crellston

When planning our next trip to Mexico I stumbled across details of how to get from Chetumal to Caye Caulker/Ambergris Caye/Belize City and it seems pretty easy by ferry (Caye) or bus (Belize City. As we will likely be that way following mlgb's suggestion on Sian Kaan and Cakamul, I am thinking of visiting for maybe 7 or 8 days to do some diving and rainforest.

Anyone have any recommendations for rainforest lodges and dive schools/resort? San Ignacio seems a likely candidate for the jungle and it seems possible to do a day or overnight trip form there to Tikal in Guatemala?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Fra_Diavolo

We stayed at Chaa Creek https://www.chaacreek.com/?gad_sourc...B&gclsrc=aw.ds in San Ignacio. Although it was a while back, it only seems to have improved. I highly recommend it. From there, we took a day trip to Tikal. It's rather a long drive -- I think an overnight would be better. There are many other day trips available involving caves, canoeing and other Mayan sites.

Never learned SCUBA diving but had some excellent snorkeling off Ambergris. Also a good day chasing bonefish.

volcanogirl

We also stayed at Chaa Creek and really enjoyed it. We did a day trip to Tikal from there with PACZ Tours, and they were very good. It's been quite a while since we've visited though. For ocean time, we stayed at Victoria House and loved visiting Hol Chan.

Nelson

We are staying at Black Rock Lodge at the end of February, Chaa Creek was booked on the dates we wanted. It's not as ritzy looking as Chaa but seems nice enough. It's a few miles from Chaa Creek as the macaw flies, somewhat longer by road.

It will be our first time to Belize.
https://www.blackrocklodge.com/

Gets excellent reviews and our communication with them has been easy. They have a similar menu of activities as Chaa. We are planning an overnight to Yaxha instead of Tikal.
I can report back in March if you are interested.

crellston

Many thanks for the responses. Had a quick look at all the suggestions and was surprised at the rates. This would be part of a month long trip and we are travelling on a "mid range" budget so not sure I would want to spring for the cost of of Chaa Creek (which seems particularly expensive). Black Rock seems more reasonable and I have messaged both to see whether there are any deals to be had, preferably that include activities and/or food.

Hol Chan looks amazing VG, do you have a dive centre you recommend?

volcanogirl

We did really enjoy it. Saw sea turtles, rays, colorful tropical fish. We only did snorkeling though. Took a boat out through our hotel.

hopefulist

There are loads of options in San Ignacio for budgetish and midrange places in town and nearby. I haven’t stayed in the area or checked prices for years (2016) so won’t recommend specifically, just don’t lose heart - keep looking. Our last 2 or 3 visits to Belize we’ve chosen other areas for our jungle fix but San Ignacio is a great option.

Definitely stay at least one night in the park at Tikal and consider a visit to Yaxhá. Marlon Díaz is a fabulous driver and guide if you want to treat yourself and have him pick you up in SI or meet you at the border. www.gemtrips.com

We prefer Caye Caulker to Ambergris Caye and our (bit of a splurge for us) beloved place there is Colinda Cabañas. I know I’m late to the show here but have a great trip, whatever you decide!

crellston

Thanks for the suggestions hopefulist. For a variety of reasons my planning on this trip had been put in abeyance but over the last few days, but I have (sort of) restarted planning. Our nieces who are on a RTW gap year trip are joining us for part of our time in Mexico. They are due to do their PADI training in Koh Tao Thailand in a few weeks and, if they get on ok and enjoy it as much as we do, they will be itching to do some more diving so I need to come up with something!

Colinda Cabanas look great , if somewhat out our our price range if there is a group of us!