Need help with my 10 day adventure in Belize!

That's a lot of separate places to sleep and doesn't account for Lamanai. You could stay 1 night nearer the airport (D'Nest Inn gets great reviews), do the Lamanai trip from there, and end up at Caves Branch that night. It's a great choice. You could do 4 nights there, maybe include a day visit to Hopkins (don't miss the drumming at the Lebeha Center) and walk to the Blue Hole and St. Herman's Cave (a mile +/-). I think I'd bag Caracol since you'd be visiting Lamanai and Tikal and that would leave you an extra night on an island which I doubt you'll regret.
D'Nest (Lamanai)
Caves Branch x4
Tikal
Island x4
That sounds like a great trip to me! Good luck and keep us posted!

You've received good advice from hopefulist and John.

I'd add this:

The problem with staying the first night in Orange Walk Town is that Orange Walk isn't a very good introduction to Belize. It's a scruffy town of 20,000 without much of interest to visitors, other than one small museum. It's not particularly dangerous, though there are crackheads around.

Hotel de la Fuente is the best little hotel in town. If you want something more exotic, try Lamanai Riverside Retreat, which has about four cabanas down on the New River. It's a little hard to find -- ask locally if you don't see the sign. It has a decent restaurant overlooking the river, though for dinner I'd go to the newish Nahil Maya -- lovely setting and good food.

The next day you can take the day trip to Lamanai on the New River (your hotel can arrange it for around US$40-$45 per person), or if you prefer you can drive.

In Cayo, Caves Branch is still good, although it is now under the ownership of the same people who own the resorty Jaguar Reef in Hopkins and it's gone more upscale. Beautiful jungle setting, though at times the river on which it's located goes completely dry.

Chaa Creek is superb, but if it's too pricey of the lodges on your list I'd choose Table Rock (though all you name are excellent)

--Lan Sluder
http://www.belizefirst.com
and Fodor's Belize

Hi!-

I spent four nights at Chaa Creek in Feb. and loved it. I stayed in the Macal River Camp, which only cost $55 per night and included breakfast and supper. It was beautiful there, the food was superb and Docio (who looks after the camp) was genial and helpful. The camp is a 10-minute walk from the main lodge, and you can use all the facilities at the lodge, such as the gorgeous pool. You can arrange all your tours through the concierge at the Lodge. The cabins at the camp are basically right in the trees. Meals are taken communally with other guests at the Camp in a thatched roof dining room, so its a good way to meet people. Take a look on the Chaa Creek website to see pictures of the cabins. It was my favourite place in my 2 weeks in Belize.

We loved Macal River Camp, too; here's a link.

Here's a thought. If you have the money, try going to Laminai outpost lodge for a nite. They have canoes that you can take for free and paddle around the lagoon. You have a car so you can drive other places to eat of you want to and they also have some nice water trips. You can walk or canoe or drive to the ruins, they are right next door. $195 per nite for the room. Then go to Chan Chich for a nite or better yet two. This is not too far from Lamania and is by far the best jungle type camp in Belize with the best wild life. They have casitas in the back that are very nice and less expensive then the cabanas but you have to ask for them as they are not advertised. It's further to drive to San Ignacio, but I've done it several times, take the cut off at Burrell Boon, next to the buildings with the red tile roofs. Stop at Cheers for lunch, it's a good trip. Then you've done the jungle and can concentrate on ruins and river trips. Five Sisters is right next to Blancaenous(?) and is nice with a great spot in the river to play in, but they are way off the beaten path with nothing to do except the river. It is closer to Caracol but driving to Caracol alone is no longer an option as it is too dangerous and must be done with other vehicles in a convoy. My things have changed!! I would opt for something closer to town like Chaa Creek or Duploys. Caves Branch is on the Hummingbird Highway and is also far from San Ignacio. If you have a car, you can drive to any spot you want. Cave tubing at Jaguar Paw, the ruins are great and you get a hand cranked ferry ride across the river .There are caves such as the Vaca Cave System closer to the Guatemalen boarder, all of this is cheaper if you drive yourself and avoid the tours. Ending up on the cayes is perfect!!

Thank you all so much for your advice! My fiance wants to skip the Lamanai adventure since we are going to Caracol and Tikal. I did think about going to Lamanai outpost for 1 night and then go to Chan Chich, but my fiance thinks it is too much driving, we are going to have to skip that adventure for another time unfortunately.

