Where to stay in Belize

[Rogue_Diver]

There are a lots of places, and I need some help figuring out which one (or which area) is right for us. I want to dive several times each day. My wife is not a diver, so she wants a nice relaxing resort with a pool to chill in. The closer we are to the dive sites the better as this will give me more time to enjoy the dives, and more time to relax with the Mrs. in between. All of the cayes are confusing. We are looking for an upscale place, but would consider anything that gets the job done. Your experiences at any destinations in the area would be a big help. Thanks.

 

[Leejnd]

Interesting -- I'm in a similar boat, looking for places for June or July. (Yeah, I know it's the rainy season, but it's when we can go.) While my husband and I are both divers, we want to be able to do things other than dive -- perhaps take some jungle tours or whatever. We'd like to stay in a place that is very convenient to diving, but that we can also escape to get to see some other parts of Belize.

We'd like a quiet, romantic and attractive spot, but still be convenient to get to restaurants etc. We prefer places that aren't totally touristy, and actually retain some of the natural atmosphere of the region. I've been focusing mostly on Ambergris Caye (the Corona Del Mar sounds good so far -- the people on Tripadvisor sure love it!), but should we also be looking at some of the other cayes? Or are they too remote/removed?

How difficult is it to get to other parts of Belize for day trips from the cayes?

 

[H2ODoc]

I think you really should stay on Ambergris. There's a town (San Pedro) where your wife can hang out if she wants and the diving is all of a few minutes from shore.

As for a place to stay, we stayed at Belizean Shores which was very nice, but a little north of town. The pool is VERY nice, but you are North enough where town is a 20 minute bike ride, 10 minute water taxi, or 15 minute golf cart adventure. If you were to consider staying there or up that way, make sure your dive op will pick you up that far north. If we were to do it again, we'd probably stay closer to town - not because we didn't love Belizean Shores, but just for convinience. The water taxi only runs from town about once per hour or something like that.

We tried to stay at The Palms based on someone's suggestion, but it was booked. It is in a nice area (close to everything) if they have what you are looking for. I think they have a pool, but you might verify that.

 

[peterbj7]

If you're prepared to pay for somewhere a bit upmarket yet convenient you might look at Xanadu, Caribbean Villas and Victoria House. Particularly convenient but (therefore) less peaceful is Sunbreeze. Get more info from http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/lodge/lodging.html.

 

[dashark]

Amberguis has very fast and convenient diving.
The reef is pretty hammered, though. Not a lot of fish either.
The outer reefs ( lighthouse, turneffe) are amazing, but, a long boat(beautiful) ride. You could do a lot of fast easy local dives to get wet and plan one long day to turneffe or lighthouse/bluehole.
We stayed at Ramons villiage. Not terribly romantic or swank, but comfortable. The dive operation is great. they have several boats that leave from the dock right out front.most dive sites are a 5-10 min boat ride.....
Cay caulker is also another option to look into. A bit smaller than amberguis , but, much mellower. Not sure about the diving, though....
hope this helps....

 

[Leejnd]

Thanks for the feedback! I've also been looking at Placencia -- it seems that might be a better choice. Less "touristy" than Ambergris Caye, as well as easier access to topside adventures (we don't want to spend our ENTIRE vacation diving). My one concern is, how is the diving around Placencia? It looks as if Seahorse is the only dive shop in the area...is this correct?

Thanks again for any help!

 

[yakivet]

Amberguis has very fast and convenient diving.
The reef is pretty hammered, though. Not a lot of fish either.
The outer reefs ( lighthouse, turneffe) are amazing, but, a long boat(beautiful) ride. You could do a lot of fast easy local dives to get wet and plan one long day to turneffe or lighthouse/bluehole.
We stayed at Ramons villiage. Not terribly romantic or swank, but comfortable. The dive operation is great. they have several boats that leave from the dock right out front.most dive sites are a 5-10 min boat ride.....
Cay caulker is also another option to look into. A bit smaller than amberguis , but, much mellower. Not sure about the diving, though....
hope this helps....

I'll agree that Turneffe and Lighthouse are amazing, but you're way off when you give the impression that the local reefs are "hammered". Perhaps your dive op failed to show you a variety of sites. We were there in both March of 2005 and 2006 and will making a third trip in several weeks. All our diving has been with Protech and we've seen some fantastic areas.

 

[peterbj7]

I haven't dived Placencia but I know there are quite a few dive shops there, not just Seahorse.

 

[dashark]

I dove the southern barrier reef for a week and four days on amberguis. the barrier reef was decent, and personally, my wife and I were disappointed with the diving in amberguis.
Other people may be happy with the diving in Belize. If so, sorry to put a damper on it. compared to other places we have been, we were not impressed. We did about 10 dive days with several operators. The area seems very over fished and much of the barrier reef has suffered hurricane damage over the years. All of the quality dives we did were on the outer cayes for sure.
The food and topside stuff there were great though.
Lee Anne: the inland adventures in the south are great. This was the best part of our trip,and, worth the journey.The Jaguar preserve was beautiful, try to see it at night or early morning as most of the wildlife is nocturnal.
If your feeling adventurous, do one of the cave tours. The ATM cave is the best.
And if you have time, an overnight tour to Tikal is amazing. One of our very best travel experience and the highlight of our trip. There is a jungle lodge there and you do a sunset from the top of one of the ruins and a sunrise from the top of another. This also puts you in the rainforest at night and early morning to see much wildlife.

Enjoy! Look foward to seeing another trip report from you.....

Danny

 

[weedycdragon]

Hi
where did you stay in the south, any recommendations for tour operators. We are planning a 3 week trip to belize in july and want to spend half the time doing wildlife/ jungle tours. There seems to be so much to see i am really confused as to fit it all in. The Lamanai area looks interesting..anyone recommend a place to stay . Then there is the howler monkey place and all the Mayan sites...which are the best ones with wildlife etc etc. I really need help on deciding the best way to do this holiday. Thinking of also staying on caye caulker and maybe a few days on ambergris although i am also looking at the southern cayes but they seem to be very expensive.
Is it possible to leave our dive gear somewhere while we do the land based stuff any one know about this, also is there a limit for luggage on the planes to the cayes.

Any help anyone