Belize family trip report 6/30/-7/7/08
 

My family just had an amazing trip to Belize and I'm hoping that this trip report will help others who are considering a trip there. We split our time between the inland area of San Ignacio and Ambergris Caye. My family consists of my husband and 3 children...2 sons ages 18 & 15 and 1 daughter age 10. The purpose of the trip to Belize was to celebrate my son's high school graduation and I had a feeling the adventure that the jungle and cayes offered would be a good match for his interests. However, I, like many who have been to Costa Rica was sure that it would pale in comparison to that amazing vacation. I was so wrong....Belize is right up there with Costa Rica as our favorite vacations!

Anyway, we flew AA from Boston to Belize. We always seem to experience delays with AA and therefore I purposely chose a later connection in Miami though I had second thoughts about that right up to travel day. Glad I did since once boarded a problem was discovered and we sat on the tarmac for an hour. Many people missed their connection in Miami but we were all set. Once we arrived in Belize we had made no arrangements to get to our first destination. A transfer by our hotel was going to cost $150 but we never heard back as to whether they had secured a driver w/ a vehicle that would fit all of us. As it turned out they had emailed me but we left a day early as we had to stay overnight in Boston to catch our flight. I was willing to take the public bus which would have saved a ton of money but my husband was nabbed by all the taxi drivers at the airport offering to drive us and since he doesn't like to wing things so much he just wanted to get to our destination as quick as possible. So we all crammed into the taxi for a cost of $120.

It took us about 2 hours to get to our first destination, Cohune Palms River Cabanas in Bullet Tree Falls, just up the road from San Ignacio.

Ooooo....a good long trip report!! Will keep checking back all day (as I pack for a month in Honduras) for installments. Thanks!!

Oops...I must have hit the post button by mistake.

We had a nice drive on roads that were paved and it was interesting to see the change in scenery as we moved inland. Closer to Belize City it seemed kind of swampy (maybe because they had had a lot of rain??) but as we moved inland it became more scenic.

We finally arrived at Cohune Palms River Cabanas and found it to be perfect for our family. It was about an 8 minute drive from the town of San Igancio and we really liked that we chose not to stay in town. CPRC is made up of 4 individual thatch hut cabanas that are set amidst beautiful jungle trees and gardens on the banks of the Mopan River with its pretty greenish color. I loved the setting as soon as I saw it. Our cabana easily fit our family and was comfortably furnished and clean. We also had a nice patio with chairs and a hammock to relax it. The open air dining area was also quite nice and was a great place to relax in the evening after a day of adventure. It was also nice to meet other people who were staying there and to compare plans and tours. The dining area also had hammocks, an extra seating area and an honor bar where you could get sodas and beer (Beliken, the beer of Belize.) Upon arrival, husband & I grabbed a beer and the kids grabbed red Fanta which came to be the 2 youngest kids' drink of choice. We strolled around the grounds and then the owner, Bevin, gave us more of a tour. She show us the 3 swimming areas, one of which has a rope swing that my boys used every free minute and a more shallow area where my daughter was more comfortable swimming. There were 3 docks and one of them had a nice seating area to hang out at. Like I said, the river was an amazing shade of green and crystal clear. It was extremely refreshing to have that swimming option available and we liked that much better than swimming in a pool. Just seemed more authentic I guess. The grounds had palm trees, avocado trees, banana trees and lots of pretty flower plants and shrubs. We also saw humingbirds and lots of other bird that I couldn't identify. I was on the lookout for a toucan which I never saw in Costa Rica but I never saw one here either though I was told they are there.

Also regarding food at Cohune Palms..they have 2 local women come in and cook. They provide one dinner choice in the evening and you just tell them in the morning if you plan to eat there. We ate dinner there twice and both times it was very good authentic Belizean food. One time we had steak fahitas with Belizean rice & beans, a tomato lime soup, and some fresh juice. The second time we had typical Belizean chicken with plantains and coleslaw. It did get costly to pay for meals there so we also ate in town. For breakfast we always ate there and it was really good. You had several choices and you just wrote down what you wanted the night before and what time you wanted to eat.

Boy, this is getting quite wordy. We really did get out and do things but I'm going to have to write more later.

