Narrowing down my search... :)
 

hello everyone!

everyone hs been so helpful on the message boards at fodor's in my quest to find a vacation spot for my 30th birthday. i would love your opinion on a belize hotel and any input you can give me.
this is what i am looking for:
lagoon-style, no big ocean waves, able to wade/walk out very far for snorkeling and kayaking, clear turqoise water.
nice quality beach front bungalow with a/c, tv, phone (like Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort...maybe i'm dreaming?)
not too $$$
safety

i've narrowed it down to about seven places:
antigua
turks and caicos
belize
grenada
bonarie
bermuda
cancun

here are some places i came across in belize that i was hoping you could give me some insight about:
cocoplum island resort http://www.cocoplumcay.com/belize_vacation_rates.htm
journey's end resort
http://www.journeysendresort.com/
turneffe island lodge
http://www.turneffelodge.com/
the inn at robert's grove
http://www.robertsgrove.com/html/index.html
and if i stayed at robert's grove, i would like to spend one night here (at robert's caye):
http://www.robertsgrove.com/html/index.html

is there one you would recommend? what about safety? would it be safe to go to robert's caye since it's so secluded? i've read negative reports about crime and safety in belize from the state dept. of travel, so your opinoins would be greatly appreciated. :)

thanks in advance, and happy new year!

I've stayed at all but one of these places and toured the other one. The main issue is that there isn't much shore snorkeling at any of them, though there's a little snorkeling at Robert's Caye, if you kayak out to the reef at Journey's End, and definitely at Turneffe Island Lodge. There is no good snorkeling off the beach at Cocoplum or Robert's Grove.

All in all I'd put Journey's End and Cocoplum at the bottom of the list, Robert's Grove and Turneffe at the top.

They're all quite safe.

Robert's Caye is a tiny island, maybe a half acre altogether.

--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com

hi lan!

thank you so much for your post. i was really hoping that there would be good beach snorkeling at one of the places in belize. i guess i assumed since it had the second largest reef, there would be shallow water to snorkel in off of the beach...oh well. i really appreciate your post though, and thank you for letting me know! :) i just checked out your website, and will be sure to look there if i have any other questions!

South Water Caye has two inns, Blue Marlin and Pelican and take a look at Marisol on Glovers atoll in Belize. I live here, I know we have some crime like everywhere, but it does not affect the vast majority of visitors and none of my hundreds or so have so far (knock wood) have ever had a a bad encounters in Belize.

thanks, katie! i really appreicate it. i will look into these places today! :)

My vote is Glover's Atoll.

thanks for your post, hopefulist. but i just couldn't share a bathroom or shower...the prices are excellent though. :)

katie, i am going to show your suggestions to my husband. i bookmarked each lodge's website. thanks, again!

i guess i keep thinking i can get a luxury resort, like i did at pearl beach bora bora, but for not so much of a luxury price.

Actually, I was referring to Katie's suggestion of Marisol:

http://www.islamarisolresort.com/index.php

on Glover's Atoll, not Glover's Atoll "Resort" (which we loved, but we're backpacker types). I don't know if the snorkeling from shore is as good from that resort as from Glover's Atoll Reosrt, though.

Keep us posted about what you decide!
Happy trails...

hopefulist,
oh, thanks for the clarification! marisol looks good...not as luxrious as i had hoped, but the fact that i could do a rainforest or maya ruins land tour (since it's belize), might make it worth it!

how is isla marisol as compared to other island resorts in other destinations like turks and caios, antigua, and bora bora? is it completely unrealistic to compare belize to tahiti? i hate to admit it, but i'm not really a fan of hawaii (snorkeling was okay, but no lagoon-type areas where i stayed...i've been to maui twice and kauai once). i am a little afraid of deep water, that's why i was looking for beach snorkeling in a shallow area, with turqoise water, hence belize or another caribbean island, but i would really like cabana-type accommodations in a luxury resort with air conditioning.

well, thanks so much for the recommendation. i'm going to show my husband tonight and i'll keep you posted! please let me konw any other suggestions as they come to mind, or any other thoughts. :) i really appreciate it!

I avoid luxury resorts and am a budget traveler by choice because I want to experience something different than what I can find at home - that's just me. You might decide you like feeling like Swiss Family Robinson for a week! The great thing about Glover's Atoll is that it's a coral ring with shallower, lagoon-type water inside - virtually no waves. There are hundreds of little coral islets to explore and - at the deepest and we never saw it - it's 50' deep. The outside edge of the atoll gets very deep quickly, making for fabulous wall dives - something for everybody with water interests.

The San Ignacio area is a great base for hiking and ruins, and Tikal across the border in Guatemala is AMAZING and is surrounded by fabulous jungle - lots of interesting birds and other wildlife. You can fly to Flores, about an hour from Tikal (I think) from Belize City if you don't want to do the land route.

Happy trails, whatever you decide!

aprivateisland.com Its got the luxury you want, but not the ecosystem.

katie,
ah yes...cayo espanto...looks like a dream, but i can't afford it. :) that is exactly what i would be looking for though. :) thanks!

hopefulist,
thanks so much for the info about san ignacio and tikal. i will definitely check out those places online. also, thanks for the details about glover's atoll. the shallow, lagoon-type water sounds exactly what i was hoping for! now if only the accommodations on glover's atoll (marisol, manta, etc.) were a little more luxurious...but i can't have everything, i suppose. it's really hard to tell the quality of accommodations from pictures, but from what i can tell, they are decent.

thanks, again! :)

Because we love to camp and backpack, the accommodations are WAY the least important part of the decision for us. We try to spend as little time as possible in a room, preferring hammocks and lounge chairs on a beach, husking coconuts, snorkeling, diving, fishing, photographing wildlife, hiking, caving, rafting, kayaking, etc. :o) Happy trails...

that does sound nice... :) i can definitely respect appreciate that...i'm just not the outdoors type. i'm a little embarassed to admit it, but i've never been camping. my husband keeps saying that one of these days, he's going to take me, and i said, make sure it's a nice cabin in the woods with a jacuzzi. i'm too chicken to sleep in a tent, so there's a little background of why i like the luxurious accommodations. :) thanks for listening!

How about an alternative to Belize? Check out Coral Gardens Beach Resort on Provo in Turks and Caicos. It has a flour-soft, glistening white beach on Grace Bay, which is almost always calm and quiet. The accomodations are truly lovely and have a/c,cable TV, phone, wireless internet access, etc. Best of all, it has perhaps the best shore snorkeling in all of the Caribbean. The coral reef starts about 10 yards from the shore, and the entry from the beach is shallow and sandy. You will see a tremendous variety of reef fish plus beautiful hard and sort corals. Right nearby there are large beds of turtle grass, which attract huge hawksbill turtles (we saw six on one trip.) The resort has a pretty wide range of accomodations and prices, from a gardenview room to an oceanview, two-bedroom penthouse suite.
It is our favorite place in the Caribbean.

Thank you so much, Angler973! I have heard about Coral Gardens from many people now. T&C definitely tops my list! :)