Belize Travel Forum

the whole family will be going to Belize in Nov. (the week before Thanksgiving) hoping the hurricane season is done by then :) I need as much information as possible: what region to stay in, should we stay on a caye for some of the time, what excursions are good for kids....so on. I would also like to hear from anyone who has traveled with children to Belize. My kids are 14, 12 and 7 and very experienced travelers but I'm still anxious. Thanks for any advice and comments

Hello! If you're staying on one of the cayes, then there's really nothing to be worried about health & safety-wise as long as you take the usual precautions. We stayed in Caye Caulker last winter (which I highly recommend) and there were lots of excursions to choose from, both at sea (diving, snorkelling, fishing, manatee tours) and on the mainland (Mayan ruins, cave tubing), which I'm sure your kids would enjoy. Belize City is not very attractive, but I know there are other parts of the country that are well worth visiting. I suggest you take a look at Bwana_Brown's travel pages here on VT to get started, they're great!

I haven't traveled to Belize with children but we saw many people with children there. I think Ambergris Caye would have more activities for kids than Caye Caulker, but we were there some time ago so maybe it has changed.

Anyway I would recommend splitting the time between the cays and inland. The Belize zoo is quite interesting, and the Cayo District has a lot of activities - tubing, caves, hiking etc. We stayed at a ranch which had cattle and birds and dogs and horses, and from there we did an excursion to see Tikal. You can also drive down the Hummingbird Highway on which you can access Herman's Cave and the inland Blue Hole park.

PS - this looks interesting

http://www.belizefirst.com/documents/RamblesAroundBelize2008.pdf

And this is a free guide to San Pedro

http://www.belizefirst.com/documents/SPCoolEbook_UpdatedAug07.pdf

Most people combine a few days in the cays with a few days inland.I enjoy Ambergris but it's quieter neighbor Caye Caulker is nice too.The kids will enjoy driving around on Ambergris where everyone uses golf carts.The snorkeling is close by and not too expensive.There is a good selection of hotels and condos and there are several supermarkets if you want to cook for yourself .
here's the definitive Ambergris cay website- http://ambergriscaye.com/

Thanks for the feedback....did you rent a car while there or just hire a ride?

Thanks for everyone's help. A few questions: do I need to rent a car? Has anyone rented a house or should I stick to resorts? Anyone know of a good company to take excursions with? I'm a little worried about conditions in Nov. but I'm hoping for the best :)

Rent a golfcart on any of the cays-Someone will meet you at the airport with a cart if you book in advance.I rented a car when we went into the Cayo district.Not a very difficult place to drive around and you can see what and where you want at your own pace .I found that hiring a ca r and driver was more expensive than just renting one.There are car rental places at the international airport and at the domestic airport in Belize city.I used Crystal rentals when I rented a few years back.

I like the idea of renting a condo/hotel wih a kitchen because you don't have to eat out every meal ( Groceries are expensive if you want american products though)There are some nice resorts up on the north end of Ambergris but its tough to get groceries up there and you'll have to eat at their resteraunts .

We just walked on Caye Caulker and San Pedro. I thought golf cart rental was too expensive. And your children should be at least as capable as I am. I did try to go barefoot but the sand was very abrasive and wore the skin off my feet, so I had to wear shoes, but we did walk.

For the rest of Belize, we rented a car. We only had one flat tire. We spent a couple of days in Placencia before we went to the Cayo District. You'd need a car bigger than the one we had. It was a Geo Trakker. The highways are in much better shape then they were when we were there - at that time they were mostly unpaved or worse. Driving wasn't a problem though.

Well...Renting a golfcart will give you more mobility and save you from walking with supplies.Really depends on where you are staying.If you are renting in Downtown San Pedro and aren't planning on leaving the downtown area you probably don't need a cart.But if you want to explore the south end or the north up past the cut you'll want a cart.They've paved a good portion of the streets downtown now.If you are staying up north the road is horrible so you would take the watertaxi into town instead of getting a cart.Bicycles are a good way to explore too.There's a good rental place on middle street.We have some bikes we bought and left there to use when we go back-they're better than a golfcart to explore north of the cut.