For day two we wanted to tour the Actun Tunichal Muknal Cave (ATM cave) and our hotel made reservations with Mayawalk. It cost 80$ per person plus $10 to pick us up at our hotel so for a total of $410.00. The hotel made all of our tour arrangements and we ended up with excellent guides. They also do not mark up the tour prices. This cave was located about 45 minutes away and we loaded into a van with 4 others for the drive which started off paved and then turned into a dirt road where we drove thru a river 2 times one of which was rushing with water. The ATM cave was featured on National Geographic and is descibed as one of those must see attractions. I wasn't sure it sounded too appealing but I didn't want to regret not seeing it. Again, I was glad we made this choice. The cave was used by the Mayans as a religious and ceremonial site. It is also where they did human sacrifices. There are Mayan artifacts throughout the cave as well as the skeletal remains of some of those who were sacrificed. We enjoyed the Mayan history but also really enjoyed just getting to the cave and climbing and swimming our way through it. For those who haven't read about it, first you hike through the jungle for 45 minutes and you cross a river 3 times. The scenery is beautiful and our guide, Patrick, pointed out various flora and also talked about the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve where this is located. When you finally get to the entrance you take a break and eat the lunches provided by Mayawalk. They consisted of sandwhiches (some tuna, some bologna), cookies, fresh fruit and a juice drink. They were fine, definitely not fancy. Then we donned our helmets and set off. A small river runs through the cave and you have to swim over your head about 15 feet to get to a place where you can climb up and walk. Patrick, the guide, was very safety conscious and made my daughter swim next to him in case she needed help in which case she could hold onto the big dry-bag he was lugging and he could tow her in. The drybag was for everyones' cameras so they wouldn't get wet. Once you are in the cave you hike, climb over bolders, squeeze thru bolders and small spaces, and swim or wade through the water. So throughout the tour you are seeing amazing Mayan artifacts as well as amazing cave scenery like stalactites and rock formations. I don't remember all the details but we went in a couple miles and the cave opened up in some areas to huge chambers. Patrick was an excellent guide and we learned so much while also having a blast. There were other groups there at the same time but it seemed like our group was having the best time. We had a couple from New York with us and they were awesome as well. Just a real good time and you really felt like you accomplished something when it was done. I had doubts whether this would be too much for my 10 year old but she did great. The water was deep and though she can swim pretty well she was a bit nervous because it is dark and because she got a bit too much info from Patrick that the cave does have bats, scorpions, crabs, etc. All in all she liked it and the rest of us loved it. I would definitely recommend this tour! Bring a decent camera, wear closed-toed sandals or sneakers, bring water, and be ready for an adventure. It took all day from around pick-up at 7:30 to about 5:30 return.

Planning a trip to B. for next March. I'll enjoy your report! Thanks for taking the time. . .

Shillmac....I've read many of your posts about Costa Rica. You're a wealth of information. I did notice that you recently said you were concerned that you wouldn't get to use your Spanish much while in Belize. Even though it is English speaking, I think most of the Belizeans we met spoke Spanish. Many speak several languages including Spanish, English, and Creole but a lot also only speak Spanish. I bet you'd get to use your Spanish quite a bit. I hope you end up liking Belize like I did.

I'm enjoying reading your trip report too. After several trips to CR, I have thought about giving Belize a try too. Thanks for all the details!

Day 3: We ate breakfast at CPRC and then decided to go tubing down the Mopan river. The hotel drops you off up river with one of their workers and he tubes with you back to CPRC. This was a nice relaxing trip and took about an hour. We saw several large iguanas in the trees along the way. The river was mostly calm with a few rapids. My teens wished there were more rapids, of course, but I enjoyed it the way it was. It was also nice to have Memo from the hotel come along with us because he talked about growing up on the river and living in Belize. Also, we ended up being lucky that we didn't wait another day to tube because the next day the river had turned murky and brownish. We had gotten some rain but the workers told us it probably rained heavily upriver in Guatemala.

Prior to tubing we took a tour of a medicine trail in town. A local man about 85 years old guided us through his property and talked about all the medicinal purposes of different plants. We had heard from others that this was really interesting but it really wasn't a favorite for this family. I think it was just too long and too much info for this family.

