Category: Belize

Cruising to Belize: A Port Guide for Belize City

3/19/2020

By John Roberts
Port Guide: Belize City
The tiny Central American country of Belize is a pearl of the Caribbean. It's mostly undiscovered, but the secret is getting out.
We have been to this charming country a few times and have fallen in love with its warm waters, affordability and outstanding access to active adventures.
Belize is home to just fewer than 400,000 residents and annually sees more than 330 cruise ship arrivals, bringing more than 65,000 cruisers to the country.
When arriving by big cruise ship, you will take a tender for about 15 minutes to reach the shore at Belize's Fort Street Tourism Village, a built-up open-air mall with shops, restaurants and entertainment.
These shops and eateries that serve up authentic Belizean and Caribbean specialties are housed in colorful buildings located on a wooden pier, and excursion outfitters are set up to meet you there for your tours.

Norwegian Cruise Line's Harvest Caye private port area is ideal for a relaxing beach day in the sun.

If you arrive on a Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises or Regent Seven Seas Cruises ship, you'll head to Harvest Caye, the cruise line's private port in Belize. This tiny island (75 acres) is a cool place to enjoy a relaxing beach day. Harvest Caye features a pretty lagoon and large beach with loungers, cabanas and villas to rent. You also can enjoy the zipline, ropes course and four bars -- including one with a swim-up bar.
When you stop at Harvest Caye for the day, you also can choose to go ashore to explore the mainland, and there are plenty of opportunities for active travelers.

Ziplining, cave tubing and jungle treks are signature activities available in Belize. // Courtesy of TravelBelize.org

The Best Adventures
Cave Tubing. Belize is a natural wonderland and great destination for outdoors activities. Cave tubing is a top excursion for visitors to Belize. The country is filled with caves that are sacred spots and part of the native Maya history of the region.
You hike through the jungle and across rivers to reach the caves. The cave system is part of the Belize National Park system, and you need to book a tour with licensed guides to access them.
The activity has you hop onto a tube to float along gentle-flowing waterways and explore ancient underground Mayan sites situated within the vast network of underground rivers.
Jungle Trekking to See Ruins. Trek into the jungle to visit ancient ruins that were the site of centuries-old villages. These historic spots show how the Maya people used to live. Check out tours that take you to see Altun Ha, Lamanai and Xunantunich.
Snorkeling. Belize is located along the Mesoamerican Reef, the world's second biggest coral reef system in the world. Australia's Great Barrier Reef is larger. Belize is a fantastic destination for snorkelers.
The Great Blue Hole. This massive underwater sinkhole is a top spot for divers (and snorkelers). In fact, Belize itself is quite popular for scuba diving. But the spectacular Great Blue Hole, which boasts deep rich blue color, is almost 1,000 feet across and more than 400 feet deep, is an iconic attraction for the nation. It's located about 60 miles from the mainland and gets quite busy with crowds of people.
Hiking, Watersports and More. Visitors are drawn to Belize for the beautiful water and ideal weather. It has numerous opportunities for hiking, ziplining, tubing, river rafting, snorkeling, diving, fishing and boating.
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Jaguar Preserve. Book a tour to this national park to enjoy river rafting, incredible hiking trails and the chance to see the world's only jaguar conservation project (jaguar sightings not guaranteed).

A Belize expedition cruise with UnCruise Adventures will take you to pristine and isolated places to explore and play with your small group of fellow adventurers. We stopped at this little cay and had the place to ourselves to snorkel, swim and relax in the sun.

Try an Expedition Cruise
UnCruise Adventures sails weeklong voyages to Belize and offers an excellent small-ship program, with expert guides leading daily activities like hiking, snorkeling, kayaking and visits to parks and communities. This is a much more active and immersive way to get to experience Belize and learn about its history and culture. Instead of a one-day stop at the Belize City port area, you will spend multiple days all along the coast and among the cays and islets within the barrier reef.
The UnCruise itinerary on the 70-passenger ship Safari Voyager also includes days visiting neighboring Guatemala.

