Belize Blog – Belizeadventure.com

That’s Long Caye in the near-background.

We have recently begun our latest new activity, paddleboarding downwind to the neighboring islands on the atoll on our new SUP Cruiser boards. These high displacement boards are especially designed for longer distance paddling rather than short excursions or surfing.

The hull has a ‘V’ shape and a pointed bow with a 6″ thick center volume, and the boards are as light as a feather. Thus, one can travel 3 times the distance per paddle stroke as on a conventional paddleboard. On our second trip to both Middle Caye and SW Caye, we brought along two sea kayaks, and switched people at the half way point to allow more participation. It also worked out well in enabling paddlers to rest, as the paddle to SW Caye is 6 miles.

Paddling downwind over the sand flats is exciting, since the higher viewpoint afforded on a paddleboard allows one to see many more reefs, fish, and rays in the shallow, clear water. We even had a large nurse shark spook and swim right under a paddle board! At SW Caye, we were then able to tour the island and enjoy a few cold drinks at their over-the-water bar before our shuttle boat arrived to tow the boards and give us all a ride back home. I think this new sport is going to be VERY popular!

The tow back home to Long Caye.

I am on the phone all day, five days a week, answering questions about Belize. Because it is an 800 number, and because when people call they get a real person who is willing to talk to them and can answer most of their questions, I end up talking to wide variety of people for a long time. Many of them are clearly not suited to visit an eco-resort way out in the middle of the ocean, but I figure why not help them anyway, maybe it helps Belize in general. So I do a lot of talking.

Lately there seems to be a new pattern with some of my calls. I have been hearing from people very worried about things they ‘heard’ from ‘someone’. Once they get a real person on the phone, they pour out these concerns, seeking my opinion. They are extremely concerned about rumors they haven’t tried to verify, and they are making decisions based on these rumors. Some of these rumors are preposterous!

Yesterday a gentleman was very concerned about ‘Third World’ dive operators who had ‘faulty air mixtures’ in scuba tanks. Someone had told him about this, and he was not sure he wanted to go to the Third World to dive. I said, but wait, it’s not a mixture, it’s just air that has been compressed! I told him that I have been working in Belize 26 years and never, ever had heard any problems with faulty ‘air mixtures’ in scuba tanks. And besides, Belize is not really the Third World (is there a Second World?) He sounded somewhat reassured, but still seemed anxious to believe the ‘someone’ who claimed that dive operators in Belize are somehow degrading the quality of scuba tank air!

Another caller told me that she ‘heard’ that Belize City taxi drivers will rape you; that it’s not safe to take a cab from the Belize City airport. What? I have taken zillions of cabs in Belize City. They don’t want to have sex with you, they just want to take you where you want to go and get paid the going rate for it!

Someone told another person that traveling to Tikal from Belize is unsafe. I replied that there have been a few problems over the years, but not recently. And if you are super concerned all you have to do is use a Guatemalan guide. Would-be Guatemalan road warriors do not bother their countrymen who have paying passengers. Still, she opted not to go to Tikal at all, because someone told her she would surely be attacked.

The bottom line, when you hear a rumor, search for similar claims on the internet. If these things were true, they would be all OVER the internet. It’s not hard to put your fears at rest. You definitely cannot believe everything that you hear.

Today I am the guest blogger on tacogirl.com, one of the #1 Belize blogs! I have to say I am a little bit excited about it.

The article is about our first run of the Caves Branch River in Belize. We ran the Caves Branch practically before anybody did. It was a very exciting run since we didn’t know what was coming next!

To read about this historic run, visit the full Belize article on her site.

Our Adventure Island package is all-inclusive, meaning that from the time you step out of your taxi at the Biltmore Hotel until we return you to the hotel a week later, everything is provided — with one exception: liquor. We have a refrigerator in which we provide as much beer as a guest might want, but due to the limited amount of electricity available from our solar arrays and wind turbine, we don’t provide ice and therefore, we don’t have a bar.

But the night before departing for the island, before dinner and after the orientation with your guide, guests stop off at a store in Belize City, where individuals can make last minute purchases of items they may have forgot to bring and their own personal stash of liquor, if they choose. And one of the perennial favorites is a local Belizian drink called 1 Barrel Rum.

Here’s what Men’s Journal had to say about it: “The uncommon rum worth seeking out is Travellers 1 Barrel. Made at a small distillery in Belize, it boasts a memorable flavor that’s slightly sweet, slightly nutty, with something unexpected hidden in the lower layers. Tobacco? Coffee? Maybe it’s the suggestion of those flavors, but 1 Barrel is ideal served up with dessert.”