Late in the afternoon we went to the ruin of Xanantunich. It only costs $5 and is well worth it. It is only about a 15 minute drive and then you cross a hand-cranked ferry. We were approached by a youg guide who offered to give us a tour. It was near closing time and he was asking full-price. We offered less and he did a great job. He said he usually takes about 2+ hours but he condensed it into about 45 minutes. That was perfect for us because though we do appreciate the Mayan history we don't do so well on long long talking tours. The guide also pointed out various plants and birds. Near the end we climbed up the highest paramid, El Castillo which is 127 feet high. The climb is steep and no guard railings. We would never have access to something like this in the US. I do not like heights at all but did go to the top. My kids were leaning out over the edge while I was hugging whatever wall I could cling to. The views are amazing! Also, at the ruin they have armed guards walking around with machine guns. I was expecting this but forgot to inform my husband and kids who were rather surprised.

Then we went into San Ignacio for dinner. Nothing was open yet so we wondered around town. We picked up some snacks at the Chinese grocery store and bought an icecream at an icecream stand. I had read about a Belizean flavor, sour sop, so I tried that. It was an interesting flavor but the rest of the family stuck with typical flavors. Then we wandered over to the soccer stadium hoping to catch a soccer game. We were surprised to find a group of kids being coached while playing ultimate frisbee. We must have stuck out like a sore thumb because the coach came over to talk to us. He turned out to be a peace corp volunteer who is providing a summer program for the kids and introducing them to ultimate frisbee. My oldest plays that so he was invited to play with the group. So we hung out for a bit longer while he joined them. Some local teens came up to sit with us and we enjoyed talking with them. Then finally we ate dinner at Hanna's in town. I can't remember what we had but it was all good. Then back to CPRC to chill out. The kids played scrabble in the dining area until bedtime which does come early after these busy days. Another fun day.

volcanogirl, I enjoyed your CR trip reports. I'm so jealous of your toucan sightings. That was my mission when I went to CR and I only saw one in a cage at Orquideas Inn and then in Belize I saw one at the zoo. One guide did find me a toucan but it was the smaller type and didn't have the pretty colors. I hear that the birding is great in Belize and there are guides who do tours just for that. We just didn't have enough time. I think you would like Belize and like you I was sure nothing would live up to my CR trip.

Oh, I'm so glad to hear you say that. So many people have kind of steered me away from it, but Belize intrigues me.

The toucans are funny. One morning we were in our hotel room and heard this terrible croaking noise - sounded just like a big bullfrog. I told my husband that I was going out to get a peek at the frog, and lo and behold it was a keel-billed toucan. I was shocked at the noise it made - croak, croak, croak. I realized that I had probably walked by them many times. Now that I know the sound it makes spotting them so much easier. It's still a thrill to see one! I hope you get to spot one in the wild someday!

hopefulist, thanks for reading. It was your reports from a few years ago that inspired me to go. You also helped me out with info on the belize forum.

Great, wanatrvl, glad to help - your travelogue is the perfect payment. :-)

Since there is so much to do in this area we extended our stay to another night. We had debated whether we should try to fit Tikal into this trip but ended up deciding not to because we really did not have enough time to really get our dollars worth. Instead we decided to go to the Caracol ruins and Rio Frio Cave and Rio On Pools. Our hotel arranged for us to go with Sergio Paiz and I highly recommend him. He is very knowledgeable about the ruins, bird watching, and more. He is extremely personable and just provided a great day for us. The price he charged was quite a bit less than I had researched and he provided lunch and cold drinks as well. This was a whole day tour from around 7:30 to 5:30. He picked us up at the hotel and off we went toward the Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve where these attractions are located. It is about a 2 1/2 hour slow drive on a mostly unpaved road. It was also very isolated and I remember thinking I was glad we didn't rent a car because if it ever broke down along here it would be a long time before help would find us. Overall it is a nice drive though. Sergi pointed out areas of interest as well as different birds. He did find me a toucan but it was not the Keel-billed one I have been desperately wanting to see. Oh well... We stopped in the small town of San Antonio "little Texas" to get some cold drinks and then were on our way again. We eventually exited the jungle-like terrain and entered the Mountain Pine Forest area. It was very strange to see all these pine trees in Belize...felt just like home in Maine. Unfortunately, a few years ago there was a pine beetle infestation which really damaged the pine population and it is still recovering. By the way, I was expecting to have to travel with a military escort to Caracol because this practice had been in place for a number of years due to some violent attacks and robberies against tourists and their guides by I believe Guatamalan bandits. However, this practice has recently ended and now you drive freely to your destination. We finally arrived at Caracol which was a classic Mayan center which frequently battled with Tikal. Much of the sight is still unexcavated and it really is quite impressive. The highest pyramid, Caana, is about 140 feet high and again tested my fear of heights. The whole sight is impressive and Sergio provided a nice narrative that kept us all interested. We were also happy that he spent the time to track down a troop of howler monkeys for us too see. We got to see a baby one swinging along thru the branches as well as a few others. Once done exploring we ate luch which had been packed by Sergio's wife. We enjoyed sandwiches, fresh pineapple and our favorite new snack, plantain chips. Also, like the other ruins there are armed guards wandering around the site. Then we were off to the Rio Frio Cave which is 600 feet long and open at both ends. We only spent about 20 minutes here but it is neat to see and take pictures. A river runs through it and we were told that people can swim in there. It is free to visit and worth stopping to see as the rock formations and stalactites are interesting and it is just set perfectly in the jungle. Next we stopped to swim at the Rio On Pools which is a river with natural swimming pools and waterfalls and rapids flowing through big rocks. It was a really neat swimming area and felt great after hiking and driving for so long. We wished we had more time here but it was a long day and time to head back. A word of caution, some of the rocks are very slippery as I found out by taking a big digger! Also the changing room is disgusting and has no door for privacy.
Also in the general area you will see the British Army which comes to this area to train in the jungle. You will see them fully dressed in camoflage with their guns along the roads.

