Saturday, March 26, 2011

Ambergris Caye, Belize

Ambergris Caye, Belize

Maya 2012 is past but we have left the info and links for the maya sites.

A NOTE: Maya 2012, with this being the year of the Maya in which the Maya long count calendar ends on 12/21/2012, here is a link to the Maya Ruins in Belize http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/mayan/mayasites.html This link does not include Tikal in Guatemala however Tikal is easy to access. Other Maya sites to see are Xunantunich and Caracol. A very limited tour is the ATM CAVE. Rather strenuous and you must be able to swim. Go deep into an underground cave that has not been looted, it is well preserved. The Maya ancestors do not consider this as an end but as a new beginning in which the calendar rolls over and starts anew, which is what the other Maya calendars have done in the past. Call us, there are many festivals and ceremonies that are planned. All are easily accessible from Ambergris Caye. We can also book lodging in the jungles, at the Maya sites. READ THIS LINK, http://www.2012hoax.org/. THE REAL STORY ON THE MAYA 2012 CALENDAR.

AT THE END OF THIS BLOG WE HAVE ADDED A CALENDAR OF MAYA EVENTS AND FESTIVALS
Caribbean Travel Adventures +++ We have lodging from $60 (clean and basic) to luxury to $500 plus.+++ We spend alot of time in San Pedro and know what to do, where to stay and where not to!!!
Getting There:
Your best flight for getting to Belize is from Continental, they have a flight from Houston to Belize that arrives in Belize at 2:30 pm. This flight is almost always on time.  Belize Customs is rather restrictive on bring in food, fruits and vegetables. Look at their list before you arrive.
 American Airlines also connects thru Dallas to Belize.
Another great way is to do a 1 day visit on a cruise. Cruising is a good way to visit a destination before you commit to a week or more.  Two of the best Cruise Lines, in our opinion, for cruises are Carnival and Royal Caribbean.  Visit CTA’s web site to find current Cruise Deals and for several cruise videos. We can arrange great off ship tours, call us. Note, we recommend only the tours operators that we have personally booked with. 
Belize and Ambergris Caye are great vacation destinations. There is a good map of Ambergris Caye to print.(Maps are on the left side of the page) Note the maps have not been updated for at least 3 years.
Tropic Air ( the BEST commuter airline of Belize ) has several flights daily to San Pedro. Also flights to Caye Caulker and other destinations.  If you are arriving at BZE International it is convenient to fly from there. You can fly from Municipal it is a lot cheaper but you have to take a taxi to get to Municipal. I would suggest flying from the International Airport (BZE). If you fly back to Belize for a tour, have the tour operator pick you up at Municipal, cheaper!! Note there are different baggage  restrictions on the commuter planes. Our personal preference is to fly, we use Tropic Air, 20 minutes verses 1 1/2 hours by water. Please allow us to book the commuter air for you, we don't want you to miss your connections.(We do not currently recommend Maya Island Air)

The last water taxi leaves for San Pedro at 4:30 pm. The taxi ride from the airport is about 20 minutes, you need to arrive on the flights that arrive in Belize by 2:30 pm in order to get thru customs and get to the water taxis. There is also an earlier flight.
If you go to Belize on a cruise, always check your arrival time for the port.  You can usually make the 8:30 am flight to Ambergris. To get to shore early, go early to get on the list for the first tender. You will have to exit the back of the shops at the dock thru security to get a taxi. If you are on a Cruise Ship, you need to book the 2:30 pm flight from Ambergris back to Belize. This is local Belize time. Note there is a 1 hour time difference if you are on daylight savings time.(ships time)

Getting around Ambergris:
There are only a few cars on Ambergris, mostly taxis. In most cases you can walk or rent a bicycle or a golf cart. Most of the golf cart rental places will not rent for north of the bridge. The road north of the bridge is rough.(note in June 2011 the road had been improved) You can go as far as Captain Morgan’s and there are a couple of good places to eat at the North end. Ultimate Rentals Belize will rent for north of the bridge and north of Captain Morgans. We use Ultimate when we are on the island. There are times of the year that the road will flood and you can only go so far, also the road becomes soft sand the further north you go.

