Too much to do both AC and Placencia in one week?

[William Kumler]

I'm headed to Belize (yay!) and am currently planning out my time there. I'll be there from June 22nd through June 29th but am still deciding where to stay. The current plan is to spend all my time in Ambergris Caye, but I'd also love to spend a day touring the mainland and see some whale sharks. Is this too ambitious of a plan?

June 22: Arrive, ferry across to AC and settle in
June 23: Checkout dives with local dive center
June 24/25: Diving in the area, probably Blue Hole/Lighthouse Reef and Hol Chan
June 26: Catch the ferry back to Belize City and the bus(es) down to Placencia and settle in
June 27: Gladden Spit for whale sharks
June 28: Explore inland and offgas
June 29: Catch the bus from Placencia to Belize City and fly home

I'm sad to be losing a day of potential diving to travel between AC and Placencia and nervous that I won't see any whale sharks, but I've also heard that the inland tours from Placencia are nicer/easier. I'm also nervous that the dive shop in Placencia will ask me to do a day of checkout dives and I won't have time for Gladden Spit at all.

Specific questions:
1. For those who have been diving in Placencia, is the long travel time worth it if I'll only be there for a day? Do most dive shops require checkout dives with that shop or will they accept checkouts from other places?
2. Anyone know the chances of seeing whale sharks in Gladden Spit? 10%, 50%, 90%?
3. For those familiar with traveling around Belize, how exhausting/stressful is it?
4. Would I get tired/bored diving only AC for a week?
5. Any obvious, potentially fatal problems with the plan outlined above? E.g. travel times I've underestimated?

Any advice is welcome!

 

[Downing]

Three travel days out of an eight day vacation are too much, imho. It would be more feasible if you were staying two weeks, but even then I'm not sure I would split the trip between AC and Placencia. They have too much in common. If I had two weeks, I'd dive one week and jungle trek the next. Or the other way around, it doesn't matter. But I have met folks who did the AC/Placencia split and they enjoyed it. But they spent more than eight days doing it.

I suggest you save one or the other for next time. You don't have to do everything and see everything in one trip. Spend most of your time based in one spot. Use your last day to travel inland. Do a tour, like Tikal, or the Zoo/Baboon Sanctuary, cave diving, zip lining and the like.

As to your specific questions:

1. I would try to talk to the shop operator ahead of time to explain your situation. Bring your log book as proof. I really don't know how they would handle it.

2. My personal experience has been less than 50%.

3. Not sure how to answer this. You won't have a language barrier. Other than Belize City, your chances of being a crime victim will be extremely low. It's going to be a long bus ride back and forth if you go to Placencia. If you can afford it, fly instead. Takes about a half hour. I've never found travel around Belize to be particularly stressful but the first time's the hardest.

4. I wouldn't get bored or tired of AC or Placencia after a week. Of course, your energy level may vary. But I go for three weeks at a time, diving the first and third weeks and jungle trekking in the middle.

5. I wouldn't call your plan DOA necessarily but instead overly ambitious. It's your vacation, and if you like to go balls to the wall then go for it. I prefer a more relaxed approach. I've been going to Belize annually for years, and although I've seen more of it than most Belizeans there's still plenty left for me to explore.

 

[drrich2]

June 24/25: Diving in the area, probably Blue Hole/Lighthouse Reef and Hol Chan

Have you contacted your intended dive operator to find out whether they plan to make that trip on that date, or how likely you are to be able to make it happen?

The Lighthouse region is nice; are you familiar with what the Blue Hole entails (my impressions)?

When you eat at a restaurant, do you prefer to eat a combo. appetizer sampler plate with small portions of several things, or an entree' with less variety but more of what you do get? What you describe sounds like the difference between diving via cruise ship (2 dives at this island, 2 at that one...) vs. spending a week diving a single destination (less variety, but a greater sense that you've experienced what that destination has to offer).

