Belize in May - Too hot?
 

My family (wife and 2 college boys) may be going to Belize during the 3rd week in May (3 days in jungle - no air conditioning, and 4 days in Ambergris Caye).

Two questions:

1) Will the heat and humidity be to a point that we will not enjoy it? Note, we live in Georgia so we can handle some warmth, but we do not want to miserable.

2) Are the bugs bad in May at the beach or in the jungle?

Thank you!

I live in Belize and find May to be the hottest month of the year. Here are the facts...

May
Average daily high about 32° C.
Average overnight low about 24° C.
Average humidity about 70%.

In "the jungle", you might find the overnight lows a bit less than 24° C. I use a ceiling fan and am OK with that, but it's still hot. At night, I sleep with a ceiling fan turned on low and don't need a top sheet over me.

On Ambergris, the sea breezes should make life more bearable, but it's still going to be hot at night. Whether you need a/c might depend on how much breeze your room gets. It's always refreshing to come home to a nice cool room.

Re: Bugs
At beaches, the worst problem is sandflies, but in a good breeze, you might not be affected. Google "sandflies" to see other posts about this topic.

The mosquito population varies during the year. I haven't even seen a mosquito in the past few months, but then there are times when they're swarming. Use a repellant containg DEET.

We went in July, and it was pretty hot. Our jungle lodge had a big ceiling fan plus a big plug-in fan. Every night we put that big fan right by the bed so it would blow on us. We were really glad to have something to keep the air moving. It wasn't unbearable, but it was definitely hot and humid. We did a day trip to Tikal and no one wanted to get out of the van because it had a.c. - lol. Our hotel on Ambergris had a.c., and it was much appreciated, although there was a nice breeze there. We got to Belize right after a big tropical storm, so there was standing water in the jungle and tons of mosquitoes, didn't see very many bugs at all once we got to the beach, but we wore repellent every day in the jungle and needed it. Our guide commented that this was about as bad as they get, so even he seemed to think it was a little more than normal.

I agree that April and May are the hottest months of the year in Belize, and it can be quite warm. I stayed at Chaa Creek last May, but nights in Cayo are a little cooler, and with fans the lodge cabanas and the dining room were comfortable at night. Up in the Mountain Pine Ridge it's even cooler and less humid at night and rarely have had any problems at the jungle lodges there even on the hottest days.

On Ambergris Caye you really have to hunt to find a place without air-conditioning. It's mostly only a few of the budget rooms at the few budget hotels on the island that don't have A/C.

There's a famous beach resort in Placencia, that I won't name here, that prides itself on not having air-conditioning, and I stayed there last May as well, in one of the back cottages away from the beach with no breeze. It was unpleasant but bearable. Certainly anywhere on the water when there's a breeze the heat doesn't bother you too much.

Only a few times in my nearly 25 years of banging around Belize and the region have I been unbearably hot in a hotel -- one time at a small jungle lodge without A/C in Toledo district during the summer it was raining cats and dogs, and there was no breeze, and I literally thought I was going to jump up in the middle of the night and go running outside in my underwear in the rain, probably screaming like a madman. And another time at Tikal it was almost unbearably hot and humid.

Just think Southern Florida in summer and that's about the level of heat and humidity. But if you want unbearable humidity and heat, visit New Orleans or Houston in July. Never anywhere have I experienced such humidity as New Orleans in summer, but it's such a wonderful place I lived there 10 years.

All, thank you very much. Your comments are very appreciated. More are welcome.

Sounds like May is hot, but it will still be an overall great experience (I think).

I've stayed in Cayo in May with a fan but no AC and found it bearable. On the coast, I find I have to have AC in order to sleep in May.