Belize it or not! (Belize)

Member Name: jupiter28

Product:	Belize
Date:	12/05/08 (188 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The Blue Hole, rich with history

Disadvantages: beggars following you around town asking for money

I visited Belize in 2006 on a diving trip so this is a review of both Belize and the diving.

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What Made me Choose Belize?
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I am a keen diver and had just finished watching champion freediver, Tanya Streeter, in a programme about scuba diving and skin diving in Belize. I was so fascinated and taken by the place that I decided I must go and spent time researching my different options. I settled on a liveaboard experience (7 days at sea) and a week spent in Belize.

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Getting to/from Belize
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I live in Berkshire so I flew from London Heathrow to Belize City. There are no direct flights from the UK so I had to fly via Miami and stay in Miami overnight. It was Virgin from LHR to Miami and American to Belize.

Coming back I did not have to do an overnight but spent a lot of time waiting at Miami International airport for my flight back to the UK. There are different options and you can pretty much fly back from any major US city that has flights back to the UK.

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7 Days at Sea
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Upon arrival at the airport we were met by the transfers team and they took us from the airport to the port where we would depart. I felt very reassured I had booked this as a female travelling alone I did not want to have to make my own arrangements.We spent 7 solid diving out in Belize, visiting loads of different dive sites like:

* The famous Blue Hole
* silver caves ( an opening in the reef full of silverside fish, 1000s of them!)
* Belize barrier reef - It is the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere and the second longest in the world (behind the Great Barrier Reef)

Belize diving consists of 3 atolls. An atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely, so like a ring around water really. The water is shallow and very blue inside the atoll. Outside the atoll the water depth can drop to 1000s of feet. These atolls also break the waves and shelters the beach from erosion.The diving is amazing, you are diving in 29-35 degrees centigrade water and wouldn't even need a wetsuit. Even the fish are beautiful and we spotted fish that I had not seen anywhere (wish I could post pictures here).

The Blue Hole is the ultimate diving experience for Belize. It used to be an underwater cave until the roof caved in and is stated to be 412 ft deep! We could only get down to 40m deep on our recreational diving and it was very dark. Divers diving in the Blue Hole appear like insignificant blips against the size of the Blue Hole.

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On Dry Land in Belize
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Because Belize is situated close to the equator it has a very humid and hot climate. Temperatures usually 35-40 degrees centigrade.

When it came to exploring Belize I wanted to experience local Belize and some of the Mayan history. There are several archaeological sites in Belize which are open to the public. We visited Altun Ha which is north of Belize City so we had to take a tour (on a bus with air con!). As you drive through Belize, you notice it is not so flat and quite hilly in certain areas. Given it's subtropical climate it is quite dry but you can find tropical fruit growing in different places, especially bananas. Sugar plantations are quite rife and is Belize's biggest export
Altun Ha was a major ceremonial center during the Classic Period, as well as a vital trade center that linked the Caribbean shores with other Maya centers.

Altun Ha comprises temple and residential structures and has the "Jade Head", the largest carved Jade object in the Mayan area.

Altun Ha covers an area of 2.33 sq. kin. (1.5 sq. miles) including an extensive swamp north of the site. We weren't able to get round the whole site due to time unfortunately so these were the major things we saw.

We stayed at Radisson Fort George Hotel in Belize City which overlooks the caribbean sea and is close to town. The city centre where all the shops are is quite small and you can walk through it in 30 minutes. However, some of the walking is not quite so pleasant. The inner part of town is not so clean and does not seemed to be cleaned regularly. Combined with the heat this can lead to some very bad smells.

We also had a number of people follow us round asking for money and the only thing you can do is say a firm no. Otherwise you are followed round everywhere. Fortunately I was not exposed to the crimes that Belize City is known for.

At night Belize City has the casino where you can hang out and spend only a few pence trying to get rich on black jack, roulette and other casino and slot machines. the casino is part of a complex that is the Princess Hotel. This also includes a nightclub. Us British and American tourists got there about 9pm and it was dead quiet. It filled up from 11pm onwards. It seems in Belize no-one goes out before 10pm. The highlight for me at the casino was watching the girls and boys dancing belize style. Not sure the bumping and grinding is for me, but it is interesting to see the nightlife of Belize!

One of the things that I didn't get to see is the manatee as you have to take a bus and a ferry, but it is definitely something I will do when I go back.

All in all Belize has a lot of history (especially ancient), and unfortunately is quite a poor country with poverty quite rife and obvious. However, the people of Belize are so hospitable and I was really made to feel welcome.

Somewhere I would definitely recommend and go back!!!!

Note: I have not written about the wealth or political state of the country as I want this review to be more about seeing Belize.

Summary: A hidden paradise...