And for guests who visited the island and developed a taste for it, the good news is that 1 Barrel is available in the good ‘ol USA.

One of the most unique and wonderful aspects of our location out on Glover’s Reef is the pristine quality of the 900 patch reefs within the protection of the Glover’s ring reef. Healthy Reefs, an international, multi-institutional effort that tracks the health of the Meso-American Reef, was recently working off the coast of Belize and recorded this great video about the health of the reefs in Belize.

We just searched for flights to Belize from 26 US and Canadian cities and found that many fares dropped since last week. The current rates are below $500 from Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco. If you fly from one of these cities, check the rates now!

We checked for rates arriving in Belize March 2 and departing March 11. This is getting into Spring Break time, so I was surprised to find such good deals. These dates correspond with our Belize Adventure Island package.

To view the complete list of updates Belize flight deals, visit our website.

Planning a trip to Belize in the near future? Not only do we have some of the most extensive historical weather info on Belize and specifically out at Glover’s Reef, but if you’re like me, sometimes you just want to know what it’s like right now.

I just stumbled across this cool site that has instant weather info and an awesome, live webcam. Granted they’re both based out of San Pedro, Belize, but that island is only about 90 miles north of Glover’s Reef over open water, so it’s pretty close to the same weather we get at Long Caye.

This month Slickrock hosted a team from Athleta Sportswear on a photo shoot for their next summer’s catalog. A team of 12 people came out to our Belize island for four days to shoot various pictures of their sportswear line, which specializes in products for athletic women. In addition to their three models, there was a photographer who employed a camera with a wireless transmitter to send the pictures to a laptop computer on location, a Photoshop technician on the laptop, a makeup manager, clothing line manager, photographer’s assistants, and the production manager. Our guide Victor was the principle location assistant who helped set up the locations for shooting.

The team was up at 4:40 am everyday in order to be ready for sunrise shots, and they worked until sunset. Several thousand shots were taken, using our equipment for exhibiting the various clothing lines, and many shots were composed of the models running, paddling, fishing, doing yoga, playing volleyball, and in general doing as many athletic events as possible.

Victor earned his pay this week for sure! Watch Athleta’s website for photos of our island in the coming months.

Want to visit Belize and do it all? Our Belize Adventure Week trip spends half of the week in the jungle for whitewater kayaking on the Mopan River, underground rafting and kayaking on the Caves Branch river, caving in Che Chem Ha Mayan pottery cave, and an exploration of Tikal Mayan ruins in nearby Guatemala, the premier ruin in the region. Then the group goes out to our private island for sea kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, kitesurfing, windsurfing, kayak surfing, sport fishing, kayak fishing, paddleboarding, and board surfing. You won’t find another itinerary with this much going on in one week anywhere in the Caribbean! AND we just put 2 dates on sale!

Or, maybe you want to go to Belize REALLY bad, but you only have a few days? Our Adventure Island at Glover’s Reef Second Half trip, only 5 days, is also on sale in late February.

Why don’t you join us?

February 11 – 18, 2012
February 25 – March 3, 2012
Belize Adventure Week, Sat – Sat, 8 nights
10% off, $2155.50 US pp ($2395 regular rate)
http://www.slickrock.com/belizeadventureweek.html

February 28 – March 3, 2012
Adventure Island at Glover’s Reef Second Half, Tue – Sat, 5 nights
15% off, $1100.75 US pp ($1295 regular rate)
http://www.slickrock.com/adventureisland.html

Of the many fun and interesting things to do in Belize, either before or after one of our tours, perhaps the most accessible is a visit to the Museum of Belize.

Located at Gabourel and Hutson streets, the Museum of Belize is a beautiful, old brick building that was built as a colonial prison in the 1800’s, and operated as a prison until 1993; one cell has been restored. Originally built to hold one man, each cell held 6-8 prisoners at the time of the prison’s closing.

Many other aspects of Belize prison life are covered in the permanent exhibits. This museum also focuses on the Maya and colonial history of Belize. Highlights include a new exhibit entitled ““The People Who Carved Jades and Their Descendants” which opened in April to celebrate the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012.

About the exhibit, Adventure Traveler Online says it provides “a deeply enchanting and personal look at the Mayas’ work in creating famous Belizean jade masterpieces, “The People Who Carved Jades and Their Descendants” is an exhibit that was revealed in April in order to provide visitors with a deeper connection with Belize’s Maya culture, as people look to uncover the truth about the end of the 2012 calendar. As the first of many celebrations planned for when the world starts anew on December 21, 2012, this exhibit serves as a bridge between ancient times and the future, and sets the tone for a full line-up of Maya-related events, tours, activities and festivals in Belize, scheduled throughout 2011 and 2012.”