Ecological and Scenic Tour of Southern Belize

First, we want to say that our trip to Belize was exactly what we were hoping for! We reached out to Zicasso for help planning our honeymoon to Belize and were matched up with the travel agent at the travvel company.  We had envisioned a beach honeymoon that included relaxing on the beach but also scuba diving multiple times during the week.  We are also foodies and love to experience a countries cuisine via private dinners or cooking classes wherever we travel.  Our agent heard all of our requests and brought it to life for us.  It was a perfect combination of romantic and relaxing, while also being fun and adventurous at times.We spent 7 days total in Belize. The first portion was spent on a private island resort close to Dangriga.  We could only utilize a boat to get on and off the island.  We had one day of diving and the rest of the time was spent relaxing on the beach, drinking fruity drinks, and eating delicious food.  The resort was very welcoming and accommodating. Our final night on the island included a private dinner with the head chef of the resort.  That was certainly a highlight of the trip! This first leg of our trip was truly incredible and forced us to unwind and really detach ourselves from our hectic home lives and enjoy the moment in time that we had on this beautiful Caye. The second portion of the trip was spent on Ambergris Caye at another 5 star resort just outside of bustling San Pedro.  We stayed in a beach front cabana.  Having our front door open up to the sandy beach, with the ocean steps from our front door was breathtaking! The food and service at the resort were top notch and the diving excursions we had were something we will not ever forget. Throughout the trip the travel company was just an email or phone call away.  They checked in on us throughout the vacation making sure everything was going smoothly.  We constantly felt taken care of and that our happiness and satisfaction with our trip/experience were the most important thing to this travel agency.  We cannot recommend the travel agent and her affiliates enough if you are planning a trip to Belize. Everything service related (both by the agency and the resorts) was impeccable and executed seamlessly and took any and all travel related stress away.  When we go back to Belize we will be using the travel agency again!  Thank you so much for the amazing honeymoon and the fantastic memories we created while in Belize.

We had an excellent time! Where do I start.. 

First off: Our travel agent was AWESOME! I let her know what the purpose of the trip was, how much I was looking to spend and what we planned on doing. She worked with us on everything and was very informative. My wife was in a different state while planning the tour and she was always more than willing to hop onto a three-way call and talk to my wife and me at the same time. She took down notes on what we wanted, was very cautious to work within my budget and planned everything out perfectly. Even after the last payment, our agent made sure to keep in contact to make sure we had what we needed and made some reccomendations! How awesome is that?!?!

All this is based on our perspective of course:

07/03- 07/06

We stayed at the Chaa Creek Hotel. One of the most beautiful hotels we had ever seen. Amazing staff service and lots of great things to do. It turns out, no matter which room you take, all of them are pretty much going to pass your expectations and still be in awe. 

We did take some time to do some great activities, and some of them were very budget friendly, and some were not.

On our second day at Chaa Creek, we went to visit Xunantunich, an ancient Mayan site. That was probably one of the most fun, budget friendly activity we did. There was so much to see. The staff warned us that there would be a ton of hiking and climbing, however, my wife and I didn't see it that way. It seemed pretty easy and lots of fun. We even saw some Howler Monkeys!

Over the next couple of days, we did a walk at night. That was very interesting. We had a guide who took us around walking and would educate us on every creature or plant we came across. The guide was VERY informative and resourceful. We then also went horseback riding through a trail owned by the Chaa Creek Hotel. My wife and I have done horseback riding with groups in the past, but this was by far the best one. There was so much beauty that we came across. It was very much like a rain forest. Just incredible scenery.

One thing I did not like, was the city. My wife and I wanted to go to the city to explore a little and see the culture. In the day time, it's nice but very small and very limited to what you can actually see. At night time, it seemed very dangerous. San Ignacio did not give the impression that it would be OK to be outside past 7 pm. There was one day that we actually were worried and felt so much safer when we got back to the hotel.

07/06-07/13

We stayed at a hotel in San Pedro. When leaving the Chaa Creek and going to the small airport, it was actually a very easy and smooth trip. We had no trouble and within a couple of hours of departing Chaa Creek, we were at the hotel. 

My wife and I were pretty much speechless upon arrival. It was very different than Chaa Creek. Completely different atmosphere. We went from a jungle to a beach. It's hard to put into words our initial reaction to San Pedro. The city was beautiful! The hotel and staff were very welcoming. We were greeted with a cold wet towel and ice cold lemonade (perfect for that heat and humidity).