If you go to Caulker I bet you could do without a cart though-decide when you get there.

If you want something a little more like camping you might want to look into going to Glovers atoll http://www.glovers.com.bz/ I've never been there but it looks cool.Someplace the kids might enjoy if they can entertain themselves.

We traveled to Belize last August with our 14 year old son, had a fabulous time, cave tubing and zip lining, as far as accomodations we stayed at a "rustic" eco tourist place, but if you go on VRBO.com and look under Belize you can find 2 bedroom houses in San Ignacio for reasonable per night rates, There is a great market in San Ignacio so you wouldn't have to eat out all the time.
Have a great trip

hi, my name is Gordon, been to belize a dozen times and know my way around very well.
depends on how long you want to stay, first depends on what time of day you arrive in Belize city,if you miss the last water taxi out to the cayes, the hotel will pick you up for about 20us. a very clean very safe little hotel is the Belcove hotel
[belcove.com] e mail them with your needs, the last water taxis out to the cayes is 5 pm , caye caulker is the best place ,do a search for caye caulker hotels, most are very nice, safe, the rainbow hotel, the tropics hotel are nice, clean.,there are many other nice places to stay there the island is generaly safe, most problem might be, everyone will try to sell you something,they tend to get aggressive.be polite but firm. first thing, go to find a guy named Chocolet, he even may have family type accomadations for you. try him first, chocolet is the manatee expert, he spends his days raising money to protect the manatee population, he will even take you out by boat personally to SWIM with the manatees, you will love this,he is a great guy, very nice. he also has kayaks to rent, paddle with the family out to the reef, or their are several snorkleing boats that take groups out by boat, to the reef, jump in and swim around the reef with the fish. very safe for kids. all can be arranged when there, no real need for advance booking
also a great place to spend the day on caye caulker is the "split" a great swimming hole, all the 10-12 year old school kids go there swimming every day after school. its not hard to find. ask around when you get there.
do a search on the net on caye caulker,try chocolets manatees, his name is lional something, he is not hard to find. everybody knows him.
ask him about accomadations ,i found him once easy enough on a simple net seach.
caye caulker may be fun for a week, maybe 5 or 6 days, then try back in Belize city for a few days, if you dont want 150.us a night at the raddisson, try the belcove.com,they start at 26us a night, very clean very safe. they can arrange day trips to the zoo or mayan temples by bus or you can hire a car and driver for a day, you might want to have a taxi take you to "old belize' its a resort, marina type place with a nice beach, decent place to spend a day on the beach, but i think they charge you ten dollars each to get in,plus a 20us cab ride there, i dont pay for beach use, i dont believe in it, but it might be a good day at the beach.
i have known this one taxi driver who parks in front of the main water taxi terminal each day in belize city. i trust him, he is kind of a charactor, but nice enough, he will take the whole family by mini van out to spend half a day with you at the zoo, then drive you out to Alton Ha the mayan temple for the rest of the day, stay with you all day, drive you back, so you get a car,driver,tour guide all day for the whole family for around $300 us.
its actuall a decent day, your not stuck with a busload of turists at the whim of their schedual.
the taxi driver is Gerald Lewis , local number is 621-4675
tell him gordo sent you, dont know if it gets you a discount,but he can be trusted.
a great place to have dinner is the poolside bar, yes with the kids,at the Raddisson hotel, the food is great, the kids can even jump in the pool dureing dinner.
i will be there in Sept, any questions, email me. iamgordo@hotmail.com
have fun
Gordon

more info on Lional Hernandez, also known as chocolet on caye caulker, i think his email is chocolet@btl.net
ask him if he has family accomadations for you, ask about him taking you out to see the manatees, he will take you out for most of the day,see the manatees, snorkling, he has spent 30 odd years doing this, knows every square inch of ocean, very nice guy and every dime he gets, he spends trying to save manatees, so i would rather book with him, then others because of his conservation efforts.