Hope we've made the right decision - this is a real leap of faith because I did almost no investigating beforehand! Have a family trip planned for Dec - the 17th thru the 26th. That's the ONLY time our schedules all match up, unfortunately. I know it's a terrible time to travel but it's all we can do. We have 2 sons, 20 and 16 and figure this may be the last real family vacation we get to take and want to make it memorable.

First part of the trip will be spent at Cave's Branch Jungle Lodge - we're all outdoorsy types and want to do the cave drop - anyone have experience there with other day trips they could recommend?

Second part of the trip will be on AC. DH and I will be staying at Ramon's but our boys will be across the road at Steve & Becky's - no more room at the inn ! I'm reading here as much as I can. Sounds like we will be, um, right where the action is, so to speak - yes? Is this a good thing? Hope so 'cause it's too late now! We hope to get to the Blue Hole. Any other recommendations for our boys or should we just figure we'll see them on the flight home???

Thanks for any feedback

good jump! this is a wonderful time to travel! San Pedro is awesome this time of year and on Christmas!

Belize will certainly be a memorable family trip for you.

Your location is great, you are just out of town and just a 5-10 min to town.

Your boys...plenty for guys their age to do here.

Go to the Blue Hole with Amigo's Del Mar, they are so much fun and provide a great trip, lunch, snacks, awesome boat.

Put this in your list of bookmarks:
http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/default.aspx

You can find out when the big ships will be in port and plan your excursions on other days. Not a big deal in SP, I guess, but we had Lamanai and cave tubing to ourselves a few weeks ago and it was wonderful!

On AC, I highly recommend snorkeling with Elito and the SeaDuced crew. Rebecca's brownies alone are worth it. And they're excellent with rum punch.

Great site Gordon.

Thanks ke and Gordon for this information - the cruise ship tip is one I never would have considered. Lots of ship activity in BC during our stay so it may take some work to plan excursions. We're looking forward to the cave tubing also.

So....how do I go about getting specifics on going to the Blue Hole with Amigo's Del Mar?? or snorkeling with Elito and the SeaDuced crew?? Are these best scheduled before we leave due to the holiday travel crowds?

I recommend Blue Hole and snorkling with Amigo's Del Mar. They will pick you up at your doc and drop you off. You do not need to do anything ahead of time, you can arrange when you arrive.

If you prefer to book a week before pm me and I will look up their # or you can click on phonebook on the main site here and they should be listed.

That cruise cal is great, isn't it? I can't take credit; I found it somewhere on this bulletin board and bookmarked it. I was **stunned** at Jaguar Paw when the guide said they sometimes have 1500 people thru there! It was way more fun to have the place to ourselves as we tubed.

Try this link for SeaDuced
http://www.ambergriscaye.com/seaduced/

If you book at their office in town (big purple bldg) you get a free shirt. This was great for me because I followed the VERY WISE advice of someone on the BB who suggested I pack fewer clothes and more $. I needed the money but then I ran out of clothes! Well, clean ones, at least.

My piece of advice re: snorkeling and such--buy your underwater cameras before you leave. They are cheaper and one is not enough! So much to see!

Also, I rented my snorkeling gear from Ramon's (where SeaDuced leaves from) and it was fine. I think it was about $10.