Is Belize worth going to?

[Anonymous]

We have already gone to Costs Rica. My kids enjoy sea life and snorkeling. I’m looking at photos and there’s just something about it that doesn’t look as pretty in photos as other destinations. Anyone been and want to weigh in?

[Anonymous]

We loved it because we wanted a combo of rain forest, adventure activities and beach.The snorkeling in Belize is also amazing (I think you can't really get that in Costa Rica, but I could be wrong) although the Belize beaches don't have the amazing huge white sand beaches you can find on certain Caribbean islands. The beach we were at definitely was not fancy though, so I think it depends what you are looking for.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been to both. Basically I think that if you enjoyed CR, you will enjoy Belize too. In CR I really enjoyed white water rafting, Arenal, Pacific Ocean. In Belize I enjoyed the caving (jaguar paw and ATM), ruins (Lamanai), and snorkeling (San Pedro). Food, atmosphere and accommodations were similar, with CR being a bit more commercialized than Belize.

[Anonymous]

We just got back from Belize. We had fun spending a day visiting Mayan ruins and another doing the ATM cave with Mayan remains, which was intense and pretty darn amazing. Then we spent a few days on a catamaran. We did some amazing snorkeling seeing a 5' long eel, rays, lionfish, etc, spent a whole morning swimming with sea turtles (the coolest thing ever), and were followed by a mom and calf dolphin for a whole morning while we were kayaking (they kept circling us and swimming under us). We had a great time.

It was fun, but don't go to Belize if you aren't into fish and snorkeling. Plan to pay for access to a boat to the reef so you can enjoy it on multiple days. But also plan some time inland to see Mayan sites.

[Anonymous]

We did a day trip to Tikal from Belize, which was great. I enjoyed the trip overall more than CR but that might just be that we chose better places to stay in Belize.

[Anonymous]

Our family loved both CR and Belize, but Belize topped CR for everyone in our family. We did a mix of the rainforest, adventure activities, Mayan ruins and the beach. Loved every minute of our 9 days there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just got back from Belize. We had fun spending a day visiting Mayan ruins and another doing the ATM cave with Mayan remains, which was intense and pretty darn amazing. Then we spent a few days on a catamaran. We did some amazing snorkeling seeing a 5' long eel, rays, lionfish, etc, spent a whole morning swimming with sea turtles (the coolest thing ever), and were followed by a mom and calf dolphin for a whole morning while we were kayaking (they kept circling us and swimming under us). We had a great time.

It was fun, but don't go to Belize if you aren't into fish and snorkeling. Plan to pay for access to a boat to the reef so you can enjoy it on multiple days. But also plan some time inland to see Mayan sites.

Wow! Can you share the info about the catamaran? did you have a skipper? how much was the cost and how many people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our family loved both CR and Belize, but Belize topped CR for everyone in our family. We did a mix of the rainforest, adventure activities, Mayan ruins and the beach. Loved every minute of our 9 days there!

Wow that’s awesome to hear. We loved CR. The one thing I was intrigued at was it seems to be quite a bit less than CR was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did a day trip to Tikal from Belize, which was great. I enjoyed the trip overall more than CR but that might just be that we chose better places to stay in Belize.

Where did you stay? Any recommendations for accommodations would be amazing!

[Anonymous]

Gaia River Lodge, you can play in waterfalls and see the Mayan part of Belize. I also recommend placencia and caye caulker for beach time. Belmopan is underwhelming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gaia River Lodge, you can play in waterfalls and see the Mayan part of Belize. I also recommend placencia and caye caulker for beach time. Belmopan is underwhelming.

That looks really pretty!
I looked at a combination of the Alaia for the water sports bc it’s on Bonvoy rewards and I have points and Chaa Creek but that lodge looks really pretty. I’ll see what options they have for our family!

[Anonymous]

Belize is one of my favorite places I’ve ever been. We stayed at Belizean dreams in Hopkins and it was amazing. I’ve also been to CR but I liked Belize better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just got back from Belize. We had fun spending a day visiting Mayan ruins and another doing the ATM cave with Mayan remains, which was intense and pretty darn amazing. Then we spent a few days on a catamaran. We did some amazing snorkeling seeing a 5' long eel, rays, lionfish, etc, spent a whole morning swimming with sea turtles (the coolest thing ever), and were followed by a mom and calf dolphin for a whole morning while we were kayaking (they kept circling us and swimming under us). We had a great time.

It was fun, but don't go to Belize if you aren't into fish and snorkeling. Plan to pay for access to a boat to the reef so you can enjoy it on multiple days. But also plan some time inland to see Mayan sites.

Wow! Can you share the info about the catamaran? did you have a skipper? how much was the cost and how many people?

We used Belize Sailing Adventures. The charter came with a Captain and First Mate/Chef. The cost included food and alcohol and they prepared all of our meals, which were amazing. Email them for a quote. We had a big family group, so a big boat, during a holiday week. Your rate may be significantly different.

[Anonymous]

Belize will have better snorkeling and diving that Costa Rica because it’s on that big barrier reef. Roatan, Belize, Cozumel are the places with best access to the barrier reef. Second largest in the world and since the Australian one keeps dying it might soon be the largest.

[Anonymous]

New poster here, thank you, so helpful!!

Please post specific itineraries and where you stayed, if you can!! TIA