Anybody been to Belize?

[Padukacat]

my wife and I will be there tomorrow for 5 nights on a Catamaran with two other couples. We planned this dream vacation about a year and a half ago (don't do that) and we finally leave out tomorrow morning. We are sailing with Belize Sailing Vacations on the Doris which is a 50' catamaran. We really don't go very far from the shore just hit a different island or find our own private island to hang out on. Its pretty open ended so if you guys have been and have suggestions on places to go or things to do please let me know!

[Darrell KSR]

Buddy of mine went last year on business. Have fun.

[suncat05]

I have never been there, but I know several people who have and every one of them has said 1) it is beautiful, 2) the people are very friendly, and 3) it is one of those very rare places in the world where they still like Americans. So, have fun!

[Doc]

Yes, been there. Spent Xmas there about 6 years ago with my mother in law. Was her first one as a widow so we took her on a Cruise and Xmas day was in Belize. Good place to go as the language is English so make communication easy. We did a cruise up the Belize river which was pretty neat. Its the typical rain forest ecosytem type thing. Great way to see the natural wildlife. Then went to the Zoo. Not something I'd do again. Also the Belize City is (or was) a dump. The big attaction is the reef and fishing so if you are doing the catamaran you are in good shape. I don't recall if we dove there or off of Cozamel (I beleive it was Cozamel), but it was some of the most outstanding diving we ever did. Incredibly large rays, probably 20 foot wingspans and crystal clear water. Of course the dive boat looked liked the SS Minnow after it was wrecked on Gilligans Island.

Expect to have a great time!

[blueboss]

The diving is supposed to be some of the best in the world...I have not been, but an old dive buddy of mine confirmed it, and he continues to return for the diving.


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[dan_bgblue]

2nd hand info from me as I have a friend that was there last winter. If you have the time and the inclination to see a bit of ancient history, take a tour of the Altun Ha Mayan ruins. The ruins are about an hours drive from Belize City. My buddy really liked the experience

Trip advisor tourist reviews of Altun Ha (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g291967-d300171-Reviews-Altun_Ha_Ruins-Belize_District.html)

[kingcat]

Been to Cadiz :friendly_wink:

Have fun, sounds like a great time to me.

[Padukacat]

Well figured I would give you a follow up quick review. We expected too much and were a bit disappointed but I think it was an anomaly in the sense that our captain was lazy and checked out and didn't want to listen to our request and kinda did his own thing. Food was solid but a bit too healthy for my taste. Snorkeling was awesome but apparently we didn't go to the best place per another couple which was par for the course. The boat we were on was awesome and we had some good times since the only thing to do for large parts of the day was to drink...bad idea and tiring. We had one full day of rain but that was nobody's fault. Didn't set foot on a single beach because according to our captain there weren't any around us. Got stuck the first day when we woke up and boat had swung and grounded the rudder. Had to wait for high tide at 4 pm instead of leaving at 8 am on a better route south...we went north. Did hang out w some locals on caye cauker which was a cool island. Stayed the last night at the black orchid hotel in Belize which was cool but I don't think Belize is the safest place in the world. We did cave tubing that day on land and it was so so but something to do and I'm a nature lover. Did hear the howler monkeys which were freaking awesome, look that sound up on YouTube it will make you think you're in the pits of hell. My wife and I were a bit underwhelmed but we were content to just let it ride and pretend it was all fine but the other two couples were insistent on complaining during the trip so it kinda put us in a funk. They called the owner when we got back and complained and honestly it was all valid but just didn't set real well with us. We were the only ones that tipped and the other couple did get the owner to refund us all half of the trip expense. I mean it wasn't a good job by the captain at all, but we felt worse about all of the complaining and ordeal than anything. I'm not sure if we would do a catamaran type vacation again but I think it could have been great under better circumstances and I think this was a rare poor job by this company. Figured I would give y'all a recap.

[Darrell KSR]

Well figured I would give you a follow up quick review. We expected too much and were a bit disappointed but I think it was an anomaly in the sense that our captain was lazy and checked out and didn't want to listen to our request and kinda did his own thing. Food was solid but a bit too healthy for my taste. Snorkeling was awesome but apparently we didn't go to the best place per another couple which was par for the course. The boat we were on was awesome and we had some good times since the only thing to do for large parts of the day was to drink...bad idea and tiring. We had one full day of rain but that was nobody's fault. Didn't set foot on a single beach because according to our captain there weren't any around us. Got stuck the first day when we woke up and boat had swung and grounded the rudder. Had to wait for high tide at 4 pm instead of leaving at 8 am on a better route south...we went north. Did hang out w some locals on caye cauker which was a cool island. Stayed the last night at the black orchid hotel in Belize which was cool but I don't think Belize is the safest place in the world. We did cave tubing that day on land and it was so so but something to do and I'm a nature lover. Did hear the howler monkeys which were freaking awesome, look that sound up on YouTube it will make you think you're in the pits of hell. My wife and I were a bit underwhelmed but we were content to just let it ride and pretend it was all fine but the other two couples were insistent on complaining during the trip so it kinda put us in a funk. They called the owner when we got back and complained and honestly it was all valid but just didn't set real well with us. We were the only ones that tipped and the other couple did get the owner to refund us all half of the trip expense. I mean it wasn't a good job by the captain at all, but we felt worse about all of the complaining and ordeal than anything. I'm not sure if we would do a catamaran type vacation again but I think it could have been great under better circumstances and I think this was a rare poor job by this company. Figured I would give y'all a recap.

Sorry it wasn't better, but it did sound like you got a couple of really cool treats, too.

I haven't had any "big trips" that were super disappointing, but have had a number of smaller ones that were letdowns. From accomodations not being as represented, to lack of amenities, to bad weather (can't help that), to "little" things like no wi-fi and no cell phone coverage when you expected it (and needed it), requiring a drive to get coverage and a waste of part of the day.

It happens, but all in all, life's an adventure. I'm a lot like you are; the complaining would be the worst part of it. The rest of it--well, just consider it a different experience.

I'm going to look up howler monkeys now. That sounds either creepy or cool. Probably both :).

Just a final P.S. -- I didn't mention anything as others have had good experiences. But my buddy that went to Belize on business came back a bit jumpy from the crime exposure, and guns he saw. He wasn't a crime victim, just said he'd never go back. But he wasn't a tourist thing, and everybody else seems to have a good time in the tourist venues, so I chalked up his experience as an anomaly and not to play non-tourist.

[Padukacat]

http://youtu.be/9XBsea6kDHM

Get ya some howler monkey, loudest animal in the wild I think?

[dan_bgblue]

Good grief, that is one weird noise, and as you said, very loud as well.

[BigBluePappy]

Good Grief that is one irritating noise.
Sounds like a quartet having a belching contest at the same time.

[PedroDaGr8]

Now we know where they got the inspiration for Chewbacca