Honeymoon Advice
 

>>I've also posted this on the Costa Rica thread <<

Just a (hopefully helpful) hint. There is no need to double post -- there is just one Forum (Mexico & Central America) so asking which country is better can and should be just one thread. You can tag a thread for multiple countries, but no matter -- all your threads will be on the same Mexico/Central America board.

You might ask the moderators to merge your two threads. Especially since folks who have been to both won't have to reinvent the wheel and post to both of your threads.

That's unfortunate that you're recommending merging of threads.
Some people have only been to one country or the other, and just follow that particular country.

To the OP, I would start a thread with Belize in the title like you did for CR.

Perhaps someone who has been there will pay attention.

We've been to Belize and enjoyed it. We stayed at Victoria House on Ambergris - very pretty. Snorkeling is much better in Belize than it is in Costa Rica. The snorkeling at Hol Chan is some of the best we've ever done. We saw huge rays, sea turtles, nurse sharks, and pretty colorful tropical fish. You have to take a tour to the reef, but it's a quick boat ride. In general food is better in Belize than in Costa Rica. We love Costa Rica though for the natural beauty, wildlife, adventure activities, waterfalls, etc. Victoria House is not AI, but they have both an upscale restaurant and a bar area that serves more casual food; food was good, and Ambergris has lots of restaurants. You can rent golf carts to get around. We paired VH with a jungle lodge called Chaa Creek to get our jungle time. Have also stayed at the Lamanai Outpost Lodge - loved it, but it's not a honeymoon vibe.

>>That's unfortunate that you're recommending merging of threads.
Some people have only been to one country or the other, and just follow that particular country..<<

Guess you don't understand how tags work. If one tags a thread for Costa Rica and for Belize . . . everyone with an interest in either one willl see the thread.

Yes but if you just put Honeymoon Advice as the title, probably no one will read it, other than unofficial moderators who apparently have no actual advice on either thread.

At least Costa Rica expert volcanogirl saw it and chimed in.

All I know is that Costa Rica is not really renowned as a snorkel destination.

For Belize, I'd reach out to Katie Valk - tell her your budget, how many nights, their interests. She will be able to put together a package that will could be easy, romantic, and adventurous, too. https://www.belize-trips.com/

Belize June 1
 

Lots of good advice, and please keep it coming. Ambergris looks fantastic. Checked out Victoria House, that would be great but all they have left for that week is a suite at $660 a night, way outside their budget. They have $5K to spend but that includes airfare and such. Good ideas about renting a golf cart and skipping the all inclusive part. I've gotten so much good advice on these boards, keep the help coming please! Thanks.

You're right; that's pretty steep. I think we paid about half of that. To get to Ambergris, we flew over from the main airport on Tropic Air, it's a very quick flight. If they didn't want to do that they could take a ferry over.

If they want to do an all-inclusive type of place, why not go up the coast slightly from Belize to the Riviera Maya in Mexico? That has a bunch of activities, (one place you can zip line into a cave filled with water), plenty of snorkeling opportunities, and a tremendous number of AI type places at numerous price points.

RAC, they are afraid of Mexico. Since they haven't traveled much, they believe what they read. Such a shame, it's a beautiful place. Although I do find the Cancun airport to be a little scary and I've been in some pretty third world airports.

Yeah, volcanogirl, they only have the suite left, must be a busy week. All the smaller rooms (which still look fantastic) are booked.

There are definitely parts of Mexico I would avoid, but avoiding the Yucatan because of the cartel violence is like avoiding New York because of violence in Chicago.

Sigh.

R. do you still have to avoid drinking the water in Mexico? I've gotten sick there before, haven't been for a few years though. That's one thing I like about Belize and Costa Rica - have eaten and drunk what we like without getting sick.

Most of the resorts have their own water purification systems. Failing that, there generally will be dispensers with the 5 gallon jugs. Same precautions that we use in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Good to know - thanks.

Yeah, pretty much everybody in Mexico drinks purified water rather than water straight from a municipal water source. Even if the water is good when it starts its journey, there are a lot of opportunities for contamination between the source and the tap, and in countries like Mexico where infrastructure often isn't maintained as it should be, contamination happens. Most homes, offices, and just about every hotel I've stayed in in Mexico have a large jug of purified water available so you can refill bottles or just get a glass of water, and bottled water is cheap and widely available. And as mentioned, large resorts usually have water purification systems.

I agree that it's too bad that these folks are afraid of Mexico. It's a wonderful country with a lot to offer. The big resorts on the Mayan Riviera aren't really my style, but they do sound like they'd work well for this couple.

Thanks, november!

Did the couple consider the Caribbean at all? If they're in Atlanta seems like that might make sense, somewhere like the Virgin Islands or BVIs?