How do you choose where to go in Belize? It depends on what kind of experience you’re looking for. For such a small country (it’s about the size of Massachusetts or Wales for reference) there is remarkable diversity in ecosystems, and so much to see and do. The below travel guide to Belize can help you plan an amazing trip to this tropical and jungle paradise, or you can contact me to help plan your trip! I’m an experienced, award-winning, professional travel designer and I’m happy to help make your trip really special!
Where to go in Belize
I hit three different spots over the eight days I was there, squeezing in a stay at a luxury beach resort in rustic Placencia, an Indiana Jones-style adventure in the jungles and caves of the Cayo District, and an unforgettable, immersive, cultural experience with the Garifuna community in Stann Creek’s little village of Hopkins.This level of variety is totally doable, though not inexpensive. You’ll pay a premium for domestic flights and private shuttles, because even though it’s a small country there are only a handful of paved roads. I hope the below Belize travel guide to Placencia, Cayo and Hopkins is helpful in choosing where to stay, what to do, and how to get off the beaten path in tiny, beautiful, welcoming Belize. You can also hire me to plan and book your trip to Belize.
You can also “do Belize” in the most popular way – If you just want to do a “fly and flop” – as we call it in the industry. In which case this isn’t the Belize travel guide for you, but you can easily book a package tour or an all-inclusive deal and stay out at a resort on Ambergris Caye. You’ll probably have a relaxing beach vacation but you may leave without experiencing much of the culture, or seeing how the terrain changes from mountain to jungle to beach in just a few hours’ drive.
Placencia Belize Travel Guide
Luxury beach resorts, epic sunrises, tiny fishing villages, top notch hospitality, amazing snorkeling, swimming with whale sharks.
Placencia is a small village on a little tiny peninsula that extends from Belize’s less developed southern coast. The village itself is small, sleepy, and safe. I was there as high season was ending and when my friends and I walked around we found friendly locals to wave and say hello to, and a few other tourists strolling around. It’s hard to imagine the place ever feeling crowded. With the exception of a few small, mid-range to budget inns right in town, most of the accommodations in this area are set outside the main village and are medium-sized luxury level resorts.
Where to stay in Placencia
I stayed at Turtle Inn, a beautiful, eco-friendly, high end resort with a cluster of Balinese-style thatched roof cottages, a couple of small pools, a main building with an open-air restaurant at its center, a tasteful tiki bar just feet from the calm surf. It’s luxurious, five-star living, but it’s anything but flashy. There’s plenty of privacy, in fact my two friends and I had the pools and even the entire expanse of private beach to ourselves at different points over the three days we were there. The sweet staff was honestly one of the highlights of our stay – they all knew us by name. It sometimes felt like we had rented the whole place out. Don’t laugh, but one of my favorite things was the open air-style bathroom in our cottage…it has all the amenities you need but you’re basically on a screened in porch, with a walled garden outside…where there’s an outdoor shower. Magical. There are three different restaurants and you have to venture down the beach or across a quiet road to get to them, and they’re intimate, so it really doesn’t feel like typical resort dining. The food was always fresh and simple – seafood, rice, vegetables.
Where to eat in Placencia
Omar’s Creaole Grub is a small and modest seafood restaurant in Placencia Village. Omar and his brother’s own and run the place, catch the fish themselves, and they sell their own art there too. If you’re lucky, Omar’s adorable five year old daughter will come around to the table and might even pull up a seat and join you, especially if you order french fries. The food is excellent, simple and healthy, and reasonably priced.
There’s an ice cream place everyone talks about (is it the only ice cream place in town? Maybe. But people also raved about it) caled Tutti Frutti. It was closed when I was there. My friends and I planned to have some as an appetizer before Omar’s opened up for dinner. Instead, we wandered into the bar next door and each bought a Belikin – Belize’s national beer – and took them for a stroll to the end of the dirt road at the edge of town. The edge of town in Placencia is the water, and a bunch of fishermen were gutting their catch from the day – long, thick, iridescent rainbow colored fish. We hung around rather shyly, said hello, snapped a few photos, and headed back to Omar’s in time to see an amazing fuchsia sunset coming down over a field. You can walk the entire length of Placencia’s main (possibly only?) road in about 10 minutes. Turned out okay that there wasn’t any ice cream.
