Meals are served individually but it's the same item offered. You can sit anywhere you want--no communal seating. I was very impressed when we were there that even when only a few people would be eating, they set the places at all tables so we felt welcome to sit wherever we wanted.

You'll find time for the meals.

It's a set menu but they also offered to substitute something simple (i.e. grilled chicken) if you didn't like what was being served. We thought the food was very good.

Thanks guys - we've loved all the food that we've had in Belize. Glad to hear that there's a little bit of flexibility in the schedule for dining so maybe we can get a little more exploring in. If I get a jaguar pic, I'll post it - ha, ha!! Fingers crossed that we get to see some toucans.

VG,
Just saw this post– I think you will like LOL, although IMHO it cannot compare to BdC. Well, I think few places can compare…
We only saw toucans by the ruins, and they were very far. It was still raining (mid Feb 2013), so we did not see as much wildlife as we hoped for, but still saw some.
Click on my name for a TR with pictures. When do you want to go?

Hi, x - thanks for reminding me that you guys went to LOL. I think your trip report was one of the ones that made me interested. I'm going to go take a look at your pictures again. Were you able to climb the ruins at Lamanai like you can at Tikal?

VG, yes, you can climb the ruins if you want. We did not go to Tikal, so cannot compare.

I appreciate all the info. x, I'm glad to see that you got to see some howlers.

There's one temple that's a significant climb at Lamanai. Unlike at Tikal, you don't climb wooden stairs that have been built, you climb the actual stone steps. The top third or so of the temple steps are so steep and challenging that there's a rope for you to hold onto as you go up. The view is amazing however.

That sounds very cool, RAC. I find coming down a lot harder than going up. Seems like people had tiny feet back then!

There's definitely a technique to be used when going back down--facing either sideways or going down backwards seem to work best.

We're back, and we loved LOL - what a fantastic place! I'm so grateful that you guys recommended it. Now I can't wait to go back.

I hope you're going to do a trip report! I look forward to hearing about it - I definitely would love to get there one day!

So glad to hear!

Yep, I will definitely do a trip report. Shell, you would love it! Patty, thanks for pointing us in the right direction.

Look forward to reading the trip report--LOL is a place we'd definitely not mind to getting back to, but until then trip reports are about as close as we can get.

Thanks for all your help, RAC - now we just have to figure out where to go next. It's funny that I started off asking about Chan Chich and ended up at LOL.

That's how we arrived at LOL ourselves--looked at CC and then saw that LOL was for our purposes an even better fit. And, after seeing the cost for CC, LOL looked like a bargain!

So glad to hear you loved it!
Funny RAC, our decision process was exactly the same :)
Although I still keep CC as an option for a future trip. Looking forward for that trip report, VG.

Thanks for all your help, x - yes, we just loved it. I'm a water girl, so all those trips on the river and the lagoon really helped sway me.

There was a big group at Lamanai when we were there, and they were headed to Chan Chich next. I was wishing they had already gone so I could hear all their opinions. Now that we've gone to Lamanai, I want to keep going back. It was just everything we were looking for. I thought we would be kind of roughing it, but it was nice and really comfortable. Food was great. Guides were fantastic. And the ruins - wow, so amazing!