We spent three nights at the Macal River Camp in late January. It was a great experience. We stayed in one of the smaller casitas (just two beds) but it was plenty big for us. It is a bit of a walk to the bathrooms, but nothing bad. It's just like when you go camping in the US, only the bathrooms are MUCH cleaner and well maintained at Macal River Camp. Just be sure to pack your flashlight or headlamp. You will need it. It gets dark fast out in the jungle. They do have a little power they run off a sweet solar set up but it's used for the dining area and bath area only.

The site is 100% safe. There is always someone on site so your things are safe even if you're not around.

Really the best thing about Macal River camp is Dosio and his family. They are friendly and helpful. The want you to have a good time and be comfortable. They make the effort to make sure you're happy. Dosio's wife and sister-in-law prepare the meals (breakfast and dinner included in the nightly rate) I can't say there was anything I didn't like. I'm typically a picky eater but decided I needed to open myself up to new things on this trip and I wasn't disappointed. The first night we had tilapa and both my husband and I loved it. We're not normally fish people. Desert that night was banana cake. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Breakfast was great, filling for a day filled with activities. Lunch can be purchased at the restaurant at the main resort if you're not heading into town or going on an excursion that includes them. Try a Limeaid if you get to the restaurant. Great drink to sip while sitting around the pool.

Dosio also helped to point out wildlife and told us about other things that we could hear but not see. If the howler monkeys are near you can't not hear them. If you're a light sleeper they might keep you up but I was always so exhausted from our fun days I had no trouble sleeping.

Take the canoes into town if you can. We had lunch and walked around for about an hour before Dosio picked us up. It was a two hour canoe downstream. Beautiful! They tell you to pull out at the concrete dock. You should know it's not really a dock. More like a little rectangle of concrete that you'll miss if you're not looking for it. It's on the left just after you pass under the suspension bridge, before you get to the low bridge.

We also went on the ATM cave tour while there but booked directly though PACZ tours. I was able to save us some money that way. The hotel will book for you, but you pay a premium. PACZ was great by the way! Take a little extra cash with you if you do the ATM cave, we wished we'd had a little so we could have stayed to enjoy happy hour with our fellow hikers and taken a taxi back to camp. Your gear and items are completely safe in the vans while you are hiking.

We also learned that we could save money by taking a taxi back to Belize City to catch our flight to Ambergris Caye. At a cost of $100 that saved us nearly $70. I would however recommend that you use the resort for your transportation to Chaa Creek as it really is nice to have someone waiting for you as you step off the plane after a long day of travel. The driver that picked us up also told us all about the country and villages we were passing though. He was a delight! Totally worth the extra cost for at least one leg of the journey.

If you take electronics with you, bring some silica or something similar to pack into their cases, just helps a little with the humidity since you can't get back into a/c to dry them out.

Bring your own empty water bottle. There are so many plastic water bottles all over this country. I get that people want safe water but you can find that and use your reusable bottles and help preserve the beauty that is Belize.

Macal River Camp isn't fancy, but it's functional and affordable. The food and company is wonderful. It's a great way to meet people from around the world and try new things. Go and enjoy! We aren't usually very outgoing, adventurous travelers but I am so glad we took a step outside our comfort zone to experience this place.

We stayed in one of the cottages overlooking the Macal River and fell in love with it. There is so much to do and see on this beautiful nature preserve lodge. If you love nature and beauty, and the you will want to stay longer. Thanks to Mick & Lucy Fleming for creating this diamond on the Macal River. We will be coming back next year!

We recently returned from Belize and had a 2 night stop at Chaa Creek. We loved it! We randomly happened to fly in on the same flight as the owners of the resort (Lucy and Mick) and had the pleasure of riding back with them on the Chaa Creek private shuttle/van. We got a great feel for the resort and how it all started. Lucy and Mick have a very interesting story of starting out with very little to slowly building this world class resort near the edge of Belize.
Things that stuck out:
- Grounds are beautiful and manicured.

-We were in the Jacuzzi suite at the edge of the property and it was beautiful and serene with a nice jungle view. Keep in mind there are no glass windows - only floor to ceiling screens (with curtains), so the whole resort has an "outdoor" feel to it. However - the ladies will be happy to know that we did not notice a bug or creature problem in our room :)

-Food - All the vegetables (and I believe the chicken and eggs as well) are grown organically on site and the beef comes from a nearby Organic farm. The bread is baked fresh and literally tastes like they brought it out of the oven and put it on to your plate! We loved the food - everything was super fresh and tasty.

-Service - Excellent! Definitely get to know the folks who work there! They all have great stories and all are more than willing to have a chat with you.

-Excursions - SUPER EXPENSIVE. So the only con with Chaa creak is its isolation. It is a few miles from San Ignacio town and about 1 hr away from most of the excursions (and close to 2 hours from Belize City airport) This means you pay big bucks to hire a driver and take you on the excursions. We only did one- Cave tubing/Zip lining - and it was about an hour away. I believe we paid about $200 for the driver and then $80/each or so for the excursion (which included lunch). Anyways, we had a blast - the driver was super knowledgeable about EVERYTHING so it was fun to spend a few hours with him. On the way back, he took us to the local San Ignacio market (it was Saturday) so it was fun to meet and shop with the locals. However, it was still expensive :) I think if you can get more people to go with you, the cost per person for the driver goes down.
Overall - we loved it!

Our family stayed in the spa villa at Chaa Creek and enjoyed ourselves very much. The Villa itself was set at the top of a hill, over the spa, close to the butterfly garden and nature center. The Villa was beautifully appointed and stocked with provisions. If you rent this Villa be prepared for a lot of stairs - it was about 200 steps up from the restaurant to the villa. We enjoyed the adventure and exercise of our many trips up and down during the day, but it might not be for everyone. There are lots of villas on the main level though. Our stay was only two days but we enjoyed the pool, horseback riding, a trip to Xunantunich (Maya ruins, just 15 minutes away), delicious meals, a late night "creatures of the night" walk, butterfly and nature center tour, and relaxing times on the beautiful deck overlooking the hills with bird sightings galore. The horseback riding was a true adventure, with running and beautiful scenery.