Belize has long been one of our favorite Caribbean destinations, and we're seeing more cruises to Belize cropping up each year. It's both exciting for me and a little sad. I'm happy that more travelers will get to experience the warm people, delicious food and fun activities, but I also like when certain places are kind of a secret and less discovered. These places offer more of sense of mystery and wonder when that's the case.

Do you think you'll be going to Belize? How do you plan to enjoy this special place? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,
JR

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First Look: UnCruise's New Itinerary in Belize and Guatemala

12/9/2019

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Yours truly with the research team during our visit to a Maya ruins site in Belize.

By John Roberts
UnCruise Adventures is returning to Belize. The leader in small-ship expedition cruising had sailed in the stunningly gorgeous Central American nation many years ago, but it's returning to the region with a finely tuned and dedicated itinerary that includes exploration of its neighbor Guatemala, too.
It's always been a no-brainer that UnCruise should sail in places like these underrated destinations. Belize is a nation of fewer than 400,000 that offers a stunning mix of culture and natural beauty. The warm and inviting people possess a rich multiracial ancestry, with Mestizo, Creole, Maya and Garifuna as the most prevalent.
Belize is located on the Eastern Coast of Central America hugging the Caribbean Sea, with amazing access to waterways that reach the Mesoamerican Reef (Belize Barrier Reef) and are speckled with tiny low-lying islands called cays. Inland, there are lagoons, jungles and rivers.
UnCruise worked hard to design a trip that gives its guests access to an immersive range of all of these features of both Belize and Guatemala.

UnCruise Adventures owner and CEO Dan Blanchard skippered our catamaran trip through Belize and Guatemala as the company put some of the finishing touches on designing a new expedition in these Central American countries.

One of the many tiny islands that UnCruise will visit for quiet beach days and uncrowded snorkeling opportunities along the Belize Barrier Reef.

I was fortunate enough to tag along on a late-stage research and development trip to get a good idea of how special the experience will be. The trip brought us to stunning ancient Maya ruins sites, got me in the water for snorkeling among vibrant reef systems, had us hiking into the jungle and along savanna to spot birds or swim under rushing waterfalls. Best of all was chatting with the ambitious villagers who have started their own small businesses or clinics to improve their lives and that of their communities.
There also is plenty of amazing food to enjoy, of course.

Check out the full itinerary, which is a seven-day roundtrip voyage from Belize City.
And this video of my R&D trip:

This national park features opportunities to spot parrots, foxes and other creatures like manatees that live in the nearby lagoon.

I was among a group of seven as we sailed on a double-hulled catamaran testing out the route and looking for the places that few other travelers will get to experience. I joined UnCruise Adventures expedition guides, as well as founder and owner Dan Blanchard and Capt. Andrea Kosto, who was the driving force behind creating this new itinerary. She is also at the helm of Safari Voyager, the 70-passenger ship that will be the home for UnCruise passengers on these voyages. It also is used for the line's Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia expeditions.
During my 10 days getting a first look at the trip, we visited serene conservation areas, taking hikes in the rainforest at Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and on savanna land at Payne's Creek in Belize. Lush mangrove areas are vital parts of the ecosystems in both Guatemala and Belize, and visitors can spot manatees, gray foxes and yellow-headed parrots (and dozens of other birds).
Blanchard thinks a favorite day for guests will be the visit to Cockscomb Basin, which offers a broad range of hikes, river tubing and chances to swim beneath waterfalls. The itinerary includes time in towns, too, with opportunities to shop at a produce market in Punta Gorda, Belize, and hang out at the bustling seaside town of Livingston, Guatemala.

A family preserves its Maya traditions and shares this way of life with visitors to their home in Belize.

A small, women-owned baking business in a village in Guatemala.

