Belize activities--HELP!!

We don't have an excursion booked for Belize (sailing on the Dream April 12) and are looking for a "non-excursion" activity. What is fun to do in Belize for a family of 5 (youngest is 18) without spending a fortune? We're doing a Catamaran Sail & Snorkel in Cozumel and a Beach Break in Honduras. Are there any good places to shop or eat in Belize City? Is it safe to roam around on our own? Is there a nice beach we can go to and get a day pass? We debated the cave tubing but didn't want to spend 3 hours of our day commuting. I would be grateful for any suggestions. Thanks!!

To get to a beach, you'll need an excursion.

There is some shopping at the port area. We've eaten at the Wet Lizard...it's pretty good.

There's really not much to do beyond the gates of the port area. Belize City is a working city, not touristy.

I'm sure someone here has tried a restaurant outside the gates. Hopefully they'll chime in.

honestly, The three hours commuting for the cave tubing is worth it. We did the cave tubing and loved it. If we do another stop in Belize i have a feeling we would do that again.

Quite honestly, this is one port that I would strongly suggest staying inside the fenced port area to do any shopping and/or dining.

We did the Altun Ha Mayan Ruin and Belize City tour. We got a nice tour of the city and it is NOT a place that I would want to be roaming around sans a guided tour.

There is port security at the gates that warn cruisers not to leave the port area. They will let you leave but they do give you a warning to be extra vigilant. They also have the area secured as not to let an local non-authorized personnel into the port area.

Our bus also encountered one armed security block enroute to the Ruins. I do not know if this was standard or there was an issue in the area.

The port area does have a lot of shops and dining venues so you will have plenty to choose from.

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I have been outside the gates of the Belize port before, but that was 12 years ago. Even then, it wasn't the sort of place you would want to venture into after dark. There was a seedy looking Radisson hotel near the port, and a local taxi driver commented that it was the 3rd nicest hotel in the country. The past few times that I have been there, we have either stayed on the ship, or done snorkeling excursions where we got picked up directly from the ship (cuts out about an hour of transport time).

Either just go to the Wet Lizard at the port and take a look around, stay on the ship and have a nice day there, or take an excursion over to Caye Caulker or Goff's Caye (etc.). If you don't want to do the beach thing, go see some ruins.

As for a good place to eat right in Belize City, Riverside Tavern is a cool place.

We are booking the zoo/city tour thru carnival just to be safe.

Only port in 9 cruises that we haven't booked outside of carnival.

And after doing some research the price really wasn't that much more.

We are booking the zoo/city tour thru carnival just to be safe.

Only port in 9 cruises that we haven't booked outside of carnival.

And after doing some research the price really wasn't that much more.

Don't blame you and it the best way to go. You go out on your own on those boats to the Cayes, which is worth it, you might not make it back to the ship on time. Those boats are delayed frequently or have mechanical issues. We flew back from Caye Caulker to Belize just to be safe.

Belize is NOT a good "on your own" place.

The Wet Lizard and some shops are inside the gates of the secured port area.

To do anything else, you really should take a tour. ;)

LuLu

The ruins... You can climb to the top, or just climb as far up as you can, or not at all.

This excursion was booked on board... Xunantunich Mayan Ruins with Lunch

Our group did the Cave Tubing ..... and had an Absolute Blast ! ! ! !

I would strongly recommend that.

I would also echo what other Op's have said .... Belize is Not a Port you would want to go Rogue on. You could very easily get into trouble.

While not really cheap--we did Cavetubing with this company:

http://cavetubing.bz/

I highly recommend it. Our guide was great & it includes lunch after. Our kids really thought it was amazing! (21, 18 & 14) The ride there was interesting--and good for the kids to see.

I agree with the others--I would not venture out of the gates alone.

While not really cheap--we did Cavetubing with this company:

 

http://cavetubing.bz/

 

I highly recommend it. Our guide was great & it includes lunch after. Our kids really thought it was amazing! (21, 18 & 14) The ride there was interesting--and good for the kids to see.

I agree with the others--I would not venture out of the gates alone.

I second the cave tubing!! Probably one of the best excursions we've ever done on a cruise!! It was awesome and this company was great!! Lunch was great and the rum punch was even better!! Well worth the $$! Axel was our guide and he was fantastic!!

We are booking the zoo/city tour thru carnival just to be safe.

Only port in 9 cruises that we haven't booked outside of carnival.

And after doing some research the price really wasn't that much more.

The zoo is an excellent Carnival tour. It's an animal sanctuary and not your "normal" zoo.

Shopping in the port area is the only thing we have done other than excursions. We have loved every belize excursion we have done as well.

We have done cave tubing twice, and the most amazing horseback tour as well as a very nice snorkel and beach break.

I am also of the thoughts that I wouldn't go outside the Belize fenced port area on my own. Even our tour guides (2 of them since we had a different one going out than we did coming back) told us that they would never ever go to the area around port after dark. When locals are scared of some place, as a tourist I would be more than afraid!

That being said, there are some great companies out there that do private tours. We went Cave Tubing with .bz We went on their Tubing & Zoo tour. It was an amazing experience and lunch was also amazing that was provided!

Then we got back to port and had to be dropped off outside and walk about 50 feet to get into one of the rooms with an armed guard. During this 50 feet, we were accosted by 7 street vendors. Then as we finally got into the building, one of them actually followed us INSIDE while offering to sell us prescription drugs.

YMMV but while I would 110% go back to Belize, I wouldn't feel comfortable outside a group of at least 4 adults (my kids were 11 and 14 at the time, now they are older and bigger than me I would feel safer with just DH and them than I did before.)

We have been to Belize about six times. The first cruise proved our ignorance as we ventured into the city on our own. We were constantly followed; asked for money and did not feel safe.

We since have done ship related tours and snorkeled and went to a small island with nothing there.

We also used an agent to go to Caye Caulker. On our second trip the boat was overloaded and we almost did not make it back.

We have also done the trolley tour and it makes you grateful for your home town.

I agree with all who say do a tour with a ship; stay at the port and enjoy Wet Lizard and shopping for trinkets. There is not much there that is of value and I would not even think of buying jewelry.

There are many at the port trying to sell tours. Be careful as they have no ties to the ship and wait until they have a minimum number to join their tours.

We do get off the ship; have lunch at Wet Lizard; tour the trinket shops and get back to the tender.

I hope with all of the money going into this port they wake up and provide more reliable tour agencies but I have yet to see that happen. We were just there in February 2015.