ksm3252012

So we are closer to finalizing our honeymoon trip to Belize!! Need a little help with transportation details though. We are flying into BZE. Then do we fly or boat to San Pedro? And which company do you recommend? Staying at Matachica for 4 to 5 days. Then headed to Mahogany Hall in San Ignacio for 3 or 4 days. How should we get there? Then wanting to go to Tikal Inn just for a night so we can do the sunset and sunrise tour of Tikal. Should we fly or drive to Tikal from San Ignacio? Then last but def not least we are trying to decide on whether to go to Roberts Grove Resort or Turneffe Island Resort mainly for the fishing aspect for 3 or 4 days. I know its a lot of places but we want to see and do it all. I think I have picked good hotels?!?! Comments?? Our list of activities we would like to do includes: Hol Chan, Shark Ray Alley, Lamanai ruins, ATM cave, Barton Creek, Tikal, horseback ride (on beach and or to a waterfall and through ruins), Blue Hole drop, fishing, market (don't know where), and of course RELAX! Do we have it about covered?? Anything we are missing that we should look into and add? All advice is helpful and appreciated like always! You have all helped me plan what I thought was too difficult we I first started. Thank you so very much.

hopefulist

Sorry - doesn't look like relaxing will have any space in that itinerary! I know it's hard to leave anything out but having days to just do nothing are an important part of enjoying Belize imo. Here are a few notes:

If you can afford to fly to Ambergris from BZE, I'd do that. Otherwise you could taxi to the dock and take a ferry across. You can learn more about the airlines and ferries on this blog:
www.belizebus.wordpress.com

To get to the San Ignacio area you can ferry or fly to BC, then taxi to the bus station or hire a private taxi. William Hofma is popular for that service:
http://www.parrot-nest.com/belize-shuttle.html

You can't fly from San Ignacio to Tikal. There are flights from BC to Flores but that would mean as much time on the road as if you just hire a ride there. You could check with Pacz Tours and Mayawalk for the transportation piece:
www.pacztours.net
www.mayawalk.com

Consider hiring Roxy Ortiz for your Tikal tours - she's amazing!
www.tikalroxy.blogspot.com

If you can swing Turneffe, that's where I'd go for fishing. To rich for our blood but maybe we'll win the lottery and make it out that way someday - my husband is an avid flyfisherman.

Not sure what you mean by Blue Hole drop. There are 2 Blue Holes - the atoll one and an inland one. Black Hole Drop is an amazing day trip at Caves Branch; I'm not sure you'll be able to arrange that if you're not staying there but you could ask:
www.cavesbranch.com

Saturday is market day in San Ignacio but it's not incredible imo. Belize doesn't have the amazing markets you find in Guatemala.

Try to fit in a stop at the Belize Zoo coming or going:
www.belizezoo.org

If you haven't booked yet, you might want to switch the order up a little. I think I'd either do Turneffe-San Ig-Tikal-Ambergris or leave both water parts to the end. Have a great trip, whatever you decide!

qwovadis

Too crammed for me would pare back a bit if budget
is good negotiate for driver/guides bus not great
but ok. 3 thumbs up for robertsgrove.com in the past.
Reef hotels more expensive isolated for me in the past.
Avoid Glover's crazy owner hard to get to.Great diving
though.

hopefulist

We've enjoyed the owners on NE Caye, Glover's Atoll.

dfarmer

I would fly to San Pedro, you are going to be tired after all the fuss of the wedding and getting to your first destination quickly, I would think would be your best option.

I am torn as to what my advice to you would be about the arrangement of your trip. I remember last summer when my son got married, they were exhausted. So total relaxation on the beginning may be just what you need. Otherwise I would choose Ambergris for the end of the trip, one reason for the simplicty of getting back to BZE for your flight home.

As mentioned before, you can only do land transfer from San Ignacio to Tikal. On our first trip to Belize we considered doing this sidetrip over to Tikal, but in the end chose to explore the ruins, creeks and caves of the area and save Tikal for a Guatemal trip. (which we are doing in Feb 2012).

We opted to go to San Ignacio first, we hired a driver through our hotel who met us at BZE and drove us. Simple, easy, relaxing, informative drive. At the end of this stay he drove us back, with a stop at the zoo, then onto the municipal airport where we headed to Ambergris.

On Ambergris, we chose a location south of town (Caribbean VIllas). After much deliberation, for us, we wanted to be able to tool around with little difficulty. We love exploring little small towns and being far north simply did not appeal to us.

Don't know anything about the fishing aspect of your trip, although my husband did do flat fishing during our time on Ambergris, with great success. I on the otherhand headed out with Lil Alphonse for another spectacular snorkeling adventure.

Whatever you do, you have a very memorable trip ahead of you. There is always something that remains undone. I knew when we opted to miss Tikal and Lamanai that we would have to return. So much to do and so little time. Which means - Start planning another trip!

Best Wishes

RAC

Sounds exhausting. I would be tempted to do one off-shore location plus inland, maybe a 7-5 split or something like that.

ksm3252012

So I have taken all of your advice on the number of places to stay. We are going to give up staying at Tikal Inn and just do a day tour from Mahogany Hall. We have 14 days for this trip so I think three places is still ok...right? Or still too much? We for sure what to do an inland and beach trip. That was it why we chose Mahogany Hall and then Matachica (seems to be very honeymoonish). Then I heard/read that Palencia is good are for fishing, so thought about Roberts Grove because of all the good ratings. Chose to not go to Turneffe Resort this time, due to price and distance.

sylvia3

A day trip to Tikal is a great idea (pacz does a good job).
Hol Chan and Shark Alley are usually part of the same trip (they stop on the way back and chum for sharks; usually it's mostly rays, but that's cool).
Remember, if you're looking for beach swimming, Ambergris is not really the place. Sawgrass, lots of boats, hardpan sand; it's mostly a place to take snorkel trips from. You might be better off sticking to Roberts or Matachica.

hopefulist

For what it's worth, I'd still do the overnight to Tikal for lots of reasons which I won't list hear as it seems you've made up your mind. Have a wonderful trip and be sure to tell us all about it!

volcanogirl

Congrats on your wedding. We flew on Tropic Air and that worked out well for us. We also used Pacz that sylvia mentioned for touring Tikal, and they did a great job. You will love Hol Chan - best snorkeling we've ever done.

ShellD

I think your trip sounds great! We also did a day trip to Tikal and while I'm sure an overnight would be amazing, we didn't feel we missed out on anything. We spent several hours there and saw quite a lot of the park.

We also flew on Tropic Air to San Pedro, and that was great. Our hotel in Ambergris arranged the transfers for us. And our hotel in San Ignacio arranged our ground transportation from BZE and back to catch the Tropic Air flight. You may want to check with Matachica and Mahogany Hall to see what they can do to help out.

Have a great trip! I'm sure you'll love Belize