thinking of going to Belize instead of Costa Rica this year. One thing I haven't found in CR is good snorkeling. Can I snorkel from shore in Belize or do I need to go out on a boat? Is there one place in Belize that would have better snorkeling? Though I do want to relax , I don't want to spend all my time laying on the beach. It looks as if Belize offers rafting, hiking ,ruins. Where should I stay?

You can find walk-in snorkeling on South Water Caye, Tobacco Caye, and the atolls. From the most popular beachy spots (Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Hopkins Village, and Placencia) you'd need a boat to access good snorkeling. AC and CC are practically on the reef so less time in the boat and cheaper tours.

Many 1st time visitors choose to split their time - inland for ruins, hiking, caving, etc. and a beachy spot for relaxing and snorkeling or diving.

If you'll tell us how much time you'll have, what time of year, your general budget level, etc. we can help you more. You should also pick up a guide book; I like the Fodor's Guide and the Moon Handbook for Belize. My photos and recommendations are below. Happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections/

Go for it; we were nervous to give up Costa Rica for a year and try Belize, but after reading all the positive posts, we decided to go, and we loved it. We decided to stay on Ambergris to be close to Hol Chan. The snorkeling was amazing - huge rays, sea turtles, and all that, plus beautiful colored tropical fish. It really is nice to do a jungle/caye split. Lots of good choices; we loved Chaa Creek and Victoria House. Got a good deal on Luxury Link. There's a lot of sea grass in the water, so people swim off the docks or do snorkeling tours on Ambergris. If you want to go over to Tikal in Guatemala to see the ruins, that easy to do from a place like Chaa Creek. Pacz tours is a good tour company.

There's also a small resort on far north Ambergris where the reef is actually close enough to shore to be an easy swim, plus there is also patch coral. It's called Tranquility Bay. I have seen the property from the outside, it looks nice. Restaurant on site. Too isolated for me, but, I like being close to town.

Thanks everyone. We plan on going this Feb. Both Chaa Creek and Victoria House look beautiful. Would activities from CC include ruins and cave tubing?

Yes, Barton Creek, the ATM cave, and ruins are all popular from there. I found the price of their tours to be more expensive than Pacz - both good, so just compare prices. Chaa Creek offered free birding tours in the morning that were fun.

Snorkeling out of Ambergris and Caulker is so amazing. Like hopefulist says, don't let the boat trips deter you -- all day excursions with multiple stops and lunch are as little as $40, less for half-days. As an added bonus, if you can book a sailboat, the ride out is sheer joy. While I also enjoy the ease of just snorkeling right off shore of when I'm in Mexico or Hawaii, the amount of wildlife you'll be swimming with at these locations in Belize is incomparable. Have a great time!

No shore snorkeling from Victoria House. The water there is quite full of sea grass. We stayed at condo just next door. Lovely beach, but a boat is required to get to snorkeling. Best shore snorkeling we found was in Roatan Honduras. Much, much better than Belize.