Belize General Info

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on December 16, 2015

I have been teaching snorkeling for years now. And when I first started going to Belize in 1986, I wasn’t even a strong swimmer. Belize is the perfect place to learn because the water is warm and clear and there are small tides and few currents. However, some people still experience fear and have many problems feeling comfortable under the water breathing through a tube. We teach beginners t

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on December 9, 2015

For several years now the government of Belize has been trying to develop their petroleum production resources after oil was discovered in western Belize. Several wells were drilled there and have been producing oil which is exported to the US to be refined. The revenues for the government generated from this activity have been a real boon to Belize. The government then proceeded to issue licenses

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on December 2, 2015

One of the many fun things about having a business like this is I become friends with our guests, and sometimes I haven’t even met them yet. Past guests send me articles they know I will find interesting. Recently Julie, an almost three-timer (Her 3rd trip to our island starts this upcoming Christmas Day!), sent me a link to a very interesting article from the National Aquarium about the har

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on November 25, 2015

Lamanai is an incredible Mayan archaeological site in a tropical rain forest setting in the interior of Belize. It’s easy to visit Lamanai from Belize City as a day trip, and here’s how I did it as an independent traveler. There is a 6:00 a.m. bus that leaves from the bus station in Belize City for a town called Orange Walk. The owner of my bed and breakfast in Belize City was kind enough to d

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on November 18, 2015

I update a Belize flights page on our website weekly, and lately have been astounded at the great deals from all over to Belize. Even at Christmas the fares are surprisingly good from some cities. I decided to make a 6 week chart that shows sample fares from the 29 US and Canadian cities that we track. These dates are flying in on a Friday and out on a Sunday which is the start and end days of our

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on October 28, 2015

In an earlier blog we talked about the devastating drought that has affected all of Central America, including Belize. Well, the peak of the rainy season, Sept/Oct, has changed everything. This last week a slow moving tropical storm swept across Belize, creating torrential rains in the northern part of the country. It rained between 10″ and 23″ in various parts of the country, a huge t

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on October 21, 2015

The current El Nino is not only affecting weather patterns across the US and the Caribbean, but it has also set in motion another widespread coral bleaching event. Coral bleaching occurs when ocean temperatures rise too much above average, and the coral organism reacts by discharging the algae it depends on for food. After this happens the coral will die, leaving behind its white skeleton of pure

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on October 7, 2015

On our island in Belize we have all of the sport toys you can imagine: sea kayaks, surf kayaks, surf paddleboards, long distance paddleboards, beginner, intermediate and advanced windsurfers, fishing kayaks, surf boards, rolling kayaks, and kitesurf gear. It’s hard to say which sport is the favorite, but it might be sea kayaking. We use the kayaks to access snorkeling spots, and sea kayaks a

Posted by Slickrock Adventures on September 30, 2015

We have already commented in a previous blog post about the developing El Nino weather pattern that is affecting the climate patterns across the Caribbean. The primary effect El Nino is having is to alter the upper level wind strength and that has been suppressing hurricane development in the Caribbean. So far there has not been a single hurricane in the entire Caribbean, which is very unusual sin