Things to do in Placencia
Belize is a popular place for swimming with whale sharks and it was at the top of my list of things to do, but unfortunately none had been spotted for a month prior and the experts at the resort said they wouldn’t feel comfortable taking our money just to drive a boat out and not see any. So instead we went on a fabulous snorkeling trip and were able to swim above some sting rays and some smaller sharks (eek!) and see tons of gorgeous tropical fish. It was definitely a highlight. Other than that, the main thing to do in Placencia is unplug and just CHILL. I also highly recommend getting up for the sunrise here – it’s so worth it!
Getting to Placencia
It’s worth mentioning that there is no direct international flight into Placencia airport. You have to fly into Belize City and then catch a flight or drive/take a car. The flight is quick and on a very small plane. The drive could take at least three hours. The extra travel time is probably one reason Placencia feels remote, quiet and off the beaten path. I think harder to reach places are almost always worth it for the space and feeling once you get there.
More on transportation in Belize at the bottom of the page.
Cayo District Travel Guide
Jungle and rainforest hikes, biking through orange groves, bird watching, beautiful jungle lodges, Mayan ruins, spelunking and exploring a world-famous cave.
Belize is so small that just a couple hours drive from the beaches and you’re in the middle of the jungle. The drive itself is part of the experience…the Hummingbird highway winds through beautiful and seemingly endless landscapes: hills and mountains and forests and orange groves and swampland. Once in a while you’ll pass another car, or a mennonite dairy farm with amazing fresh ice cream, the famous Knopf bakery (it was closed when we passed but they sell their goods all over) or small families selling fruit on the side of the road. Belize’s Cayo district is where you’ll find lush rainforest, spelunking adventures, Mayan ruins, jungle lodges, tropical birds, and lots and lots of orange groves.
Where to stay in Cayo
I spent two nights at Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge, so-called for the way that the rolling hills in the distance seem to form the body of a sleeping giant from head to toe. I was lucky to be upgraded to a Mountain View Suite and thus woke up to the sleeping giant, and could see him from the boho tassled hammock on the giant terrance, which also had a private hot tub and pool. It was a bit of a hike to get to the room, but worth it – up high, you’re immersed in the beautiful jungly sounds of insect mating calls and bird song. One night after dinner my friends and I changed into swimsuits and climbed into the hot tub with a bottle of rum and in the darkness it felt like we were suspended high up in the trees.
Sleeping Giant is surrounded by acres of private land and you have the option of exploring the vast, lush grounds in a variety of ways…. paddle boarding on a river, biking through orange groves, hiking to a mountaintop gazebo with incredible views.
Where and what to eat Cayo District
We actually ate almost all of our meals at the lodge and they were really good. Heading out of the area there is a mennonite dairy farm called The Country Barn with AMAZING ice cream. But the absolute highlight was the homemade lunch made by the mother of our guide who took us through the ATM Cave (see below).
What to do in Cayo
Because you’re pretty isolated once you’re there, Sleeping Giant can arrange all kinds of outings like river tubing, caving, birding excursions, even a day trip to Tikal (across the border in Guatemala), and the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable in offering recommendations. We decided to do the day excursion a very famous Mayan burial site called Actun Tunichil Muknal, better known as the ATM cave. Hearing the description, I was honestly dreading the experience for a few reasons… potential claustrophobia triggered by wiggling through tight spaces, and also the fact that it’s so popular – I was expecting hoards of tourists. But as it turned out it was one of the high points of the week.
