Why I like Belize City

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Downing

Contributor
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Location
Portland, Oregon
# of dives
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Clean streets.

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Clean parks.

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A canal running right through town.

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Great prices (remember, those are BZ dollars).

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Less paperwork for business.

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People enjoy going to work.

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No city's complete without a scuba shop.

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A swinging bridge--how cool is that?

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Even the security guards are friendly.

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Peace, out.

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i agree with the OPs observations, but I would have titled the thread "Why I find Belize City interesting"
 
that is the oldest swinging bridge that is still in operation in the world.

i was just there a couple weeks ago, and I do go into the villages.

not a nice place to be
 
I posted the link to the other thread so people would know to research what they may be getting into. There are a range of traveler mindsets.

Some people are like stereotypical cruise ship tourists, derisively referred to as 'pod people.' I suppose the stereotypical example would be middle class U.S. citizens on vacation in the Caribbean, enjoying the pampered high life on a cruise ship, visiting a given island under a day, who like a nice, chaperoned 'turn key' excursion experience, clean, very safe, everybody speaks English, you're not called on to do anything more challenging than maybe walk uphill against a modest slope for awhile, and staff take you to, through and from the excursion. You might see some poverty in some places, but it's sort of a 'sheltered' experience overall, intended to be upbeat and positive.

Some people enjoy (and some I infer from posts take pride in a sense of superiority rooted in capably pursuing) 'blazing their own trail' 'off the beaten path' independently in non-touristy places amongst 'real' locals (not involved in the tourist industry so much), often in areas that aren't strongly English speaking, may involve driving yourself around with a manual transmission vehicle on bad roads and/or on the 'wrong' side of the road, going in bars and drinking with the locals, navigating your way around without a GPS or a good map, and so on. I remember one post some years back where somebody I took to be like this mentioned having been in a bar fight on one trip.

And there are many shades of grey in between. My point is, Belize City is one of those places people are sometimes warned to be wary of, more so than many other vacation stop-offs people visit. From what I read in others' 1st hand accounts of experience there, I would suggest people thinking about getting out in it read up on the place 1st.

And decide what shade of grey you are, of course.

Richard.
 
Reminds me of Houston, except Belize City looks nicer.
 
When getting out of the port area I was amazed at how many HIV/AIDS billboards were everywhere.
 
I used to work on an eco-cruise ship that went from Belize City to Utila and back. We were cautioned never to go into Belize City without being in a group. On the other hand, after my 6-week stint on board the vessel, I spent a very enjoyable time solo on Caye Caulker.
 
Well, I posted this thread with a little tongue in cheek, but I really do enjoy checking out Belize City. It's probably a bit of an understatement to say it's a rough town, especially if your only other experience with Belize is San Pedro. But if you have an interest in history, there's a ton of places to check out and they are almost all in the city center where it's relatively safe to walk about as long as you do so during the busy part of the day. For sure you may come across some unpleasant things, like trash, aggressive panhandlers, malnourished dogs, etc, but you just have to accept the city on its own terms and deal with it.

And be smart about it. Don't make yourself a target. Leave your valuables secured somewhere else. Don't carry anything if you can help it. Keep your camera in your pocket and only pull it out to take pictures. Note the police station on Queens. Note the cops standing on which street corners. Keep an eye out for potential trouble. The sort of precautions you might take in any rough area of an unfamiliar city.
 
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