Consider Chaa Creek's jungly cousin, Macal River Jungle Camp. You'll see more wildlife, the food is fabulous, and it's a very jungly experience as opposed to a manicured walkway/pool sort of experience. You have access to all the amenities at Chaa Creek if you want them and the cost is much less - $55/per person per night which includes dinner and breakfast.

hopefulist -- Sounds fantastic! Just what I was looking for!

hipvirgochick,
In Cayo, we really enjoyed duPlooys which is less expensive than Chaa Creek. They have some trails but not extensive hiking on site (I'm not sure if Chaa Creek does either). They do have the botanic garden though and that's where we saw most of the agoutis. They also have a birding deck where they put out fruit for birds in the morning (don't know how you feel about that) with the resident bird guide usually on hand to answer questions. Also good birding and iguanas on the river.

There are so many other options in Cayo. I also seriously considered Black Rock which is further upstream on the Macal.

It's more difficult to find something comparable to Chan Chich which is unique in the extensive grounds they have and their remoteness. The only other places I can think of at the moment to stay in that general area are the La Milpa http://www.pfbelize.org/lamilpa_service.html and Hill Bank http://www.pfbelize.org/hillbank_services.html field stations in the Rio Bravo conservation area but they would be much more rustic.

Lamanai Outpost Lodge while not inexpensive worked out to be less expensive than Chan Chich since their package included transfers and activities. There are some trails on site and the ruins themselves along with the walk to/from are good for wildlife. The boat ride in/out as well as the other boating/canoeing activities are also good birding/wildlife opportunities.

Crooked Tree lagoon is another good location for birding and southern Belize around Punta Gorda is also supposed to be good for wildlife but I've not been there.

It really is an amazing place. Here are links to my photo collections (travelogue links on the main page of each collection) and to my Trip Advisor review:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...acio_Cayo.html

Let me know if I can answer questions!

Which ruins has everyone gone to see? It seems like there are so many options.

We went to Tikal, which I can't imagine being so close to and missing out on. It's a full day trip, and for some an overnight - but it was amazing. I've been to the ruins in Mexico and they just don't compare. Chaa Creek also does shorter, half day trips to the closer ruins but we didn't do any. If I were go go back to Belize, I'd love to go to Lamani. Also, the caves are considered the ruins of the underworld. The ATM cave is spectacular. Also we canoed in Barton's Creek Cave and that was a nice trip.

Once you get where ever you decide to stay, it will be easier to pick which excursions to go on. You'll get a better feel for how long it will take to get there and what type of trip you want to do. We knew we wanted to see Tikal and ATM. The rest we decided when we arrived.

Sorry...but I must tell you that I didn't like the beaches in Ambergris or Placencia. In order to experience the beautiful waters you must take a boat out...swimming off the beaches just wasn't great. Beaches & ocean were dirty close to the shore line you have to go out to get into the nicer water.
But the jungle part of Beliz was great.

I've been to Xunantunich, Cahal Pech, Lamanai, and Tikal (3 times).

We hiked to Xunantunich from the Trek Stop, where we were staying near the start of our 2003 trip to Belize; it was the 1st ruin we visited. The ruins themselves aren't huge but are very nice and you can see into Guatemala from the top of El Castillo. Part of the appeal was that we loved buying mangoes at a produce stand by the Mopan River where huge iguanas gathered to eat the discarded fruit, crossing the hand-cranked ferry, and walking up the road to the ruins - a wonderful day.

Next we went to Tikal which really deserves an overnight stay in the park. Why visit one of the most amazing places on earth during the heat of the day with hundreds of other day trippers, sandwiched between 2 or 3 hour road trips when you could spend a night in the park and visit the ruins and gorgeous jungle during the cooler evening and early morning hours when the wildlife is more active and you practically have the place to yourselves? Check out Temple 4 or 5 in the evening out Mundo Perdido in the early morning. Our son Carlos is of Maya descent and we could imagine him as a descendant of kings on those pyramids. In 2007 I visited again with a friend and caught the edge of Hurricane Dean - a wild and different experience from the 1st time. In 2009 I had a group in tow and we were fortunate enough to connect with a fabulous archaeologist named Roxy Ortiz for an early morning tour - unbelievable how much more enjoyment and insight a genius guide can bring to the experience. She's based at the Tikal Inn part of the year if you'd like to try to arrange a tour with her.

