lacontessa

Hi--Hubbie and I are planning a last minute trip to Belize for 6 nights, leaving next Friday. We enjoy snorkeling and birdwatching but are not keen about sand flies or mosquitoes, or lots of tourists. Nightlife is not needed either since we are early risers. Should we stay in one place or two places? Here are the places that have availability that we are considering:
Reef's end (near Dangriga)
Lazy Iguana (Caye Caulker)
Mata Rocks (Ambergris Caye)
Lodge at Big Falls (near Punta Gorda)
Hickatee Cottages (near Punta Gorda)
Windy Hill (Cayo district)
Maya Mountain Lodge (near San Ignacio)
San Ignacio Hotel(San Ignacio)
Whipray Caye (private caye off Placencia)
Black Rock Lodge (near San Ignacio)
Duploy's (near San Ignacio)
Hidden Valley Inn (Mountain Pine Ridge area)
Hamanasi (Stann Creek area)
Belize R Us Resort (Burrell Boom village)
Cuxlin Ha (near Punta Gorda)

Thanks so much!

Katie_Valk

I suggest two areas, but since you only have 6 nights, you might want to base in Placencia and take day trips to the Jaguar reserve for birding and the Maya sites in Toledo. You won't be able to stay on a remote caye and access the mainland day trips. If you choose to split the trip, I'd visit the Cayo district, which has lots to offer and easier to get to and fro.

lacontessa

If we split the trip up to 2 locations,

1) beach (Tobacco Caye near Dangriga, Caye Caulker, Ambergris Caye, Whipray Caye near Placencia, Hamanasi in Stann Creek); and

2) San Ignacio (Windy Hill, Maya Mountain Lodge, San Ignacio Hotel, Black Rock Lodge, duPloys, Chaa Creek, Hidden Valley Inn)
or Toledo (Lodge at Big Falls, Hickatee Cottages, Cuxlin Ha)

--where do you suggest we stay?

LvSun

I have heard good things about Hamanasi (it's near Hopkins in the Stann Creek district). We stayed a little ways down the beach at Jaguar Reef Lodge.

We loved the area - it is off the beaten path of tourism and offers a ton of fun things to do both in the sea and the rainforest.

Ambergris Caye is where most tourists go.

We were there in March when it is somewhat windy so we had no problem with bugs on the beach. Don't know what it is like in December.

The bugs in the rainforest will eat you alive without bugspray.

The waters right off the beaches of Belize are comfy but not the crystal clear blue waters of the Caribbean islands. You have to take a short boat ride to the reef for the beautiful waters and snorkeling. I understand you can stay on some of the atolls to get the beautiful waters and off-the-beach snorkeling.

stellablue

Duplooy's for birding. Loved it there.

As for beach, you will find sandflies everywhere.

hopefulist

I need to pipe in about bugs in Belize, at least in our experience. We hardly saw a mosquito in the Cayo area or at Caves Branch - no need for nets or repellent. At Cockscomb and around Sittee River Village the mozzies were HUGE and we made good use of our beloved Sawyer's Time Release Deet Formula. We spent a week on Glover's Atoll and didn't see a sand fly - don't know if that was luck or timing (we were there in late July and early August). We used repellent for mozzies one day when the breeze died down.

Same experience in Honduras - almost no mosquitos and sand flies only one day out of a month, half inland and half split between Utila and Roatán.

Just my 2 cents worth...