Belize on a Cruise Ship

tarpon9wt

In a couple of weeks we're taking a cruise; it docks in Belize City. Is there a beach close by reachable by walking or taxi to do some wading using spin or fly fishing?

Indianoutlaw

All is know is that Belize city is an absolute ***** hole. Docked there on a cruise in late March, early April, was careful not to drink anything local, and still managed to contract something very close to dysentary (sp). I was sick for five days following that and the "adventures" we booked were a joke. We took a piece of crap van (with no AC) for 45 minutes into the jungle on a single lane road (your driver has to get off the road if a bigger car/truck is coming, if it's a smaller car, you share the single lane, scary). I would go to cruisecritic.com for more recommendations. I really wish I had known about this site before our cruise. It lists different excursion and has reviews from previous customers. Also, don't book a fishing charter in Grand Cayman!

seatec

i agree. never book wiht the cruise lines. they charge you twice as much for every excusion they offer.

pupraiser

seatec wrote: »

i agree. never book wiht the cruise lines. they charge you twice as much for every excusion they offer.

I rarely book through the cruise line. If you don't, be aware that if you are late getting back, the boat won't be there. You're on your own to get to the next port or get home. I took a nine hour excursion in Belize, we arrive back at the dock 20 minutes before the ship left. I wasn't worried at all because I booked through the ship. If I had done it on my own, I'd have been a nervous wreck.

Fins13

Go cave tubing it was the coolest thing we did on our cruise. we booked it through the ship and it was well worth it. we took an hour ride into the jungle on a big bus with a/c that worked great and it was worth everyh penny.

tarpon9wt

Thanks for all the comments but they don't address the question. Need help; Can anyone give some local fishing info?

jeffinbelize

You're not going to have a heck of a lot of time so best to book w/ one of the outfits on the mainland / Belize City (as opposed to trying to get out to say Ambergris or go down south.) Long Caye is reachable by boat from Belize City relatively easily as is Savanah Caye/flats around there. Belize River Lodge is in Ladyville, just outside of Belize City (http://www.belizeriverlodge.com) They might be the best place to start... see if they can arrange to have a guide meet you where the ship disembarks in Belize City and go right from there... that'd give you 6-7 hours on the water at least.

tarpon9wt

Thanks....i'll send them a note and see what they provide.

TeamTeke

There is nothing close in Belize City to wade fish or take a taxi. As said above, the city has been a real cess pool over the years. They are trying to clean it up but it is a slow go.

Years ago I did fish with a local captain booked through Action Belize. They advertise in Florida Sportsman on the Tropical Section. We caught snook, snapper, jacks, bonefish and had shots at tarpon. Their website says they offer cruise ship specials. Check them out:
http://www.actionbelize.com/

capcioffi

TEKE is spot on. I went with "ActionBelize.com" and did very well. They had some good gear, spinning set ups with braided line and the boats were very nice. I brought my own gear on the cruise ship and was able to fish in Belize, Honduras, and Mexico. Belize City is a hole and make sure you call the company and set up pick up and drop off. In Belize you will be fishing some river mouths and mangroves. Bring a selection of your own gear topwaters, swim baits were on fire, and soft plastics.I brought three 2 piece rods and three reels loaded with mono and braid (bring spools of both). Our captain had a net (make sure yours does) and were able to net live bait. We caught over 25 snook between two boats, numerous jack, and a surprise cubera snapper. We lost alot of fish but landed two snook over 15lbs, I think we also got owned by those snapper (captain said we would lose alot of fish when were ato this one spot using live bait).

Sumotime

My charter with action Belize was a lot different then the other 2.We used 3 guides. Our guides gear was a bunch of worn out spinning reels, Crappy . He wants us to troll around the river with bomber lures.That is not what we were told we would be doing. We had our own gear and landed a couple of Tarpon. We had travel rods and used artificals.
The guide drove a Mercedes C500 . HHMMM. Not too many guides I know of drive that fancy of a car in a 3rd world country or the US..
One of the other guides said that when the Coast Guard would chase the drug runners the locals would get a call and retreive the "product " and get paid for their services. Understand the picture I am painting.
Others in our party went to an out island and had a fantastic time. They went snorkeling and had a beautiful beach day. Drinks were cold . The locals were friendly and they loved their excursion.
Use caution in Belize . The country is very shady. On our cruise a 20yr old girl bought some weed from a taxi driver and wound up being held until her parents came and paid the cop and driver money to make it go away. Dennis and a few other men from our party went and got the girl. As we were sailing away the "Policia " said she was trying to buy a kilo of coke and wanted the ship to turn around.It seemed that what happened was a scam the natives ran on tourist.Like any 3rd world country be on point and pay attention. Mark

tarpon9wt

Just got back from the cruise; I did not get a chance to fish there. We took the city tour and as most have said there's not much to see in the city itself. I am posting some pics/video from Grand Cayman in another thread.

tarpon9wt

Here's a couple of pics of Belize City port. The cruise ship had to park offshore due to the reef and use tenders to bring the passengers to the dock area.

CNTNDERfloridays

i went scuba diving in belize, i booked it through the cruise ship. did two dives at the Turneffe Atolls. it was awesome, i liked the dives alot. The test of my family did the four wheeling and went through the caves on tubes and said it was really neat. And the dive boat picks you up from the boat and brings you to a really cool place where the buildings are on stilts over the water and mangroves. really cool!

Double D

We took a snorkle trip to Caye Caulker, great little island but an all day trip. The flats near the city look very fishy, I'm sure with a little research an affordable day could be found.

Mark O.

Anyone else going may want to swing by the library and check out the current Fodors travel guide for that country. We found it pretty accurate for our Costa Rica trips. Anyone expecting Central America to be as "nice" as the US is going to be disappointed...it's not a Disney ride.

jeffinbelize

Having lived here (Belize) for 10 years, I can attest that Belize City is a horrible representation of what the country has to offer. The best way to experience the country is as an overnight guest, not via cruise ship. There's an incredible amount of diversity for such a small country. If you're traveling for only a week, 3 days on the mainland to see the jungle and ruins and 3 -4 days on the Cayes will give you a well rounded introduction. The flats fishing in Belize is great. Even around the more populated areas (Ambergris) you're 10-20 minutes away from world class permit, bonefish and tarpon grounds.

ran_d_511

my girlfriend is from belize and i went there two years ago and spend christmas there with her family. i did some fishing there and i found a spot that no one would think would hold fish and with an x-rap green back i caught two nice snook. i wish i would've seen this thread earlier i would've tipped anyone on the spots.

tarpon9wt

511 Thanks for the thoughts....next time I plan a trip I'll look you up. While taking a tour of Belize city the shallows along the city shoreline in a few areas looked good to fish. I didn't have my equipment with me as we weren't sure what to expect.
I agree with you; you've gotta try out all water spots; good fish can be caught where you least expect it.