In 2009 we visited Lamanai, boating up the New River with a great guide, feeding bananas to spider monkeys, and spotting crocodiles and iguanas and a wonderful array of birds before arriving at the lagoon and the ruins. We had a wonderful, traditional Belize picnic lunch and enjoyed the museum, the pyramids, the views from the top, lots of howler monkeys and a nesting toucan. We based at the Baboon Sanctuary for a couple of nights to put us within striking range of Orange Walk and enjoyed that, too.

We also visited Cahal Pech which, like Xunantunich, is easy to access and explore on your own. We were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful setting and the charm of the little rooms and stairways. The onsite museum was nice, too.

Our daughter and her husband enjoyed a day trip to Caracol last summer - a long day but they enjoyed the scope and solitude of the place.

There are lots more to choose from - happy trails!

Thanks for all the information on the ruins, guys - that is really helpful.

vacations, some of the places I've seen have piers out into the water - would swimming off of those be good, or would you still need to take a boat out?

Most people swim off the piers. The problem closer to shore is the sea grass, which grows there because the beach is sheltered by the reef. Truly bold people like pirates simply stride through the grass to swimmable depths. The rest of us walk out on the piers.

There are some nice artificial reefs off the ends of some of the piers. We've seen nurse sharks, eels, lobsters, rays, sea slugs, various crabs and tons of fish snorkeling there.

Walking through the sea grass really isn't that bad, just remember to shuffle your feet. I almost stepped on a ray a couple years ago. It's just grass, it isn't slimy or anything.

That sounds really cool. Nurse sharks are relatively harmless, aren't they? I've seen pics of people at Shark Ray Alley surrounded by nurse sharks. It looks a little freaky - have you guys done it?

Thanks Patty and hopefulist (I've always enjoyed your photologues)! This helps a lot. I'm planning 19 days in Costa Rica in June right now...but this gives me some direction which way to go next trip. Will be in touch with questions I'm sure! A few other places are still top contenders too. :-)

Thanks vgirl for letting me hijack a bit. ;-)

We visited Shark Ray Alley and Hol Chan Reserve last August and loved them both. I'm a diver and not easily freaked out but all the rest in our group loved it and the slightly freaky nature of it was a rush in a good way instead of just scary. Honestly, the freakiest part was when we were still on the sailboat and they were feeding the fish. The big rays are cool, too.

I'm leap-frogging trip plans, too - looking forward to a mostly planned out month in Mexico this summer and dreaming of a return to Guatemala. ;)

Yes, bookmarking. Thanks everyone. Hopefulist, I still hope to join you on one of your language trips one day...

It's a wonderful way to travel and to study, plumboy. If you're even half as great as the Fodor folks who joined me last year you're welcome any time. :)

Not sure I'll keep doing it every year but you can keep track on this website: http://liveandlearninlatinamerica.blogspot.com/
Happy trails!

No problem, hip - you and I take the same trips all the time anyway. No one else I would rather share a thread with! And thanks to everyone else for helping us newbies!

I got a cheap trip to Chan Chich on Luxury Link a few years back before Luxury Link became popular and you could get good deals. I loved it and would go back in a heartbeat. It's kind of what I picture BdC to be - small and self-contained where most people don't venture out from. It is geared towards serious birders, but still fun for the casual birder like me and my DH.

Ambergris Caye is a fun place, but don't think of it as a real beach destination. It isn't anything like Manuel Antonio, or any Caribbean island beach. There isn't a wide area of sand, and the seagrass takes away from that gorgeous turquoise blue color that I can sit and stare at forever at those other places. I loved the laid-back, casual, don't have to dress-up for anything air to the place, and walking barefoot into restaurants with sand instead of floors, and driving golf carts around. I would go back with a group of friends, but probably not for just me and DH.

The snorkeling trips were great. Holding nurse sharks and petting rays at Shark Ray Alley was a hoot, but it turned us off that they feed the animals to keep them there and make them more docile for the visitors. It was kind of like snorkeling at an aquarium.

I've only been to Costa Rica and Belize once each, so I don't claim to be an expert. I'm just throwing in my two cents. I loved them both, but CR had something more magical about it, that I cannot put my finger on.

For what it's worth, the tour groups should not be allowing visitors to touch the sea life - bad idea. I'm afraid the sharks and rays are opportunistic just like humans and were originally drawn to that area because it's where the fisherman gutted their catch. I see both rays and sharks when I dive but have rarely seen them in such concentrations as at Shark Ray Alley.

I would recommend using Ecologic Divers for Shark Ray Alley/Hol Chan. They do feed the rays and nurse sharks, but absolutely do not let you pet or hold the sea life. They are very respectful of the wildlife and believe they should be kept wild.

It was a cool experience to be in the water with the rays and sharks!