My wife and I are considering a trip to Belize this spring or early summer. When is the best time to go and what is a good moderate hotel to stay? We like a quiet spot and night life is no biggie. We want an area that's great for snorkeling. I've heard that you can snorkel with whale sharks. True? We've been to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, & Aruba. How does Belize compare for atmosphere and snorkeling? Thanks.

Went to Belize in June 1995 and stayed on a private island.......took a puddle jumper from Belize City.<BR><BR>Think the place was the Lighthouse Reef resort.......a wonderful small, private island for divers. Nothing to do but eat, dive and sleep. No night life, no TV, no phones, no radio.....very relaxing and remote though.<BR><BR>Mainly dove, but did snorkle the spot made famous by Jacques Cousteau.....the Blue Hole. Incredibly great snorkling....parrot fish, box fish, squirrel fish, mantas....fish galore! Did see sharks on a few dives. Never snorkling though.....<BR><BR>Have been diving and snorkling also to Cozumel, US Virgin Islands and Honduras.<BR><BR>Will say I loved Belize and Honduras the best for diving/snorkling.<BR><BR><BR>Good luck!

In Feb, 2000 we stayed in Hopkins Village, a little fishing town. It was wonderful. You take a puddle jumper to Dangrigia, then a shuttle for about 45 mins. Staying on the mainland is OK since its not fat at all to go diving/snorkelling at the reef. We never saw any whale sharks, but did see most everything else including manatees & seahorse. There's also plenty of things to see on land-some ruins (not as good as Mexico, but OK), hiking, etc. We went kayaking on the Sittee River by ourselves, which was kind of neat-not dangerous at all. Driving is on the right & there is little traffic. The only precaution I would add is be real careful in Belize city-it can be pretty rough on travellers. Try Belizenet.com for more info. Enjoy

Went to Caye Caulker in March, 2001. Rather rustic, little nite life but the animals were abundant. Manatees, sharks, stingrays, dolphins. Like all tropical areas it is best not to go during Summer as it would be extremely hot and humid. I flew into Belize City then took a small plane to the island (2 miles long, no cars) however, you can also take a water taxi (approx 45 minutes).

We went to Belize a couple of years ago in late March and stayed on Ambergris Caye. Belize was pretty laid back then, don't know if all the hype surrounding "Temptation Island" changed it or not.<BR><BR>The weather was beautiful in late March, but the sun is really intense. My husband who never wears sunscreen and doesn't ever burn, burned both sides of himself.<BR><BR>We stayed at a hotel called the Tides, nothing fancy, no room service but it was clean, quiet, on the beach (no swimming from that beach, too much boat traffic and seaweed), close enough to walk into San Pedro for dinner. The dining options are probably not as varied or as good as what you found in the other three locations.<BR><BR>To snorkel we had to take excursions, there was a great one that stopped at Shark-ray alley where you could snorkel with nurse sharks and giant rays. We also took another excursion out to see the manatees. I'd say that the snorkeling is as good or better than Cancun's, much better than anywhere else we've been in the Caribbean.<BR><BR>We visited Caye Caulker on one of the excursion, a little too laid back for my tastes. Didn't seem to be much in the way of restaurants.