Belize

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Chocodove
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Belize

Post by Chocodove » Sun May 15, 2016 9:07 am

I'm getting married this fall and as we are looking at honeymoon destinations, Belize is at the top of the list. I know some of you have been there, so I'm looking for some first-hand beta. Most of our trips are always to cold locations due to the mountains, but my fiancé has never been anywhere tropical and I figure this is a good time to branch out a bit. We like that there is the ocean aspect and also the inner jungle with the Mayan ruins, etc.

I'm a little overwhelmed with what I'm finding on the net, it all looks great!

We don't dive (yet), but we have no problem staying in a diving-oriented resort. It's possible we'd get certified either there or prior to the trip, but we're mainly we're just looking to relax, snorkel, and enjoy ourselves. Diving would not be the focus of the trip.

Any tips as far as resorts, locations, or other intel I should be looking at? All-inclusive is ideal, but it seems as though that's not typically what you find down there. We're planning on March 2017, as our work schedules don't allow a long trip until then.

Thanks,
Todd
- Todd

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gwells
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Re: Belize

Post by gwells » Sun May 15, 2016 9:17 am

the only place i've been to, which we really enjoyed, was turneffe flats on turneffe atoll. but if you go there, you're basically there for diving or fly fishing. turneffe atoll is a 90 min boat ride from belize city and they take the boat back and forth every weds/sat (or at least that was the schedule in 2009).

now one of the couples we dove with there did sat to weds on turneffe atoll diving and then went to an inland resort for the rest of the week to do "adventure" stuff (zip lining, etc.). i don't know anything about how that went for them since they did it after the diving.

http://www.tflats.com/

that's where we got our open water certification (did all the classes and pool work stateside, then did the open water dives in belize). and it's still probably the best diving we've done.

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Chocodove
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Re: Belize

Post by Chocodove » Sun May 15, 2016 10:25 am

^^^ good info, thank you. I like that they have diving and fishing packages. There's a Scuba center five minutes from my house, it probably makes a lot of sense to do the basic stuff here before we head down there.
- Todd

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Re: Belize

Post by 4pfrench » Sun May 15, 2016 10:25 am

Went there this year for 10 days- we rented a house on Ambergris Caye. Amazing place.

You don't need to dive (I didn't) - we snorkeled, a couple days fly fishing for bonefish and tarpon (some of the best in the world) and drank a ton of Belikan.

After seeing some of the hotels, I'd recommend the VRBO route- we had a big house that was beautiful and private, for less than the cost of some of the hotels.
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gwells
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Re: Belize

Post by gwells » Sun May 15, 2016 3:00 pm

Chocodove wrote:^^^ good info, thank you. I like that they have diving and fishing packages. There's a Scuba center five minutes from my house, it probably makes a lot of sense to do the basic stuff here before we head down there.
the fly fishing on turneffe (there are three different resorts on the atoll) is considered world class. some of the guys we ate dinner with went there regularly and the guy who owns (or started) orvis has a property down there, too.

definitely makes sense to get all of the basic stuff done in advance. don't waste vacation time in a classroom. you can even do your open water dives in a quarry or something, if you want. but it really wasn't a big deal doing it on our first four dives in belize. we were doing 35-40 ft dives, so we'd have 20-25 mins of skill stuff, then 10-15 or so mins of free diving (depending on your air consumption) for each of those. but if you want all of your dives down there to be normal and not training, you can do the OW training dives locally.

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Chocodove
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Belize

Post by Chocodove » Sun May 15, 2016 5:11 pm

4pfrench wrote:Went there this year for 10 days- we rented a house on Ambergris Caye. Amazing place.

You don't need to dive (I didn't) - we snorkeled, a couple days fly fishing for bonefish and tarpon (some of the best in the world) and drank a ton of Belikan.

After seeing some of the hotels, I'd recommend the VRBO route- we had a big house that was beautiful and private, for less than the cost of some of the hotels.
Hadn't thought of that, though I have a feeling the fiancé would prefer the perceived "security" of a resort/hotel. How did you find the experience being on your own?
Seppia wrote:Congrats on the marriage!
Can't help with Belize, but I've only heard amazing things about it.
Thanks, Andrea!
gwells wrote:
Chocodove wrote:^^^ good info, thank you. I like that they have diving and fishing packages. There's a Scuba center five minutes from my house, it probably makes a lot of sense to do the basic stuff here before we head down there.
the fly fishing on turneffe (there are three different resorts on the atoll) is considered world class. some of the guys we ate dinner with went there regularly and the guy who owns (or started) orvis has a property down there, too.

definitely makes sense to get all of the basic stuff done in advance. don't waste vacation time in a classroom. you can even do your open water dives in a quarry or something, if you want. but it really wasn't a big deal doing it on our first four dives in belize. we were doing 35-40 ft dives, so we'd have 20-25 mins of skill stuff, then 10-15 or so mins of free diving (depending on your air consumption) for each of those. but if you want all of your dives down there to be normal and not training, you can do the OW training dives locally.
I checked in with my local center and they offer a four week PADI OW certification. Pool work and then OW dives in a local spot (I'm right on the coast of NJ). That may be the way to go...if I can convince the fiancé it's worth spending the extra money ahead of time.
- Todd

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Re: Belize

Post by gwells » Sun May 15, 2016 5:33 pm

just remind her that any of that you do in belize takes away from enjoying belize. especially everything up to the 4 OW dives.

