Belize - no package deals. Good or bad idea?

Hello, all!

I'm planning my first real vacation, and I had a question. My plan is to spend my honeymoon in Belize, and we want to stay for two weeks. This, obviously, can get expensive, but I'd like to stay somewhere fairly fancy (it IS our honeymoon...). The plan so far is to stay one week on the mainland for some adventuring (cave tubing, zipline canopy tour, ruins, etc), then head to Ambergris Cay for some relaxation. The two places I have picked out both have pretty good reviews overall. They are:

Week 1 - http://www.cavesbranch.com/index.html

Week 2 - http://www.victoria-house.com/index.cfm

I'm not trying to break the bank, and I've noticed that the package deals, while offerring plenty to do, plus a few perks, tend to cost A LOT more than their a la carte nightly rates (almost double, it seems).

Here's my question - Is it a bad idea to just get the basic stay without any packages and find our own entertainment?

I really don't want to be committed to a set schedule. It seems to me that most of the things most people enjoyed doing would not be hard to "just wing it," with a couple of exceptions (like a Lighthouse Atoll dive trip).

Is this a bad idea? I've never planned an out-of-country trip before, and I don't want to ruin one of the best trip opportunities I'm likely to have for quite some time by trying to do something classy on the cheap.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hello and congratulations! I can't speak for Ambergris but our family had a blast at Caves Branch 5 years ago. As you've already noted, it's not a budget place but the guides and adventures are great and the setting lovely; we especially enjoyed the outdoor showers. Meals are expensive ($12 for breakfast and lunch, $24 for dinner). When you add up the cost of a any lodging level for 3 nights plus breakfast and dinner for both of you x3 plus 2 adventures each (lunch included) it's WAY more than the package rate. The catch at Caves Branch is it's miles from any town so there aren't other easy options for meals or adventures; if you choose to stay there you might as well go for a package imo. Our family didn't eat every meal there because we'd shopped and brought food in with us but it had to be things that didn't need to be cooked.

With 2 weeks you might want to consider a stop in San Ignacio 1st where you can explore a bit, arrange your own tours, pick different restaurants for meals, and stage an overnighter to Tikal in Guatemala (highly recommended). Then spend 3 nights at Caves Branch before heading to an island. I realize that's moving around more but CB isn't a good jumping off place for Tikal. Check out my travelogue and photos below if you're interested and please keep us posted.

On Ambergris Caye, where there are so many great restaurants and lots of things to do, I don't think it makes sense to buy a package that locks you into a meal plan, specific number of dives, tours or whatever. Victoria House is terrific, though. I last stayed there in February.

Caves Branch is isolated, and there are no other choices around for meals, so there some kind of package could make sense.

--Lan Sluder

That's pretty much what I've been thinking. There are a lot of activities we'd like to do in\around CB, and given its location, I think a package deal might be the way to go on this part of the trip. For the Ambergris Caye part, though, I think that Victoria House's proximity to San Pedro pretty much negates the usefulness of spending extra money on a package deal.

Also, I will definitely consider a Tikal stop. Out of all the activities I've read about, that one comes very highly recommended. I'd hate to miss out on it. This raises another question, though - beside the fact that I wouldn't be able to explore San Ignacio for a day or two, why is CB not a good launch-point for a Tikal trip? Proximity?

By the way, I looked at some of your CB photos. Looks awesome!! Can't wait to see it for myself!

I appreciate the advice, and special thanks to Lan - your website, reviews, and advice to others has helped me out a lot!

Edited by: The_Aristocrats

You're right that having CB arrange your trip to Tikal and back would be easier, but a day trip from that location doesn't sound fun to me at all - probably 3-4 hours on the road each way and MAYBE that much time to explore - during the mid day when the sun will be scorching and the place will be crawling with other visitors. If you go overnight and stay in the park, you have the advantage of exploring in the cooler evening and early morning hours when the wildlife is active and you practically have the place to yourselves. We've seen spider and howler monkeys (that ROAR like lions or some ungodly thing from the underworld!), coatis, agoutis, gray foxes, and lots of birds: oscillated turkeys, parrots, and toucans feeding in the trees at eye level.

We visited Tikal without a tour but they're widely available from the San Ignacio area which would cut an hour or so out of each leg of the trip. There are Tikal photos in both the Belize and Guatemala 2007 collections. Keep us posted!

