Belize in November

[stuffandthings]

I am taking my husband, our 8-year-old, and my 80-year-old mother-in-law (LOL) to Belize for two weeks after Thanksgiving. We’re spending a week inland with San Ignacio as our base and then a week on Ambergris Caye.

Anyone have any recommendations for fun stuff to do? My MIL has volunteered to watch our kid if my husband and I want to do stuff sans child, so kid-friendly is helpful but not a necessary component.

[tvlmm]

I have a trip report from our December 2023 trip there if you'd like it. Feel free to PM me your email address.

[Vespasia]

We went to San Ignacio and Caye Caulker in 2022. 

One of our favorite things was a visit to Chaa Creek, a resort where my dad always stayed but that was out of our price range. We went for the day to do their jungle RTV tour and to visit their butterfly farm. www.chaacreek.com/belize-tours/chaa-creek-site-activities

If you're meat eaters, this place is great. We went twice and still talk about it all the time. 
www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g291971-d6869335-Reviews-Tolacca_Smokehouse-San_Ignacio_Cayo.html

Will you be renting a car? Two years ago Google maps was terrible. It would have you go up a super steep, heavily rutted, gravel road when there was a normal paved one just a block up. 

We did Cahal Pech Archaeological Reserve in San Ignacio one day and then went to Xunantunich the next. I think that was the best order as we had a guide at the first to learn some basic info but then Xunantunich was much more impressive. 

[mrsslocombe]

In San Ignacio-We did a day trip to Tikal (arranged by our lodge). We also did the ATM cave tour. The cave tour is amazing but does require a couple mile hike and then there's a little bit of scrambling inside the cave. But an active 8 year old can do it, we had kids about that age on our tour.

On Ambergris we did a snorkeling tour, and then the rest of the time just walked around San Pedro.

[InBetweenDays]

We went to Belize in April 2023. We spent 4 nights in San Ignacio and did a Mayan cooking class at our resort, the ATM cave tour (we had a private tour so we got there before any other groups and had the cave to ourselves for about an hour), and an ATV tour to the Sapodilla waterfall where we swam. All of it was amazing.

Then we went to San Pedro where we went to the "Secret Beach", did a snorkel tour (and saw a manatee), and visited the Eco-Iguana Corner Foundation which was basically a small jungly area where a guy had built some paths and has a bunch of Iguanas you could pet and feed.

I think an 8 yo could do all of that if they're adventurous. The cave tour and ATV tour may be difficult for someone who is 80 depending on how agile they are. Or for the ATV tour they could maybe ride with one of you.

[turbo]

We just did Belize in February with our 7 and 5 year old, my mom (mid 70s), and my sister. It was amazing.

We did four nights at Chaa Creek in San Ignacio and we loved it. There’s a cool iguana center in town worth visiting, the Saturday market is great (if you’re there on a weekend), we did a canoe trip through the Barton Caves because my kids weren’t old enough for the ATM Caves, we did a night safari (saw a bunch of tarantulas and stuff), visited the local Mayan ruins, and just had a blast.

Then we transferred to San Pedro via Belize City, stopping at the Belize Zoo en route. It’s super cute and really well done and worth the visit if you have time. We did a jaguar feeding experience and fed the tapirs there as well and my kids loved it.

In San Pedro we actually chartered a catamaran and did a five night cruise from San Pedro back to Belize City. I realize not everyone can do that, so if you’re staying in San Pedro:

Hol Chan reserve and shark alley is great for snorkeling - saw tons of barracuda, rays, etc. Get there as early as you can because it gets crowded fast.

A day trip to Caye Caulker is worth it too - it’s a very laid back island with a different vibe. There was a beach hotel there where the stingrays swam in every night and you could pet them. My kids found a dude throwing old fish to the pelicans and the guy let them do that around sunset (he called himself the “bird show”). If you go early enough in the day, you can also buy fish to feed the tarpons - which are these huge fish (like 2-3’ long probably?) that will jump out of the water to snatch the smaller fish from your fingers (you dangle the fish down). You just have to get there before the hut sells out of fish for the day.

Beaches were fine but not great and had a lot of trash and food scraps on some of them. I’d make sure you have a hotel with a nice pool, personally. Snorkeling is exceptional there because of the barrier reef. We loved it and want to go back!