Will be on the mainland of Belize in November and am looking for accomodations. Narrowed the search to two....Cahal Pech Village or Crystal Paradise. Does anyone have any input? Which one is better? Are they both convenient to get to the major attractions of the area? Any input regarding public transportation would be helpful too. Am thinking of taking the bus to San Ignacio instead of having the resort pick us up. Will save money and be an adventure...unless someone says differently.

The two are very different types of places.

Cahal Pech Village is on the top of a high hill near San Ingnacio. It is adjacent to the Cahal Pech ruins but also adjacent to a bar/club which can be noisy, esp. on weekends. The views are very nice from the top of the hill, but this is essentially a town place. The hotel has thatch cabanas and also a motel-like place.

By contrast, Crystal Paradise is out in the "country" on the Cristo Rey road en route to the Mountain Pine Ridge, near the Macal River. It is more of a jungle lodge (though it isn't located in dense bush) and has thatch cabanas and rooms. The Tut family that owns it know a lot about the area, run trips, tours, etc.

The buses can drop you at the foot of Cahal Pech hill (careful of the traffic, esp. after dark), but there is only very limited bus service to San Antonio and Cristo Rey. You would be more secluded here than at Cahal Pech.

--Lan Sluder