Beliz in June

[Katz]

Has anyone taken the family to Beliz?

Dusty, I know you were there.

I was hoping to get some advice about places to stay that would include good fishing but also have hiking and family activities as well around early June.



Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Katz

[Dustin Revel]

i was there in june. if you want hiking you probably want to stay off the islands. I was in san pedro which is extremely flat and very narrow. from what I here there is a lot to do in main land belize. there are a lot of mayan ruins and nature tours, but I am not sure how the fishing is on the mainland.
i would definately not want to stay in Belize city kind of a scary place to take the family at least the parts I drove through. you should be able to find A nice place to stay with decent fishing near by on the main land, but where that is I am not sure.
sorry I am not much help,
Dusty

[PaulC]

Hey Katz,
I haven't been there but talking to the folks at turneffee flats, they seem to have some family related activities. A few days guided and then eco tours to ruins, etc on the mainland. Ain't cheap, but has always been on my "places to fish before I croak" list.

-Paul

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I went there a lot for about 20 years. It is a wonderful place to vacation. I spent most of my time out in the cays between the barrier reef and the mainland. I pretty much fished out of every city, village, fishing lodge and island camp.

Snorkeling, sight seeing, fishing, Mayan ruins, jungle rivers, great food and nice people.

I have a little page with some info on Belize.

http://www.kiene.com/articles/informationonbelize.shtm

I would email Mary Toy at "Destinations Belize". She lives in Placencia and has lots of knowledge about the country.



Most families go the Ambergris Cay.

Take a look at Tobacco Cay Lodge if you want the pristine remote experience.

[rasbrown]

I've done a few family vacation/fishing trips, not the full-on "comando" trips that Bill talks about, but fun none the less.

Spent 10 days with my wife and two daughters on Ambergris Caye, the August before last, at a resort called Captain Morgan's. The resort was a very nice, professionally operated place. They took great care in meeting whatever requests we had.

San Pedro is a neat little town, had great food and felt very safe walking around day or night, even on the back streets (if there is such a thing - it is very small). Also, all the poeple we met in Belize were very gracious.

Kid related activities may be limited depending upon your kids age - my girls are in their early teens, so they went diving, snorkeling, eco-tour to manatees and sea-horses, swam in the resort pool, and shopped of course. The jungle eco-tours are a short boat ride away. We were fairly disappointed in the quality of the beaches - a lot of turtle grass and boggy.

There is great tarpon, bonefish, and permit fishing out of Ambergris with local, independent guides that work very hard.

We've also did similar trips to the Playa del Carmen area of Yucatan Mexico. Not as rustic as Belize, but there are great all inclusive resorts - food, drinks, etc (kids 12 and under are usually free) with great beaches which makes my wife happy. From here, you can make the drive down to Ascension Bay or hop a ferry over to Cozumel to get in some great bonefishing.

Hope this helps and hope you have a great trip.

[john]

You can stay out on Ambergris and still do the mainland tours/ruins on day trips. It is just a bit more expensive when compared to staying on the mainland. Take a look at www.ambergris.com for lots of info. You might consider a split- 2 or 3 days up in Cayo doing ruins/cave tubing/butterfly zoo with the family, and then the rest of the time on an out island-$100rt airfare- to Ambergris or Caye Caulker. A bit more down to Placencia, but it's all accessible. You can pretty much pick your price range for lodging. If you don't want to move around, check with Belize River Lodge. It's on the mainland, close to the airport, within about an hour or 2 of the mainland tours.