Anyone ever been to Belize? Recommendations?

[Martinjmpr]

Wife is looking for a tropical vacation and she heard that Belize might be nice. I know it's a former British colony (F/K/A British Honduras) but wondering if anyone had been there and if so, would you recommend it?

Looking for mostly just warm weather, beaches, etc. Probably November/December or possibly later (pre-hurricane season, of course!)

Thanks in advance!

[Scanker19]

78648

[davsel]

My Uncle and Aunt go to Belize annually - love it.

I made my first trip to Cozumel last year and have reservations to go in November this year. It was awesome - Comperable beaches and resorts to Belize, but cheaper. All the news about going into MX made me nervous, but it was a breeze. As one of our local fishing guides told us, don't go outside the resort after dark, and don't be stupid. In town on the mainland, there were so many drunk college aged tourists stumbling around at all hours of the day, that I knew I was never looked at twice as a target. The locals were great - worked their asses off for a tip and aprecieted the tourists being there. Guide said the average wage was $4 a day.

Wish I could tell you about Belize, but if you're not booked yet, consider Cozumel.

[Irving]

Hurricane season generally extends through November I believe. What Dave said above is true. Cartels tend to own resorts so they try not to crap where they eat so you're generally good to go there. I also can't tell you about Belize, but my experience with Mexico has mirrored Dave's, even though I haven't been in maybe 15 years and my wife is afraid to go.

[ray1970]

Sorry. No experience with the destination you inquired about. I will just say that the wife and I enjoy Hawaii for a winter beach getaway.

[BushMasterBoy]

Get the air ambulance insurance. I worked at an FBO in south Florida. Sometimes I got dispatched to assist an air ambulance. Sorry I can't advise which company to go with.

[TFOGGER]

We did a week on a private island resort in Belize about 5 years ago, about 8 miles off Dangriga. We did spend some time on the mainland as well. Former British colony, English is the official language, but you'll hear French and Spanish as well. It was awesome, except for the sand fleas. Those little bastards are bloodthirsty as hell. Bug repellent is a must. Cave tubing is well worth the money.

[def90]

My sister has been there several times, she loves it. There are Mayan ruins to visit and the diving is supposed to be pretty awesome.

[battlemidget]

I was in Placencia about 10 years ago. It was pretty cool, but I heard crime against tourists has picked up in Central America in the past couple of years.

[BladesNBarrels]

Had a relative that served in the Peace Corps there in the late 60's - he loved it.
One of our friends has a son that travels the world on adventures working at engineering jobs.
Belize is his favorite vacation spot between gigs.
Like everything else, it is what you make it.

[asystejs]

We rented a house for a week from VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) on Ambergris Caye
It was amazing, private pool, private dock, private boat and the caretaker who lives
on site arranged transportation and shuttles when necessary.
They would also cook dinner, for a price, if you wanted.

[dan512]

Went there about 5 years ago. Stayed at Ramone's village, one of the many little resorts. It was awesome. The snorkeling and scuba diving was incredible. Cool little town, very friendly. The jerk chicken was worth the trip.

[Irving]

Can you own property there?

[FoxtArt]

Isn't there some prohibition on US Citizens doing that? I thought the 99 year lease existed to comply with that stuff. Unless it's maybe Mexico that prohibits non-Mexicans from owning property. But, I've never been an ex-pat, so I'm not trying to act like I know anything about it.

[Irving]

I bet property is cheap enough that an AirBnB would be realistic to acquire and pretty profitable.

[BushMasterBoy]

I knew a guy that had a hotel in Belize...

https://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/90390

[GilpinGuy]

Maybe 20 years ago or so I was on a Carnival cruise that stopped at a port at Belize. It was a total shithole and the people there literally lined the streets as we disembarked the ship, begging continuously. We spent about 10 minutes there and went back to the ship. We were told that was the last scheduled stop at that port. Lucky us. No clue what the name of that godforsaken place was.

I'm sure there are beautiful parts of the country and all, but that is my only experience there.

[earplug]

Consider Panama. Scuba, Snorkel, Hike, Fish, kayak, tour.
No drunken tourist noted.
Still had to deal with Texans.