katie970105

Hello!
My husband and I are looking at going to Belize in March for 7nights/8days. We are very active and are interested in hiking, ruins, diving, snorkling, tubing, kayaking, and good food and drink. We do like some relaxation on the beach but are much more interested in outdoor activities than laying in the sun. We will be SCUBA certified. We enjoy classy but not extravagant accomodations and good food and wine.
Any recommendations on location/places to stay/things to do in Belize?
We are a little nervous about another tropical vacation as we did Sandals in Jamaica last year and did not enjoy ourselves as much as we had hoped (we felt isolated in the resort without many of the outdoor activities that we enjoy).
Many thanks!

SiteC_er

Though we did not go to this area, I believe the Palencia area offers most everything you seek. Katie Valk, found on the Belize thread, can offer you some great advice. She helped us put our trip together 2 years ago. We went to Cayo distict (Mayan ruins & tons of nature) and Ambergris Caye (great diving / snorkeling area). Enjoy!

JeanH

Many people choose to split their trip between the Cayo district and one of the beach destinations.

Or you can just stay on the beach, and do activities from there, but, because of transportation, the cost will be higher.

I personally prefer Ambergris to Placencia, but they're both lovely. Ambergris is busier, it's also much closer to the reef, half a mile or so, vs. 19 miles from Placencia.

Several resorts on Ambergris have kayaks available for guest use, they probably do in Placencia too.

Katie_Valk

You could split your trip between the beach and a lodge or hotel on the mainland close to Mayan sites, cave, river and jungle trips or base on the beach and take day trips to the mainland for these activities. Look at Ambergris, Placencia and Hopkins for beach; Cayo and Toledo for mainland lodges. Placencia and Ambergris both have good dining. Belize does not have all inclusive resorts like Sandals, is friendly, easy and safe to move around and visit quaint towns and villages to walk thru and get a feel for the country.

dfarmer

To address your concerns about your Sandals Jamaica experience. I have been to Jamaica twice and Belize once, Costa Rica 4 times, plus a few other islands. I would NEVER give up on a tropical vacation! Presently planning a Guatemala trip with a week or so at the end in Belize for a couple days of hiking and caving and then a few on the beaches of Ambergris for doing nothing!

My first trip to Jamaica was in an AI resort, but it was the Rose Hall. My second was in Negril we split between a beach villa style hotel and a place on the cliffs. I enjoyed my second trip much more than the first. Nothing wrong with the Rose Hall, WE are simply not AI sort of people. I HATE being stuck behind the walls of an AI resort!!

We truly enjoyed our trip to Belize and as I said presently planning on going back.

Our trip to Belize in '07 consistented of 4 days in the Cayo area, where we saw caves, ruins, waterfalls. And 6 days on Ambergris, where we did alot of nothing but eating, walking and riding a golf cart, threw in few days of snorkeling and fishing, laying on the beach and swimming off the dock.

This Cayo/Ambergris split is very popular. Lots of hotel options out there, you might want to post your budget preference.

Actually if you chose one destination such as Ambergris, you can scuba, snorkel, fish, sail, relax, eat loads of food, throw in a river trip to Lamanai for a ruin experience and come back another year for the inland experience. And as already stated you can do most anything inland from the island, however the transportation is a bit pricey.

But certainly try Belize it is a nice trip.