Backpacking Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize advice

I live in Belize and have been here during a hurricane.

I wouldn't worry too much about hurricanes. August tends to more dry than wet with a very low probability of hurricane (in the history of over 100 years of weather records, only about 3 or 4 storms have affected Belize before September).

The probability increases in September, and the best advice I can give is stay tuned to local radio & TV for weather reports, and also this website (they track the storms)
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/?atlc

And if a hurricane is approaching, just get away from the coastal areas and head inland. Media reports will provide the best advice. If you do have to evacuate, get out early because too many people leave it until the last minute making it difficult to find taxis and get on buses (speaking from experience).

Having said all that, we don't get hurricanes every year -- I think it averages about one every 5 years.

There are always going to be people who will say that's too much ground to cover for 30 days, but I say just go -- you will adjust your pace as you go. I don't think I've ever followed a travel plan.

You don't need to stay in San Ignacio unless you want to do a cave tour. You don't need to stay in Belize City at all. Caye Caulker is nice (and it's the lower budget caye), but if you want beaches, skip CC and go directly to Tulum. I'd stay on CC only if I wanted to dive or snorkel (the best snorkelling isn't from the beach; you need a boat), but can't you do that in Mexico? So, less than a week in Belize. Spend most of your time in Mexico & Guatemala.

For transportation...
Mexico has an excellent bus system -- clean modern express buses, but you can save money on the second class buses.
Belize uses old school buses -- cheap & frequent.
This website has some excellent detail about buses & water taxis in Belize...
https://belizebus.wordpress.com/
Always watch your luggage on second class buses.

Yeah, just keep an eye out for the weather, you'll hear in plenty of time if anything major is brewing.

What's your budget per day not including flights?

That's a lot of ground to cover in one month, you could cut over at Palenque to Flores which would save a lot of time, really depends or your style of travel..

You could easily spend the whole month in Mexico, plenty to see and do including excellent snorkeling.

I'm counting 10-12 stops which is an average of 2.5-3 days per stop. Many of the trips you name are really long, full day ones. With that many transitions you are going to be giving up a lot of precious days that would be better spent enjoying and exploring.

When I'm planning my trips I take a good, hard look at what my travel priorities are. What do I want to be doing with most of my time? Generally the last thing on my list would be 'sitting on my backside looking through grimy bus windows'. Lots of folks feel like they want to cram in as much as possible in the time they have. By trying to see too many places and moving on every few days, or by choosing places that are geographically distant and require long bus times, you'd actually be diluting your time to explore and enjoy. If you really want to pack nearly every day full of cool adventures, pick a smaller geographic area and/or fewer stops.

My photos with blog, travelogue, and review links on the main page of each collection are below in case you're interested - all my recommendations are embedded there.
Happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

Haha I did that exact trip!!! Here is what I learned... I started in Cancun and went south from there, beaches were nice but I got overcast. San Cristobal is basically my new home, I am actually going on Wednesday and travel there a few times a year now. Very diverse and beautiful! From there, the trip down to the lake is about 12-14 hours...The lake is beautiful!!!! now, the trip through Guatemala to Belize is a long one...Don't go to Belize city! Not worth the time...Expensive and I got eaten alive by sand fleas. Out of the places you mentioned, spend the majority of your time in Tulum, San Cristobal and Lake Atitlan. Tulum is way better than Cancun. I use Cancun strictly for airport. Have fun!!

Thank you for the advice. Do you have any recommendations of nice towns in Belize to stay in on our way to Caye Caulker besides Belize City and San Ignacio?

If you have to stay somewhere, San Ignacio is really the only choice -- it's a nice town and has a good selection of accommodation for all budgets. Nothing in Belmopan. BC is a slum. You might consider staying a night at the Jungle Lodge at the Belize Zoo -- see the Belize Zoo website for information.

The zoo is a great suggestion: www.belizezoo.org

Here are links to the other places we've stayed in Cayo - loved them all for different reasons:
Great jungle camp outside of San Ignacio: http://www.belizecamp.com
Great budget lodging in San José Succotz just west of SI: http://www.thetrekstop.com
Great value hotel with pool in Santa Elena, across the bridge from SI: http://www.aguadabelize.com

I would not call the Jungle Lodge at the Belize Zoo a great suggestion because it's not what you asked for -- a nice small town. I just threw it out as an option in case you wanted to visit the zoo. The zoo is nowhere near a small town.

So we're now planning on going for six weeks instead of four, which helps!
What do you folks think of ending the trip by sticking to the loop route I previously mentioned and going from Palenque to Merida and then to Cancun to fly home vs. going from Palenque to Oaxaca to Mexico City and flying home from there? Which is the more difficult/longer route?