First trip to Belize, planning help

[A2thaK]

Hi,

My wife and I are planning to go to Belize next year for ~7-8 days, and I'm looking for some recommendations on where to stay and dive. There is so much info, it is overwhelming! I've read through multiple pages on the Belize thread, and starting to get an idea, but I'd like to hear from y'all!

Ideally, we'd like to stay at an upper mid range hotel on the beach. Maybe like a 3-4 star hotel. Cabanas would be nice, but not a requirement. Closer to a town to go out to eat and visit the shops and stuff would be nice. I can't decide between Amergris Caye or Placencia. We are wanting to dive maybe 3-4 days, and spend 2-3 days doing the rainforest thing, maybe ruins, fishing, etc. I'm leaning towards Placencia in that respect, but then the longer boat rides concern me. My wife doesn't get seasick, but did once while we just sat not moving in the open water for an hour or so, but if we are moving she is fine. So, longer boat rides are not a deal breaker, but just not ideal. Basically, we are going for the diving, but not only the diving.

My wife and I are still beginning divers, with only ~30-40 OW dives each (all in Cozumel spread out over 3 years). She sometimes has issues with equalizing on the way down, which can cause her descent to take a while, burning air, so I don't think we will do the Blue Hole. We have gone to 100', done some dives with currents, and night dove as well, so we are pretty comfortable, but I'm not sure about diving to 130-145'.

 

[Hank49]

The Best of Belize Hotels & Belize Resorts | Welcome to Hamanasi!

The area has the same feel as Placencia and is much closer to the reef. Only 12 miles or so out to the Southwater Marine Reserve and some of the better reef diving. Also close to the jungle. The Jaguar Reserve is near, Cave Tubing isn't far. Zip line is near. Hiking, ruins.
It has the small village of Hopkins nearby which has some local restaurants and bars.

Placencia offers the same with more of a town to hang around in but it's farther to the reef and to the jungle.

San Pedro is right on the reef so diving is 5 minutes from the dock. But it's a long boat ride and car ride to the jungle.

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

My favorites are (in no particular order) Turneffe Island Resort, Blackbird Caye and Turneffe Flats. Turneffe Island Resort (TIR) the higher end of the three. Hamanasi is also excellent as suggested by Hank49. Depending upon the time of year, there are often specials running. For example TIR has a book one, second diver 50% off this Nov. Blackbird Caye runs a book 4 nights, get 3 more nights free. On the Blue Hole, I personally think it's over-rated. Check out some of the youtube videos.

 

[Downing]

Good suggestions all the way around.

Hamanasi gets rave reviews, but I'd rather hang in Placencia than Hopkins. I've dived for five weeks in Placencia and never saw anyone get seasick but I'm sure it's happened. In any case, the boats are always moving as you go first to a caye, take a break while they off load lunch and the snorkelers, then dive the area, then back to the caye for lunch and an SI, then a second area dive, then back to the caye for a quick break while they load the snorkelers and lunch gear.

AC has more shopping and night life than Placencia but the mainland stuff is more of a commitment from there.

Turneffe Island Resort is one of our absolute favorites, but wouldn't be worth doing for only half a week and a week would interfere with your mainland plans. Plus, there's no shopping or eating out if you stay on the atoll.

Here's a great guide book to help you discover the many wonders of Belize: Belize Insight Guide.

Have fun! Belize is a wonderful country. Just don't try to see it all in one trip. So many choices, so little time!

 

[Wineaux]

For your rainforest portion, if you would like a recommendation of where to stay I can not say enough good things about Table Rock Jungle Lodge in San Ignacio. Check out their Trip Advisor reviews. The place is just, simply, wonderful. We went to Caracol for a ruin. It is the biggest ruin in Belize, and I loved that it wasn't swarmed with people. If you do this ruin, do Big Rock Falls as well, skip Rio On Pools. We also did the Caves Branch ziplining and cave tubing and it was one of my favorite things of the trip.

I stayed at Blackbird Caye and love, love, loved it. However, it is on its own island with nothing else so it sounds like it is not what you are looking for.

 

[huachele]

This sounds like your kind of place: Belize Luxury Beach Resort Vacations & Honeymoon Villas

On Ambergris just South of San Pedro.

A bit of a haul to the jungle however.

 

[peterbj7]

Victoria House (which is what the previous post refers to) is a very upmarket resort 2.5 miles south of San Pedro. 5* prices with possibly 5* quality. There are superb resorts here that are quite a bit cheaper. Victoria House is also at the absolute walking limit for most visitors, and in fact beyond it for the bulk of them. You'd need to rent a golf cart.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

The Belize Tourism Board said this:

• Destination of the Year: Placencia- A destination that is proactive in its marketing initiatives and product enhancement. It also seeks to develop local tourism businesses for the development of the destination. The Destination of the Year encourages the local community's participation, promotes sustainability, executes events that highlight local culture and promotes tourist attractions.

You can also check my blog at Belize Scuba Diving Packages, Snorkeling & Whale sharks|Splash Dive Center|Placencia Belize for my personal experience.
Regards
Ralph

 

[Damselfish]

A possibility is to split the trip between 2 places, as in the suggestion for the place in San Ignacio. Stay someplace just to dive and do the beach for some days, then move somewhere inland where you're close to many of those activities. Which way is better depends on how many days you have, how much of what you want to do, and if you'd prefer long day trips or packing up mid-trip and moving base. I would expect most of the jungle lodges to be helpful in arranging transfers.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

A possibility is to split the trip between 2 places, as in the suggestion for the place in San Ignacio. Stay someplace just to dive and do the beach for some days, then move somewhere inland where you're close to many of those activities. Which way is better depends on how many days you have, how much of what you want to do, and if you'd prefer long day trips or packing up mid-trip and moving base. I would expect most of the jungle lodges to be helpful in arranging transfers.

Or go to Placencia or somewhere on the south coast of Belize - then you can do scuba or jungle depending on the weather for that day. Gives you a lot more flexibility