Belize Small Ship Cruises

Accommodations Review

Cha Creek Lodge: We had a great cottage with two queen beds no AC. We were comfortable and enjoyed the outdoor shower (had an indoor one too). We didn't spend much time in the unit during the day and with fans we didn't need AC at night (we were there in June/July). No problem with buds. Very clean, daily housekeeping. Our unit adjoined another unit and as the jungle wakes up many very early (5-6am), be prepared in your screened in unit to be awoken by your neighbors. It was fine to hear the jungle early, but not kids playing like they should at 5am...

Belize Sailing Vacation: We stayed on the 47' Tranquilo. There's one smaller queen cabin which our 17 year old girls used was fine for them. We had a bigger cabin with tons of storage and a nice bathroom. Our friends had a similar cabin to us and their boys used the bunk bed cabin. The cabins worked for all of us just fine as we used the cabins for sleep/storage only as we hung out in the galley or top deck. AC is provided via generator while sleeping when not on shore power and was comfortable. So, it can get hot with no wind while not sailing but the ocean was right there to jump in. Each day the beds were made and the bathroom tidied up. Our boat allowed us to take very short showers for about half our trip until we could fill the water tanks so be prepared for a quick get wet, turn off, lather/shampoo and quick rinse. On the boat we had good snorkel gear, 2 kayaks, 4 paddleboards (only needed 2), Manny's fishing/spear gear, motor dingy.

Meals Review

Cha Creek Lodge: We ate all meals at the Lodge. The menus were simple with popular and local choices. ALL were great. Dinner portions on the smaller side if you had a long day out on tours, but if you order a soup/salad you are fine. The bar had fresh fruit drinks and always had ice/water to fill your water bottle. The to go lunches with tours were always fresh and lots of choice, even local bean/rice/chicken and cold drinks (you will see other tour groups and their lunches did not look as good and was missing table cloths).

Belize Sailing Vacations: AMAZING food cooked by Cainee. Each meal different from the day before. You got a breakfast, simple snack, lunch, snack/app and dinner/dessert. Each based on the day of activities and when start breakfast and done sailing. Breakfast ranged from egg/meat to yogurts/continental. Always had coffee going before anyone was up. Fruit galore. Simple snack was usually after our first dive and was chips/dips/fruit. Lunch was always enough and again had a variety of meals. Dinner was always great and if you catch enough fish/lobster you'll have a great dinner. You'll also have chicken and or brought/bought fish along the way. Again food was amazing. The beverages were also good as we were provided enough non alcoholic drinks (coke, sprite, ginger ale, grapefruit and juices) and alcoholic (beer and 3 rums). Lots of options to make any tropical drink. We brought some vodka and tequila from the duty free store and this was nice to have to mix it up, but would have been fine without. Drinking water came from a large container and was good quality.

Crew & Guides Review

Chaa Creek Lodge: The local guides (bird hike, butterfly, night hike, horseback, Caracol, ATM) were very knowledgeable in local wildlife, plants, culture, history. Each were enthusiastic in telling their personal local story, historical facts and knowledge of the area. They were definitely not just along for the ride and wanted you to experience/learn while you were with them. I believe Cha Creek Lodge mostly uses their own staff as guides and not outside companies, I think this helped in them connecting better with our group. Unfortunately I do not remember names.

Belize Sailing Vacations: Manny and Cainee where great hosts on the boat. You felt safe in Manny's hands as he always was the foremost captain waking before you rose, sailing the boat all day, with you on all excursions/snorkels, spear fishing fresh fish or setting the trolling gear, getting whatever you needed and going to bed after you. Also he was very knowledgeable of the wildlife, sea, islands, people and Belize; on top of being friendly and funny. Cainee was a hard worker also rising before you and going to bed after you. While helping Manny with some boating like anchoring, she never stopped cooking, cleaning and making sure you were having a good time.

Itinerary Review

On Land: Cha Creek Lodge was very nice. The accommodations, food and staff were great but even better were the activities at the Lodge (Reserve) and their own guides taking us off site. At the Reserve we horseback rode, tubed, rafted the Mecal River, bird watched, live butterfly exhibit, Belize/Mayan history and to top it off howler monkeys and other wildlife all around you. The guided tours though were special, including Caracol and Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) cave. Caracol was bit of a drive but worth it with few tourists (I'd guess less than 50). The ruins are amazing with our guide providing great history. I won't go into depth as you can read other docs on what is here. After Caracol, along the way back ended with the cool water swim at Big Rock Falls (kids loved the rock jumping), this was a great way to break up the drive.

ATM was even better with seeing real Mayan sacrifice urns and skeletal remains. It starts by navigating the wet cave with some harder maneuvering/climbs but nothing too hard with your guide's help and didn't feel claustrophobic. At a point you leave the cave river and head up into the cave. The various chambers were amazing as you made your way to the end with an entire skeleton on display. There were some gigantic chambers which were some of the biggest I've seen. At Cha Creek Lodge we had 3 full days but 4 would have been better so we could have spent more time in San Ignacio or local towns (1st day - arrive late/pool, 2nd day - rest/butterfly/Horse/bird watch/pool, 3rd day - ATM/raft, 4th day - Coracal/Big Rock, 5th day - leave late morning). All guides from Horseback to ATM were well versed in the local/mayan history/wildlife.

