STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I dont have much of an opinion on Belize but I will.  I am going there next week.  I will let you know what I think of it and give you any info I find out.  What I have found out so far is that it isnt as touristy as other places, definately not a party place, tons of outdoor activities and adventures.  HTH  I will post more when I get back.

i went to belize in may of 2001. it was a great trip - we stayed at a resort on one of the islands in glover's atoll. actually, the resort we stayed at was destroyed in a tropical storm shortly after we stayed there, but i just saw online that they have rebuilt it and it will be opening again in february of next year. it was/will be called manta resort - http://www.divetrip.com/manta.htm

anyway, our stay on the island was great. if you dive or snorkel, belize is one of the best places to do it. we went on snorkeling trips nearly every day and saw all kinds of sea life - manta, turtles, eels, nurse sharks, baracuda, grouper, etc. regardless of where you stay (and, as an aside, i've heard great things about the FFC resorts - it's highly recommended as a honeymoon spot in lots of bridal mags), you definitely should take advantage of the snorkeling/diving. most resorts will have excursions (some included in the cost) and many have lessons (sometimes free) if you've never done it before. the snorkeling trips were the highlight of our stay there.

we spent 4 days in belize city after a week on the island and that was the downside of the trip. we tried exploring the area, but belize city is just not a nice place. there are a few nice hotels there (we stayed in one of them) but there weren't a lot of places to eat so we ended up eating in our hotel restaurant most of the time. we did take two day trips when we were on the mainland, both of which i'd recommend. one was to see the mayan ruins at lamanai ( http://www.belize-vacation.com/belize/lamanai.htm ) and the other was to the belize zoo. the lamanai trip was great - you take a boat along the river into the jungle to the ruins. on the boat you see lots of birds and lizards and we also saw baby crocodiles. you hike through the jungle to the ruins and you can see monkeys and more birds (i'm assuming you care about the wildlife in belize - it's really one of the reasons that people go there, so i figured i'd include what we saw incase you're interested) - the ruins are pretty incredible. when we were there they had just discovered a new temple and were in the process of unearthing that. definitely a good day trip. the trip to the zoo was also nice - again, more wildlife.

anyway, that was pretty much our experience. it was a really beautiful place if you want to experience nature. but if you are looking for something more developed with lots of restaurants or things to do/see, then it isn't really a good place in my experience.

i'll scan in some pictures that we took and post them later.