I have heard a convincing rumour that the fee for landing on Half Moon Caye is soon to be raised to a whopping US$30! If this is true, then given that the only reason most people visit it is to eat lunch on a Blue Hole trip, is it likely that they will prefer to have their lunch on the boat instead, or maybe go to Long Caye? I know I would.

People may also realise that the fee for entering Hol Chan Marine Reserve has also doubled to US$10, with no reduction (as there used to be) for a one-stop visit.

Not to say the further increase in sales tax and a major increase in hotel tax. Whilst I understand the parlous state of the country's finances, is this not too much all at one time to visit a country that is already vastly more expensive than its neighbours?

It'll be us$40.00pp with entry fee to BH.

How much is it now? Assuming a current regular rate of $185 for a day trip out to the Blue Hole, how much of that is the Halfmoon Caye fee now?

ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS

to continually tax the tourist is going to do nothing more than cause bad press for belize as an overly expensive destination.

I think a one time fee upon entry to the country should give entry to all belizes marine reserves and ruins etc something like $25 pp it works in places like Bonaire so why not belize.

it is my belief that the tourist is getting pretty sick of being penny pinched every corner they turn.

Gaz

None seashell the fee wil be extra on top of the trip cost

gaz

Yes Gaz, I was talking to a SP town centre hotelier today who said they already get complaints about the cost of everything in Belize. Guests say they're glad they came once, but they won't be back as nothing in Belize is worth what a holiday here costs. They'd rather dive at Cancun or Cozumel, and visit ruins in Mexico or Guatamala.

People sometimes ask me why I don't reduce prices at my dive centre to Honduran levels - my reply is simply that costs are so high that if I cover them and make a modest contribution to overheads I consider I'm doing well.

Katie - are you saying there will also be a BH admission charge? There isn't now. How will it be implemented - added to the cost of the ticket and collected from the boat operator, or somehow (?) collected out there? Or will they just assume everyone goes to HMC and raise the charge there to US$40? Maybe even make that stop mandatory, so my idea of staying on the boat or perhaps not even going to HMC wouldn't work.

Once this gets known I can see tourists deserting that trip big-time. And maybe Belize as a whole, once the hotel and sales tax rises filter through to prices.

Good grief. The whole intention is quite outrageous and can do nothing but hurt the tourism industry, especially the dive ops. As it is, even when they are non-divers, I have trouble convincing people to head to Belize, once they check out prices. Just the cost of a flight from Canada can make planning a trip to Belize difficult to swallow; especially for families. Things are a bit better right now for Canadians, with the US dollar devaluation but even so . . .

All that said, this plan makes staying on the outer cayes for diving a bit more attractive than staying in San Pedro and in that regard, may even help those resorts.

It costs approximately the same amount to fly from here to Roatan, Honduras and with Continental's new direct flights, the far less expensive acco, diving and restaurant bills, all that much more attractive.

Gaz's plan seems eminently sensible and so it probably won't fly. Who's running the show down there anyway? "No sense, no feeling."

Hey; what's to worry about?

According to the Belize Cruiseship Industry Association once the Immigrants and their quislings (don't be embarassed - I had to look it up too) are silenced and the overnight tourist becomes the Belizean Dodo, the Cruise Ship passenger will be the countries salvation.

Well, Pedro2, I'm not sure why a diver would say they'd rather dive in "Cancun", but as for ruins, that's another story.

Rangers are also collecting entry fees from people in the water in the South Water Caye Reserve which includes tobacco Caye. Listen, I have mixed feelings about some of these charges. I do not want these pristine areas to be the domain of the rich, but I know each person exacts some toll and would rather charge more and have less people utilizing the area. Sort of how Equador values the Galapagos-they charge a substantial entry fee and limit the amount of visitors. I've been up and down this reef, on all the atolls and think its pretty spectacular and unique. And divers can up and take all their biz to Roatan-but they don't have no blue hole there, no atolls, and on. We need to appraise our natural resources and devise a formula for use vs. upkeep. What is particularly disturbing is the proposal submitted to Coastal zone from two leading players in land based tours for cruise ship passengers who want to lease the Belize Barrier Reef from about Goffs Caye to Rendezvous Caye for their own use for cruise ship tourists. They propose to manage the reef and set their own limits for how many people per day can trample the coral-which means no limits.