USVI-On-Line

Anyone been to Belize? Trying to find the perfect new experience for our family of six (kids will be 22, 21, 20 and 17) over winter break. Belize came to mind.

Any advice? Where do I even begin to look for places to stay?

Thanks!!!

We went to Belize in 2006. Loved it! Our boys were 15 and 12. We split the week between a place in Placencia and another resort inland so we could do all kinds of exploring and sightseeing. I would highly recommend doing that because, at least in 2006, the roads were pretty bad and getting from beach to rain forest could take hours. The snorkeling is amazing but many of the beaches have lots of sea grass right up to the shore because of the reef. We saw the ruins at Caracol, went cave canoeing, fishing and snorkeling and also did a tour of a wildlife area but didn't see much. April is very hot down there so most of the wildlife only comes out at night. Lots of birds to see.
Check out Tripadvisor for planning. We stayed at the Francis Ford Coppola resorts and did our activities through them so I can't help with guides/tours. At the time, I was too nervous to plan stuff on my own.
Good luck!

Don't know what this will mean to you but it is the only cruise port I have ever been in where I felt uncomfortable. Long story as to why but I can tell you about it some time if you want.

go sking in Park city ut

MB, I'd love to know why...

Also, looking at air, holy smokes, it's insane. Ugh.

Shoe, I thought about the whole skiing thing and figured, hell, I don't ski but it's not all about me and then realized none of the rest of the gang skis either.

Costa Rica???

Help. I need ideas that won't break the bank.

I Would def not stay around Belize City
The safest places would be Annaberg Caye or in the Rain Forest
The Snorkeling is excellent there

I would have to agree with Mary Beth and Gobucs about Belize City. Ambergris Cay is a fine resort and the snorkeling is excellent around the barrier reef. Lots of activities. You can go inland to the Mayan ruins.
Personally I would opt for Costa Rica.

Marcia, Not sure if you are still planning your trip, but we went to Costa Rica in April and had a lovely time. Happy to share more information if you are still looking for information.

For cost and value reasons, we ended up booking a trip to Mexico with the kids for the time just after Christmas. Given their ages and the expense of six people traveling, this option suited us best. I'd like to explore Belize but, not with the entire family in tow...

Where in Mexico? If you don't mind saying.

We were in Xcaret two Thanksgivings ago with my mother and her husband and had a great trip.

My mother and her husband go to Cozumel a couple of times a year and they consider it an excellent value.

Riviera Maya, at the Ocean Coral and Turquesa Resort.

We did Cozumel with the kids 3 years ago and really thought we'd never go back to Mexico but, this just seemed to fit all of our needs.

We went for a day during a cruise and went cave tubing on an excursion that Steve planned after hiking in the rainforest. We had a great time. We ate in a local place following the tubing and were treated great! Our guides knew our youngest ( who wasn't with us collected licenses plates) and he saw one on the top of a shack and he stopped the bus and climbed to the top of the shack and got it off to give to our son!!! Pretty sweet souvenir!! We would have loved to snorkel but had a blast! We alsoate a delicacy- termites!

If you need to get to your hotel on your own, I would recommend USATransfer (I think that is the name) It was cheaper for us book a van for the three of us than it was for my mom and her husband to take a taxi to the resort. There is some sort of union dues/tax on taxis leaving the Cancun airport that private transfer companies are not subject to.

Our Mexico trip was a pleasant surprise. Obviously it wasn't STJ for our group, it worked and we all had a good time.