jfelice

we will be visiting placencia (staying at turtle inn) for 10 days in may and would love suggestions for 'must see' day trips and dining.
after reading some of the posts about placencia, i am a little nervous (i wish we had found this message board several months ago before we booked our trip). here are some of our questions:
1. is the construction at turtle inn complete? the pictures on their website seem as though it is, but in a post from last month someone commented that it was still under construction.

2. are day trips difficult from placencia?

3. is there a lot of sea grass near turtle inn?

4. should we drive or fly from belize city to placencia?

5. which mayan ruins are best and easiest to access from placencia?

6. where are the best restaurants in the area?

7. best local hang outs/nightlife?

8. what towns/villages near placencia are worth visiting?

thanks in advance for any suggestions!

jen

LanSluder

I'm told construction is essentially finished at Turtle Inn.

Placencia village and Turtle Inn are at the end of a 25-mile unpaved road down the peninsula, so you can't just pop out for quick visits to other areas, but no, it's not difficult to do day trips, either by land or sea.

There is turtle grass along most parts of the beach, but I believe Turtle Inn has removed the grass so you can swim (most hotels do this).

I personally would drive. It's a nice three hour drive. The road is paved all the way except for the last stretch when you turn off the Southern Highway. The Hummingbird is the most scenic road in Belize. It's nice to have a car in Placencia so you can go back and forth to different parts of the peninsula, and and you can also do day trips on your own.

Mayflower is the closest ruin, but you'll probably want to go to more excavated sites such as Lubanntun and Nim Li Punit near Punta Gorda.

I like the original restaurant at Inn at Robert's Grove -- expensive but good, and don't miss their Saturday night barbecue. I haven't yet tried Robert's Grove new restaurant on the lagoon side. I'm told Turtle Inn's restaurant is pretty good but very expensive. Franco's at Luba Hati is usually good, though it may be closed when you are there. Omar's in the village is cheap and good. Tutti Frutti has great homemade ice cream. Mango's at Maya Beach was good last time I ate there, but I haven't eaten there recently.

Sugar Reef on the lagoon side is a popular bar. There are several other places in Placencia village -- you'll find them. Purple Parrot is a cybercafe with coffee and sandwiches.

--Lan Sluder

adamsteinmetz

Jen,

The construction at the Turtle Inn is mostly, but not all, complete. The incomplete part was not enough to be a big deal. The bugs, however, were terrible. My girlfriend and I stayed there in March, and as beautiful as the hotel and room were, we were eaten alive two nights in a row. If you have a bugspray fetish, its quite romantic, but otherwise if you can cancel your reservation, I would. We were also not the only ones we heard about with this problem.

It will also be even hotter in May and you'll want to sleep with the windows open, and the bugs will be terrible. We even lit mosquito coils and that didn't help - think they are sand fleas that live in the roofs of the huts.

I will admit to being very upset by them because we moved hotels after the second night, and they are not refunding our money for the three additional nights that we did not stay there. We moved to the Roberts Grove Inn, which while not as luxurious, was more than adequate and had a far superior beach (Turtle Inn beach had much and garbage) and had A/C. I would recommend staying at Roberts Grove and going to the Turtle Inn for dinner (great food at Turtle). We mostly laid on the beach so I can't be of much help on daytrips - I'm sorry to tell you all this if you are locked in your reservation, but I also wouldn't want you to have the bug problems we did if you can avoid them.

Its a gorgeous place with one of the best rooms I've ever seen, bugs notwithstanding, but I would see its beauty via dinner and sleep somewhere else.

Adam

jfelice

thanks for your posts lan and adam.
does anyone know if sand fleas are better/worse certain times during the year? i am obviously wondering (hoping/praying) if they might be better when we are there in the middle of may.
i called turtle inn in an effort to cancel our reservation and they will refund our $$ if they can fill the room. thanks again for the information.

jen

LanSluder

I would note that the one and two bedroom deluxe suites at Robert's Grove are VERY luxurious, some of the most luxe beach accommodations in Belize.

Sandfleas are unpredictable. I'm usually in Placencia in the summer, and I am rarely bothered by them then.