Actun Tunichil Muknal ATM Cave
The ATM cave is tightly regulated, so only approved/licensed guides are able to take people in, and we only saw a couple of other groups throughout the day. My two friends and I ended up with basically a private tour (aside from one very sweet young Sleeping Giant employee who joined us…the lodge sends all employees on the excursions so they can provide proper recommendations…points for that!) with a supremely fun, funny, cool, and knowledgeable guide named Brainard August, a Mayan and native Belizean who has his own guiding company called True Vine Adventures. He’s gone to school for archaeology, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
I highly recommend hiring Brainard (here is a link to book his tour) if you want to do the ATM cave tour. There are plenty of places on the web to read more about the ATM cave, but it was a true adventure: pulling ourselves by rope across rivers to get there, swimming through cold cave water with bats flying overhead, helping each other scale rocks and ladders, tiptoeing around the bones left from ancient Mayan sacrifices, and just the experience of being in a living museum. We emerged happy and covered in cave mud and when we got back to the car Brainard set up a folding table with lunch – homemade tamales that made by someone in his family. They were delicious.
Hopkins
Indigenous Garifuna, authentic cultural immersion, community tourism, amazing food, scuba diving, Mayan healers, birding and hiking in a national park.
Belize’s mainland has a long coastline. I visited two different beach areas there and they felt a world away from each other, but they were only about 40 miles apart. I heard about Hopkins through a company called Lokal, which is a booking platform that connects travelers to culturally immersive experiences that benefit the local community and economy lots of amazing destinations. What I knew about Hopkins was that it was a Garifuna village that many consider to be the center of Garifuna culture in Belize. You can read more here about my time with the Garifuna in Hopkins.
Depending on your travel style and the kinds of experiences you’ve had, Hopkins might be more gritty and rough around the edges than what you’re used to. This village has only had electricity since the 1990s, and sometimes the power goes out. People – and the stray dogs, chickens move at a slow pace whether walking. The hot water might run out, shops and restaurants close early and open according to mood, the village ATM didn’t accept cards with a microchip… but if you’re looking to venture into a culturally rich community, be welcomed with smiles, make new friends, learn to cook and play music and go fishing with local people who are fiercely preserving their beautiful heritage and fighting to share it with the world…then this is for you. You can read more details in my detailed stories about my experiences in Hopkins, but below is an overview.
Where to stay in Hopkins
I stayed at the family-run Palmento Grove Cultural & Fishing Lodge, and was taken care of by a fun, funny, and ambitious Garifuna entrepreneur named Uhwanie who owns and runs the place with her father Eugene. Palmento Grove is colorful and eclectic, and the whole place breathes Garifuna history. Since my visit they had an unfortunate fire and much of the place I experienced burned down, but they were able to rebuild and apparently it’s even better than it was before. If you want an authentic experience in Belize and homecooked meals, I definitely recommend staying at Palmento Grove. I hope to get back there someday and see the new setup.
Book your stay at Palmento Grove
If you want the comfort and amenities of a luxury resort I can also recommend Hamanasi Resort, part of Regenerative Resorts (I actually met and spoke on a panel on sustainable travel with the owner Dana Krauskopf). The resort is deeply committed to sustainable practices and ethical ocean exploration and I have heard only good things about it.
Book your stay at Hamanasi Resort
Where to eat in Hopkins
Palmento Grove’s awesome owner, Uhwanie, made excellent breakfasts and the restaurant there was also open to the public for other meals.
Tina’s is ground zero for Garifuna cuisine in Hopkins. Tina and her family serve food from their kitchen which opens out to a concrete terrace where they’ve set up a tent and round communal tables. I went for dinner one night and the place was thumping with a real party vibe thanks to a band of young drummers performing for diners. I imagine the place is like that most of the time.
Driftwood Pizza had a great setup for casual pizza with lots of outdoor seating and hammocks on the beach for lounging.
Queen Bean’s may or may not have been an official restaurant. It seemed like someone’s home where they set up picnic tables and sell food out of a window. If you’re like me, this is more than acceptable, it’s absolutely the type of place I love to try when I’m traveling. The food was delicious.
