I just got back from both AC and Placencia. Do yourself a favor and stay in the mountains in Cayo somewhere. AC is really overrated and overpriced and Placencia is still realing from the big hurricaine. I was not impressed with the beaches in either of the areas. If you must do a beach area, I would try Caye Caulker, It seems much more reasonable. Don't take buses, fly..Sorry, but you asked........

Mary Toy, what a wonderful summary! It made me watnt to go back Belize all over again!!

Jono,
Stick to the upscale condos in Mazatlan or Acapulco, but make sure you never, ever get off of the manicured tourist trail, you might accidentally see some reality.

These posts are all jumbled and out of order. I am confused as to why posts are being moved in and out of various threads...anyway. Mountain Larry I dont' think that's quite fair to Jono. If you had read all of Jono's posts (they're in another forum area), you would see he had a problem with trash on the beaches, among other things. Just because someone doesnt' like to walk through trash on the beach, doesnt' mean he needs to "go to Cancun". It's not an "either/or" issue. If a place is going to bill itself as a tourist destination, eco-tourist, low-budget, low-key, WHATEVER,(as Belize does) it should remember that folks don't necessarily like to wade through trash to go swimming.--at least, not me. I took a tour to a national park near AC last June, and spent the picnic time staring at a long line of trash on the beach. As far as the eye could see. Huh? This is a national park? The locals say that the "trash washes up from other places", but if you look at the labels, you'll see that most of it is local. Spending your tourist dollars to go to a place that's relatively trash free is NOT too much to ask...and NO, I dont' plan on going to Cancun, Acapulco or any of those type of places. I like, Belize, except for the trash.

I agree. Sustainable waste management has always been an issue for Belize tourism. We used to discuss it at the BETEX conferences but they haven't had one since '98 or '99. And the more tourists, the more trash... I spend many hours picking stuff up in Central Park & along the beaches. How's that for a full service travel agent!?