So now we will drive directly from the airport to Caves Branches and spend 3 nights there. I like the location and hope its nice, fun and safe to stay there. Are there a lot of hiking trails to keep us busy? Can we hike at Jaguar Paw? We are very active and it's the reason why we are only doing 3 nights at the beach, we prefer to hike then to snorkel.

Activities:
-Cave tubing with cavetubing.bz - is it a must to go to the Crystal cave with a tour guide? They seem to have the best price for just cavetubing, but the price is much higher to if we addCrystal Cave.
-visit to Blue Hole National Park
-visit St. Herman's Cave
-visit Belize Zoo & Guanacaste National Park

Drive to Tikal and enter the park at 3:30p so that we can visit the park the next day for free and either stay at Jaguar Inn or Tikal Inn. The drive seems like it was dangerous at one time, does anyone know if things have calmed down or if the roads are better paved? I am a little nervous about this drive and seems like if we took a tour we would be even more of a target

Sunrise and Sunset tour through the hotel. Should we also do a day tour with a guide at the park or is this over doing it?

Back to San Ignacio and stay at either Mystic River or Chaa Creek for 3 nights, does anyone know which location is better? Mystic River seems really nice with beautiful rooms and a nice deck and view of the river, much cheaper than Chaa Creek, but the grounds and guides and lots of trails and activities included at Chaa Creek seems like we have more options for on site activities so I am still undecided on this one. The Macal River Camp is very popular and I would definitely stay there if I were bringing friends or family, its a great value, but the beds are small and it doesn't seem very romantic.

Activities:
-ATM tour with Pacz
-Caracol - seems a little scary to go there but we are very interested in going
-drive to Mountain Pine Ridge area
-lots of hiking hopefully at or around the hotels we stay
-canoeing on the river

3 nights in Ambergis Caye - still need to work on lodging and tours there. I thought about a trip to Placencia and Cockscrob instead of staying so many nights in the Cayo area, but again my fiance thinks its too much driving. Which of the Cayes has the nicest beaches with the least crime?

Let me know what you all think!

Thanks!

Probably a good plan to skip Lamanai, though per Dollyd it's a shame to miss Chan Chich, in my opinion also the best lodge experience in Belize and arguably in all of Central America.

Assume you still mean Jaguar Reef, not Jaguar Paw. Jaguar Paw is an inland lodge and no longer takes overnight guests. Not really any hiking around Jaguar Reef, though you can walk the dirt roads near Hopkins and Sittee if you can tolerate the heat. People say it's been over 100 degrees there recently, with 90% humidity. The hiking is at Cockscomb and at Mayflower Bocawina.

I've stayed at Chaa Creek six or seven times and once at Mystic River this past summer. I don't know that one can describe one location as better than the other. Mystic River is on the way to the Mountain Pine Ridge whereas (by road) Chaa Creek is on the west side of San Ignacio. The grounds at Chaa Creek are more beautiful, and it has a pool, and much more in the way of on-site activities (serious spa, nature centre, butterfly centre, horseback riding, medicine trail, etc.) but both are on the Macal River. With Mystic River still discounting off its regular rates, it definitely is less expensive than Chaa Creek and a good value.

I guess you're aware that you will not have liability or other auto insurance in Guatemala? Belize insurance doesn't cover travel in Guatemala, and there's no place at the border to buy Guatemalan insurance? So be careful driving in Guatemala.

Ambergris Caye has nicer beaches than Caye Caulker but more crime (mainly because its population is about 15 times larger than Caulker's.)

--Lan Sluder

Here are a few points from my perspective for you...

If it was my trip, I'd bag the rental and shuttle from place to place, relieving yourselves of the stress of navigating, driving with no insurance, and liability for a car that won't be needed some days and might be broken into.

We found the lamp-lighted paths and cabins at Macal River Jungle Camp very romantic and you can hike and canoe for miles around there.

Caves Branch doesn't encourage hiking that isn't guided around their place, or at least hasn't in the past due to snakes, etc. You can walk to the Blue Hole and there's a nice hike to St. Herman's Cave from there, but there has been at least one mugging there so ask before you go.

My favorite hotel at Tikal is the Tikal Inn. I like to explore on my own in the evening. If you're lucky, archaeologist Roxy Ortiz will be guiding out of Tikal Inn while you're there - she's really amazing and is available there when she's not away on a dig. I've heard some guides aren't so great.

Happy trails!