I will be traveling with my college age son to Belize in Dec. and am looking for information. We want to stay for 4 days in the Cayo area. Does anyone have suggestions for a clean, inexpensive place to stay and tours should we do. This part of our trip is for seeing and doing as much as possible. The caves and ruin are in our plan - but which ones? Is Tikal out of the question?

I highly recommend The Trek Stop
www.thetrekstop.com in San José Succotz, between San Ignacio and the Guatemala border. The owners, Americans and locals, are very friendly and helpful. If you decide to stay there they'll help you set up whatever you want to do. Their website has some ideas. If you're adventurous, the ATM cave should be high on your list. From TTS you can hike to Xunantunich, a lovely ruin site, and it's easy to head to Tikal from there. The owners, John, Judy, and Tino, helped us figure out how to easily do that on our own. I highly recommend an overnight to Tikal though a day trip is feasible. You won't regret having the cooler evening and early morning hours when you practically have the place to yourselves and the wildlife is active.

We also loved Macal River Jungle Camp www.belizecamp.com though it's not as good for a base for adventures in the area since it's more secluded. The jungle setting is lovely and tours are available, good quality but spendy.

You could also consider Caves Branch Adventure Lodge www.cavesbranch.com which has awesome adventures. It's south of Belmopan so further from Tikal.

If you haven't done it already, check out the Belize Forum. The Toucan Trail section is especially helpful for budget to mid price lodging options in each area.

http://www.belizeforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

We have pictures and a travelogue you might enjoy, plus additional photos of Tikal from a 2nd visit last August as part of 3 weeks in Guatemala.

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

Let me know if I can answer any questions. Happy trails!

Wow Hopefulist - thanks for the awesome suggestions!! Your pictures are great. Thanks!

Glad to help - let me know if there are more questions I can answer. I'm really enjoying the new 2008 Fodor's Guide to Belize written by Lan Sluder. Worth a copy for planning as well as nostalgia after your trip imo. Happy trails!

The trek stop has a 4 day adventure package that includes meals, tours, lodging and trtansfers to airport. Might be something to check out.

My family of 5 stayed at the first eco lodge in Belize, called Chaa Creek. That place was fantastic. Their website will list all the local attractions and they have packages which include meals, excursions, and accomodations. We booked a trip to Tikal through Chaa and we stayed overnight at the lodge closest to the park there. It's better to do a tour in Tikal in the afternoon, as it cools down and you can see the sun setting over the jungle from the top of a Mayan pyramid. The wildlife and fauna there is incredible since it's protected. It was so great to be driven there and to have a guide there. I would definately go back to Chaa Creek again. It rocked!!!

We're not resortish types and didn't consider Chaa Creek, lovely as it is, but I wanted to let you know that the Macal River Jungle Camp I referenced above is Chaa Creek's wild cousin. Guests there have access to the free internet, butterfly exhibit, Natural History Museum, tours, etc.

Chaa Creek is a bit resort-ish... while we liked it, we felt that Chan Chich was great. Very rustic, but you're still well taken care of.

Two women friends and I - all over 40 - stayed at Cahal Pech Village Resort for two reasons - we're cheap and we wanted to be close to town. It sits on this hill with gorgeous views of the town and it is a quick (steep) walk to town. It was quite a busy place - I wouldn't say it was quiet, but it wasn't obnoxious either. The food was decent. The people were great and I loved the atmosphere.

They set us up on a few tours as well and hooked us up with some great real estate agents as we were looking for property.

Have fun!