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So Im getting married! I am planning a trip to Belize for two weeks but I'm considering also trying to get to Costa Rica in that time. Is that a good choice? My fiance and I are into diving Belize in Caulker, and we'd also like to see some great ruins. Is two weeks too short for Belize and Costa Rica? Should I check out some other places instead and maybe really maximize my time. I figure the first week will be diving and honeymoon stuff, but the second week I want to do some more traveling. I dont like fancy hotels and super touristy things but I would like to see some really amazing stuff. Any suggestions?

Congratulations Teague and welcome to the boards.

There are definitely some Central America experts on this board, but I'll start you off with a couple things. Caye Caulker is a good place to dive and drink and hear reggae music, but probably not much else. It's charming, but you can literally walk the whole thing in a couple hours. And the beaches suck, in case that is important to you. There are a few sandy patches here and there, but mostly the shore is crowded by mangroves.

There are a few ruins around those parts, but the ones at Tikal near Flores, Guatemala are probably the best. After a couple days in Caye Caulker I took the water taxi back to Belize City and then hopped a bus to Flores for Tikal. Then I flew down to Guatemala City and stayed in Antigua for a few days before going to Costa Rica myself. You can see some photos and read my first impressions of these places on my travel journal site on the link below.

I hope you speak Spanish because English is rare in Central America once you leave Belize. I don't speak Spanish and I was shocked at how difficult some things can be when you don't.

If you and a buddy were backpacking I would think Guatemala could be a lot of fun, but I'm thinking for a honeymoon you'll be better off spending more time in Costa Rica. Guatemala can be a little rough around the edges while Costa Rica is only a little more expensive but far better set up for non-backpacker travel. It's also marginally easier to get by on just English in Costa Rica.

I'm sure other people will have tons of suggestions if you are looking for places beyond Belize.

About the only thing Belize and Costa Rica have in common is the cost. They're relatively expensive, compared to the rest of Central America.

If you're looking for a break from Belize, I'd recommend the north coast of Honduras. You can take a boat to Puerto Cortez from Dangriga, and it's not hard to get to Utila or Roatan from there.

Belize has much better diving. Costa Rica is not know as a great diving spot at all. Plus Costa Rica is more of an eco-tourist spot. Belize is the real deal. There are actually ruins in belize (or nearby - Tikal!) and plenty of beach/diving options.

If no one points it out - Belize City is pretty ugly.

quote:

Originally posted by rawjer:

If you and a buddy were backpacking I would think Guatemala could be a lot of fun, but I'm thinking for a honeymoon you'll be better off spending more time in Costa Rica. Guatemala can be a little rough around the edges while Costa Rica is only a little more expensive but far better set up for non-backpacker travel. It's also marginally easier to get by on just English in Costa Rica.

It is a honeymoon so Im sure the first few days we will want to do the whole honeymoon thing with a nice place and some evening drinks and dancing. We are backpackers to the core though. The only reason we are not staying in hostels for our honeymoon is because my Aunt has given us $500 US for a "lovely hotel." After we get out of the honeymoon mode and send her a postcard of how great the hotel was, then its back to normal. Guatemala is sounding better all the time. We both want to get some diving in so that is a must, same goes for a decent beach and some awesome ruins. So, I'm thinking that Caye Caulker is our dive spot, Tikal is our place for ruins, and I could use some suggestions on some nice beach areas.

Since our flight will probably leave from Belize City, anything close to there would be prefered. That might change if I can find a good air-fare but for now I'm planning for fly into Belize city and fly out.

congratulations!

when we were on caulker, we checked out one of the dive shops. each day is dedicated to one site, and if i remember correctly there's about 4-6 different sites. there's no nice beachy area on caulker, except for one near where the hurricane ripped it apart a while ago. oh, you can rent a golf cart and drive around the island in 20 min.. that was a lot of fun! i don't remember seeing any upper end restaurants or anything there.. maybe you can check out ambergis for that. in guatemala, we spent the night in flores and bussed to tikal.. headed back to san ignacio that afternoon. in total, the whole trip was just one week, which i felt was the perfect amount of time.. i think two weeks might have been too much (although, we didn't dive.. just did a day snorkeling around a couple sites). however, one of our friends stayed an additional week and made her way down to southern belize and didn't regret it (although it rained a LOT).