My wife & I go on vacation with another couple each summer. The main objective of our trips is to scuba dive & we have gone to Cozumel the last few years. We love the diving at Cozumel and like the convenience of town and the many wonderful restaurants.

We are considering Belize this June/July to add another dive destination to our list. Is it possible to enjoy great diving and great dining at one location in Belize?

Also, if diving is our main activity, can we enjoy inland activities without extensive travel?

We usually stay 6-7 nights and rent a car in Cozumel and would probably do the same in Belize.

Am I asking too much for a summer vacation?

You should probably go to Ambergris Caye, which is a good deal like Cozumel 20 years ago, before Coz was ruined (in my opinion) by the excessive number of cruise ships and timeshare touts.

You cannot, however, rent a car on Ambergris Caye.

For something more like Coz 30 or 40 years ago (before my time), you might look at Placencia or Hopkins, and on the mainland you can rent a car.

--Lan Sluder

If you want dive sites close to shore, chose Ambergris. You can book 1 tank dives and the full day 3 tank dive to the Blue Hole and Lighthouse Atoll, which is fabulous diving and snorkeling. If you want to try to dive with whale sharks, they'l be off the coast of Placenica around the full moon. The reef is further from shore in this area and all dive trips are two tanks and full day based on and island on the reef 19 miles off the coast. Easier and less expensive access to mainland day trips from the Placencia area

In lieu of a car on Ambergris Caye you can rent a golf cart (I suspect this is still an option) or bikes. It's a small enough area that you can get around easily by golf cart and get to other islands via boat.

If you're looking for an inland excursion for a part day, I'd recommend the canopy tour run by Bak-a-bush. It's about an hour drive outside of Belize City. We took it from our cruise ship and the cost included transportation and lunch. Apparently, they normally have guides at the pier in Belize City if you want to check out prices, etc.

Thanks all for the input. You've given me some great starting places for further inquiry.

I strongly recommend spending a few nights on the mainland to experience the jungle and some Mayan ruins. Lamanai is a great place to visit. It's only acessible by boat and you'll see lots of wildlife on the jungle boat ride to Lamanai. You'll waste a lot of time traveling if you only stay on AC and take day trips to the main land. Maybe do 3 nights in the jungle and 4 on AC?

Actually you can also drive or take a bus to Lamanai.

--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com

You can drive or take a bus, but most guests arrive by boat and consider this a highlight of their trip. I strongly recommend taking a boat, otherwise you'll miss out on the full experience. The road are not that great and you won't see much which is why most tours only access lamanai by boat.

You can also fly to Lamanai. There's an airstrip. Some of the tours from San Pedro go by air. I personally prefer driving, but the boat trip up the New River to the New River Lagoon is great.

Even better is staying at Lamanai Outpost Lodge (though it's now quite expensive, all-inclusive) and doing their night trip on the lagoon and river.

--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com