Honeymoon in Belize
 

So, I need help planning for a romantic honeymoon in Belize. We are interested in the ruins, food, caving, and beaching.

I have been to most of Europe (save for Switzerland and Greece, using Europe in a flexible sense.). My fiancé has never been outside the U.S.; nor been on a flight longer than 4 hours.

We are from Chicago. I speak both French and Spanish. I'd like for him to experience something amazing. My finace is a chef, so food is important.

Finally, we are taking our honeymoon in late October (27th) through to November 15th. Including airfare we would like to spend a max of $10,000. HELP!!

neither spanish nor french are particularly useful in an english speaking country. Food in Belize runs to the basic withy beans and chicken probably the core dishes. Ambergris caye, caye caulker and the atolls are about the ocean and ocean related. Placencia on the mainland is also a decent beach spot. Lamanai is a great ruins site but go there when the cruises arent in. Use gmaps and you tube as planning tools.

Belize is English speaking, although many of its citizens also speak Spanish.

I'd pick three or four locations to stay at. I'd probably start by heading to the Cayo district, in/around San Ignacio. There are numerous jungle lodges in the area, although, I'm not sure how good the food is at any of them.

Then, head south to either Hopkins or Placencia for some beach time. I've heard not very good things about the food at Turtle Inn in Placencia. Too bad it's a gorgeous property.

If you want some more inland time, head further south to Punta Gorda. I know little about this area. It doesn't get near as many visitors as the rest of Belize. It's on my list of places to go, though, sounds like lots of interesting things to see and do.

Finish your trip on one of the northern cayes, either Ambergris or Caulker. Ambergris will have a much larger selection of restaurants.

I'd recommend getting a good guidebook and do some reading. Fodor's is good, as is Moon. That will give you some idea of what's available.

We do have a few jungle lodges who pay particular attention to food: Chaa Creek, Hidden Valley Inn, Chan Chich, Table Rock, Belcampo, among others. There are many very good restaurants on Ambergris Caye, Placencia and a few in Hopkins. All of these areas are interesting and have their own attractions and flavor. You can certainly build around anyof these suitable for a honeymoon. Congrats!

You have lots of time so I'd choose a few locations to stay.

One location would be near San Ignacio for the ATM cave trip, ziplining and the Mayan ruins at Caracol (also a good base for a trip to Tikal in Guatemala). San Ignacio has a good range of accommodation and some tour companies (Pacz gets positive comments), but for romantic, Katie's suggestion of Chaa Creek would be my choice too.

In southern Belize, you could stay at either Placencia or Hopkins, but why not head out to one of the southern cayes.

Finish the trip at either Ambergris Caye or Caye Caulker. Read up on them -- I don't know which one you would prefer, but the food choices willbe better on Ambergris.

Another option... if you start at Ambergris Caye, you could go to Caye Caulker and do the sailing trip to Placencia with Raggamuffin (google it).

With you budget you can accomplish a lot in Belize and I would also encourage visiting more than one location. You can visit Cayo, as suggested, for the jungle and Maya experiences, the coast for culture, I would suggest Placencia, and a Caye as well. Check out this package from Chaa Creek in Cayo, Chabil Mar in Placencia and Hatchet Caye off the coast of Placencia. It can be customized to fit your needs and you would get a great variety of cultural and adventure experiences. http://www.chabilmarvillas.com/beliz...honeymoon.html

Belcampo is a jungle lodge and farm near Punta Gorda in southern Belize (I haven't stayed there) that has an emphasis on food including classes.

Agree that the food at Chan Chich was quite good. If you decide to visit Lamanai, there's also Lamanai Outpost Lodge nearby (walking distance to the archaeological site). I also enjoyed the food there which was more Belizean influenced.

There's some good seafood on the cayes.

We did a combo of Chaa Creek and Victoria House and loved both spots; food was very good at both. With your timeframe, you could definitely throw in another location as well. Victoria House has a very honeymoon feel to it.

Well, there aren't ruins to explore in Costa Rica. I don't know if there's caving.

It's been quite a few years since I've been in CR, but, I don't remember really good food being available in most areas either. That may well have changed.