After a full day we headed back to Cohune Palms River Cabanas. One note, I would have liked to be able to make some additional stops along the Mountain Pine Ridge road but you really need more time. I think it would have been nice to check out some of the other lodges and waterfalls I had heard about so perhaps having a rental car would be useful for that.

Back at CPRC the kids were chilling out in the dining area when my 15 year old heard about a shooting/murder on the radio that took place in Bullet Tree Falls that morning. This is a very small community and was rather alarming especially since in the past there have been incidents of violence toward tourists. The owner and employees had heard about this but didn't have much info yet. Basically, they believed it had to do wiith a local father and his young son being shot while driving and it was believed to have been done as some sort of personal vendetta by bandits across the border. Since coming home I've tried to find more info but could only find out about another alarming incident of murder against an American husband and wife who own a real estate business in San Ignacio area. This was supposedly done by a former teen employee and one of his friends so not a random incident. Apparently, there were also a couple other incidents that happened around the time of our visit. My understanding is that this is all very unusual and being taken very seriously by the police. I don't think any tourists were targeted but just something to be aware of. By the way, we never felt unsafe during our time there and everyone was very helpful and friendly. Never the less, after hearing of this murder just down the road we were ready to leave the next day as planned.

I forgot to mention that at some point in the previous days we ate in San Ignacio at Serendib which is owned by a Sri Lankan family. We had a very nice meal there and they have a lot of curry dishes.

Another thing we noticed about Belize is that there are dogs everywhere. Sergio said most of them have homes that they go to at night but they certainly looked to be homeless to us. They were always in the road and they better move because no one makes any effort to go around them and that's probably why we saw quite a few with just 3 legs.

Next we head off to Ambergris Caye and the hotel made arrangements for Sergio to drive us to the water taxi. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Cayo area. There is so much to do and we only scratched the surface. I wish we could have canoed in the Barton Creek cave and tubed through the caves at Jaguar Paw. Also, Ian Anderson's Caves Branch seems like an amazing place to stay for an adventurous family. But with so little time I think we were able to experience a number of unforgettable things such as the ruins and the caves. I highly recommend a visit to this area. There are so many things to do and a ton of interesting places to stay!

Next up: Off to Ambergris Caye

We got an early start to Ambergris Caye because Sergio had another appointment in the afternoon that he had to be back for. Shortly after we left Sergio got a cell phone call that his appointment had been cancelled so he had extra time after all. So lucky for us. We stopped at a fruit stand and Sergi helped us pick out some fresh fruit to take with us to the Cayes. I mentioned that I had never had a fresh coconut so he borrowed a machette and cut a hole in one for us to drink the milk. Very interesting. None of the kids cared for it but I always wanted to try it like that. Then Sergio cut a spoon out of the shell, split the coconut open and had us try the coconut inside. Again the kids didn't like it but I thought it was pretty cool. Next I asked about the Belize Zoo that is on the way back to Belize City and Sergio thought that would be a great way to break up the drive and he often guides group through there. It isn't a very big zoo but it is a pretty nice one where they have over a hundred animals all native to Belize and all of the animals are reported to be either rescued, orphaned, rehabilitated or born at the zoo. They are all healthy looking and the habitat provided is nice in that they are not caged up in little cages. I finally got to see my Keel-billed toucan. They also have scarlet macaws, howler and spider monkeys, all the big cats of Belize, tapirs, peccaries (saw these also at CPRC), etc. It was helpful to have a guide as we got so much more out of the visit to the zoo.

