First visit to Belize: your thoughts on preliminary 10d itinerary
 

My husband and I, along with our college-aged kids, are planning a 11-day visit to Belize over December (Dec 15 - 25).
One of my bucket list items for many years has been to see Mayan ruins. We all want an active vacation, including jungle + snorkeling. (No divers or fisherman among us.)

Below is our preliminary itinerary based on research on this site and others.
I would great appreciate your input, and especially on how we can economize. As I research the costs for transportation, and fees for sites I'm pretty surprised how expensive the "adventures" are.

Day 1: Arrive afternoon; travel by private shuttle/car or bus to San Ignacio
Day 2- 5: Stay in San Ignacio, explore mainland Mayan ruins, cave tour; hiking + zip-line; day trip to Tikal
Day 6: Fly from SI to San Pedro
Day 7 - 10: Stay somewhere on Ambergris Caye, possibly a condo if that is more economical.
Snorkeling tours and relaxation.
Day 11 - fly in AM to Belize City Airport to catch flight home.

For a first time visit to Belize, how does this look?
Anything we should add as a "for sure" ---
Ideas for economizing without roughing it too much?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Sounds good - not too much moving around for 9 full days.

I'd consider an overnight to Tikal to get the full magic of it - so great to explore in the cooler evening and early morning hours when wildlife is active and you practically have the place to yourselves. You could consider Caye Caulker rather than Ambergris in order to save money as it's generally less expensive. There are some interesting jungly lodges in the San Ignacio area but it can be less expensive to stay in/near town plus more options for meals.

My photos with blog and travelogue links on the main page of each collection are below in case you're interested - all my recommendations are embedded there. Happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

PS Good idea to try to book soon - that's a really popular time to visit.

Thanks for the tips!
As it turns out we will be staying at moderately priced hotel near the town of San Ignacio. The eco-lodges looked amazing but so pricey! Plus we definitely want the option of eating in town or getting our own food.

I will look into overnight option at Tikal. Since I was unsure how to get from Tikal to San Pedro mid-trip, I thought it would be easier to make the day trip.
Is there a flight from Tikal area to SP or Caye Calker?

Thanks!!

I'd put Hol Chan as a must do if you like snorkeling; it's some of the best we've ever done. We saw big rays, nurse sharks, sea turtles, and colorful tropical fish. We did Tikal as a day trip and used PACZ tours - thought they were great.

It might be easier to do the day trip as far as planning, but then you're spending more time on the road that day than you have at the Maya site and you're exploring during the heat of the day when there are the most other people around.

You can fly from Flores (~hour from Tikal) through BZE to either Ambergris or Caulker.
http://www.tropicair.com/

There are also 1st class bus options from Flores to the dock. Loads of transport info here:
www.belizebus.wordpress.com

Re: getting to Tikal, you can either just head to the border and arrange transport on the fly, arrange a tour package, or just arrange transport in advance. I've read recently that both jaguar Inn and Tikal Inn (my favorite) offer very reasonable transport options.

You could also contact my best beloved guide, Roxy Ortiz. Her tours are amazing and, depending on her schedule, you might be able to arrange transportation through her, too.
www.tikalroxy.blogspot.com

Happy trails!

Thanks for all the suggestions! I will check them out.

You could save a lot of money by taking the bus from San Ignacio to Belize City, then the water taxi to San Pedro. If you get up reasonably early in the morning, you can easily be on Ambergris in time for a slightly late lunch.

Meant to include the link for you.

http://www.pacztours.net/belize/tikal.html

like hopefulist said you need this booked and quickly. only do 2 locations, too much moving around for 8 days.