16 days in Belize - Trip Report (SI,Tobacco Caye,Placencia,CC)

Hi, I've just returned yesterday from a 17 days trip in Belize, visiting San Ignacio, Tobacco Caye, Placencia and Caye Caulker. I hope that all of you that are planning a trip to this beautiful country find it usefull.

Day 1: Heading to San Ignacio
I landed on Belize City on Sunday, 3:30pm, i took a Taxi just outside de airport to the Belize Bus station (25 USD). Once in the bus station, I went to the “waiting space” until the bus to San Ignacio appeared (there were no signs or bus schedules). The taxi driver told me about a Non Stop Bus to SI, but when the first one appears (you have to search for the “to BENQUE) I decided to take it.

Lots of people run to the front door of the bus, but I saw a few run to the end of it. The buses are like the old school buses in USA (as far as I’ve seen in movies) so they have a rear door, so I entered from there and I had the chance to travel sit. There is no space to put your bags, so be prepared to put it above you or between your legs, because it gets crowded.

You have to pay to a guy who walks all the time along the bus, in my case were 7 BZ (I had some because the taxi driver gave my exchange).

The trip to SI took almost 3 hours, because this bus stops all the time. They don’t announce the cities or towns where they stop so don’t fall sleep or you will end on BENQUE VIEJO.

I had already a reservation in CASABLANCA (6 nights, 240USD total, with A/C, TV, hot water and wireless internet). The hotel is modest but it’s very well located and the rooms are clean and spacious.

I wanted to have all the trips booked in advance, and I’ve read some bad experiences with PACZ so I headed to MAYAWALK. I booked 4 trips and I asked for a discount, which I received (TIKAL: 115usd, CARACOL: 75usd, ATM: 80 usd, Cave Tubbing: 70usd, total: 340usd).

I went to KO OX HAN Nah to have dinner, just in front of CASABLANCA Hotel. I ordered white rice & bens (10BZ) with a premium BELIKIN beer (5BZ). The dish was acceptable, but the portions are big.

Day 2: TIKAL Trip (115 USD)
We departed 6:30 to the Guatemalan border, once there another driver took us to TIKAL (90mins aprox). The ruins are amazing, and well conserved (or restored in many cases). The view from the Temple IV is breath taking. Another high point of this trip is the natural life… we saw spider monkeys, several toucans, and more rare animals which I don’t remember their names. My original idea was to do an overnight trip, but I think that this daily trip covered the most important parts of this antique city. We returned to SI at 17:30. I had dinner again on KO OX HAN Nah, but this time I tasted the Thai Chicken (20BZ), it was just great, but I don`t recommend the water melon juice… it wasn’t very tasty.

Day 3: Trip to CARACOL (75 usd).
We depart late at 8:30am due to the original guide was sick, so they had to get a replacement. I bought some fruits in a tiny street market (1 banana, 1 apple for 2,25BZ). I would recommend to have a light breakfast or to have it very early since the road to CARACOL is in very bad shape and you may feel little sick with all the movement. The good thing is that it will getting better as soon as you get close to the ruins, but there are some parts that we were bouncing like crazy inside the van and one girl from US was close to vomit inside the vehicle.

About the ruins, they are great but not as impressive as TIKAL, so if you have to choose between them don’t hesitate and take TIKAL. However this trip has a nice ending detail, because in the way back you stop on Mountain Pine Ridge, in a river with cool waterfalls. It was great to take a bath and swim around after a very hot day. Once in SI me and some of the other tourists went to a bar to drink some beers. Take note that lot of the bars offers Happy Hour until 6pm, and from 9pm. So two Belikin beers costs only 3BZ!!!.

Day 4: Trip to ATM (80 usd).
The trip started at 7am, we traveled for about 1 hour until the entrance of the complex. From there you have a walk through the forest for about 45 mins, which include 3 river crossing. For that reason is recommended to have an extra pair of sockets for your return to SI. It’s also recommendable to bring a submergible camera, but if you don’t have it they can keep your normal camera and other things dry and give it to you once you are inside the cave, in the last part of the excursion. I will not give more details about the ATM cave but it’s something that you have to do, definitely. We returned to SI at 16hs. I had dinner in KO OX HAN NAH, the beef curry (20BZ) it’s quite good.

Day 5: Cave Tubbing (70 usd).
Well, this tour let you sleep a little bit more since you leave SI at 9am, and return at 16. It’s about 1 hour to Belmopan, and then near 30minutes through another road, less flat. This tour start with a 30-40 mins walk through the jungle, and then you simply get over an inflated camera of a truck tire and float for about 2 hours. In the journey you will enter in many caves and you also can swim in beautiful natural pools. Take notice that mostly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, there are cruises on Belize City , and since this is a spot near that city, it’s full of cruiser tourists. Tell to the guide that you want to do the long journey, since most of the cruiser tourist doesn’t have too much time and they do a shorter walk and consequently a shorter excursion.

