I was looking for something that was a bit of a balance between what the other two offered, so we would have a full assortment of locations to choose from. This time I looked for a place with a little more Caribbean culture, like the Bahamas offered, and a little less expensive and longer of a trip, with more activities like the Florida Keys offered.
And where did I find that balance? In Belize!
Not only does Belize offer tons of culture, seafood, and amazing accommodations, but the second largest barrier reef in the world is right off it's coast, so it definitely meets my "awesome snorkeling adventures involving sharks" criteria that I've been craving for our 2012 vacation. Heck, I even know someone who got to kiss a shark there last year!
So here is an initial itinerary I put together for Belize, specifically, for an island called Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize, about a 20 minute plane ride from Belize City.
Ambergris Caye, Belize with Lots of Snorkeling and Beach Time
Vacation Length: 9 days, 8 nights
Cost: $4,760.63
Time of Year: mid-June
Saturday: Wake up early and Fly to Belize City, with a layover in Charlotte, NC. Transfer to a much smaller plane for the short trip to Ambergris Caye. Taxi to Caye Casa, your inexpensive home for the next four nights, with complimentary pick up from the airport. Check into the hotel, which isn't fancy, but is right near downtown San Pedro, the hub of Ambergris Caye, so you can walk everywhere, and it's right on the beach. Don't worry, the accommodations the second half of the trip will be much more luxurious!
After getting settled, head down to the beach for a walk, and pick out a good looking restaurant for dinner. Not only is June before the rainy hurricane season starts in July, and after the tourist season ends in April (so lots of things are cheaper), but mid June kicks off lobster season. Be sure to check the San Pedro Lobsterfest schedule of events before your trip!
{Source}
And of course, you know by now how much I love my sunsets, so find a place on the beach to watch it set over the island.
{Sunset}
Sunday: No time for resting early on during this trip, that's for the second half of the itinerary! Wake up early for a morning half day snorkel trip to Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley, two of the best snorkel spots off Ambergris Caye. Snorkel with huge numbers of fish, rays and sharks, many places only about 6 feet deep, so you're up close to all the aquatic animals!
After the snorkel trip, spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach, resting up for another day of activity tomorrow.
Monday: Another early wake up call, for a 7am to 5:30pm all day tour to the mainland of Belize. Start with visiting Mayan Ruins at Xunantunich ("Maiden of the Rock), and then spend the afternoon cave tubing at the Nohoch Che'en Reserve.
Since the all day trip will no doubt be tiring, after returning to the hotel, find dinner nearby and head to bed early. Tomorrow is another early morning!
Tuesday: Wake up early for another morning snorkel trip, this time to Mexican Rocks and Tres Cocos, more great snorkel locations near Ambergris Caye.
After the snorkel trip, clean up at the hotel and then spend your last the afternoon in San Pedro exploring downtown.
Have dinner at the Sunset Grill, and feed the tarpon fish!
{Source}
{Source}
Wednesday: Finally a morning to sleep in, but only a little. Wake up, pack, and go pick up your rented golf cart before checking out of Caye Casa.
{Source}
Golf carts and bikes are the main form of transportation around Ambergris Caye, and also fun to drive! Take your golf cart about 2-2 1/2 miles south of the town to Casa Miradores, the amazing private house on the beach you rented, stopping to pick up groceries and fresh seafood to cook on the way (you could also take a water taxi from town if you want). Unpack, and bask in the beauty of the house and it's quiet surroundings!
{Source}
Spend Wednesday afternoon relaxing on the rooftop deck, on the beach, or in the plunge pool. For dinner, grill yourself some fresh seafood from the market on your rooftop deck, and wait for the stars to come out.
{Source}
Thursday, Friday, Saturday: Time for the relaxing portion of the trip!
Spend your days on the beach, snorkeling right in front of the house, using the kayaks, strolling on the beach, splashing in the plunge pool, cooking fish on the grill, visiting the tiki bar a short distance up the beach, exploring the southern end of the island by golf cart, and generally doing as little or as much as you want in the quiet retreat that is Casa Miradores. Try to wake up in time to see at least one sunrise over the water, if only long enough to snap a photo and go back to sleep.
(Yes please! Now THIS is how to get some seclusion on the beach, private house rental outside of town, all the way!)
{Source}
Sunday: Spend a last few hours on the beach in paradise, then back your bags and drive the golf cart into town. Return the cart, and fly home through Belize City and Charlotte, NC.
{Source}
The Budget Breakdown:
Airfare round trip to Belize City, with layover in Charlotte - $1,300.00
Airfare round trip to Ambergris Caye from Belize City - $110.00
Cheap hotel in town (4 nights) - $380.00
Private house on beach rental (4 nights) - $1,580.00
4 days golf cart rental (only need it 2nd half of trip) - $230.63
Half day snorkel at Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley - $50.00
Mayan ruins and cave tubing day - $370.00
Half day snorkel at Mexico Rocks - $60.00
Dinner (Eating out 1st 4 days) - $160.00
Lunches (Eating out 1st 4 days) - $60.00
Drinks (out 1st 4 days) - $160.00
Groceries (for food and drinks 2nd 4 days) - $150.00
Misc souvenirs, tips, extras - $150.00
Grand Total - $4,760.63
Sigh! Can I just take all three of these trips next year? And while I'm wishing, can I win the lottery too? ;)
So, I know I asked yesterday which of the trips would you take, but now I'm asking again with this one thrown in too. I'm pretty sure I need to stop making itineraries and just narrow it down to one of these trips already, so we can start saving for it (although Bimini looks interesting too, right next to the Gulf Stream, it's full of amazing snorkeling opportunities too)!
