TeresaMcc

Planning our first trip to Belize and would like advice! We want to get acquainted with the land and the culture. From my reading I can see coming back many times for more in depth adventures.

We arrive at BZE on Friday afternoon. Plan to stay near Belize city and go to San Ignacio Saturday morning for one night. Would like to rent a car and do easy tourist things: Belize Zoo, DuPlooy's Botonic gardens, Rainforest medicine trail and Morpho Breeding Center. (Have to come back next year for hikes, water falls, Mountain Pine Ridge, Mayan ruins, and Caracol etc.) So I see people discussing hiring a driver to San Ignacio, or catching a bus. What are the pros and cons of these three travels modes and relative costs?

Drive back Sunday to Belize city and taxi over to Ambergris Caye. We plan Monday and Tuesday to bike the Island, discover San Pedro, beach time, and plan excursions for Wed and Thursday. A snorkel day and maybe a fishing day. Friday we come back for one night in Belize city leaving Saturday noon.

Any comments?

Thanks in advance!

sig01

If you plan on staying in Belize City - make sure your life insurance is up to date.

Cattail

There are some excellent, safe places to stay on the outskirts of the city. We liked "Da Nest Inn" a lot.

hopefulist

I wouldn't spend 2 nights in Belize City; I'd head to San Ignacio the 1st afternoon and head over from the island to the airport the morning of your departing flight. Busing is cheap, renting and private shuttles are spendy but give you more options; we prefer buses when the schedules and routes work for us. Xunantunich and Cahal Pech are easy to visit ruins in the San Ignacio area if you'd like to check them out. Loads of photos and recommendations below. Happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

JeanH

I would agree that there is no reason to spend any nights in Belize City. It's simply not a very nice place to be, although I understand there are ok places to stay.

The time of your arrival in Belize City would impact my choice of transportation options to San Ignacio. If you get there early enough that you can get a rental car and get to San Ignacio by dark, I'd give serious consideration to a car.

If it's later when you arrive, I'd probably hire a shuttle, at least to get to San Ignacio. Then, I'd probably take the bus back to Belize City for the trip to Ambergris.

If you're already there Saturday morning, you could take in the market in San Ignacio before your other planned activities.

Even if you choose not to fly back to Belize City for your flight home, you should have plenty of time to take the water taxi back to Belize City. None of the international flights leave early in the morning.

dfarmer

Typically we hire a driver to get us to our first stop on our arrival day. For us it seems all of our trips start with a 3 AM drive to the airport. When we land, we are already tired, thus private driver tends to work in our schedule best.
As hopeful says the two ruins in San Ignacio are easily seen on your own with a few hours, whereas Caracol would take a full day. The Belize Zoo is a stop we made with our driver on our way to the municipal airport for our flight over to Ambergris.
Flying from Ambergris to BZE the morning of departure is the way I would and do go. Tropic Air is the one we are flying. There is also Maya Island Air. You can google them and check their rates. We have never used the ferry over to Ambergris, but if the schedule works?
You have 7 nights in country. If it were my trip I would rethink your plans and stay at least 2-3 nights in San Ignacio and 4-5 nights on Ambergris. My preference with your timeframe would be 3 nights SI and 4 nights AC. But obviously you may be wanting mostly beach time. One night in San Ignacio is simply not enough, IMHO.

sylvia3

Belize City is a hole.

TeresaMcc

Thank you all for your input!

We get in at 4 pm, hence the thought of overnight near/in Belize City.

We are reconsidering this on all your advice.

So some questions:

1. Is it possible to arrive at 4 pm at BZE, rent a car, and get to Belize Zoo jungle lodge before dark?

2. Can we make the San Ignacio market by Saturday morning from the zoo jungle lodge? If we toured the zoo that morning, would we miss the market? Should we catch the zoo on the way back to Belize city?

3. Third, what about safety? I assume there is no concern with the overnight car at the zoo jungle lodge or a San Ignacio jungle lodge. I assume that is only a concern in Belize City and perhaps remote tourist spots. Is that correct?

4. Sounds like we will skip the overnights at both ends in Belize city. Maybe stay 2 nights in Cayo and catch the St George area, swing bridge, and tourist village before and after the water taxi to Ambergris Caye. How many hours should one plan in that area?

Thank you once again! This is a great help in planning!

sylvia3

Sunset is ~5:30 in the winter; about an hour to the zoo (on the main road) from the airport, so if you get your car quickly, probably not a problem. You could get to San Ignacio, just a short way farther down the western highway, with a little bit of evening driving (not really that big a deal; just look out for speed bumps and people). Don't know why you want to go to the market (about a 1/2 block's worth of open air vendors, mainly food). Right in town is a terrific Mayan ruin, Cahal Pech; I'd do that instead, if I had a choice.

hopefulist

I'd arrange a shuttle in advance to get you from the airport to the zoo. Instead of hassling with a rental, have a friendly local meet you at the exit with a sign bearing your name - quicker and less stress at the time and down the line. From the zoo you can flag a passing bus to save $$$ or arrange another driver. Consider a night tour, tour quickly in the morning before the heat and crowds arrive (only crowds on cruise ship days, I think), and still take a peak at the San Ignacio market (which isn't a must see but we enjoyed it).

I like the 1st night at the zoo idea - we did that in 2003. I'd stay 2 add'l nights in the the San Ignacio area, though, to take in the ATM cave trip:
http://pacztours.net/actun-tunichil-muknal/

Happy trails!

volcanogirl

For snorkeling, I always recommend Hol Chan - we saw some beautiful fish, as well as big rays and turtles there. I think you'll be glad you skipped Belize City. We drove through with our driver, and he told us all the areas to avoid, and there seemed to be a lot of them.

Cattail

I agree with the above advice. We stayed on the city outskirts as a matter of convenience, as we too arrived late- plus we wanted a day of chill-out time before beginning our adventures. Belize City was not our first choice. Having said that, D'Nest Inn is in a reasonably safe area where we felt comfortable walking around during the day. We spent hours relaxing on their balcony and watching birds and iguanas in their garden and canal. The owners are lovely people who will make you feel like family.