Later I arrange with the driver of Mayawalk Tours to drive me to Dangriga, so we leave at 17 and I arrive in Dangriga at 19:30 (we stopped in the middle in his grandmother house). I paid him 40 usd. Once in Dangriga he drove me to a decent hotel (Jungle Hut Resort) for 35usd the night (it was 40 usd but the owner gave me a discount).

Day 6 to Day 9: Tobacco Caye
I had already a reservation so I went to the River side café and I took the boat to the Reef’s end lodge. I paid for a dive pack for 4 nights and a total of 12 tanks, all meals included, and transportation from/to Dangriga. This is a very little island (around 100 mts long, 60 wide) with a few resorts there, quite basic and rustic, but they work.

Electricity works only from 5pm to 6am, when it works (first night the generator stopped and it was too hot, was difficult to felt sleep with that heat and humidity), but the next 3 nights everything worked just perfect. The guys running the place (Marlo) and the divemaster (Eric) and the motor man (Johny) were amazing. In two of the nights, some local guys played their drums at the Garifunka style, was great to dance at their bits. I did many dives (12 tanks) and the marine life you can see here is amazing: I saw turtles, dolphins, Green and spotter Moreys, Crabs, Lion fish, Barracudas, Lobsters, Remors, Ocean trigger fish, Spotted eagle Rays, Trunk fish, and hundreds of other species.

There is not a nice beach on the island, but you can do a great snorkeling here, just walking from the deck of the Reef End's Lodge restaurant.

Day 10: Heading to Placencia
After my final dive Eric took me in the boat to Dangriga (included in the accommodation price, which by the way was around 800 usd for 4 days, 12 tanks, all meals and juices included). Once in the deck (in front the River side Café) I took a taxi to the bus station (5 BZ) and at 11am the bus to Placencia (Ritchie’s Bus Service, 10 BZ, 2 hours). In Placencia I stayed at the Cozy Corner hotel and Restaurant (109 BZ per night, Fan only, or 149 with AC).

At the restaurant you can have a Cozzy’s burrito (ground meat) for 10,25BZ, an orange juice costs 5BZ. The food is OK but they take their time.

The beaches in this part of the coast are not that great… there are a lot of dead plants in the sand.

Day 11: Whare Shark dive in Placencia
I booked a Whale Shark dive with Splash agency (185 USD, 2 tanks, meals and water included) 8am to 16hs. At the first dive we couldn’t see any whale shark, but in the 2nd we were luckier and we saw about 5 of them, in a meal fest with thousands of fishes. After the 1st dive we had lunch and we had also time for some snorkel, which was great for the fact we saw a turtle and lots of fishes. However if you book this trip as a whale shark snorkel, I’m afraid that you will need to have extreme lucky to be able to see the whale sharks from the surface, since this time the people that was doing snorkel couldn’t see any from where they were.
I had dinner in the Cozy Corner again, this time 2 beers and a Fish Filete was 35BZ.

Day 12: From Placencia to Caye Caulker
I took the Hokey Poker Water Taxi to Independence (Maya Creek) at 6:45am (9BZ) and once there, I walked 6 mins to the Bus Station, well, is not a real bus station, but it was a bus parked there. It was the James Bus Line, we leave at 7:20am, 19 BZ, 4 hours). I was told that it was an Express Service, but I discovered that it was like all the others: it stops wherever the passengers want, and they don’t like to walk not even 50 mts, so when you are close to the big cities, it will stop more frequent… and you have to add those “Speed bumps”… relax, bring a good book with you and enjoy the ride.

Once in Belize City Bus station, one guy offered me a 20% discount for the San Pedro Belize Express Water Taxi, which obviously accepted. Thanks to that I paid 25BZ (with return, which remains open for 3 months). The boats to Caye Caulker departs at 7:45,9,10:45,12,13:15,15,16:15 and 17:30. It’s a 45mins trip.

Once in Caye Caulker, and since I didn’t have reservations of any kind, I decided to go to the Caye Caulker Hotel Plaza for the first night. I paid 119,90BZ for a ground room (1st and 2nd floor are more expensive). I had wi-fi from my room, but the signal was poor.

For dinner I tried “Habaneros” because there was a guy playing a guitar and singing there. The food was spectacular (pasta with sea food). I paid 47,25BZ (included 1 beer).
Caye Caulker is a very relaxing place to stay, very calm and with lots of things to do: dives, snorkel, bike rental, kayak, windsurf, kite surfing but is not definetaly a party destination, so if you are seeking that maybe you should head to San Pedro.

Day 13: Blue Hole Dive from CC
I made a dive trip to the Blue Hole (225USD gear included, Belize Diving Services). It started very early in the morning (5:15am in their offices, you can serve yourself your breakfast and then at around 6am we left Caye Caulker). It’s a 2 hours trip to the Blue Hole (in the Light house Reef) and the package include 3 tanks and the lunch. About the dives, the first one is in the Blue Hole… if you have less than 25 dives they recommend you to go until 80ft epth (24mts), in my case I went all down until 135ft (around 40 mts), but is not much what you can see. At that depth you can stay just a few minutes, and then you have to go up and stay in less depth. We saw reef sharks and Spotted Eagle Rays. The 2nd dive is on Half Moon Caye, which was nice (not better than the dives I made in Tobacco Caye), and the 3rd dive is on The Aquarium, pretty much the same as the 2nd.