What to do in Hopkins
I told Uwahnie I wanted to sign up for every kind of immersive activity the offered, which kept me very busy over the three days I was there. All of it was arranged by Palemento Grove, and Uwahnie even joined me on some of the adventures – fishing, a cooking lesson (including climbing a coconut tree and making coconut milk with my bare hands), drumming, hiking and searching for jaguars and toucans in Cockscomb Wildlife Basin with a Garifuna tour guide and botonist named Golden, which included a waterfall hike and river tubing, and visiting Aurora, a real Mayan healer.
I also did some exploring on my own – I borrowed a bike from Palmento Grove and tooled around the village. I went to a little beach house across the road from Palmento Grove called Queen Bean’s (mentioned above) for their mother’s day party with a reggae band and I ate some tasty quesadillas.
A drumming lesson was part of the experience at Palmento, but I did a separate lesson with the legendary Jabbar at Lebeha Drumming Center. I brought three French girls who were staying at Palmento Grove with me, and we had a blast.
Belize Travel Guide: Logistics
Language and currency in Belize
- The good news: official language of Belize is English. Also, Belize’s economy runs on U.S. Dollars, so you don’t have to calculate exchange rates or change money or worry about fees for currency conversion etc. These two facts make it extremely easy for American travelers to explore Belize.
- The bad news: plan ahead when it comes to cash. ATM’s can be difficult to find and are not very reliable when you do come across them…for example, in Hopkins the village ATM didn’t accept cards with a microchip, leaving many visitors like me a bit strapped for cash with the next closest ATM 30 minutes away in Dangriga.
When to go to Belize
- Belize is warm and tropical year-round. The dry, peak season in Belize is November to early May. Hotel rates are also highest during this time. I was there in mid-May and we did get a little rain but the bonus was that we had Turtle Inn COMPLETELY to ourselves. We felt like we had rented out a private resort. I’ll take a nap during a rainstorm and less people over perfect sunshine any day! The true rainy season however is in September and October, when hotels and other businesses do close and the region can be hit by hurricanes.
Transportation in Belize
Flights – I flew Tropic Air from Belize City Airport to Placencia. The flight took about 30 minutes in a little propeller plane that doesn’t go up very high! The color of the water from that vantage point is stunning. However, if you’re a nervous flier and don’t have experience with small planes you might freak out. But I felt as safe with them as I think I could in a little bouncy toy-like plane. Also, don’t feel offended when the Tropic Air crew gives you a once-over and tells you where to sit based on how big you are – it’s part of the experience.
Car – If you’re staying in a resort the can probably arrange a car to or from other destinations, they may even offer their own shuttle services for a reasonable price. I was able to get a ride from Sleeping Giant in the Cayo to Hopkins where they have a sister resort, even though I wasn’t staying there, and Felix the driver took a detour to drop me off at the doorstep of my lodging. In my experience, Belizeans are incredibly hospitable and helpful!
Belize Travel Guide: General Travel Tips
- Belize is buggy. If mosquitos will ruin your vacation, this might not be the place for you. That said, even the most basic accommodation will provide mosquito nets, and it’s easy to buy repellant.
- Grocery and convenience stores exist but they’re few and far between. Most places feel remote and removed, far from these types of conveniences. This makes for an awesome experience, but don’t forget your toothbrush in the jungle like I did. You might have to take a 40 minute detour.
- Belize City has its share of crime. You don’t need to make a stop here to have an authentic cultural experience or eat real-deal food. You may need to stop at the bus station there depending on how well you plan your transportation and how much you’re willing to spend on private cars.
- The beaches are beautiful and uncrowded, but sea grass usually clusters at the waters edge all over the coastline. This make wading in from the beach a little less desirable, although the sea grass wasn’t slimy that I could tell. Most beach resorts in Belize have built structures that make it easy and fun to jump off of boats or docks.