Sounds like a lot of fun. I didn't realize you could stay IN the park until I looked at some of your pics. I'll definitely try to fit that in. Thanks for the tip!

I recently spent eleven nights in Belize, including five nighst at Robert's Grove in Placencia. Robert's Grove offered a variety of packages and after some consideration I went with a la carte. I am so glad that I did! I saved myself a lot of money by going a la carte and was able to add more flexibility to my stay.

I did not stay at Victoria House, but I have heard wonderful things about it from those who have stayed there. If I return to Belize, I will definitely want to schedule time at Victoria House.

While in Belize, I took a day trip to Tikal. It was the highlight of my trip! I spent the night in San Ignacio and booked a tour through Discovery Expeditions. It took about two and a half hours to get to Tikal from San Ignacio, including a stop at an an outstanding gift shop along the way.

Belize is a wonderful country. Enjoy your honeymoon!

I've hit my first bump in the plans - Caves Branch will be closed in early September. They made other recommendations, but I would really like to stay there. I'm waiting on a response back from them as to what dates they will be closed. I'll update as I find out the details.

I didn't realize that you were going in September.

Quite a few hotels and restaurants do close in September and/or October for maintenance and upgrading. Those are the slowest months of the year for tourism in Belize, with about one-half the number of overnight arrivals of most other months and about one-third the arrivals of the busiest month, March.

--Lan Sluder

Good to know. I was originally planning to go in August, but I think I read somewhere that reservations for Victoria House must be paid in full 45 days before check in, or something to that effect. Maybe I can talk them into letting me slide on that so I can go in mid-late August. I'll talk to them tomorrow and find out.

FYI, they're closed from Sept. 1 - Nov. 15

Edited by: The_Aristocrats

More bumps.

The room I want at VH isn't available on the dates I want, but this can probably be fixed.

Also, on the reservation page, I found this:

"To Travel to Belize you are required to have a passport valid for 6 months from arrival date, including children."

I just got my passport. Is there any way around this?

Edited by: The_Aristocrats

I don't know about the passport issue, but I would absolutely second the idea of two nighter trip to Tikal. Also, just so you know--you can stay in El Remate or Flores... you don't have to stay IN the park. If you do that, I'd suggest that you also go see Yaxha, (another nearby Mayan ruin) in the late afternoon ( for maximum wildlife effect) and Tikal the next morning. Hardly anyone visits Yaxha, so that's kind of cool... when we went to Cahal Peche ( the ruins in San Ignacio), we came just before it closed... and even though it's so much smaller than Tikal, my daughter said it was her favorite Mayan site because having the whole place to herself was sort of mystical.

Good luck with your bumps. I hope you get them worked out. And Congrats on your wedding.

I don't understand your question about the passport. If you just got yours, it's certainly valid for more than six months beyond your arrival. This rule, by the way, isn't usually enforced by Belize immigration; however, some airlines are sticklers for rules.

On the advance payment thing, many hotels in Belize have that. You have to pay, say, no later than 45 days in advance, but if you're booking for a date closer than 45 days, that's no problem -- it's just that you'll have to pay at time of booking or soon thereafter.

--Lan Sluder

Yes, as Lan says, it's 6 months PAST your travel dates. If you make time for 2 nights near Tikal, do stay at least 1 night in the park but you might enjoy a night in Flores as well - it would seem very different from Belize to you, I think. Check out my itineraries for lodging recommendations if you want. Thanks for keeping us posted!

Yes, the passport id 6 months PAST your entry date.
I would go to someplace outside of San Ignacio for a few nites, there are MANY. Then, if you want to do the caving thing and caves branch is closed, try Jaguar Paw for two nights. they do a really nice tubing trip through the caves and they have nice AC rooms, good restaurant and bar, and hiking trails to the caves. I ALWAYS rent a 4x4 vehicle so i'm at no ones mercy while on the mainland. I gives you the freedom to do what you want when you want. It saves a lot on side trips and makes it more adventurous. It's good for everything but the day trip to Tikal, which I highly recommend. Don't get a package, get a car!! Defineatly don't get a package on Ambergris. It just locks you in.

OK, I was thinking that if I wanted to make a trip in August that I needed to have a passport issued in February. Thanks for clearing that up. Moving forward... :)