We then were taken to our room. While the room was much smaller than it was at Chaa Creek, it was just as beautiful but in its own way. I remember looking at pictures online when we were sent the itinerary and saying, ok... it looks nice. When we actually got there, it was more of a WOW. The fact that while laying in bed, you can see the end of the room to the grass to the beach to the palm trees to the sea just made it so much more enjoyable. 

The hotel staff had asked us what the purpose of our trip was and when I told them it was our honeymoon, they offered to give us a complimentary bottle of Champagne. I told them that was very generous of them, however, my wife and I do not drink alcohol. The next day while we were out, they had come in, cleaned up a little and left us a complimentary bottle of Apple Cider. That was so nice and generous of them! My wife and I were absolutely grateful and celebrated that night with a non-alcoholic beverage. 

It turns out that in San Pedro, most people do not drive cars. They drive golf carts. That was very different, and I thought it was plenty of fun. My wife, however, did not see it that way. She did not like the golf carts and at most times could not wait until we reached our destinations so she can get out. 

The hotel does rent out golf carts and at any time of the day. You could rent it out for an hour or for a day. The price does vary. For an hour it was $17 US dollars or $75 for a whole day. During our stay, we took it by the hours since we figured we didn't need it for much more than a few hours a day.

While in San Pedro we did snorkeling, ate out every day, and went swimming at the hotel. San Pedro felt much safer than San Ignacio, so we did go out at night and we felt very safe. There is also so much more to enjoy in San Pedro, such as gift shops, candy stores, and restaurants. 

To end this lengthy review, I would say that Belize overall was an amazing country. I would highly recommend the country to everyone who wants to go experience a new country, with delicious food, amazing hospitality, and a different culture. I would also caution people on San Ignacio city though. The prices there are also high, Belize pays a lot for customs so things there are not cheap. Also, I would recommend that before purchasing anything from the hotels, to actually price them the same things out in the city. We found that if you take a taxi and ask them for whatever it is you're looking for, they will get you the best prices that they know of. Examples:

Snorkeling at the hotel: $175 per person plus $75 ticket fee. For me and my wife: $500

Snorkeling from most other places in San Pedro to the same location: $150 per person, no ticket fee.

Dinner for two at the hotel: $125 (includes appetizer, dinner, and two drinks)

Dinner for two at a classy restaurant in San Pedro: $75 (includes appetizer, dinner, and two drinks)

Renting a golf cart at the hotel: $17 by the hour/ $75 for the day

Renting a golf cart in San Pedro (they will pick you up from your hotel and drop you off at the hotel): $10-$15 by the hour/ $45-$65 for the day.

This South America travel company is an excellent vacation planner.  They listened to my request and produced an itinerary that was perfect. It was physically challenging for us, but there was enough free time built in to recover and to regroup.

We cannot heap enough praises in the folks in Guatemala who provided the walking tours of Antigua and the Mayan temple sites that were so magnificent.

I have three recommendations to make:  Some system needs to be devised to calculate tips for the drivers and the guides who spent hours with us. When you pay a lump sum for the whole 10 day vacation, it is difficult to calculate the a 10% or 15% or 20% tip for any one small segment. What is 15% of ???.  Every time I asked the question, what is a generous tip for your service, I got the same unhelpful answer;  'Whatever you want'.  By the way, there are not many ATMs in Guatemala and Hotels do not like to make change.

At Lake Atitlan it is well known that in the afternoon there is enough wind to create severe white caps.  We were picked up at 2:00 pm and for two Octogenarians it was a bit difficult to climb onto a rocking boat. Once on board, we discovered that the captain (lanchero) did not speak English and we could not discuss or influence the itinerary. We finally managed to explain that we would prefer to be back on Terra Firma, but by now it was too rough to dock anywhere and so we simply cruised along the shore for an hour or so until we found a quiet harbor. We were met there by the owner of the boat (these are very sturdy, dry and well built boats by the way) who spoke English and who treated is very graciously and got us back to the Hotel Atitlan on a Chuck Chuck. We still don't know what was supposed to have been on the itinerary and what we might have seen. But the boat ride was fun in any case.

All drivers and guides invariably showed up promptly and were very professional.  The one exception was on the last morning, when we waited at the San Ignacio Hotel in Belize to be driven to the Airport.  After an hour of waiting, the Hotel provided us with a driver and we got to the airport on time.

Our vacation was very memorable, sprinkled with just the right amount of uncertainty and excitement to make it one of the better ones for us. Guatemala in particular is a very nice country to visit, and our travel agency did a fine job.

Peter B