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toxicavenger
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Re: Belize

Post by toxicavenger » Sun May 15, 2016 7:03 pm

We were super stoked about going this place a few years back http://www.martzfarm.com/ instead we got a great deal all inclusive in Costa Rica for 2 weeks and loved it.

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Re: Belize

Post by Morethan1 » Mon Jun 06, 2016 11:58 am

Costa rica is absolutely beautiful. I need to go back!

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Re: Belize

Post by toxicavenger » Mon Jun 06, 2016 12:19 pm

Morethan1 wrote:Costa rica is absolutely beautiful. I need to go back!
Same here, we stayed in a rual town called Guanacaste. But my daughter wants to go to Hawaii and Disney Land first before we go back. :crybaby:

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Re: Belize

Post by jswing » Wed Jun 08, 2016 7:22 am

I loved Costa Rica. I was based in Turrialba for 14 days of non-stop whitewater kayaking. Never even saw the beach, we were in the jungle where the fresh water is.

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Re: Belize

Post by Chocodove » Wed Jun 08, 2016 7:25 am

We ended up booking a place on an island in the Coco Plum Range in the southern portion of the country. Private island and all that jazz. Can't wait.
- Todd

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Re: Belize

Post by jswing » Wed Jun 08, 2016 7:50 am

I've never been to Belize, but have come to like tropical vacations. I was never really a beach person (even growing up in NJ) so I had never gone on a tropical vacation until my wife dragged me to St John. To my surprise, I loved it, couldn't get me out of the water. We're leaving for St John tomorrow for our 7th or 8th trip there. I'm sure you guys will have a great time.

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Re: Belize

Post by 59yukon01 » Wed Jun 08, 2016 8:00 am

jswing wrote:I've never been to Belize, but have come to like tropical vacations. I was never really a beach person (even growing up in NJ) so I had never gone on a tropical vacation until my wife dragged me to St John. To my surprise, I loved it, couldn't get me out of the water. We're leaving for St John tomorrow for our 7th or 8th trip there. I'm sure you guys will have a great time.
Jealous!!! That is the only thing my wife and I do on vacation. Warm beach somewhere all day, then dinner. No site seeing. Repeat next day.

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Re: Belize

Post by jswing » Wed Jun 08, 2016 8:10 am

59yukon01 wrote:
jswing wrote:I've never been to Belize, but have come to like tropical vacations. I was never really a beach person (even growing up in NJ) so I had never gone on a tropical vacation until my wife dragged me to St John. To my surprise, I loved it, couldn't get me out of the water. We're leaving for St John tomorrow for our 7th or 8th trip there. I'm sure you guys will have a great time.
Jealous!!! That is the only thing my wife and I do on vacation. Warm beach somewhere all day, then dinner. No site seeing. Repeat next day.
Us too usually. Snorkeling every day. St John is nice because there are great reefs easily accessible from the shore, although we sometimes boat out to more remote reefs. But that's it, water and then a good restaurant. This year she booked us on the reef bay hike though, which I'm not so sure about, but reluctantly agreed. Hiking in the tropics doesn't sound good to me. It ends at the ocean though, so at least we can jump in after the hike.

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Re: Belize

Post by toxicavenger » Wed Jun 08, 2016 8:37 am

jswing wrote:
59yukon01 wrote:
jswing wrote:I've never been to Belize, but have come to like tropical vacations. I was never really a beach person (even growing up in NJ) so I had never gone on a tropical vacation until my wife dragged me to St John. To my surprise, I loved it, couldn't get me out of the water. We're leaving for St John tomorrow for our 7th or 8th trip there. I'm sure you guys will have a great time.
Jealous!!! That is the only thing my wife and I do on vacation. Warm beach somewhere all day, then dinner. No site seeing. Repeat next day.
Us too usually. Snorkeling every day. St John is nice because there are great reefs easily accessible from the shore, although we sometimes boat out to more remote reefs. But that's it, water and then a good restaurant. This year she booked us on the reef bay hike though, which I'm not so sure about, but reluctantly agreed. Hiking in the tropics doesn't sound good to me. It ends at the ocean though, so at least we can jump in after the hike.
damn sounds like a good time. now I have to figure out how to get some cash to fly down their. :crybaby:

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Re: Belize

Post by Morethan1 » Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:09 am

toxicavenger wrote:
Morethan1 wrote:Costa rica is absolutely beautiful. I need to go back!
Same here, we stayed in a rual town called Guanacaste. But my daughter wants to go to Hawaii and Disney Land first before we go back. :crybaby:
Lol that's where we stayed. Mind you we were at a riu resort, which was fantastic. Got some nice diving over there.

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Re: Belize

Post by toxicavenger » Wed Jun 08, 2016 11:04 am

Morethan1 wrote:
toxicavenger wrote:
Morethan1 wrote:Costa rica is absolutely beautiful. I need to go back!
Same here, we stayed in a rual town called Guanacaste. But my daughter wants to go to Hawaii and Disney Land first before we go back. :crybaby:
Lol that's where we stayed. Mind you we were at a riu resort, which was fantastic. Got some nice diving over there.
We stayed at the same resort also. it was great. They go hit with a earth quake a few years ago and it very minimal damage.

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