Next we stopped at Amigo's restaurant to grab some lunch. This place was chosen by Sergio and we loved it. Just a laidback restaurant to get Mexican food, burgers, nachos, or typical Belizean stew chicken. I got the stew chicken and it was delicious. The resturant also had all kinds of signs and bumper stickers on the walls, with funny sayings and jokes, some of which were on the naughty side and, yup, my teens enjoyed reading all of them.

After leaving Amigos it wasn't too long before we were in Belize City. Sergio got us to the water taxi and made sure we were all set with our tickets and then we said our goodbye. We really enjoyed meeting him and definitely would look him up again if we return.

The water taxi to Ambergris Caye costs $25 pp round trip. It takes about 1 1/2 hour to get there with a stop Caye Caulker. People rush and crowd to get on the boat so you kind of have to stand your ground to make sure your family doesn't get separated. It saved us money but I would rather fly if money was no object. You do get to see some other islands on the way and get your first appreciation of the amazing blue colors of the ocean. Once you arrive at Ambergris Caye you are mobbed by taxi drivers to get you to your hotel. The island looked like paradise when we arrived...nice sandy beaches, palm trees, and island resorts. San Pedro, the main town where you arrive, is extremely busy with cars, golf carts, and people. We stayed south of town at Banana Beach resort. I chose this because I didn't think we'd like the hustle bustle of being in town and because it had a couple pools and was reasonably priced. Overall, it was a good decision. We have to get two rooms because of the size of our family and one was ocean front and the other was not though it was right next door. As it turned out the AC did not work in the non-ocean front room so they upgraded us to 2 side by side ocean front rooms. That was a nice surprise. Both rooms are spacious with a kitchen and sitting area and balcony overlooking the ocean. We were very happy with the accomodations which also included breakfast. To be continued....

Great--that's good to know, wanatrvl. I'm enjoying your report, talk about a wealth of information!

Time to wrap up this report. For our first day at Banana Beach we checked into snorkeling with the hotel's own tour business, Monkey Business. I found their prices for snorkeling to be twice what I had found in my online and guide book research. I also had planned to go snorkeling with L'il Alphonse but had forgotten my contact info at home. The number in my guide book was wrong and we had a great deal of difficulty locating him but I was determined to not pay twice as much as expected and L'il Alphonse has a huge following of fans and has appeared w/ Samantha Brown on the travel channel (though I never saw that episode). Long story short we lost a whole day trying to track him down and only ended up with one day of snorkeling. He took us to Hol Chan Marine Park and Shark Ray Alley and my family really enjoyed it. We also were very fortunate that we were the only people on the tour so that made for lots of indiviual attention. We saw other groups that had about 20 people swimming around. At first there was no way my daughter was going to get into the water with sharks, barracuda and stingrays but L'il Alphonse was very encouraging and she eventually went in and had a great time. Alphonse took the time to make sure all our gear (we brought our own) was all set (goggles clear and fitting properly, etc) because he wanted to make sure everyone had a great time once we were in the water and wouldn't have to deal with fitting issues then. We have only gone snorkelling once before and that was in the Britsih Virgin Islands. At the first stop, Hol Chan, we saw nurse sharks, barracuda, rays, an octopus, sea turtles, parrot fish, lots of fish whose names I can't remember and all kinds of coral. By the way, this reef is just a few minutes from San Pedro. We really enjoyed ourselves and felt like we saw a lot of sea life but Alphonse actually said we didn't get to see as much as he had hoped. We then went to Shark Ray Alley which was just a few moments away. Apparently L'il Alphonse was the originator of this tour many years ago. He started by feeding the sharks and rays and eventually they came to expect and recognize him and his boat. Now you go snorkelling among the rays and nurse sharks. You would not believe how many of them are right there in the water with you. I had a ray swim right under me (brushing up against me) and I about had a heart attck. Alphonse then uses hand signals to gather up one of the nurse sharks and everyone gets a turn holding on to it. Alphonse also holds a stingray and allows you to touch it and see how it feels on top and underneath. It was all very cool and one of the highlights of the vacation for my husband and kids. I really enjoyed it as well but I have to admit the whole time I was just thinking that this just can't be safe. Anyway, all the tours now do this and I don't think they've ever had a problem. Probably just the Mom in me. I'm glad we did it though because it is definitely an amazing experience. I would definitely recommend snorkelling with L'il Alphonse. It is clear he truly loves what he is doing and takes great pride in making sure everyone has a great time with him. I wish we had time to take another tour but we were leaving the next day.

