Espanto, a private island nearby, and though I'm not sure of the prices it's four figures of $ per night. Assuming you're setting your sights a little lower, you won't be disappointed at Portofino (well north), Xanadu (a bit south) or Victoria House (rather further south). The most expensive of these is VH, and I've yet to hear a bad word about it (or about the others, to be fair). If you decide you want to be in town you won't go far wrong with Sunbreeze.
There are lots of other places that are nice. White Sands Cove (3 miles north) is one that comes to mind, but there are certainly others. Scan this board, http://www.belizeforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi and http://ambergriscaye.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/cfrm for more information and recommendations (the second has a good maps section). Be very wary of TripAdvisor, as it's unmoderated and used by people with personal agendas to wage unwarranted vendettas on businesses they have a grievance with - you ask any of the better hoteliers here what they think of that board!
Don't look for places with lots of recommendations - that just means lots of people go there and it may well be far from exclusive - but rather places with consistent good reports.
If Portofino interests you (it should, if only for their excellent restaurant) be aware that there is a long-standing problem with the phone service to that part of the island. It affects other hotels as well. Email is unaffected, but if you try to phone don't assume they've all gone away. It's causing them major headaches.
Overall, AC has a good amount of life in the town area, but as you get away from town this understandably drops off. Expect quiet evenings once you're several miles from town. There's no car hire here, just golf carts. Travel anywhere north of town and to more distant places south is best done by boat, and there's a good (though expensive) island water bus service. It's called "taxi" but it has set stopping points, so that to my mind makes it a bus. In the town area there's a good taxi service, mostly using minivans.
Travel to and from AC, which of course is an island, can be by boat (cheaper and quite fun, but slow and can be wet) or light aircraft. There are two regional airlines (Tropic Air and Maya Island Air) and they provide an excellent service. If you fly into the international airport the simplest thing to do is hop on on a plane and you'll be here 20 minutes later, though it is possible to fly from the municipal airstrip right next to Belize City and save 50% of the fare - that only makes sense if there are several of you, as the taxi ride mops up the savings. Any luggage you can carry internationally can go on these planes (mostly Cessna 208 Caravans), and then some. I've even taken a bicycle!
That help?
AC is safe. Not perfectly so - where is? - but very safe compared with most other parts of the world. Nightlife revolves around bars.
Do you really mean the MOST exclusive place to stay? That has to be Cayo Espanto, a private island nearby, and though I'm not sure of the prices it's four figures of $ per night. Assuming you're setting your sights a little lower, you won't be disappointed at Portofino (well north), Xanadu (a bit south) or Victoria House (rather further south). The most expensive of these is VH, and I've yet to hear a bad word about it (or about the others, to be fair). If you decide you want to be in town you won't go far wrong with Sunbreeze.
There are lots of other places that are nice. White Sands Cove (3 miles north) is one that comes to mind, but there are certainly others. Scan this board, http://www.belizeforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi and http://ambergriscaye.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/cfrm for more information and recommendations (the second has a good maps section). Be very wary of TripAdvisor, as it's unmoderated and used by people with personal agendas to wage unwarranted vendettas on businesses they have a grievance with - you ask any of the better hoteliers here what they think of that board!
Don't look for places with lots of recommendations - that just means lots of people go there and it may well be far from exclusive - but rather places with consistent good reports.
If Portofino interests you (it should, if only for their excellent restaurant) be aware that there is a long-standing problem with the phone service to that part of the island. It affects other hotels as well. Email is unaffected, but if you try to phone don't assume they've all gone away. It's causing them major headaches.
Overall, AC has a good amount of life in the town area, but as you get away from town this understandably drops off. Expect quiet evenings once you're several miles from town. There's no car hire here, just golf carts. Travel anywhere north of town and to more distant places south is best done by boat, and there's a good (though expensive) island water bus service. It's called "taxi" but it has set stopping points, so that to my mind makes it a bus. In the town area there's a good taxi service, mostly using minivans.
Travel to and from AC, which of course is an island, can be by boat (cheaper and quite fun, but slow and can be wet) or light aircraft. There are two regional airlines (Tropic Air and Maya Island Air) and they provide an excellent service. If you fly into the international airport the simplest thing to do is hop on on a plane and you'll be here 20 minutes later, though it is possible to fly from the municipal airstrip right next to Belize City and save 50% of the fare - that only makes sense if there are several of you, as the taxi ride mops up the savings. Any luggage you can carry internationally can go on these planes (mostly Cessna 208 Caravans), and then some. I've even taken a bicycle!
That help?
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