We reported back in August about the Belize Hot Card, a discount card one can purchase for US$50 and use for discounts and perks at numerous locations throughout Ambergris Caye and a few places in Belize City.

Liz and I took our Hot Card into San Pedro each day and took advantage of a number of opportunities to save money. From restaurants to diving and snorkeling, we were able to get a lot for a little bit less than advertised thanks to this discount card.

About the only challenge we had was remembering to use the card. The card comes with a nice little printout of all the places where the card is honored. We checked that frequently when looking for a place to eat, such as at the Jambal Jerk Pit and Palapa Bar and Gill and let it often help us decide where to go. It never steered us wrong, but if we forgot to give the card to the server, or mention the card to the clerk, it was our own fault!

There were many discounts we weren’t able to capitalize on, such as hotel and golf cart/bike rentals simply because we either had prior reservations or simply weren’t on the island long enough. The cart rental would have been great had Cocotal not offered free use of their bikes and we were staying on the island longer.

We did, however score BIG with the card at Ecologic Divers! The 15% discount offered when one pays cash helped us to do much more than we’d originally budgeted for. We did a grand total of four dives and three snorkeling trips between the two of us. We saved much more than the cost of the card; and had we stuck around in Ambergris Caye longer, would have dove and snorkeled enough to save much, much more!

It is hard to believe but last night was the very first night that I was able to review the photos from the trip. Correction: It was the first night that I could view the photos from Saturday, the day we arrived. I have yet to review the rest of the week. Do bear in mind that Lizzy has been reviewing them and has passed several of them my way (e.g., spider pics and some others). Last night was just the first time I reviewed them myself.

I came across this amazing photo from our kayak and snorkel trip. We kayaked out a couple hundred yards to a buoy, tied a line and hopped in. The water wasn’t deep and the tide made it almost impossible to take a photo – above the surface or below!

Lizzy appears here just barely above the surface as she floats along admiring the view below. The timing of this shot was pretty spectacular to get the half-n-half. I just wish that I’d gotten a clear view below. That would have been amazing. Still working on my photography skills, though.

Belize is a poor country. There is little industry, technology, and/or big business in general. From the perspective of the local nationals, Americans are infinitely more wealthy. Whereas they might have enough money to go grab a Coke or Coke Light one day, we seem to have bags of money that allow us to fly across the globe and stay in foreign lands for weeks at a time.

This circumstance leads to interesting interactions in Belize. Recall the car rental place from a few posts back. Liz and I were immediately “assisted” by a scruffy looking man with a thick accent who practically grabbed our bags out of our hands and tried to recruit us into one of the other rental car shops. He wouldn’t leave us alone; he kept leaving and coming back to the shop with status reports and commenting on how bad Belize Auto Rental was.

I pretty much knew that I was going to have to tip this guy. I didn’t want to and I didn’t think he deserved one considering he forced his services upon us. But he’s broke and this is clearly the way he made his money. And, lets not forget that I am the rich American with tons of excess cash.

Tipping became a source of frustration for Liz and I. We received very good service from Beulah and Robbie and Jen and Chris at the hotels. And we felt they should get tipped, beyond the service charge added to our hotel bill. And the guys at Ecologic Divers were great! But as Liz had mentioned before, it wasn’t something we’d fully budgeted for, and we made some generous tips that were larger than our pocket change could sustain.

This challenge and frustration hit its peak when we were at the Belcove restaurant on our last night in Belize. Jules is the son of the owner of Belcove. He was visiting at he time of our stay. He welcomed us and was very friendly and declared that he would help us with our bags. He clarified “this is my family’s hotel. It won’t cost you anything.” But I was so distressed and programmed at that point, that I didn’t know what to do. So I tried to tip him.

He refused and repeated his connection to the hotel. I never felt more like an ugly American than at that point. Granted, I might not have looked like it, but I felt that way. We were so razzled by the tipping that we no longer knew what to do.

