Four more weeks and counting!

So how much spending cash should two people bring to Belize? We have the room lined up in AC, and will use plastic for that. We wanted to visit Lamanai and maybe one other ruin, but mostly snorkel, kayak and water sports. Have to figure in eating, drinking, etc. I have no idea... $1000? more? How safe is it to carry that much around? Do a lot of places accept travelers checks?

Hate to sound like a big dope, but I've never been to Belize before. Can't wait!

Flycasual,

My husband & I were there for 9 days and we took along $1,800 in cash & travelers checks. Mind you, by no means were we trying to be frugal. If you use the travelers checks you might want to make sure you have Id with you, some places ask for it others don't. We never used our kitchen facilities once, we ate out every meal, paid cash for any excursion we chose to do and bought mementos for ourselves and family. And, we came home with $300 in our pocket. Enjoy and have a blast!!

San Pedro can be pretty economical. Putting a case of Belikin in your fridge will save a lot on bar tabs. the excursions are pretty reasonable. Yes, most places take traveler's checks and I didn't have a problem with ID personally. Of course you get back BZ $$ in change. That works out well for tips etc. at other places and for your maid etc..... I recommend a zip loc bag for your checks. If you go sailing or snorkeling they can get wet and don't spend as well. Also, if you lose them, you can get them replaced at the bank. Not so with cash. The amount you mentioned sounds reasonable, but bring extra and put it back upon return. Better safe than sorry.....
Debbie

4 Short Days, One other question????? If we did not bring enough cash, Is there a cash machine nearby????? and what cards does it take??? Okay okay that was two questions but we are very excited.

You can get cash with your credit/debit cards. Not at a US style ATM, but at the bank itself. There is a fee to do this of course. Expect BZ as US is in short supply at the moment. Also catching the bank open can be a challenge. We have a holiday nearly every week down here.

Fly..we took $1500.00 cash,no travelers checks. This was after we deducted the fee for Tropic Air and our hotel expenses.. it was totally spending money. Out of the $1500.00 we rented a golf cart for the week, paid for meals, souveniers (spelling?)and many cases of Belikin. We did not take any tours, and we do not dive or snorkel, but we also came home with about $300.00. We did not spare any expense, however, and bought groceries, etc, and ate like kings and queens all week.

Fly, ditto on what everyone else has said. We went for 2 weeks, took $2,000 and came home with $600 of it. We took T. Checks and had no problem anywhere with them. Have a wonderful time.

We are leaving tommorrow and I was wondering do you change your cash from US to BZ? I have heard mixed reviews. My first time too.

KATS....you do not have to convert money from US to Belize dollars..we took,as mentioned earlier,$1500.00 US and we never even got BZ dollars back in change! Don't worry about it..US dollars are accepted everywhere. Have a GREAT TIME!

Forgot to mention..we even tipped in US dollars and never got a complaint. We are jealous...we have 5 months to go!