3 weeks in Belize - Trip Review

Just returned from 3 weeks in Belize – here is my quick trip review.

We started in Caye Caulker – great little island, great people, great food. I highly recommend Fran’s for dinner!!
We did a lot of diving while on Caye Caulker. We dove with Belize Diving Services – they had almost brand new equipment, every diver gets a dive computer, great service and divemasters. Any dive shop that provides dive computers to all divers for safety is top notch in my books. However, BDS does not do trips to the Blue Hole, therefore we did a 3 dive trip with Big Fish to dive the Blue Hole. Loved the Blue Hole and Lighthouse Reef is by far the best diving we did in Belize. Diving in Belize is a little different than anywhere else I have been. We learned that the divemasters/instructors are all required to be Belize Citizens. Belize culture is super laid back and chill and I really think the dive shops could benefit from some enthusiastic expats who are excited about what they do and where they are.

We traveled down to San Ignacio. I would highly discourage anyone from staying at Cahal Pech – it was insanely noisy! We met up with other travelers who complained about the same thing! Parrots Nest is a great family run place to stay, surrounded by a river you can tube down.
ATM tour is a must, as everyone says.

Tikal is spectacular. We stayed at Jaguar Inn, which is super close to the park entrance. Tikal is definitely worth a couple days. Don’t try and do it with a day trip!! By the time you would get there, the park is packed with people and the sun is unbearably hot. If you buy a park ticket after 4pm – it is valid for the following day as well. We went and watched the sunset on our first day, then watched the sunrise the next day. Sitting on top of Temple IV, hearing the howler monkeys and birds wake up in the jungle, and then the spectacular sunrise is a once in a lifetime memory, don’t miss it!! We also did the Canopy Zipline Tour while in Tikal and it was a blast!

Next we went to Placencia for a little beach time. William from Williams Shuttle Service drove us from San Ignacio to Placencia. William is a great guy, he is more like a tour guide/travel agent/shuttle service. He helped us find great accommodations and we stopped at the inland Blue Hole on our way, it is beautiful! We stayed at Lydia’s in Placencia, and it was great. They say Placencia is the best beach in Belize and it is beautiful! However, I may just a bit of a beach snob, but I found the sand to be extremely coarse which is uncomfortable to walk on and lay on. It wasn’t the idealic soft white sand beaches that I was expecting (it was still beautiful – I just don’t want people to be disappointed!). Placencia also has a lot of sand flies.

In Placencia, we found Belize Sailing Charters. Captain Rob sailed us from Placencia up to Caye Caulker stopping at lots of little cayes for snorkeling along the way, Tobacco Caye and Southwater Caye were our favorites! It took 4 days 3 nights and was the absolute highlight of the trip! Seaker, the 42ft catamaran is beautiful boat, with kitchen, private rooms, bathrooms, kayaks, tons of deck space to sun tan. To save money we didn’t do the all-inclusive charter, we brought/caught all our own food, which was perfect for us! We had originally wanted to do Raggamuffin and sail down to Placencia, but the timing didn’t work for us. Belize Sailing Charters, in my opinion is a much better value since you get a private boat and can stop whenever and wherever you want. I believe the charter cost us $500/night. For 4 people Raggamuffin would have cost us $1200, we paid $1500 for a beautiful private boat! Belize Sailing Charters – highly recommended!!

So much for a quick review…. We had an amazing trip! Belize is a beautiful country!!

Thanks for the report.

Great trip report, thanks so much!! I'm definitely going to look into the Belize Sailing Charters but I'm trying to sail from Caye Caulker to Placencia and they are only based in Placencia right?

thanks guys!

Belize Sailing Charters is based out of Placencia, but they do trips all over Belize and some of Guatamala. They would definitely take you from Caye Caulker to Placencia. After we were dropped off in Caye Caulker, Rob was heading to San Pedro to pick up some people for a charter down to Placencia.
Here is the contact info:
Belize Sailing Charters
Capt, Rob McDaniel
www.belize-sailing-charters.com
rob.mcdaniel@belize-sailing-charters.com
or info@belize-sailing-charters.com

thanks so much!

Great report - glad you enjoyed Belize!

the sand of placencia gets under the webbing of my sandals and chafes my little and big toes.
for sure, blue hole and lighthouse are superior
raggamuffin leaves something to be desired regarding luxury. unfortunately I travel solo, with few exceptions, and it sounds like belize sailing charters wouldnt accommodate (like on Tony Santos' Andiamo in Panama) a single unless solicited by a group.
One of my best travel experiences was standing atop a pyramid in Tikal communing with howler monkeys. I was trying to sound off them, with lackluster results. Then someone suggested I do it on inhalation. That did it! I got every monkey in a mile radius cussing me out.

I agree about the sand at Placencia. I ended up with several blisters in a day and a half there. Spent four days at Caye Caulker, with nary a blister. Oh, Placencia is beautiful, but we much preferred Caye Caulker.

I had an amazing time in Belize. Belize was stop on my cruise. Probably the best stop. I booked a diving trip before I left on the cruise on http://www.bookbelizetours.com. Great trip. Marvin was a great tour operator.

Excellent report, thanks..