Splash Dive Center has a page on the Gladden Spit/Whale Shark issue. It notes:

"2018 Belize Whale Shark diving package dates:

• March 31st to April 9th (not recommended due low success rate)
• April 30th to May 10th
• May 29th to June 10th
• June 28th to July 12th

The best months for whale shark diving are April and May. Please note the encounter success rate is lower in March than in other months so we do not pre-book guests for whale shark diving for the March whale shark moon. We monitor the whale shark zone in March and if whale sharks are there and divers want to go, we will take them."

Looks like your date is toward the end of the season, not in the prime 2 months. You may wish to shoot them an e-mail and ask for an educated guess as to your likelihood of seeing one that day. How big of an issue is it if you don't?

4. Would I get tired/bored diving only AC for a week?

Not sure anyone else can tell you that. Did you see ibj40's recent thread Trip Report - Why NOT Ambergris? They dove 2 days, and spent part of their time elsewhere doing other things.

My Belize trip was via live-aboard (did get a rainforest tour up New River to visit 3 big Mayan ruins on a cruise stop; good times!), not Ambergris Caye, so my advice (which may not be right for you) is based more in general. Whatever you do, hope you come back & write a trip report.

Richard.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

June 22: Arrive, ferry across to AC and settle in
June 23: Checkout dives with local dive center
June 24/25: Diving in the area, probably Blue Hole/Lighthouse Reef and Hol Chan
June 26: Catch the ferry back to Belize City and the bus(es) down to Placencia and settle in
June 27: Gladden Spit for whale sharks
June 28: Explore inland and offgas
June 29: Catch the bus from Placencia to Belize City and fly home

We are starting whale shark tours on June 28. I recently heard about one whale shark tour operator who goes out before the full moon but without sightings. If people ask my opinion on the best time to dive with whale sharks I use this script:

"I do not know which days during the whale shark moon offer the best chance of success. Conventional wisdom is that the best days are right at and after the full moon (thus the early part of the whale shark moon season being booked up). Years ago the conventional wisdom was a day or two before the full moon and a day or two after. Whale shark seem to be coming later now and my opinion is that the best days are a few days after the full moon."

William, you may want to reschedule your visit to arrive a little later (or plan on spending a week next year in Placencia).

At Splash we require a check out dive trip before we take guests to dive whale sharks or the Blue Hole as part of our safety policy - not only to protect our guests but also to protect our crew from having to handle divers who should not be there in the first place and can put others in jeopardy.

 

[ibj40]

I'll respond to the question of whether or not you would get bored on AC for a week. We're already planning to go back so that we can do more diving around AC (although I have to caveat that we did the Blue Hole about ten years ago during a week long stay on Turneffe).

I can easily see three, if not four, days of local diving.

 

[Downing]

No matter how long I spend in Belize, I've never woken up in the morning and thought, "Damn, still here."

Lol

 

[William Kumler]

Thank you everyone for the advice and recommendations! I think I'll take it a bit easier this time and skip Placencia this time and enjoy the chance to relax a bit more. Expect a trip report when I return! (...or honestly maybe a week or two after).

 

[Caye Caulker Diver B]

Very wise decision William, I'm certain you won't regret it.

I just reached 8-months living on Caye Caulker, 10 miles south of Ambergris Caye/San Pedro. I dive regularly, doing 2 - 3 2-tank dives/month (on SS for income, not bad!) with Sim & Corey @ Black Durgon Diving and 3/4 of our dives are done at sites in the San Pedro area of the reef. I have never been bored, disappointed or anything less than completely satisfied and amazed at the sealife & topography.

I have dived Esmeralda & Tackle Box at least 4 times and if I hadn't been told we were at the same site, I wouldn't have known it. Of course it helps that I have an excellent memory...it's just short!

I wish you a wonderful trip, with awesome diving. If you want a break from the hustle and bustle of SP (population 16,000) come on down to Caye Caulker (population 1400) for a day trip (30 minute boat ferry, you'll stop here first on your way from Belize City to SP). The "energy" contrast between the two Cayes is like night & day.