--Lan Sluder

jfelice

thanks again to all who posted.
after speaking with a few people (at roberts grove and turtle inn), we have decided to take our chances with the sand fleas. from what we understand, if they are bad at turtle inn, they will be bad everywhere. it also seems that it is a totally unpredictable problem - so we are hoping for the best.
we plan to try and prepare ourselves for the worst by taking every possible repellant and treatment creams/antihistamines in case we encounter a problem.
we still have a bit more than a month before we go, so hopefully the construction/landscaping will be taken care of by then.
either way, we are so thankful that we read the posts here - at least we are aware of possible concerns and will definitely go prepared. thanks!

jen

Barbara1

Jen
I hope you haven't left yet so you can read my post
we just got back from 10 days in Placencia
we had a wonderful time
we stayed in a small cabin in Maya Beach
we passed by Turtle Inn several times. they are busy landscaping now. I am sure you will like it there
the sand flies.. well, yea, they are there, but you just have to use bug spray and get indoors when they start to bother you
we drove down from belize City. Lan is right..the Hummingbird Highway is beautiful
but no one prepared us for the dirt road leading down the peninsula to Placencia
I call it the road from hell
It is like a washboard.. and dusty! very very dusty
after awhile we got used to it, and it became part of the atmosphere.
but if you drive anywhere on the peninsula, be prepared for dust and
bring comfortable, very casual clothes and shoes
we took several day trips
1. Monkey River.. nice trip but we only saw one monkey unfortuantely
2. Cockscomb ... a highlight
3. snorkel trip. we went with a dive shop from the Inn at Robert's Grove. it was great
they took us to Ranguana. what a great pretty island. Laughingbird Caye is nice too
on all the trips, we found the guides to be very knowledgebale and helpful.
FOOD:
1. got to the Buffet Sat. night at Robert's Inn. very nice
2. mango's in Maya beach..good food, nice bar hang out place
3. Habanero's.. the new restaurant at Robert's grove on the lagoon side.. veyr nice..
4. Kitty's Place.. great food, great setting
5. Luba hati. beautiful setting and good food
6. in the village, we discovered a little beach bar/restaurant celled Cozy Corner. we loved it. they make the best and biggest burritos I have ever had.
7. another place in the village that came highly recommended but we never got to visit, is a restaurant called The Galley.
go and enjoy!
be prepared to feel like you are on another planet and away from all your cares and woes. I am sure you will love it, sand flies and all
Barbara

jfelice

barbara - thanks so much for your message! we leave for our trip soon and are really looking forward to it - especially after your message. since you were just there, i have a couple of questions for you (and anyone else who might know):
1. which rental agency did you use for car rental? i've noticed that lan has mentioned budget, so we are thinking they might be the best bet.
2. approximately how much should we expect for the car rental?
3. did you reserve your car before arriving in belize? normally i would never think of waiting until we arrive to rent a car, but i don't know if we could get a better deal if we just take care of it in person? any thoughts?
thanks again for your message!

jen

LanSluder

Over the years I've rented from a number of the Belize City car rental agencies. Budget remains my favorite, for professional service, nice folks and good low-mileage cars. (They own a car dealership.) But Crystal, Thrifty and Hertz, among others, are good, too. Avis in Belize I have had some problems with. Some of the small local companies such as Lewis have their fans. These tend to be cheaper,though their vehicles tend to have high mileage.

Off-season, depending on the type of vehicle, you'll pay from about Us$50 to $75 a day, with a discount for weekly rental, more for a big Trooper or Jeep, plus CDW if your credit card doesn't cover it, and 8% tax. Gas is Us$3.80 or so a gallon.

There are 10 or so renters at the international airport. You can usually just walk over and ask what's available. I usually book ahead via e-mail, so I can get the kind of car I want, but that's not necessary unless there happens to be a big regional government meeting or something like that in Belize City.

--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com

Barbara1

hi Jan'
are you driving down to Placencia from Belize City?
If so, please try to get there before dark
our plane was late so we arrived at the beginning of the peninsula at dark and drove down the dirt road at night.it was not a fun experience. we didn't know where we were going. it was dark
whenever a car passed, we were enveloped in a dust storm. and my little Diahatsu jeep fishtailed all over the washboard ruts. It was funny, my husband kept saying to me..where in the hell are you taking me? I wasn't sure myself LOL
that said, when we drove out at the end of our vaction, the dirt road was a piece of cake
I guess we got used to it
to drive from the start of the road to Turtle Inn should tak about 45 -55 minutes.
we used Avis and we did reserve before getting there
it is off season now so maybe if you just check at the airport whn you arrive you might get a better deal. I would try that, I think
Anyway,we used Avis because they quoted us a much better price
$300.00 a week for a small Diahatsu jeep type vehicle.
other agencies were quoting us something like $80.00 a day
we had no probems with Avis but the little jeep did not ride well over the peninsula road. on the main roads it was fine but on the ruts, it was too light.
a heavier car like an SUV or pick up would ride better
if you have any other questions, please feel free to email me directly
[email protected]

ltt

another key to the sand fleas is stay inside early morning and around sunset when it is starting to cool down. they are much more active then then during the heat of the day. as mentioned, be sure you can hit the road during daylight at least the first time you are driving it.