My Ambergris trip plan: any red ... er bad flags?

[themagni]

Hi guys.

After taking a look at the airfare, accommodation, and everything else, I think I'm going to take a trip to Belize this August. I've never managed to get anywhere tropical for diving, this will be a 40F+ jump in water temperature.

It's about 13 hours of travel to get there (I've done worse for lesser destinations) and I'd get there 17 August. I'd be staying at the Ak'Bol yoga resort. Has anyone stayed at that place, anything you'd like to share?

The diving would be a la carte from Island Divers Belize. They've got a few recommendations from scubaboard. Anything I should know about that group? They seemed to have the better overall ratings for the dive shops I could see.

Both places had pretty good reviews online. Some other outfits had some... let's say "disturbing" reviews.

What about when I'm not diving? What are the must-see things / things to do while I'm in Belize? I'll have the afternoons and all of the last day to go exploring.

What about shots? Any immunization boosters that I should get before I head down?

Thanks, I'm looking forward to heading down for a vacation and want to make sure I'm not missing anything critical.

 

[jlevine]

In terms of non-diving adventures, I suggest taking one of the inland tours. I enjoyed going to the Lamanai ruins. You'll take a boat trip to the mainland and stop first at Bomba Village where Belizean crafts are sold. You can choose your items there and pay for them back in San Pedro. You'll then head inland to a village (Orange Walk?) and then take a boat ride to the ruins. It's really incredible. If ruins are not your thing, you can take a trip to the Belizean Zoo and then do cave tubing. I would also look at doing a three tank all day trip, perhaps up to the northern part of Ambergris.

As far as food, there's lots of options from cheap to expensive. In addition to Tripadvisor, I suggest looking at the ambergriscaye.com forums. Everyone has their biases with food so use your own judgement.

In terms of shots, I don't recall anything mandatory for anyone coming from the US or Canada. I do think you should consider getting all of the standard stuff if you've never done it (Hep A, Hep B, etc.).

I'm sure others will chime in with their good suggestions.

Have a great trip!

 

[lthomas132]

It's a fairly long & sometimes rough boat ride (~1 hr.) to the adventures on the mainland. Cave tubing & Lamanai ruins are the highlights. Stay away from Belize City unless you have something specific there, pretty nasty. There will be many places to sign up for these on the beach or at your hotel. On island, golf cart trips, chicken drop, I believe on Wednesdays, drinking beer are the highlights besides the great diving! We have stayed at The Palms Condos, on the edge of it all our last 3 times - The Palms Oceanfront Suites - Come stay with us.... Have fun

 

[themagni]

It's a fairly long & sometimes rough boat ride (~1 hr.) to the adventures on the mainland. Cave tubing & Lamanai ruins are the highlights. Stay away from Belize City unless you have something specific there, pretty nasty. There will be many places to sign up for these on the beach or at your hotel. On island, golf cart trips, chicken drop, I believe on Wednesdays, drinking beer are the highlights besides the great diving! We have stayed at The Palms Condos, on the edge of it all our last 3 times - The Palms Oceanfront Suites - Come stay with us.... Have fun

I'm used to boat rides. I have to take a ferry for 1.5 hours pretty much any time I go anywhere.

The barracks at Ak'Bol is significantly cheaper than the Palms, but thanks for the link. I've had problems with packages & deals; I don't drink alcohol or eat much (and I eat vegan) so it's a lot of expense for frills I wouldn't use.

How's the water there, would I get sick if I drank it? (I mean, duh, the ocean wouldn't work out too well, but I mean the public distribution.)

I am landing in Belize City and you mentioned it's nasty. What do you mean?

 

[lthomas132]

I'm used to boat rides. I have to take a ferry for 1.5 hours pretty much any time I go anywhere.

The barracks at Ak'Bol is significantly cheaper than the Palms, but thanks for the link. I've had problems with packages & deals; I don't drink alcohol or eat much (and I eat vegan) so it's a lot of expense for frills I wouldn't use.

How's the water there, would I get sick if I drank it? (I mean, duh, the ocean wouldn't work out too well, but I mean the public distribution.)

I am landing in Belize City and you mentioned it's nasty. What do you mean?

Wouldn't exactly call The Palms "barracks", very nice condos. I don't guess I ever saw any packages while we were staying there except that they can book your diving or excursions if you want, your choice. Drink bottled water only, The Palms furnishes 5 gal. bottles with a dispenser, then drive south down the island and look at their water plant & you'll see why you don't drink it. Belize City is a large, hot & humid city, not much to see there except the cruise ships & ferry docks. Stay away from "shady" areas especially at night. Good luck

---------- Post Merged at 07:03 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:53 AM ----------

Being in West Texas, we occasionally eat vegans, usually kind of skinny & tough though. Just kidding

 

[randykiw]

Hi guys.

The diving would be a la carte from Island Divers Belize. They've got a few recommendations from scubaboard. Anything I should know about that group? They seemed to have the better overall ratings for the dive shops I could see.

Both places had pretty good reviews online. Some other outfits had some... let's say "disturbing" reviews.

I was at Ambergis last july and dove with Island Divers. Things run alittle slow there but the diving was good. The boat rides to the reef are very short just 1/2 mile off the dock, so they load up and go do the first dive then go back to the dock and get new tanks take a break go grab some water then mosey back to the boat for the second dive. I think most days we had around 5-6 divers on the boat but 2 days it was just me and the dive master and a dive master in-training diving.

 

[AWMIII]

Akbol is a funky place. It is a fair distance fromm town, but it is certainly walkable. As far as afternoon activities, you will not go to the mainland for an afternoon. That is an all day affair unless you fly over and back. Kayaking, fishing, bike riding, snorkeling the reef via kayak and hanging out in town are kind of your options.

The water is San Pedro is not dangerous, but no one drinks it. I believe Akbol will have its own water supply and I know nothing about it.

 

[themagni]

Being in West Texas, we occasionally eat vegans, usually kind of skinny & tough though. Just kidding

You eat vegans all the time, they go "mooooo", remember?

 

[Hank49]

Belize City is a large, hot & humid city, not much to see there except the cruise ships & ferry docks. Stay away from "shady" areas especially at night. Good luck

Belize City may be hot, humid and not have much to see, but it's not large. I believe it has about 65,000 people. Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta, Delhi....those are large cities...

 

[lthomas132]

You eat vegans all the time, they go "mooooo", remember?

Yes, and they are delicious! Wish there were more vegans, maybe the price of beef would come down!

---------- Post Merged at 01:09 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:08 PM ----------

---------- Post Merged at 01:10 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:08 PM ----------

Belize City may be hot, humid and not have much to see, but it's not large. I believe it has about 65,000 people. Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta, Delhi....those are large cities...

OK, midsized dirty city