If you decide to to come down, let me know, I'd be happy to give you all a tour of our lil slice of Paradise.

 

[KristenK]

. I wouldn't get bored or tired of AC or Placencia after a week. Of course, your energy level may vary. But I go for three weeks at a time, diving the first and third weeks and jungle trekking in the middle.

Hi Downing, can you please tell me about your jungle trekking? I'm planning our summer vacation, it's me, my hubby, 18 year old son and 16 year old daughter. We are all divers but we also like to explore. Love wildlife. I spent 4 incredible nights at en ecolodge in Bali in September and would love a similar experience with the fam.

We're considering a week in Placencia and a few extra days in the jungle. I'd appreciate recommendations.

Thanks!!!

 

[Downing]

So many eco-lodge choices that it's hard to know where to begin.

Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary, the world's first Jaguar Preserve, is just up the road from Placencia Village, about a 30 minute drive. Lots of hiking trails. You can also do some river tubing if the water's high enough. Run by the Belize Audubon Society. It's not really an eco-lodge but there is some lodging for guests being built there.

If you go south, there's Copal Tree (formerly Belcampo) in Punta Gorda, my wife's personal favorite. It's perched high on a hill and all the cabanas have big glass windows where you look out on Howler Monkeys swinging through the jungle. There's also Cotton Tree Lodge, definitely a step down from Copal Tree but right on the Moho River.

If you go north, then get on the Hummingbird Highway and head west towards Belmopan. Ian Anderson's Cave Branch is right across from the Blue Hole National Park (not the scuba diving Blue Hole). Lots of jungle related activities.

Keep going north towards Belmopan through the Maya Mountains. There will be a turn off to the left for the Sleeping Giant Lodge. I haven't seen it and don't know anything about it. Once you get to Belmopan, then head west towards San Ignacio. Now you're in eco-lodge heaven.

A couple of miles before SI, there's Francis Ford Coppola's Blancaneaux Lodge. You could stay at his Turtle Inn in Placencia and split your time between both. There's also Black Rock Lodge. Both of these are on their way to Caracol, the biggest Mayan ruin in Belize and one of the biggest in the world.

A couple of miles past town is the turnoff to the very high end The Inn at Chaa Creek. Sweet Songs Lodge (formerly duPlooys Lodge) is just past Chaa Creek about another mile. Very nice but not as upscale as Chaa Creek.

And far away from pretty much everything else is Chan Chich Lodge, which is part of Barry Bowen's estate. If you choose to drive there, you'll need to get clearance from the management first so that you'll have the necessary paperwork for the checkpoints along the way as these are all private roads. Kind of a hassle but well worth it as you'll be driving for hours and hours on dirt through the jungle. Or you can just fly there as there's a nearby private airstrip. Barry Bowen was an iconic figure in Belize. Among his many claims to fame is he's the one who started up Belikin Beer. Super wealthy, he purchased an enormous piece of property in western Belize. The lodge, also part of his property, sits on the site of an ongoing archeological dig about four miles past his farm. You're about as deep into the jungle as you can get.

I've left out a bunch, but I've either stayed or at least looked at all of these. Here's a website with a few more:

Top Eco-friendly Belize Jungle Resorts & Lodges 2018 - Belize Adventure - Trusted Local Advice

If you want to go cheaper, that's easy. Dennis Garbutt has some cabanas right on the water in Punta Gorda. The Lodge at Big Falls is right up the road. San Ignacio is full of cheaper places to stay, my personal favorite though is the San Ignacio Hotel which isn't a lodge but probably the nicest hotel in Belize. I wouldn't recommend staying in Belmopan, although it is centrally located. All are great jumping off places to head into the jungle.

In addition to their websites, you can also find most if not all of them on YouTube, which can give you some pretty good insight as to where you might want to stay.