CA Trip

[rleslie]

My wife and I want to travel to Central America for two weeks this spring. While there, I want to get in 3-4 days of diving. We also want to travel inland to rain forests, valcanoes and Mayan ruins. Can anyone recommend a good area/country/city/resort where we could combine all of these activities?

All suggestions will be appreciated!!

Roger

 

[Doc]

The biggest obstacle will be how to move between diving locations and the other "inland attractions" that you desire.

It would probably be better if you picked your specific inland locations first, then allow us all to suggest ways to dovetail-in a dive site stopover.

Guatemala "ruins" would point towards Belize or the Bay Islands. Belize could be used as a air transit city and you can get a fair taste of diving from Belize City. True, it is better and more efficient to dive Belize while staying on one of the outlying cays...

Say~ what's the budget?

 

[rleslie]

I was leaning towards Belize or Honduras. Since we want to stay for two weeks, a trip for 4-5 days to the islands is certainly possible, then head inland for more exploring. We love to dive, sail, hike, flyfish and whitewater raft. Central America offers all, so we're trying to determine what region offers the most.

We would like to keep the trip under $3k excluding air fare.

Thanks

 

[kf6alc]

My GF and I are doing the same thing... we will go to Ambergris Caye for one week for diving (been there about 5 years ago, can't wait to get back), some friends meet us there during the dive phase, then we will be going inland to Cave's Branch Jungle Lodge in Belmopan, Belize for some ruin/caving adventures. Didn't get to do anything but dive last time (not complaining!), so we wanted to see what else was there.

You (and we) should have lots of fun!

 

[Rivermonkey]

Wow 3K for 2 weeks. You could pretty much see whatever you wanted in Central America. Having lived in Central America for several years, I would recommend you first decide what kind of trip you want. If you want the whole packaged tourist thing then Belize is probably your best bet, if you want to see real central american culture then head inland and explore places like Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica. If you want BIG Mayan Ruins I would suggest Guatemala over any other country. You can fly into G'mala and see Tikal in a couple days. The ruins of Belize are pretty small and not nearly as awe inspiring. If you want rain forests and volcanos, head to Costa Rica. If you want diving...well, decide if you want Carribean or Pacific, if Pacific then head to Costa Rica or Panama.

If you want whitewater rafting, then head to Costa Rica and raft the Pacuare. Its one of the top 5 rivers in the world to raft. Simply breathtaking.

Don't let the language barrier(if any) intimidate you. People are friendly wherever you go. Although I would stay out of the big cities...San Jose and Panama City are pretty safe and fun but most of the others aren't worth it.

 

[rleslie]

"I would recommend you first decide what kind of trip you want."

Rivermonkey

WE WANT IT ALL

Thanks for the great info. Exaclty what we are looking for. We're not familiar with Central America, but in looking at maps, it appears that we could cover Tikal (Guatemala) , diving the out islands of Belize and whitewater raft Pacuare (Costa Rica) in 2 weeks. If we planned 4-5 days in each country and a couple of days for traveling, can that be done or are we trying to do too much? Is it possible (and safe) to rent a car and drive between the countries? What is involved in moving between countries: customs, etc.?

We would prefer to experience the cultures of CA as opposed to a package deal, but my wife does insist on a clean bed each night. If such a trip can be done in 14-16 days, can you recommend specific towns in each country?

Thanks so much for the help!!!

Roger & Evans

 

[Rivermonkey]

I would recommend you head first to Belize...go diving for a few days. Fly to Tikal or you can catch a bus straight from Belize City to Flores which is very close to Tikal, getting to El Remate would be a bit better since its about 15 minutes from Tikal. After seeing the ruins (take 2 days to see Tikal, it can be done in 1 but its much nicer when you aren't in a rush) then catch a flight to Costa Rica via Flores-Guatemala-City-San Jose. Its not too expensive to fly from G'mala to CR. If you get stuck in G'mala City, head to Antigua for a day....beautiful old colonial city and very close by. I spent a month in Guatemala and always wanted to see more.

Once you get to Costa Rica I recommend you raft the Pacuare(close to San Jose), see Volcan Arenal(a few hours drive) and spend some time in one of the many rain forests; most people go to Monteverde(close to Arenal and a true cloud forest).

As far as renting a car, you wouldn't really need or want one in Belize or Guatemala but I highly recommend one for Costa Rica. Its quite safe and easy and pretty much every major car rental agency is in Costa Rica. Get something with 4 wheel drive since some of the roads, especially the roads to Monteverde are a bit bumpy.

In regards to a clean bed, you can find great little boutique hotels in Belize, Guatemala and Costa Rica. Guatemala is a bit less developed but in areas like Tikal there are nice little hotels and B&Bs. Very nice and very clean. You won't have any problems finding some place that suits you. Costa Rica has everything from small B&Bs to the Four Seasons...so take your pick.

Hope this helps. IF you need any other info please send me a message. I am sure you will have a great trip regardless of where you go. Just remember its not always about the destination, getting there is half the fun.

 

[hopefulist]

HONDURAS! It's perfect for you and easy on the budget.

Fly into San Pedro Sula, take a Hedman Alas bus to Copán Ruinas for 3-4 days: lovely town, beautiful ruins, interesting villages and hiking in the area. Bus back to San Pedro Sula, then bus or fly (depending on your budget) to La Ceiba for 3-4 days: excellent rafting, horsebackriding (beach or mountains), kayaking, hiking, waterfalls, Garifuna villages. From La Ceiba catch a ferry or flight to Roatán for the rest of your trip: Caribbean "feel", wonderful, inexpensive diving, lots of lodging options, beautiful hikes. Here are links to trip stories from our visits; lodging options we chose are linked, let me know if I can answer any questions.

Copán Ruinas, 2005: http://sidewalkmystic.com/CopanRuinas.htm
La Ceiba/Utila/Roatán, 2006 (4th post has the links): http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/m...messid=11274100&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=1

Have a great trip, whatever you decide, then tell us all about it! Happy trails!

 

[rleslie]

Rivermonkey

Thanks for all of the excellent suggestions. I'm certain that I will be PMing you later for some more details.

Group

If we're going to spend 4-5 days of our trip diving, we don't want to loose a lot of time traveling. Any suggestions on dive locations in Belize that is somewhat easy to get to (will fly into Belize City). My wife is not a confident diver, so the location needs some easy dives to start with. Don't care anything about specific wrecks, prefer beautiful coral and fish.

Thanks

 

[peterbj7]

Ambergris Caye is very easy to get to - just transfer onto a light aircraft at the international airport. Once here there is a wide range of accommodation. The diving comprises local dives outside the Meso-American Barrier Reef 1/2 mile offshore, a few dives inside the reef but still only accessible by boat, and trips to the two northern atolls - Lighthouse which includes the great Blue Hole, and Turneffe at whose southern tip is the Elbow. Local dives can be taken as shallow easy yet interesting dives, or deeper and much more demanding, and all from the same boat mooring. Lucky you don't need wrecks as we're a bit short on those! But there's lots of "beautiful coral and fish".