Bahamas
5 days, 4 nights
$5,096.00
More relaxation, one big shark activity
Florida Keys
7 days, 6 nights
$3,757.86
Less relaxation, lots of activities
Belize
9 days, 8 nights
$4,760.63
1/2 relaxation, 1/2 lots of activities
22 comments:
Definitely wished I lived closer to Belize - the first half of that trip has way too many "wake up early"'s for me - the second half is way more my speed, beautiful!
I went to Belize 3 years ago with my best friends. Hands down, best vacation of my life. Beats my honeymoon! We did stay on the mainland for 1/2 the trip and do adventure stuff and then Ambergris Caye for the other 1/2 for relaxing and snorkeling. There is an awesome burrito place on the main strip in San Pedro that you must try.
I want to go to that house! Like now!! Love it!
Haha, trust me, I'm not usually an early riser either, especially on vacations! But the best time of day to snorkel is almost always in the mornings, because the water is usually calmer, and especially if it's a popular snorkel spot, the fish are usually less tired of people (or just still hungry) early in the day. I will be taking an afternoon nap on the beach though, after all the "wake up earlies"! :)
I'll take the Florida Keys package please!!! :)
Looks like another amazing trip! We are thinking about cruising to Belize at some point. I know how you feel about wanting to go on so many trips at once, because I'm the same way. I love to travel, and spend way too much time planning out trips that we may not be able to take for a while. But hey, it's OK to dream, right? :)
I'm DYING to go to Belize! It's on the top diving places lists. We put it on our honeymoon consideration list, but ended up in Turks & Caicos instead... but it's definitely on the list!
Love these series of vacation planning? Can you totally do one for me??? I promise to bring home cute souveniors for you! ;)
My pick is Belize since that's one of my want-to-go-to places!
Loved the day I got to spend in Belize so I could only imagine how absolutely wonderful a 9 day vacation would be! Loved cave tubing so I'm glad to see that on your list.
My only concern though is June... I know that is the start of rainy season in Florida and Costa Rica - is it rainy season in Belize, too? That might put a damper to things.
Hannah, rainy season doesn't start until July in Belize. And it doesn't get really bad until August. It is humid in June though, but now that I'm a southern girl, I should be used to it :) . At worst in June you might get a refreshing, short afternoon shower every few days. Siesta time!
Ha, yes, I'd love to plan a vacation for you! I'm pretty sure in a past life I was a travel agent or something!
Oh my goodness, Belize all the way! You are making me miss it so much! We stayed at Caye Caulker when we went and took a water taxi to Amergris Caye for one day - Ambergris is definitely way more happening than Ambergris, and we'd probably stay there if we went back. All of your plans sound amazing! Another thing I loved doing was taking an excursion to go see manatees and check out some of the more secluded islands off the coast. We even got to boat by the private island that Leonardo DiCaprio owns! Go, go, go, and tell us all about it :)
Nice posts, Morgan! I really enjoyed Belize. Part of me wishes I had stayed in Ambergis Caye, but we stayed in Placencia, which is in the southern part of the mainland portion of Belize. I can say that they tubing trip is fun and relaxing. We also did some cave exploring that was fun. I wish I had gotten to see more of the Mayan ruins. Great posts!
I love this!! I would totally take this vacation. We briefly looked at Belize as a honeymoon option, but the hotel we liked most--I found out wasn't air-conditioned (a definite no-go in July, especially for my husband). I totally want to rent that amazing house now. Great post!!
So cool!! I feel like I'm on house hunters or something here. #3 is my pick!! You totally remind me of my husband, btw...he makes POWERPOINT presentations for all of our vacations. He's definitely a big vacation planner, too!
I HAVE TAKEN THIS TRIP! My school's senior trip was to Belize, where we stayed half the week on Ambergris Caye and half the week on the mainland. It was just as awesome as your travel plan shows! My favorite stuff was the ruins and the cave tubing. Just a heads up, though, it's not really practical to do more than one of those in a day. It takes forever to get to each location. The roads in Belize are NOT in good condition. I would also recommend saving that portion of the trip for either the beginning or the end because the ride across the water to the caye is really long and you have to go back to the mainland to fly. Maximize your relaxation and go on the day after you check out of your hotel on the caye and stay in Belize City the night before you have to fly home or something.
I love that last rental! And how fun that you get everywhere by golf cart!
the ruins and the tubing and the beautiful location... wow! i love that you priced it out. i'm inspired to share all of your travel posts with my husband and plan a trip for next year :)
I like the length & activities of the Belize trip! We went a couple of years ago, but it was only a day stop on a cruise so we checked out Altun Ha ruins. We're going again next year so I may have to steal one of your activities to do!
We went to Belize & stayed on the Ambergris Caye in April/2007, and it was so much fun! We didn't rent a golf cart, but everything is within walking distance. We went to the Lamanai ruins and did the cave tubing. The best food we had while there was made by the locals running the tours.. so good.
You should become a part time travel agent! Your planning posts are extremely well detailed and I love all the pics! Out of the 3 vacations, I like the Belize option best - it offers both the relaxation and activities and it's mid-range price. Have fun deciding!
Never thought of that! Might have to get up early on our honeymoon in Hawaii to go snorkelling - just one day though!
Post a Comment
I would love to hear from you!