The beaches at Ambergris Caye are just as I had read about. Most hotels rake a small portion of the beach from the seaweed and grass that constantly washes up. We did swim a bit our first day there and the water was warm but refreshing. You can see where the grass is by looking for the darker blue water. The kids also jumped off a couple docks. After our first day of swimming in the water my boys discovered some purple man-o-wars washed up on the shore. At first we thought they were jellyfish but we were told they were man-o-wars and that they pack a dangerous sting. The kids and us parents also spent quite a bit of time in the pools. The pools at Banana Beach are quite nice and very clean. I was glad that we had chosen a hotel with a pool as a back up to swimming in the ocean. Also, the baeches were powdery soft and the beach scenery was very nice.

We had a hard time finding affordable meals. We found the meals at Banana Beach to be rather pricey for a family of five and the menue seemed too Americanized for my liking. It does seem to get rave reviews from others but just wasn't my favorite. Unfortunately, being a couple miles south of town doesn't leave you with much choice in meals. I'm sure there were options that I wasn't aware of but in our limited time, I just couldn't get a handle on things. We ate at Rico's one time which is a place over the water so a very nice setting. We basically had a bunch of appetizers and some drinks so that was nice but would have been expensive for us for dinner. Taxis into town were 10 roundtrip each time. One time we walked to town and were drenched with sweat by the time we got there. Another time we rented a golf cart but got there at a time when most restaurants close between lunch and dinner. We did find Celia's deli and had some great sandwhiches and desserts there. The cheesecake was delicious. Anyway, ideally I wish I had planned better for our meals because I would have preferred to eat at some of the smaller Belizean places but like I said our location and the added cost to travel made it a bit more challenging. All of our included breakfasts at the hotel were very good.

We also rented a golf cart to explore a bit further south. We saw the little pond area where the crocodiles are but as sooned as we stopped for a quick peek a bunch of local kids wanted to feed them chickens for a fee. We weren't interested in that so off we went.

My daughter also enjoyed getting her hair braided at the hotel.

Overall, we enjoyed Ambergris Caye but I don't know that we made the most of our time there. I loved looking down the beach and seeing the palm tres, docks with boats, and the beautiful color of the water. It was just picture perfect. On another note, there are some people trying to sell you things like rugs (I think that's what they were) but there were very few and they would just hold them up to see if you were interested. There was no hard sale pitch like I've seen in other places. If we returned to Belize I may look into Caye Caulker or maybe another beach location for something that feels less touristy than Ambergris Caye. Again, everyone was super friendly and it is a beautiful location.

If anyone has questions, feel free to ask. We had a wonderful family vacation and I highly recommend it as a destination for anyone who loves a mix of jungle adventure, culture, history, and beach activities without the perfectly polished experiece of some destinations!

Thanks for taking the time to do the trip report.

I plan on spending my winters on Ambergris in a couple years. It's always interesting to read what others think of the place.

We also intend to spend more time inland, once we're in the country for more than a week or two at a time. Thanks again.

argghhh....please overlook the typos and mispellings that I missed.

JeanH...I've read many of your posts and found them helpful. You picked a nice place to spend your winters. I wish I had more time to explore Ambergris Caye more thoroughly. I know I didn't get to experience it as well as I wanted to. It will be nice for you to get to explore inland areas in the future. It is such a nice country!

wanatrvl, thank you so much for your detailed trip report! It was so fun to read! I am going to Ambergris on August 6 and would love to take the snorkel tour you took with L'il Alphonse. Do you mind sharing his contact information and pricing?