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What to do in Belize?
We ended up skipping the Riviera Maya and instead decided to head to Belize.
We just booked our flight and hotel on San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. We arrive at Belize City at 11a and then depart 6 days later at 4p. We haven't yet figured out any plans and wanted to see if anyone had any recs (the more specific the better).
Hubs will be diving. I'll be 5 months pregnant, so I'll want to snorkle on his dive trips (or stay back and do something else completely).
A trip to the ruins or cave tubing sound nice, but not sure if it's a hassel since we're staying in the cayes.
We love food, so all restaurant recs or grocery items to check out are welcome.
But we plan to spend much of the time just relaxing. Our hotel is about 15 minutes from San Pedro, so if there are any nice places to relax beyond our hotel (nicer beaches or whatever), let me know.
Thanks in advance!
Re: What to do in Belize?
My favorite thing we did was take a catamaran/snorkling full day trip. It was a highlight for us.
I LOOOOVVVVEEEE Belize!
We spent a lot of time hanging out on the dock over the water or pool. We did these things:
- Sunset cruise on a catamaran - so fun. We used EL GATO (the name of the tour operator). He was FAB!!!! His catamaran even has a bathroom. I was drinking that night and the waves made me have to pee so badly. He sensed it and offered me the toilet... lol. It was an experience. I didn't know he could even have on on there... he does other sailing things too, I highly recommend him.
- Shark Ray Alley/Hol Chan snorkeling excursion. Also AWESOME!!! We used Lil Alphonse for this. He was another absolutely amazing tour operator with his buddy. Just wonderful.
- Rented a golf cart for a half a day to drive around and get a feel for the island. This was fun! We went all the way to the north half of the island to an over water bar.
- Full day trip to see manatees, snorkel, and go to Caye Caulker. The manatee watching is almost at the mainland, so the boat trip was SO LONG. It was cool but the boat ride wasn't. The snorkeling was good. Caye Caulker was so short, it was boring. The lunch provided on a private island was fabulous -one of the best meals we had in Belize. The tour guys through SEArious adventures were ok but really turned me off at the end when they started talking about tipping a lot and it was awkward.
We did tip, and tipped the first 2 a lot because they were so great, but talking about it was tacky and no one did but the last one.
Hope this helps!
Thanks!
Did either of you do mainland stuff? Like cave tubing, ruins, zip lining, ATM jungle tours?
The snorkeling is amazing - so definitely take advantage of that. We were on the mainland (Hopkins - at Hamansi), so we had easier access to land activities. We did a rainforest hike where climbed up to waterfalls and went swimming and a canoe trip. Liked them both (particularly the hike). I don't know how long it would take for you out on the cayes to get this kind of activity, though.
If you are 5 months pregnant, you'll probably want to skip the cave tubing. I know there's a certain potential for injury. We didn't see the ruins - it would have been a long drive for us - but I've heard good things.
Have a great trip. We loved Belize!
I've heard great things about Tikal, too! I think it's a loong day (with a flight) and expensive from the islands.
I've heard of some trips where you go to closer ruins + cave tubing. But the point abuot the pregnancy is a good one. This is my first and I'm not even showing yet and have barely any side effects (symptoms?), so sometimes I forget that at some point, I'll be large and will not be able to do things I normally do...
Were you saying in the mainland or the islands? If the islands, how was getting over there and back?
We honeymooned there. It was amazing. Pregnant you'll be a little bit limited with some activities, although my experience being pregnant was two at once, so maybe 5 months with a singleton is easier?
We ziplined, cave tubing, mayan ruins (Tikal is the best, other wise try Lamanai and Altun Ha which are in Belize and not Guatemala), shark ray alley and hol chan, reef fishing, flats fishing, you can reef fish and they'll barbeque your catch for you on the beach (this was awesome).