Best Day trip in Belize City
 

Hi All,

This is our first cruise!! We are so very excited... A little scared too ... Because we are the kind of travellers who like to get out there and explore on our own ... Have never travelled on a group tour ... very independent travellers ...we like to book our own hotels, car and do our own research on sightseeing ... Also my husband is a photographer for a hobby so we like to pick our own spots and time of day best for photography...

So first time on a cruise, we are nervous with not having too much control ... But we are trying to stay positive and looking forward to a good time ...

We are also traveling with a 4 year old so have some constraints around that ...

Can someone help with the best things to do in belize city from 8AM-6PM ... Here is what we found online from some initial research.. but need these narrowed down to top 2 things to do with a kid and also how many such activities can one do in 10 hrs or less

- second largest reef barrier in the world.. we would like to snorkel... Where should we go for it?? Ambergris Cayes ?? or elsewhere ??
- The inner cave tubing
- The zipline and canyon rappeling
- the belize zoo
- Anything else to consider??

Should we go with the cruise excursions or can anyone give names of good tour operators for these??

Also, the other places our cruise is visiting are Santo Tomas de Castilla in Guatemala, Costa Maya and Cozumel in Mexico ... Just mentioning in case one of the above activities is a must do for these other spots and so we should skip in belize ...
Thanks,
Vibhav

Hoping to get some responses ... We have planned all our vacations with the help of some fantastic people on these forums ... Some good advice will help us a lot ...

Does your ship offer tours? You should go with something they are offering, that way you won't end up missing your boat when it's time to leave. There isn't much to do in Belize City (and you need to pay attention to your surroundings), you'd have to venture out to Belmopan or one of the cayes. Maybe if you list what tour options your ship is providing we can help you pick?

Here is what the ship is offering ... and also we can get these tours from independent operators without paying a premium to the ship ...

- second largest reef barrier in the world.. we would like to snorkel... Where should we go for it?? Ambergris Cayes ?? or Caye caulker ??
- The inner cave tubing
- The zipline and canyon rappeling
- the belize zoo
- Anything else to consider??

Thanks,
Sakshi

Ambergris is beautiful - I'd be a happy camper if I could live there. But there wasn't much snorkeling off the beach - we took a boat excursion to Hol Chan & Shark Ray Alley. (15 mns south of Ambergris and 30 mns from Caye Caulker) You can see sharks, stingrays and fish.

Cave tubing is fun - you wear a light on your head and paddle through caves on an intertube and see stalagmites, bats, underground water falls etc.

The zipline and rappeling I didn't do - I'm afraid of heights, but people seemed to think it was a blast.

Everybody says do the zoo, but we didn't do the zoo because we've seen so many. I think it's a small one.

If you're an animal lover you'd like horse riding - the Banana Bank Lodge has nice horses and you can take them out with a guide through the jungle, orchard and riverside trails. Gorgeous surroundings, nice guide, and the horses are lovely too.

You could probably do a couple activities in your time frame, with the exception of if you went to Ambergris, I think if you went there you would not have time to venture through Belize to get to the next destination (transportation and being so far away).

Make sure you take pics! ;)

Belmopan is about an hour away from Belize City. Here's a map to get your bearings.

http://www.belizex.com/map_of_belize.htm

:)

I didn't post originally because I'm a little sad you only have part of a day. Now I feel guilty so here goes. ;)

Are you visiting ruins anywhere else? The trip to Lamanai is amazing but probably too risky (far) for a day trip. Altun Ha would be in reach and you could probably visit that and the zoo as well. In fact you could probably visit both and the Community Baboon Sanctuary as well.

The zoo is really amazing - I've never seen anything like it. It started when semi-tame movie animals were basically abandoned after the shoot and their trainer, Sharon Matola, hand painted a "Belize Zoo" sign and set up shop. They're all indigenous to Belize and, with the exception of problem jaguars that would be killed in the wild, none of them are wild caught. They've moved to a bigger site since the start and it's basically paths carved out of the jungle for walking with wire and netting in place to keep the people and the animals apart. http://belizezoo.org/

Here's a link to my photos, blog and travelogue if you're interested:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

I would think the biggest issue would be that you have your 4 year old with you. I think that is going to eliminate the zip lining and rapelling.

The zoo is an ideal option. It's an amazing zoo - not like most zoos you'll see in that states! Hopefulist gives a great summary of it above. It doesn't take much time to go through it though.

I think if you can see some ruins, to me, that is so much of what Belize has to offer - go for it. And your 4 year old would be able to do that kind of day trip with you.

Not sure how snorkeling would work out with a 4 year old, but you may know your child better than I would - Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley has amazing snorkeling.

I think if it was me, travelling with a young child, I'd try for a ruin or the zoo and a ruin if you could fit it in somehow!

I loved Belize....have a great time!!