The Maya and Garifuna represent the indigenous residents of the region, and UnCruise offers interactions and experiences with them to show their daily life. Of course, you'll get to challenge yourself with trying to craft tortillas from scratch using traditional tools and your bare hands.
Blanchard spent quite a bit of time in Belize when he was younger and has always been impressed by the friendliness and inviting nature of this young nation, which achieved independence in 1981.
"Belize is a very open-for-business country," he says. "Getting things going here is relatively easy. Our first thing we do is just get out and experience the destination (to create a new itinerary).
"Beyond that, it comes down to contacting all the conservation organizations. Because they're the ones that really know what's going on, the special places that fit our clients best.
"So, there's that early stage of the process, and now we're down to refining the daily activities."

We took a panga boat to explore Guatemala, along the coast and into rivers and lush mangrove areas.

The rustic coastal areas of Guatemala.

A swimming area at a national park in Guatemala.

And I was able to experience some of these special spots and unique discoveries as the research team focused on how the days would play out during these trips. It was fascinating to watch them plot the route, ensuring safe navigation through shallow waters, as well as find the best places to stock up on fresh foods and other supplies.
The Maya ruins sites are particularly interesting. Some have been unearthed just decades ago. Plus, the villages along the Rio Dulce River in Guatemala offer a fantastic opportunity to see how Maya women are finding new roles in their society, breaking with antiquated norms to develop their own businesses. We stopped off to patronize small baking businesses and meet with women running important community health clinics.

We had a number of chances to make our own tortillas in both Guatemala and Belize.

Tiny Carrie Bow Cay is home to a Smithsonian research operation.

Expect stunning sunrises and sunsets every day of your voyage.

I have been on several UnCruise sailings now, in Alaska, Costa Rica and Panama, Coastal Washington, Hawaii and the Snake and Columbia Rivers. This has all the makings of being one of the more memorable trips the company offers.
Like I said, it fits with the DNA of the company. Longtime UnCruise Adventures aficionados are craving new expeditions and certainly should be excited to add this experience to their list.
"We have a high number of returning guests, and they want to go to new destinations," Blanchard says. "Everything is indicating that Belize is kind of that budding flower as far as tourism goes.
"And I think one of the things we've found in Guatemala is under-tourism. On both the border rivers and some of the estuaries that are open to the ocean, this is incredibly authentic compared with what is generally available to the traveler today in North and South America. The children still look at you like you're an oddity (when you visit their villages)."

This sanctuary is known for its jaguar conservation efforts.

The secluded swimming hole at the end of one of the fun and challenging hikes at the wildlife preserve.

Safari Voyager Capt. Andrea Kosto and Dan Blanchard cool off in a refreshing spot in the river during a hike in Guatemala.

A Vision for a New Adventure: Q&A with Captain Andrea Kosto

Captain Andrea spent months in Belize and Guatemala, tracking down the best places and activities that will offer the most intimate and immersive experiences and truly represent what UnCruise Adventures is all about -- that is, what loyal travelers have come to love about the line.
I her asked what she expects for the new adventures and what goes into creating this kind of expedition cruise itinerary.

In The Loop Travel: What are you most excited to show your guests on this new itinerary? What do you want them to get out of it?
Captain Andrea Kosto: I am most excited about showcasing the pristine conservation areas that we are accessing. Where the conversation directors inform us that we are the very first small expedition ship and foreign operator to visit. It doesn't get any more UnCruise than that!
We have forged relationships with environmental and cultural organizations that have amazing community outreach programs for youth education, wilderness and wildlife preserves and community health. Our partnership will help support those programs and hopefully have a profound positive effect on the indigenous peoples of the area.
It's my hope that our guests not only have an amazing and memorable experience, but that they take away a deeper knowledge and respect for the Belizean and Guatemalan people and cultures. All while understanding that as our guests, they enable us to operate in areas untraveled by others, which allows our presence to positively impact an entire region and its peoples.

