Upcoming trip plan, for review please...

[rydog]

Well, I think we have our trip planned and wanted to run it by those that know... We are in Belize for 10 days starting March 6th. I cannot wait.

It looks like we are planning on heading to AC for a few days and doing some of the local dives before heading to CC for a blue hole/elbow trip and then down to Placencia for a whale shark dive or two (full moon is on the 10th I believe and we will probably be arriving there on the 13th or so).

The reason we are going to all three spots is to see more of the country and all it has to offer. Really didnt want to be in one spot the whole time.

We do not have anything set in stone (hotels, dive shops, local transfers...) and wanted to see what you all thought about the timeline or possible suggestions. It is going to be a pretty loose trip in terms of dates and we can be persuaded to do things differently.


A couple questions I still have:

• Is there anything I am missing?
• Suggestions to stay in the under $60/nt range?
• How is the road to Placencia? Should I take a plane?
• Is a rash guard or spring suit suggested?
• It looks like most diving is from a boat, should I be bringing full foot fins or my open heel?
• Should we move Placencia earlier to get a better chance at the whale sharks?
• Do you have to go back to mainland between CC and Placencia?
• Should we dive the BH from AC instead of CC?
• How reliable is the trip from Placencia back up to Belize city to make a flight? Should I stay overnight in the city?

I know its a lot of questions and I do appreciate the answers. I really want to have a fun time on this trip! Thanks in advance!!

 

[hopefulist]

I'll give a stab at a few:
* Is there anything I am missing? Most of the mainland, ruins, caving, hiking, villages...

* How is the road to Placencia? Should I take a plane? Road is pretty bad, flying is much easier if you can swing the cost.

* Do you have to go back to mainland between CC and Placencia? Yes, unless you want to do a 3 day sailling/camping trip with Raggamuffin.

* How reliable is the trip from Placencia back up to Belize city to make a flight? Should I stay overnight in the city? I'd avoid the city if you can. Plenty of flights as long as you're flight leaves late enough in the day. Plan to be at the international airport more than 2 hours ahead.

Happy trails!

 

[rydog]

Hopefulist, the ragamuffin sounds like a pretty cool trip! It doesnt sound like they accomodate any scuba, correct? Not required but just need to plan accordingly. Have you done it, what were your thoughts?

 

[hopefulist]

Here's a link in case you haven't found one: Tours I doubt they'd include scuba but you could ask them - they respond fairly quickly. We haven't done the trip but I've read some positive reviews. It's pretty rustic, I think. We're doing a full day sailing/snorkeling trip with them our last day on Caulker this summer. I'll be diving a full week on Glovers and a few days on Caulker during our visit. Happy trails!

 

[robint]

I wouldn't go to Belize without spending 1-2 days of mainland tours, seeing the Mayan ruins, jungle, etc.
You can do them from Ambergris Caye, here is just one of many companies to give you an idea of the day trips:
Monkey Business Travel Shoppe | Trips and Adventures Tours

even some of the dive ops on Ambergris can book the tours:
Aqua Dives Belize, The Ultimate Dive Center, Ambergris Caye!

robin

 

[peterbj7]

Yes indeed. Try Seaduced for these land-based tours.

Ragamuffin doesn't do scuba. On Caye Caulker I'd go to Belize Diving Services.

 

[robint]

Yes indeed. Try Seaduced for these land-based tours.

Ragamuffin doesn't do scuba. On Caye Caulker I'd go to Belize Diving Services.

thanks Peter, hadn't heard of that one. Here is the website:
Welcome to SEAduced by Belize, where all your tour, adventure, outings, site seeing and fun is taken care of! The best Tour Agency in San Pedro!

 

[rydog]

We were thinking about diving with BDS. Seems like they get pretty good reviews.

Hopefulist, the link you have is their old website. You may want to bookmark Raggamuffin Sailing Tours, Caye Caulker Belize Overnight Sailing instead. Website is done better and prices are updated.

We have been kicking around the idea of doing the cave tubing or the zoo but really want to make sure we have time for everything else without feeling rushed.

Thank you all for the input, anything else is always appreciated.

 

[hopefulist]

Oops - thanks. I have looked at both websites and accidentally linked the wrong one.

 

[Avadon Divers]

You could do the zoo one morning and cave tubing at Jaguar Paw in the afternoon - both in one day. Those locations aren't far from one another. It would mean spending a night in Belize City, and that's not a splendid idea given the price range you're looking for. For the best prices on places to stay in Placencia or perhaps overnight in Belize City in order to capture those 2 land tours, e-mail Katie at info@belize-trips.com She is a wealth of info on Belize. She could arrange that part of the trip for you and get you to Placencia. I would recommend you book with a dive operator in Placencia for whale shark before heading down. There are limited spaces available and you may miss going out if you wing it. There are 3 main independent dive operators in Placenica. Seahorse, Splash and myself - Avadon Divers. We all offer fine dive services. Avadon Divers does, however, have the larger boat (a 46-ft Newton Dive Special) which makes for a comfortable ride out and back, and space to spread out while on board for surface intervals. The whale shark full moon period is 10 days long from Mar 8 - 17. Please visit our website: Avadon Divers - Placencia, Belize, Welcome and contact us directly through the contacts if you need more info. I'd be happy to help.