hi! my girlfriend and I are going to belize later this month and want to do a combo diving/amergris and jungle while we're there for 10 days. As for the "jungle" aspect of the trip, what is the best way to do it? find a hotel in the interior and then do trips from there (i.e., horse back riding, ruins, etc.)? or should you book with inclusive packages from belize city? <BR><BR>any tips on how to best experience the jungle and ruins of belize are welcome. thanks!

Plenty of great lodges in the Cayo district that offer ruins, caving, horses, hiking, canoeing/kayaking and lots more. Where you stay will depend on your budget and the ameneties you will require. Some of the lodges offer packages that will include transfers, meals, rooms and tours. <BR><BR>Are you set ujp for the Ambergris portion yet? Still need a hotel there? Some of the hotels offer very good 5 and 7 nt dive packages you might want to consider. I'm partial to Amigos Del Mar, but plenty of other shops run good dive ops. <BR><BR>Katie Valk<BR>Belize<BR>

katie -<BR><BR>thanks for the tips. my lonely planet is on its way from amazon.com and i'll research the cayo from there.<BR><BR>haven't booked anything in ambergris yet. do you have any sites where i could look at some of those stay/dive packages? thanks,<BR><BR>Matt

There are many and where you stay will depend on your budget. For a mid range hotel with a pool, rooms with cable and ac and more on the edge of town, take a look at www.sunbreezehotel.com. They offer very good value for the money and have 5 and 7 nt packages (which I can discount for you). If this isn't suitable, you can choose a hotel and can build a dive package around it using Amigos Del Mar, one of my favcorite operators in the island. They just added a great 48 ft boat to their fleet. <BR><BR>Katie

Hi Matt,<BR>Not sure when you guys are leaving but we are looking into a similar combo trip. Please post a trip report when you get back if you can - we'd love to read about your experiences (which I'm sure will lead to many questions!). Hope you have a great time!

need information vacation package<BR>july 4 week

Hi Matt,<BR>My boyfriend and I are trying to plan a very similar trip for the end of the summer. Please email me and let me know how your vacation went and the things that we absolutely have to do when we go!

I just returned yesterday from a nine day jungle/dive tour. Booked all my own stuff and do have some perspective on what I might do differently next time but overall it was fantastic. I will post a trip report here in the next day or two with "Tikal/Caves Branch/Diving trip report" as the title.