jeantx

I am currently planning my family's first trip to Belize. My husband is an avid birder and so we have decided to split our time with 4 nights in the Cayo region and 3 nights on the coast. We tend to prefer upscale properties with good food, but would still like to be close to nature.

Questions:
1. In the Cayo area we are trying to choose between the Hidden Valley Inn, Blancaneaux, and Chaa Creek. Thoughts?

2. In the Placencia area we are searching for hotel recommendations. I have been researching the Turtle Inn and would love to know if anyone that has stayed there can provide a recommendation.

3. Car rental - by the time we pay for all the transfers from the airport to Cayo to Placencia and back to Belize City it is the same price as just renting a 4x4 for the week. Is the country impossible / dangerous to drive in or would we be fine driving ourselves?

Thanks for any help you all can provide. I used the Fodors board to help me with our trip to Costa Rica a few years ago and were thrilled with the results!!

MrShort1

We stayed at 5 Sisters up the road from Blancaneaux?? Lodge. I liked the look of Hidden Valley and did drive past it 2 years ago ( probably the best road in the area getting to it off the mountain pine road. It is up the road from the 1000 Foot Falls?? we would have stayed there this past year if we had more time. I love to drive in Belize. The roads are very rough going to Hidden Creek or 5 Sisters but thats the charm. I never drive at night but have lost both tires in the mountains and abandon my wife for 4 hours while I found replacements. She never felt thratened at anytime. The tires on my rental were poor to begin with. The replacement tires provided worked great. There are 2 good highways on north to south and one east to west. The road to Palencia was very rough and dusty 2 years ago. Again we drove by Turtle Inn and it looked very classy and upscale.

qwovadis

www.robertsgrove.com best for Placencia

ShellD

We haven't been yet, but are going in August. We're going to Chaa Creek and after pricing out the cost of transfers and tours we opted for one of their packages. We picked their Inland Tour package and are doing the 5 night one. This will come with all meals, 2 full day tours and a half day tour. All taxes and gratuities and the transfers to and from the airport. So that made the transportation issue easy for us. Oh, it also includes a stop at the Belize Zoo. I'll be sure to do a trip report when we come back! But you may want to look at the packages the properties have to offer to include your transfers, especially if you plan on doing tours anyway.

We're also staying at Portofino in Ambregris Caye, so I can't help you with Placencia -but again they're providing the transportation as part of our package.

Can't wait! We leave in less than a month! It's our first Belize trip too!

Katie_Valk

All 3 lodges you mentioned are great. Chaa Creek is in tropical foliage along the Macal River and has logged about 300 species of birds on property. BL and HVI are both in the Mtn Pine Ridge. HVI is on 7200 acres with 7 private watefalls and has great birding and wildlife on property. BL is larger and more elegant. All 3 have pools, CC and BL have spas. Turtle Inn is lovely, but does not have a/c. Also look at Roberts Grove and Chabil Mar in Placencia. You can take a day trip to the Jaguar Preserve from Placencia where they have logged over 535 species of birds. You might be here when the scarlet macaws congregate in Red Bank village and take another day trip from Placencia to see these magnificent birds. Renting a car is safe and easy. The Placencia road is being paved now and is a major improvement.

jeantx

Thanks so much for all of your help. I have arranged our trip to stay at Robert's Grove in Placencia and then Hidden Valley in the Pine Ridge area. I struggled with really wanting to stay at the Turtle Inn because it looks so idyllic, but ultimately the lack of AC and the Trip Advisor reviews about bed begs make me feel good about choosing Robert's Grove.

Katie: Thanks so much for the additional birding information. Any chance you (or anyone else out there) have ever used a bird guide in the Placencia area?

Katie_Valk

Contact David Vernon at [email protected] who is amongst the best naturalist guides in the country, for a private guided hiking and birding tour of the Jaguar Preserve.

jeantx

Katie - thanks so much for your recommendation!!

volcanogirl

Bookmarking.