Between the 2nd and the 3rd dive we stop in a fantastic island in Half Moon Caye, that was awesome. We walked a little bit in the jungle and we saw a big iguana, lots of frigates and other birds, and some Hermit Crabs. In general is too expensive but it’s the most popular dive and everybody wants to do it, so if money it’s not a concern for you go ahead. One person rented an underwater camera for 30BZ, but the pictures were so bad… and the batteries died after the 2nd dive. Once in CC, they said that they couldn’t download them since the battery is dead, and they asked her to return the next day. I saw her the next day and she said me that he returned but the pictures were lost, at least they returned her the money.

I moved to Mara’s Place (92,65BZ per night) due to is much better located than the Hotel Plaza (just a few meters from the Lazy Lizard), plus you can use a deck in front of the sea with hammocks and the room has a balcony with a private hammock. The rooms has not AC but it’s not necessary, since you reserve the ocean breeze and they are very fresh.

I had dinner on the Happy Lobster, but it wasn’t Lobster season so I ordered Barracuda, which was great.

Day 14: Kayak on Caye Caulker
I decided to rest a little bit so I didn’t do any trip. I had breakfast on “Sobre las Olas” (Fruits with yogurt and granola, 13BZ), I had lunch on “Rainbow” (Shrimps with Cajon sauce & 2 fruit juices, 43BZ). I rent a Kayak and I rounded the island (10BZ per hour, single kayak, 15BZ a double one).

Day 15: Snorkel at Hol Chan Marine Reserve
I booked this tour at Raggamuffin Tours (100 BZ, 10:30am to 16). The tour was great, it includes 3 stops: Hal Chan, Shark Ray Alley and Coral Garden. In the last one I saw more rare species than in the Blue Hole Dives… it’s just great. In the 2nd stop at Shark Ray Alley, the guides feeds the sharks and rays and they get very close to the boat, so you are able to swim around them. They took the Nurse Sharks with their hands and you can touch them.

At Coral Garden we saw also lots of sea turtles, which were awesome.

During the afternoon they serve you a shrimp ceviche with rum ponch, and the guides and the captain are very friendly and funny. I highly recommend to book with them.

Day 16: Wind Surf class
I decided to take a windsurf class and I contacted Gregg for the lesson. You can find him near the deck of Frenchie’s Diving. It was 60 USD for 1 hour of lessons and all day rental equipment, so I had the table and sail for me for as much time I wanted.

I had dinner in the restaurant located just behind the cemetary, which was really good. After that I headed to the Reggae's bar just a few meters left of the entrance, which was the best in town (Tequila shoots 10BZ, Belikin 5BZ, Mojito 10BZ).

Day 17: Caye Caulker to Belize Airport
I departed at 7am in the first San Pedro Express Boat, which already I had bought the return ticket. Once in Belize City I took a taxi (25USD) to the airport, I was there near 8:15am.

Sorry if this was too much detailed, but I wanted to cover almost all doubts and questions that you may have on a similar itinerary.

Thanks for reading.

Regards

Pablo

PD: sorry for my bad english (pueden consultarme en español)

Sorry if this was too much detailed

Don't apologize! Thanks for the well written and detailed report.
It left me wanting to see photos.

But BZ$2.25 for 1 banana and 1 apple!!
I hope you learned later in your trip that you can get 8 to 10 bananas for BZ$1.
Apples normally cost BZ$1 to $1.25 each.

Thanks Misterbee, you helped me a lot with many of my questions beforme my trip, so I wanted to return to the forum as much as I could with information.

Regarding the price about the banana and the apple.... yes... I realized later that it was too expensive for that... but that was at the beginning of my trip and I didn't know really the value of the things.

About pictures, I have a lot but I don't have a website... if you have a facebook account just add me (Pablo Salazar) and eventually I will upload some of them there.

Cheers!

Pablo

Really nice report......lots of interesting stuff!

Hi Pablo, Thank you for the very nice report! It sounds like you did a lot in 17 days so good for you. I bet you spent some money but it was your first time and you only live once. Greg

Great report - thanks for posting!

I'm glad you enjoyed your time in Belize. Seems that you had a great, interesting and, quite, funny adventure. I had fun reading your post. I see, you've met my friends, Phil, from Jungle Hut Resort in Dangriga, and Marlo at Tobacco Caye. Next time, should you ever visit Belize again, I recommend hiking to Davis Falls or Billy Baquidier National park.

Very informative! Thanks for the account, sounds like you had a wonderful time.

Pablo,
Did you like Placencia and would you recommend any hotels. We have spent a lot of time at Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker and thought we would check out Placencia. It looks like some of the nice places are really far from town.

Hi, cyn - we loved One World Rentals - cute apartments right in the heart of town. They're not on the beach, though, if that's what you're looking for. Happy trails!