Belize in late August-Sept

Hi! I was thinking of making a trip down to Belize around late August, early September and I was wondering if that would be a wise idea considering the fact that its rainy season. I want to do a lot of outdoor, beach activities and if going around that time would limit that? Also, I'm a woman traveling alone and was wondering if there would be a lot of people traveling around the same time in hopes of meeting other travelers? Thanks!

September along with October are the slowest months of the year for tourism in Belize, in part because it is peak hurricane season in the Western Caribbean (though the chances of a storm are statistically fairly low). Also the usual reasons that it's back-to-school time, the end of the summer travel season, etc.

As long as you stick to the two or three major tourism destinations in Belize -- San Pedro, Caye Caulker and San Ignacio -- you'll find other visitors. However, places like Placencia and Hopkins are very slow, and quite a few hotels and restaurants close down for maintenance during this time.

The middle of September, between September 10 (St. George's Caye Day) and September 21 (Belize Independence), quite a few Belizeans return home for the celebrations, mostly in Belize City.

As a single traveler wanting to meet other people, Caye Caulker is probably your best bet.

--Lan Sluder
http://www.belizefirst.com

Locally referred to as the "Little Dry," August is a period of decreased rainfall in Belize. The easterly winds begin to die down and are replaced by westerly winds bringing drier air over the mountains. With very warm temperatures and decreased rainfall, August is an excellent time to enjoy the beautiful weather of Belize without the crowded beaches of the high season. Travelers here actually doesn't mind the weather so expect a lot any time. You'll surely meet some new friends. This site might be of your interest too http://travel.mongabay.com/belize

I think that most people have already answered the weather part of this post....

I've been to Belize 4 times and I would say Caye Caulker and San Ignacio (Cayo) are your best options. For Caye Caulker, stay at Tina's Backpacker Hostel - the shower water is horrible but you will make a lot of great friends. For San Ignacio, stay at the Trek Stop - I've meet travelers from all over the world here - it's cheap, you get your own cabana, there's a secondary growth forest behind the ecolodge, butterfly house and medicinal garden on site, free wifi or use of a computer if you don't have one, composting toilets, solar-powered showers, kitchen and a great restaurant if you don't want to cook, and close to Tikal and all of the hiking, waterfall and cave exploration you want to do near San Ignacio.

http://thetrekstop.com/
http://www.tinashostelbelize.com/

As a woman who has traveled alone in Belize, I would highly recommend not traveling alone in Belize City, especially with luggage - always take taxis. Try to find someone at the airport who you can share a taxi with. I would recommend not going to Punta Gorda - not safe for women traveling alone. Otherwise you are fine - just try not to walk alone at night.

Actually, Punta Gorda and Toledo District have the lowest crime rates in all of Belize!

--Lan Sluder

Lan - Interesting, that is one of the few places that I have felt unsafe in all of Belize - and I have been everywhere! I was friends with a few women who did their masters research in Punta Gorda and they also felt very unsafe living there. They told me about several instances in which they had been sexually harassed - and I know these women, they did not in any way "provoke" it nor was it "innocent." These story did not affect my feelings or experiences because I heard them after I had been in town for several days. Sometimes the crime ratings do not reflect these sorts of things which I think is what is happening here.

Edited by: rainforestspirit

I wanted to amend my earlier post which said to find someone to take a taxi with from the airport. What I meant was find someone that you feel comfortable about that was on your flight to take a taxi with. Fortunately for me, the woman sitting next to me on the plane was going to the water taxi (as I was), I got a "safe" feeling from her and we were able to share a taxi. Hopefully you will be just as lucky!

Thanks Lan Sluder, for the point about Punta Gorda! I lived outside PG for 6 months and went into town frequently (young female traveler). The only reason I can think you'd feel unsafe is that it's a pretty quiet town on weeknights. Not a lot of night life = not many people out = slightly eerie, but not unsafe. It's a quirky and easy to manage place by daylight, with very friendly local business owners and happily few scam artists (in contrast to some of the more touristy places, where everyone wants to sell you something).

I'd probably aim for August for your holiday. Even though it's the rainy season, it's a popular time to travel for student backpackers and Europeans. You will meet plenty of them on Caye Caulker and in San Ignacio. Toledo area will be quieter though there is a growing number of travelers passing through on their way to/from Honduras and Guatemala.

My thoughts on why I felt unsafe in PG:

I was approached by men (many of them drunk or high) every single time I ventured from my hostel. I was asked for my name, phone number, hotel room, if I was traveling alone, etc. I would politely try to have them leave, talk about a fake husband/boyfriend, etc, but it rarely worked. They would try to follow me around town and even worse, try to follow me to my hostel. I would instead then have to duck into a restaurant and then ask the restaurant owner to try to get them to leave. Sometimes this didn't even work and I would need to go to a cybercafe, of which the owners would make them leave. It was even worse with men that were on bicycles that wouldn't leave me alone - very difficult for me to try to get away. All of this happened during the day.

Several times strange men knocked on my door in the middle of the night. This was incredibly scary. I don't know how they found out where my room was as I tried very carefully to make sure no one followed me back to the hostel. It is possible they were just knocking on everyone's door. I will not name the name of my hostel because I don't want to give them a bad rep (the guy who owned it was incredibly nice!) but it was recommended by Moon Handbooks and Lonely Planet so it was considered safe.

I am not a partier and I never went out to bars so I can guarantee that I did not meet any of these men at other times. I never even left my hostel room after dark because I was WAY too afraid to do so. So my feeling of being unsafe had nothing to do with the night - I actually don't even know what it felt like to be out after dark!

I am only posting this to warn other women that this can happen. I wish others had warned me of this ahead of time. I have traveled by myself to many different places in Central America and have only received "cat calls" which I don't appreciate but I just ignore. This is a lot worse, and more scary, than cat calls. I was never physically threatened but I was always in fear that I would be. Some women are okay with sort of "attention" but that is not my personality type. I am only trying to be helpful to those that feel the way that I do when approached by strange men who follow you around town.

I will not speak for the other women but I will say I have heard of others who were not so lucky and were threatened physically. However this did not personally happen to me so I will not relay the stories here.

Those of you who have been to PG and have not had this experience, that is great - I envy you! :) Those of you thinking of going, this is just a warning. The area around PG is beautiful and I wish I didn't have this other experience which has unfortunately tainted my viewpoint.

I'll be traveling Belize solo from the 18-25 of August, then I'm meeting some friends in Belize City. Male traveler though, so I doubt I'll have many of the problems listed above.

Very excited to explore this little country. Everything seems amazing. :-)