so im planning on taking a little 6 day trip in late june/early july. my friend is going to be traveling down there for 3 weeks and i was planning on going down there w/ him and hanging out on the first leg of his trip. chiapas - san christobal, palneque, the waterfalls. ive heard the city is really cool and if your a fan of ancient ruins than palenque is definately worth a visit too. im a frequent traveler to mexico and have been all over, but chiapas is an area i havent been to yet. i was going to head back home and my friend was going to go to guatemala than belize. but ive recently been looking at some pics of belieze and it looks amazing. great snorkling and scuba diving. cool mayan ruins and lots of other assorted ecotourism type stuff. so now im thinking i might wait and meet him in belize instead of doing chiapas. so i ask of you, my clutch brethren to be "THE DECIDER". or at least help me be "THE DECIDER". anyone been to belize? chiapas? or both? if so i want to hear about it yo!
Belize is really nice, great stuff to see and actually a very well developed country in relation to its surroundings. Chiapas is nice except its so unstable thanks to rebels and the government constantly fighting over control. I'd check up on the security situation there first.
I went to Belize in November and it was awesome. Snorkeling, fishing, or just kicking back. If you get bored with the beach, you can go into the jungle to the west. I went cave tubing (float down a river and through a network of caves) and hiking. From there, you can travel into Guatamala and check out Tikal ruins. Tikal is a massive Mayan city. Best of all it was cheap.
great movie. I'd avoid Chiapas. Local law enforcement many times has lost control down there, and it's not a good place for tourists in my opinion due to security issues.
i've spent lots of time in belize and i love it. it's an amazingly diverse country, especially considering its size. i also happen to love chiapas. chiapas is the state mexico wouldn't give up all those years ago...hence, the rebellions and whatnot. i've never felt uncomfortable in chiapas. in fact, i've had some rather mystical experiences at palenque and in the forest. the ruins around belize are nice, but they've not been restored to the level that the ruins have in mexico. chiapas: nicer ruins, killer forest and mountains, cool "native" culture. belize: ruins, mountains, snorkeling/scuba, diverse culture, english-speaking. have fun either way.
