Trip Report - Why NOT Ambergris?

[Ayisha]

Thanks for that detail; sounds like a little kid might ought to wear some foot protection?

I think it's a good idea to wear water shoes of some sort at the beach. You never know when a child might accidentally step on a sea urchin, sand crab, sea star, sharp sea shell or unfortunately even some broken glass or something.

This was our beach near the Aqua Marina Suites where we stayed on Ambergris Caye over 12 years ago:

Beyond our week on Ambergris Caye, we also stayed for an extra 4 days at Caves Branch Jungle Lodge and did 7 miles of cave river tubing, a rainforest medicine trail walk, looked at small Mayan ruins, tracked jaguar paw prints, etc.

We found that the dive sites near Ambergris Caye, at least in 2006, had very low visibility and were not very healthy or colourful and had very little life, so we asked to go as far south as possible every day, and into the marine reserve, which was better. We were thrilled when we finally got to do Lighthouse Caye (and the Blue Hole) and Turneffe (by the elbow) on 2 separate days at the end of our trip, and had a completely different experience. Both cayes had vibrant colour, abundant sea life, and high visibility. I was finally able to get some decent pics with my point and shoot camera with no strobes off Lighthouse and Turneffe. I had little to take u/w pics of near Ambergris, but the rest of my pics are at: Belize | Facebook

 

[KeithG]

Why not Ambergris? First questions are convenience and price point.

How do different Belize destinations differ? (we have only ever done a LOB there so my knowledge is very narrow).

Is there any way to get to Belize other than flying into Belize City? We always fly through Houston. Can you get there from anywhere else?

How long / how much does it cost to get to your final destination?

Ambergris is yet another flight from Belize City. How much does it cost? We recently went to Utila and the flight from Roatan to/from Utila was $$$$.

One of the bonuses of doing a Belize LOB is that the transfers are simple, cheap and short.

 

[ibj40]

Why not Ambergris? First questions are convenience and price point.

How do different Belize destinations differ? (we have only ever done a LOB there so my knowledge is very narrow).

Is there any way to get to Belize other than flying into Belize City? We always fly through Houston. Can you get there from anywhere else?

How long / how much does it cost to get to your final destination?

Ambergris is yet another flight from Belize City. How much does it cost? We recently went to Utila and the flight from Roatan to/from Utila was $$$$.

One of the bonuses of doing a Belize LOB is that the transfers are simple, cheap and short.

Won't try to answer all your questions, however I'll offer our experience.

We first dove in Belize as a couple about ten years ago. We flew direct from DFW, and stayed overnight at the Radisson. The next day, we boarded the boat to Turneffe Flats Resort and stayed there for a week. On our last day, since we had time to kill between the Flats boat returning to Belize City and our flight, we took a tour out to the Belize Zoo.

This time we flew directly to Belize City from DFW as well. Following our overnight trip to Tikal, we flew Tropic Air from the municipal airport to Ambergris. Their website shows this flight, for two adults, to be about $200 roundtrip. Considering the entire cost of the vacation, I don't consider this to be that bad. The flights were about 30 minutes, more or less.

Can't compare to any other Belize destinations, other than Turneffe Flats and Ambergris.

Hope this helps, although there are others here who have been to Belize many more times than we have.

 

[Ayisha]

Is there any way to get to Belize other than flying into Belize City? We always fly through Houston. Can you get there from anywhere else?

Just regarding the above part of your post, since you're coming from Toronto, not sure if you know that Westjet flies direct Toronto to Belize every Wednesday and Friday. So you can at least eliminate that connection through Houston wherever you end up.