max16

Hi –

My girlfriend and I are planning a 9 day (7 full days) trip to Belize in Mid May. We have a rough Itinerary planned out but I would like some help filling in the gaps and details.

We are flying into Belize City in the morning and our plan is to head directly to the Cayo district. We are definitely interested in going to Tikal (I think a day trip) and also going canoeing and/or on a cave trip. We don’t know if it is better to say closer to San Ignacio at somewhere like Midas Tropical Resort, or closer to the border at the Trek Stop. Is San Ignacio safe at night? Is the Trek stop closer to things we might like to do? Is there a way to combine canoeing and caving in one experience? Is it better to stay overnight in Tikal?

The second half of our trip we want to spend in the Cayes, however we aren’t sure if we should go south (Tobacco) or head up north (Caulker or Abergris). We are looking for a general relaxing time, some snorkeling, and some hanging out on a beach. Any recommendations? Is it worth it to go to the Blue Hole just to snorkel? Or should we stick with shark ray alley and the like.

I know there is a lot of info in the post but any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

Katie_Valk

Canoe into Barton Creek Cave. 3 hotels in Tikal park. More bugdet options on Caulker than Ambergris. BH snorkel trip is well worth it for the marine life on the atolls.

kaneda

Belize town is a dump. Most people head straight out to the islands.

Tikal is worth a visit. there are many maps of little use. The guides have removed the sign posts in the hope you'll use them. though it does seem that you are wandering around in the jungle much of the time, it is easy to find your way about if you ar not in a hurry. And you can do it all in one full day. I stayed overnight at nearby Flores, a great little town by the lake.

max16

Thanks for the advice. I think we are going to do overnight in Tikal. Any recommendations as to how to get there etc? Also, is flores worth a visit?

RBCal

I took the Tropic Air overnight tour to Tikal. You get to Flores about 4pm and spend the night at Hotel Isla de Flores which is one of the better hotels in Flores. The next day they pick you up for the Tikal tour. I would recommend their tour. However, the guide we had for Tikal was incredibly slow thus we had to rush through and barely finish our lunch at the Jungle Lodge. If you use Tropic Air remind your guide that you need time for lunch.