Planning to be in Belize mid july

[peterbj7]

Look forward to seeing you, Moose. If you want to do an atoll trip (Lighthouse for Blue Hole or Turneffe for Elbow) do it from Caye Caulker, as it's quicker and cheaper. I'd go to Belize Diving Services - professional and friendly.

Lots of interesting inland tours. I've never been cave tubing though most people say it's a lot of fun, but for ruins I'd certainly pick Lamanai. If you have time to stay on the mainland (you won't this trip) you should stay in San Ignacio and visit Xununtunich and Cahal Pech, both local. And check out Actun Tunichil Muknal (wet cave with a Mayan sacrificial site) - the most wonderful experience I've yet had in Belize.

 

[battles2a5]

I did the cave tubing one day with a non-diving buddy. It was pretty cool. It was by no means an adrenaline-packed day, just a lazy float through the river. It was pretty fun but I wouldn't go out of my way to do it again. I had planned on doing Tikal but I got too hung up on diving and stayed on the caye . But I hear the ruins are fantastic. Another option would be to go north to Tulum, Mexico. There is an old Mayan port ruin and some cenotes that you can dive.

 

[LeFlaneur]

Thanks for all the info, I think I'll do the majority of my time on Caulker and try a couple days in san pedro and on ambergis caye. I'll definitely try to dive with you at protech peter peter and give pedro's a try. Also may try a land tour or two, anyone have any suggestions there?

thanks again,

Jamie Moose

As for diving on Caye Caulker, I can't say enough good things about Frenchies Diving. http://www.frenchiesdivingbelize.com/

At some shops it feels like a racket;at Frenchies it feels like a bunch of locals who love to dive. The vibe is great and they really know what they're doing, and the stew chicken at surface intervals is tasty.

Book a trip to Turneffe. It is outstanding. I've only done North Turneffe, not area called the Elbow, but Black Coral Wall, Vincent's Wall, and Sandy Lane, are all great dives.

 

[Moose016]

I too give Caye Caulker a big thumbs up, you can see my trip report here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=120466

We also went to San Ignacio which is an easy trip from Belize City. You can do lots of outdoor activity there like caving, tubing, birding, ect... We took a quick side trip to Tikkal in Guatamala which was a really cool place to visit and easy to get to from San Ignacio. Personally I thought that Belize City was horrible so the less time you spend there probably the better.

I've definitely heard the same about Belize city, use it to grab transportation and get out. I'd live to do Tikkal as long as it doesn't take much more than a day. Also I'll be travelling with a girl who is deathly afraid of snakes, so I'll have to somehow reassure her there are none or we won't see any on the way to the ruins or tubing (both of which I'd like to do), or try to split off by myself.

 

[Moose016]

Thanks for all the great info guys, I have my tickets confirmed for arrival on the 8th and departure on the 16. So 8ish days I hope to pack a lot of stuff into. A couple more questions (for now) Do you guys suggest just booking everything when I get there? Also I'd like to hit caulker, ambergis and san Pedro, is there an order I should do them in? And whats the best way to get between boat or plane? Which should I take from the airport? Thanks a lot, I'm sure I'll have many more dumb questions between now and departure.

 

[battles2a5]

San Pedro is on Caye Ambergris, so it's the same thing. From the airport, take another flight ( I think it is Tropic Air) to either Caye Caulker or Caye Ambergris. You can take the water taxi between the two once you are there. Alternatively, you can take a cab from the airport to the water terminal and take the water taxi to Caulker or San Pedro. This is more expensive than flying if traveling alone, so I would suggest flying. I also would not recommend staying in Belize City, it's a dump and pretty far from the dive sites.

And you are fine to book everything when you get there. Check out http://www.gocayecaulker.com/ if you want to book your lodgin ahead of time. You won't run the risk of everything being booked this time of year.

Enjoy yourself, you are going to have a great trip.

 

[LBR]

Regarding booking, we did find our first choice for dive shops was booked up when we arrived. We were able to dive with Frenchies who were fine but it may be something to consider. This was in Nov, it may be different this time of year.

 

[occrider]

Look forward to seeing you, Moose. If you want to do an atoll trip (Lighthouse for Blue Hole or Turneffe for Elbow) do it from Caye Caulker, as it's quicker and cheaper. I'd go to Belize Diving Services - professional and friendly.

Lots of interesting inland tours. I've never been cave tubing though most people say it's a lot of fun, but for ruins I'd certainly pick Lamanai. If you have time to stay on the mainland (you won't this trip) you should stay in San Ignacio and visit Xununtunich and Cahal Pech, both local. And check out Actun Tunichil Muknal (wet cave with a Mayan sacrificial site) - the most wonderful experience I've yet had in Belize.

Wow sounds like you had the exact same itinerary I did. Also dove caulker through belize diving services and then went to san ignacio to do the ATM tour. IMO the mainland activities are just as good as the diving. If you don't have the time to make it all the way out to SI, an alternative is to go to Ian Anderson's Cave Branch which is close to Belmopan ... maybe 2 hours from Belize City if memory serves me correctly. There you can do river tubing, rapelling, waterfall climbing, etc. ... an excellent place for teh more adventurous.

 

[Dive Monkey]

Just got back from Amergris Caye and stayed in Aqua Marina Suites. It was nice took 25 people with me and everyone had a good time. We dove with Aqua Dives and loved it. Carlos was our divemaster he was awesome. On our off day we played beach volleyball with all the guys from Aqua Dives.

If you can definitely do the Atoll trips. We did both the Blue Hole and Tuneffe Atoll. The Elbow was the best dive of my life. The just recently bought a 52 foot boat to make the day trips. I think they had gotten it 3 weeks before we arrived.

It is my understanding that the guy that owns Aqua Dives also owns Aqua Marina Suites so you might be able to work something out with them.