The locals refer to the streets as Front, Center and Back Streets. Front street being the ocean side. If you can not find something, ask, the locals are more than willing to help. Also. Coastal Express is the local "water" taxi for places north of the bridge. After 4:30 PM they run every hour, if you are on the pier they will pick you up, no problem

Where to Stay:
Three great places in town are Ramons Village and Blue Tang Inn. These are very nice places to stay. All have excellent reviews.  Ramon’s offers a meal plan (no kitchenettes) and Belizean Reef Suites has full kitchens and Blue Tang Inn also has kitchens. Blue Tang is at the north end of town, and is convenient to everything. We like the third floor units #10 and #15, great view!! Allen and the staff are very friendly and helpful. The Palms Ocean Front Suites, located on the south edge of town, is modern and nicely updated and reasonably priced. Always read the reviews on any place you are going to stay. Also there are All-Inclusive Resorts on Ambergris. A good source for reviews is Trip Advisor. Beliizean Reef Suites is an easy walk to town, they are south of town past the air strip. Check out their web site, beautiful place and good prices. Note, I no longer recommend Xanadu due to a "personal" conflict over reservations. 

We have several other accommodations we can recommend (from very inexpensive to ultra luxury), please call. Simple but clean accommodations from $50/$60 (good trip advisor reviews plus we have previewed the property) to luxury from $500 plus per night. There are excellent choices available from $100/$150/$175 to $250/$285 per night. A lot of these are right in town!!

Where to Eat:
There are restaurants everywhere on Ambergris. Some that we prefer are …
Palapa Bar and Grill (about 5 minutes north of the bridge)
The Red Ginger (really, really great food. located in town, at the Phoenix)

Blue Water Grill (beach front at Sunbreeze Hotel, across from Tropic Air)

Caliente (beach front at the Spindrift Hotel, Mexican and Caribbean)

Portofino's (6 miles north of town, take the water taxi, Coastal Express)

Hidden Treasures (south of town, before Victoria House) Wonderful Cuisine

MAKE RESERVATIONS FOR THE ABOVE RESTAURANTS ...
 Other good places are George’ Kitchen (out the road south of the airport) – Legends Burger House (north of the bridge)--Elvi's Kitchen(about the middle of center street)– El Fogon
El Fogon is worth finding, it is a small outdoor place. Go to the Tropic Air Terminal(looking at the end of the building) and go North,(turn right). Go the first street(dirt), turn right. They are on the left next to the Doctors office. There is no sign, just a wooden gate. Lunch is ready about 11:30. Also one of the girls makes a fantastic key lime pie, just delicious. Note, most of the local places do not have air conditioning but there is always a good breeze. Another favorite is Mango's, south end of front street in the dead end.(Make reservations at Mango's, they are booked by 6pm) Robin's Kitchen, they have really great food, located on the road south of town. A small thatched hut, watch for sign.
If you are staying where you have a kitchen, there are several places to buy groceries. The largest is Island Supermarket (on the road south past the airport).  Also Richie's has a good selection (located at the north end of center street in the roundabout). Green House has good fresh produce and groceries(the middle of center street) Also, Maria's fruit and vegetables is a good place for produce. (going South before Georges). We like the bakery, Casa Pan Dulce, on center street across from the meat market.  You have to try the cinnamon rolls plus the bread is great.

Lagniappe Provisioning and Mata Grande are delivery services. They both will deliver for a reasonable fee. Mata Grande delivers north of the cut. You will find that food prices are higher than in the states.

Things To Do:
There is so much to do I don’t know where to start. There is wind and kite surfing, fishing, diving, zip lines, cave tubing, Belize zoo, and the Mayan ruins, night life. Take a day sail to Caye Caulker, you can snorkel and have lunch on the Caye, try Rose's Bar and Grill, award winning food.
You should try to see the Lamanai Ruins. A great tour operator is SEArious. SEArious Adventures is the place for your tour, offering snorkeling,fishing,Mayan Ruins plus other tours, call us to book. Allen at Blue Tang Inn has great tours available. Also go to ambergriscaye.com for other tours. There are numerous guides for diving and snorkeling. Look around the Ambergris web sites to find one that provides the style of diving you prefer. If you have time, fly back to Belize City and book a full days tour with Explore Belize Caves. The prices are great and they will do custom tours, also they work within the cruise ship times for all sorts of tours. They have excellent reviews and will work with you for what you want to see and do. Let us book this for you because of the travel from the island to the mainland, don't get stranded.
You can find whatever party atmosphere you want. To name a few there are Fido’s, Big Daddy’s, Jaguar Temple, and the Barefoot Iguana. Several of the hotels have bars and entertainment. On the south end check out Lola’s Pub.