ITLT: What challenges do you face when trying to develop a new itinerary from scratch?
AK: It is easy to "find" places that everyone already visits; those places are suitable for many people and tour companies, but those type of settings aren't what we're about.
UnCruise proudly touts wilderness, wildlife and cultural experiences that aren't crowded. The Uncrowded places don't advertise, usually because they're a niche location and they want to remain untrammeled by large crowds. Discovering these gems is generally by word of mouth and listening to the people who live where we want to explore. The local people know where those places are and what they have to offer.
You have to be receptive to the ideas and information that they have, because they most often have terrific knowledge of where these undiscovered gems are hidden.
ITLT: Why should travelers take an UnCruise voyage to see Belize and Guatemala vs. any other form of travel?
AK: In a nutshell, comfort, access, professionalism and respect for the cultural diversities of the region. We are accessing some spectacular places that other tour operators simply do not visit, or even know of. These locations are far off of the beaten path that everyone else travels. The local conservation organizations we will interact with know that they have something special, and we agree. The local children are learning about how precious and unique their home is, and we are humbled that their parents and elders are allowing us to take others to see how spectacular these areas and cultures are.
At the same time, we're honored to not only help promote the conservation of the region, but to educate others as to its importance. By choosing UnCruise, people will be able to travel both comfortably and safely into regions not easily accessed by any other modes of travel.

The first of these "Belize and Guatemala Wonders -- Rivers, Reefs and Cultures" voyages embark on Safari Voyager on October 31, 2020, and UnCruise is offering six of these weeklong expeditions ending with a December 5 voyage.

Thanks for reading,
JR

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Norwegian Cruise Line's Harvest Caye Offers Ec0-Tourism Options

3/21/2016

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Rendering courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line

By John Roberts

Cruise lines have been creating their own private ports of call around the Caribbean for many years now. What better way to capture the most possible revenue from their cruise passengers than to provide (corral them at) a secluded beach or resort facility at a spot the cruise line fully controls?

Cruise lines own private beaches and port facilities in the Bahamas, Haiti and Dominican Republic.

And Norwegian Cruise Line is due to open Harvest Caye in Belize in November 2016. What makes this project different is the importance that Norwegian Cruise Line and Belizean developers have placed on creating a destination focused on eco-tourism designed to reduce the impact on the pristine environment. Harvest Caye sits on a pair of adjoining islands offshore from the former fishing village of Placencia. Passengers also can venture to the mainland for excursions instead of being restricted to the private beach area as is the case in many other of these developments.

Environmentalists have raised questions about the project and its impact on the region. But Norwegian Cruise Line has taken steps to ensure that the experience embraces the importance of sustainable tourism. Visitors can relax on a seven-acre white-sand beach or jump in to enjoy a range of sports in the clear waters. But no jet-skis are allowed! (That is fantastic news.)

Or explore the rich biodiversity of the region with a tour that shows you the exotic plant and animal life, such as observing manatees in the lagoon or checking out the aviary, which is home to toucans and endangered scarlet macaws. (The aviary hosts a breed-and-release program aiming to boost the bird's numbers.) An educational center offers looks at indigenous reptiles like boa constrictors, and you can swing by the Butterfly Garden to view interesting insects.

A chief naturalist is employed to lead tours, discuss conservation efforts and talk about the wide range of wildlife native to Belize. As part of the port project, more than 10,000 new mangroves are being planted to boost the estuary system that serves as critical habitat for fish and birds.

Fun activities for the adventurous cruiser include a 3,000-foot-long zipline course, free-fall jumps, suspension bridges and a "Superman" tandem zipline jump. All this aerial action takes place at the 130-foot-tall Flighthouse structure.

Harvest Caye also features a 15,000 square-foot pool area with a swimup bar, shopping, restaurants and private cabanas for rent.

The facility will have the only cruise pier in Belize -- cruisers who visit other ports in Belize must take a tender boat ashore -- and Norwegian Cruise Line passengers who stop at Harvest Caye can take excursions, such as exploring Mayan ruins or river rafting, on the mainland.

Thanks for reading,
JR

You might also like this story:
MSC to Build Conservation-Focused Marine Reserve in the Bahamas

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Cruising to Belize: A Port Guide for Belize City

First Look: UnCruise's New Itinerary in Belize and Guatemala

A Vision for a New Adventure: Q&A with Captain Andrea Kosto

Norwegian Cruise Line's Harvest Caye Offers Ec0-Tourism Options

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