On Sea: Upon arrival to our Belize Sailing Vacation Catamaran (Tranquilo) for 8 nights, we were greeted by Captain/Master fisherman/diver Manny and 1st Mate/Cook Extraordinaire Cainee. Really nice boat. We were very fortunate our first day on the boat was opening lobster season. We speared fish with the great help of Manny and had enough lobster for days. We added other fish caught off the boat over the trip as we trolled from snorkel/night spots. The snorkeling/scuba (dive) were great with each spot offering a bit different dive whether different coral or fish or beach. Most days were slower with breakfast around 7-8, move on to next island/reef, dive, lunch, move to next island/reef, dive, dinner. Our group was pretty active enjoying at least 2 dives a day, enjoying books/games/swimming/sun/learning from Manny/Cainee. We visited some islands and hung out in the sun. Had a couple off days with only one dive or none. We enjoyed Placencia and other small island hikes/bars. We stayed on mainland only one night. We always had enough great food, drink and ice.

Transportation Review

Airlines and ground transportation were great. This includes the required covid tests. Luckily the airlines were on time and our ground transportation was always there meeting us.

AdventureSmith Explorations Review

Even after repeated changes to the itinerary due to Covid, our trip was well planned. From airlines, airport transfers, lodging/boat reservations and tours, all clicked perfectly and we moved through the trip without incident.

Accommodations Review

Chaa Creek was beautiful and our villa was quite fancy. Large windows, spacious, a/c, our own pool and howler monkeys hanging out next to it. The catamaran "Tranquilo" was equally as nice. It fit the 8 of us plus the 2 crew just fine. Had a/c in the rooms, seemed to have plenty of storage, and the bathrooms worked fine.

Meals Review

Food at both the lodge and on the catamaran was wonderful. All fresh and uniquely prepared. Kainie from the boat was amazing in what she prepared and even went the extra mile and gave us a 4th of July picnic since we were there for the holiday. Just awesome.

Itinerary Review

Our group loved the ATM wet cave where you swam and splunked through big caverns and narrow passageways only to come to a part of the cave where old pottery relics and skeleton bones dated 1600 years were left behind by Mayan people. The Mayan ruin of Caracol. The fishing, snorkeling and diving of the incredible reefs of Belize. There is not much not to enjoy but I probably would not have done the tubing from Chaa Creek as it was long and slow.

I think if you have a group that would like to go to Belize spending the money on a charter boat is the way to go. So intimate, lots of flexibility and fun. The kids were taught to spear fish by our captain, sailing to the different cayes was amazing. I would have liked to have seen some more local communities but that can be for the next sailing trip. Being in the jungle and at Chaa Creek was also a great side trip to do in addition to the boat. So glad we got to experience both the jungle and sea!

Transportation Review

Transportation was arranged via Chaa Creek and Belize Sailing Vacation. All were flawless and we were met on time with comfortable travel vehicles all equipped with a/c which was great since it was so hot and humid!

AdventureSmith Explorations Review

Communication about expectations and how to prepare were spot on and well needed since it had been awhile since any of us had traveled out of the country. With all the nuances added due to Covid we never felt uninformed about changes or requirements. Pretty seamless. Adventuresmith also provided us with a useful app that had all of our pertinent information, flights, etc for easy access to resources.

Adventuresmith prepared us in such a way that we always were kept abreast on any and all changes, requirements or nuances with the trip that we needed to be aware of. The app we had that held all of our information was pretty slick. Trip information and details were complete and accurate. Friendly and knowledgeable staff that were genuinely excited for us to travel.

Traveler Advice

Flights seem to change constantly so keep up with it. Make sure to do your research on what excursions you want to do and ask questions. Sometimes while you're in the country of travel you need to work a little for clarification for some of the excursions or experiences.

Accommodations Review

Chaa Creek and the sailboat were both great. In Chaa Creek your rooms are very open and comfortable and it had a nice pool for you to cool off in. The sailboat was great too; you can jump off it when you're stopped and the rooms are very cozy. It was amazing that the hotels we were staying at let us pick what we wanted to do; the boat also did the same and it was great.

Meals Review

I liked every meal I had on this trip. All of it was fresh and very well prepared. The meals on the boat were sometimes even fish we caught while moving.

Crew & Guides Review

Our trip guides were incredible. All of them were very nice and very knowledgeable about the trip. Every guide had great enthusiasm and was just very happy to have us.

Itinerary Review

My most enjoyed experience on this trip was scuba diving. Scuba diving was super fun and a great new experience for me. We saw super cool fish and creatures and the overall experience was great. My least Favorite experience was rafting down the river at Chaa Creek. You really have to raft at a certain time when the river is full and running fast; sadly, we did not go at that time and it was very slow and we had to paddle the entire thing.

Transportation Review

The transportation was always on time and they used very good cars. The drivers were very nice and wouldn't be mad if you had to stop.

Traveler Advice

Be ready for the heat.

Accommodations Review

I really enjoyed staying in the jungle at Chaa Creek. I have never done anything like that before so it was so cool to experience.

Meals Review

All meals were so delicious and unique.

AdventureSmith Explorations Review

Todd knows what he is doing and brought us on an excellent trip. (AdventureSmith is) the best travel company out there.

Traveler Advice

Get excited.

Accommodations Review

Both Chaa Creek and the boat were very comfortable and upscale.

Meals Review

Not much more to say than the food was fantastic!

Crew & Guides Review

Our guides were knowledgeable and friendly. Really made us feel at home.

Itinerary Review

Hard to say (what I enjoyed the most)! I loved the ruins and cave visit but also loved all our time on the boat. It was perfect to combine the two. (What places or experiences did I enjoy the least?) None! I just would have liked one more day at Chaa Creek because there is so much to do.

Transportation Review

We did not even need to think about it. It was all arranged and timely.

AdventureSmith Explorations Review

They helped us navigate all the new Covid requirements easily.

Traveler Advice

If you are going from land to sea and have packed light, take advantage of having some clothes laundered from Chaa Creek.