Aida at Caribe Creations makes handmade apparel in 24 hours from great tropical prints (north end of center street up in the dead end). Want a good cup of coffee, try Cafe Cubano (front street across from the park). If you are in town on Friday night, go to Wahoo's for the "chicken drop", starts about 6PM (on the south end of front street. You have to go!!! Looking for flowers for that special someone, The Candle Garden is the only flower,and party supply shop on the island, on Caribena street behind the bank.

Caribbean Travel Adventures can book all your travel arrangements for you, lodging, commuter air, golf cart for on the island, water taxi and save you a lot of time and trouble. We will take care of all the details for you.  Call us at 1-866-802-2292 or Email us at mailto:caribta@hotmail.com . 

Note, we need to do the bookings to San Pedro as most of the lodging, tours, commuter flights and water taxis are not on our main  booking links. We have a secure PayPal link to cover reservations to San Pedro and Belize.

We specialize in Caribbean Travel, Cruises, Destinations, All-Inclusive’s ,Tours and Vacation Packages.
Please visit the web site for more videos, traveler resources and current sales and promotions and ourbooking link, http://2662.mtravel.com/
HAVE FUN, Tom and Karen

If you have an update, would like to add information or feel there are errors on the page, please email us.(caribta@hotmail.com)
This is a  YouTube video for Ambergris Caye. Also another video.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR MAYA 2012

January 11 Public Lecture 7:00p.m. Bliss Centre Lecture on the Maya calendar and
2012 by Dr. Mark Van Stone.
January 12 Public Lecture San Ignacio Hotel Traditional Healers Workshop, George
Price Center (Cahal Pech)

February 18 Maya Festival Altun Ha Kinich Ahau Art Exhibit

March 9 Nat. Heroes & Benefactors (Maya leaders) Belize Annual NICH event
Mar 20-21 Vernal Equinox Caracol Overnight at Caracol to witness equinox. Will
include ceremony by Maya priests, and traditional Maya food.

April 1 – 15 May TravelingExhibition Country wide Exhibition highlighting Maya
artistic achievements and significant historical moments in Belizean history.

May 18-21 Cacao Festival Toledo Festival celebrating the Maya domestication and use
of
cacao. Maya deer dance and other activities

June 17 Lamanai Canoe Challenge Orange Walk Canoe Race From Lamanai to Orange Walk
Town.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
June 20-21 Solstice (1 of 2) Caracol Overnight at Caracol for Solstice. Will
include ceremony by Maya priests and traditional Maya food
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

June 26-29 Archaeology Symposium San Ignacio Annual IOA-ISCR Anthropology
Symposium. Special Topic: Time and the Maya

July 4-6 Bze. Film Fest Belize City Annual Event that will feature some films that celebrate Maya culture

August 2-5 Costa Maya San Pedro Annual fair in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye
August San Joaquin Fiesta San Joaquin Annual community fair in the Maya village of
San Joaquin in Corozal District.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sept. 21-22 AutumnalEquinox Caracol Overnight at Caracol to witness equinox. Will
include ceremony by Maya priests and traditional Maya food
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Oct.12-14 World Indigenous Music Fest.Belize City Musical festival at Bliss Centre
for Performing Arts. Will feature indigenous music from the Americas.
Nov. 22-24 Dance X Belize 2012 Belize City Special Dance festival at the Bliss
Centre for Performing Arts.

Dec. 12 Mass Wedding Cahal Pech This 12-12-12 event will be available for a limited
number of participants who will have an opportunity to celebrate their wedding at
the Cahal Pech Maya site.

Dec. 21 Festival Cahal Pech Lubaantun

THIS IS THE EVENT TO BE AT IF YOU CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dec 20-21 Solstice Caracol Cahal Pech
Closing event with performance, music, fire ceremony, and
torch run. Will also include a musical concert
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++




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