Our lesson learned and the corresponding travel tip is:

Understand that where you are going, the norms about service and compensation are different. The standard of living might be much different and many live off the tips they are given for their services. Understand that, appreciate it and have an idea how you are going to deal with it. — I once read a book full of little pieces of advice. One line said “tip well. The person serving you needs the money more than you do.” This is written to a son whom the father assumes will make his way in this world with some kind of “white collar” job. Assuming that is the case, then the advice is true. With that mindset, Liz and I are happy we rewarded those that helped us. We just wish we didn’t need the money as much as we do!

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The first day Courtney and I were in Belize we scheduled a snorkel trip with Ecologic Divers to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley thanks to the help of Beaulah from Cocotal Inn and Cabanas. Originally, Courtney and I were hoping to get on a snorkeling trip to see the Manatees. That trip would allowed for a stop on Caye Caulker, which we never got to check out except for a brief stop on the water taxi from Ambergris Caye to Belize City. The manatee trip is a full day trip, while the snorkeling trip we partook in was a half day trip.

We were greeted by Ted on the dock at Cocotal Inn and cabanas around early afternoon. Yes, they come and pick you up at the location you are staying if there is a dock there. Otherwise they might arrange for the nearest public dock. One great thing about Cocotal Inn and Cabanas is the dock. They are actually one of the only properties on Ambergris Caye that extends from the beach side to the lagoon side. You can view the sunset over the lagoon and watch the sunrise over the Atlantic ocean, all within steps of each side!

Getting back to Snorkeling, we hopped on the boat and arrived at Ecologic Tours where we were fitted with the proper equipment needed for our snorkeling trip. Courtney did not need anything and I only needed a set of flippers. Cocotal Inn and Cabanas does not allow you to take flipper out on adventure snorkel trips, you can only borrow their equipment for activities off their dock or using their ocean kayaks. Makes sense, they don’t want to lose their equipment.

After about 30 minutes of getting ourselves together, we hop on the boat with Ted and Charlie (the tour guides) and head towards Hol Chan. It’s about a 10-20 minute boat ride to get to Hol Chan. We arrive and see a boat sitting on the water with some really bored looking park rangers on it. To go to Hol Chan, you must pay a park fee (which Ecologic Divers notifies you about in price of the trip up front). We gear up and jump into the water. I get in the water a few minutes before Courtney as he is getting the underwater HD camera together. I immediately see a large turtle swimming off in the distance. I swim over and follow him for a minute before worrying if I might get in trouble leaving the group. I head back to the boat and Courtney had just jumped in the water with the HD Cam. I start taking shots with Courtney’s underwater camera that he received as a gift. It’s a great underwater camera. Ted leads the group and shows us lots of cool fishies. We see an eel, grouper, jack, etc. Courtney would be better at naming the exact species of fish we saw. There were so many, I was overwhelmed. They also just point out the species of fish and it’s hard to identify the name of the species as everyone is busy snorkeling/underwater and communication via words is hard to follow. Regardless, we saw some really cool things, including sting rays and brightly colored coral.

Commercial Break for Part two: Shark Ray Alley and chumming…Please visit our friend Marie at Belize Hot Card and learn how you can save lots of $ on your trip to Belize!

I don’t know that Liz and I will make it a habit to post every morning, but on this day, we just so happened to be awake before everyone else is and have the luxury of a few minutes to relax and gather our wits about us. Much of this may have to do with the 8:30 bedtime last night! We were so exhausted by the end of our journey yesterday (OK after we kayaked out to the reef, climbed a tree, drank coconut rum punch and ate a wonderful dinner), that we simply couldn’t stay awake any longer.

But going to bed at 8:30 leads to an early rise, even after ten hours sleep! So we got up, walked to the dock, laid in the hammocks for a couple of minutes and are now prepping or a trip to forage for food.

One new travel tip: ALWAYS stick to your plan. Liz and I got too excited to stop and grab groceries on our way to Cocotal yesterday. We were indecisive on what we should do and ultimately skipped it. Would have been easy to cook up some grub and roll out the kayaks first thing this morning. Lesson learned.

Old Travel Tip: Pack a few clothes into carry on items! A nice couple from Birmingham shared our flights but not our fortune as their luggage didn’t arrive. They are staying at a private island with the clothes on their backs and a tank top Liz insisted the lady borrow. I feel bad for them, but on the bright side, they do have all the privacy in the world on that little island!