Honeymoon in Belize!! Need help planning
 

I have been all over this site and just love the advice everyone gives. You helped me plan our trip to Costa Rica and it was everything we had hoped for. So was looking for the same to help plan our honeymoon in Belize! We will be going for 10-14 days in April. We have a good budget to work with so that shouldn't be a problem. We love to fish, snorkel, relax, horseback ride, hiking, adventure, anything new and exciting and food! First question would be how is the weather in April? And then next is we would like to do both beach and jungle. Don't know how to split our time or where to stay or where to go. How to get around? Place to see and can't miss. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Can't wait to read all the responses!! Thanks in advance.

One of our best travel experiences was scaling the temples at Tikal. This was a number of years ago, but if you can still do it, by all means make it a point.

www.weather2travel.com Climate guides May begins the rain...

www.belizefirst.com Lan Sluder on LP boards knows the most

My favs...

victoria-house.com

robertsgrove.com

cavesbranch.com

Some combo of those...

Tikal is in Guatemal but La Lancha nice for upscale there.

CONGRATS and Happy Travels!

Congratulations!!

I'd start in the Cayo district, spend a few nights in Guatemala to visit Tikal and maybe a less frequented area ruin, then head to either Caye Caulker (would be my choice) or Ambergris Caye. If you have 14 days and want to add another stop, we love Hopkins.

Most of my lodging choices are budget/value places which might not interest you for a honeymoon. Caves Branch, linked above, is one I'd recommend if you wanted to consider some hiking and caving adventures.

A few random recommendations:
Don't miss the ATM cave:
http://pacztours.net/tours/actun_tunichil_muknal.html

If you go to Hopkins, don't miss the Garifuna drumming:
www.lebeha.com

If you go to the Petén in Guatemala, archaeologist/naturalist Roxy Ortiz is a wonderful, knowledgable, fun guide:
www.tikalroxy.blogspot.com

Check out Lan Sluder's great downloads here:
www.belizefirst.com

And my photo collections with trip report links here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

Happy trails!

I'd do a split between Cayo and Ambergris. Stay at one of the jungle lodges, spend a night or two at Tikal in Guatemala, then head to the beach.

I haven't spent enough time in Cayo to know much about hotels, but, do look at Chaa Creek.

On Ambergris, look at Victoria House, Xanadu, the Phoenix for upscale and easy access to town.

If you want to be further removed, look at Mata Chica, Portofino, Coco Beach.

Lots more options, that should get you started.

Highly recommend Chaa Creek for jungle lodge and heard nothing but great things about Victoria House on Ambergris Caye (AC). We (family) stayed at Banyan Bay on AC and think it merits a look (great pool / beach but might be a bit busy for newly weds). With 14 days you could easily do 1-2 nights at Tikal.

We did the Chaa Creek and Victoria House split and loved both. Victoria House is a great honeymoon hotel; the beach there is gorgeous with pretty, soft, white sand, palm trees, hammocks. The air conditioning was a such a plus after staying in the jungle. We really liked it there. Hol Chan has the best snorkeling we've ever done. Do not miss it if you like snorkeling.

We used Pacz tours to go to Tikal for the day from Chaa Creek - great trip. I'd recommend them if you want to do it as a day trip.

Check out Absolute Belize - they are lovely and arrange everything you want even give ideas if you are not sure. highly recommend!

Tikal is definitely a stop for us. Does anyone know if you can still climb the temples? Thanks for the responses. Looking into them all! There are so many, wish we had time and money to do it all!!

Yes, you can. It's pretty amazing. We commented on how you'd never be able to do that in the U.S. Some of the temples are closed, but we were able to climb several.

Last I heard there were still 3 temples you could climb, #2, 4, and 5. You're not allowed to just climb the rock faces but they've built wooden stairs or ladders (different one to the next) on those 3 and the views are amazing. And volcanogirl is correct - you're responsible for your own safety up on top in ways that would never be allowed in the US. Happy trails!

I think about how different it would be in US as well, if folks were clambering over ruins.

However, multiple people die every year at the Grand Canyon, and, there still aren't guard rails.....

We climbed one directly on the rock stairs - they were really steep coming down with no guard rail, and the guy next to me joked that we were probably going to die doing this! It was a little nerve racking, but great views. We saw one temple that was roped off, and the guide said it was because someone had died climbing it, so it does happen. Just be careful and take your time.

I'm somewhat ambivalent about people climbing the pyramids. I did climb at Chichen Itza, back when it was allowed, and noticed that the rope they had put down for people to hold on had worn the stone down at least at inch where it touched. I'm guessing those thousands of shoes every day were doing the same thing.

It's a shame to see them damaged by tourists after withstanding the elements for hundreds and hundreds of years.

We loved Belize - I think it was one of my favorite trips of all time. We stayed at Chaa Creek, and for us one of their packages ended up being more cost efficient. We did their Inland Tour Package. It included 2 full day tours and a half day tour. All our meals, transportation to and from the airport, taxes and a visit to the zoo were also included. We went to Tikal, the ATM cave and a half day canoe trip to another cave. It was an amazing experience. Loved every minute there.

Then we went to Ambergris Caye and stayed at Portofino. It's not right in the town, you have to take a water taxi to be right downtown - but they have their own water taxi and you can also pick up a water taxi when people book excursions or use the one from town with a daily or weekly rate. We loved it there as well. I liked the remoteness. We did a package there as well, but it only included breakfast and 2 tours I think? I knew we'd be eating out more in Ambergris, so I didn't want our meals all included at the resort. Great snorkeling -

I have most of our trip report on my blog:

http://tripspicsandtales.blogspot.co...belize-it.html

it starts back in Sept 2009 if you want to take a peek - and goes forward.

You'll love Belize!

April is a great month to travel. It is hot, but lots of nice ocean breezes and flowering trees and orchids this time of year. 45 ft docile whale sharks congregate off the Placencia coast around and up to 10 days after the full moon and are incredible to see while diving or snorkeling. We have many great options for both mainland and beach, each offering its own special ambiance and attractions. Many good suggestions posted above and many others to consider. You will find the right areas to visit, things to do and places to stay easily enough.

Katie, are there any months that aren't good due to excessive rain?