Honeymoon for May '11

Congrats! I would consider splitting your trip between the beach and one of the lodges on the mainland. One even rents a private waterfall for a day. For quiet beaches, look at Northern Ambergris Caye, Hopkins, Placencia, and small cayes like South Water Caye. 45 plus ft whale sharks congregate off the Placencia coast within 3 days either side of the full moon in May. There are many options in each of these areas of places to stay and things to do. For mainland, look at Cayo, Toledo and Orange Walk for rainforest, Mayan sites, caves, river and horse trips, waterfalls and interesting cultures.

Congratulations on your engagement. As the previous poster mentioned I would definately split your stay between beach and jungle. You will find your jungle stay unforgettable, I would suggest Caves Branch and from there you can do all sorts of activities, zip lining, repelling, cave tubing, spelunking, ruin tours etc. For your beach time, there are many options, I prefer Placencia to Hopkins, just because you have more options for accommodations and dining (I got very sick in Hopkins, so I may be somewhat biased).

If you head to Ambergris Caye, you will find this is where most of the tourists end up. The beaches are beautiful, and you can head out for amazing diving, and other day trips. If you want more quiet and don't plan on heading to town too often go for something north of the split on Ambergris Caye, if you plan on dining in town, and looking for a little night life stick with something closer to San Pedro. There is quite a range in accommodations.
There are also some fabulous accommodations on private cayes, as mentioned like South Water Caye, Thatch Caye, St George's Caye, Long Caye etc. These really cater to the diving crowd.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I have been doing some digging into what would be our ideal trip and I think I've managed to come up with a basic itinerary. I'm just not sure how feasible it is travel-wise so maybe someone can help me out. We would arrive in Belize City and spend the first 3 days or so in Caves Branch doing the whole jungle, cave exploration thing. From there I was looking at Huracan Diving on Long Caye in the middle of Lighthouse Reef for all our diving adventures. We would most likely spend the remainder of the trip there diving in the mornings and relaxing on the beach for the rest of the day.

Can anyone tell me if that's doable as far as getting from one location to the next?

Thanks again for all your help, this is by far one of the most helpful online communities!

Hi Ryan,

this is Ruth from Huracan Diving. I read that you are interested in spending some of your honemoon time here with us. I will look into the transfer parts for you and let you know if you can make it from caves branch up to hear and what the best options are. Please feel free to email us at any time: info@huracandiving.com.

Best regards,
ruth

For some off-the-beaten-track diving, have a look at the Reef CI website - they are based in Toledo district and have an operation off the Sapodilla Cayes in the south.. You stay on the island during the week, and then on the mainland in lovely non-touristy Punta Gorda town at weekends, from where you can do day trips to Mayan or Garifuna villages, caves, jungle, and so on. PG town is small but super friendly - local bands play at the seaside bars most weekends, If you are interested in Garifuna culture you can also arrange Garifuna drumming lessons - there is a fantastic young drummer called Ronald Raymond McDonald who does great lessons and loves to talk about his culture. Just ask around for where he lives on the corner of West Street and Cemetery Lane - he is an inspiring, patient teacher and loves to meet new people. His dad also makes a fantastic hudut (Garifuna dish with coconut, fish and plantain) and they regularly perform with famous local Paranda musician, Paul Nabor, who lives in the Garifuna temple in PG town - if you are lucky they might find time to introduce you! There are also local bands that play most weekends at Ocean View bar on Front Street, where you can see the locals dancing to traditional punta and the more modern punta rock (there is a difference!) and enjoy an ice cold beer while gazing across the bay to hills of Guatemala.

Edited by: ruthalice