Amazing Tropical Vacation to Belize: Explore, Relax, and Indulge

Most visitors to Belize land in the capital and then head straight out to their destinations, but you will have the chance to explore Belize City with an engaging guide. Sure, the city is a little rough around the edges, but that only adds to its authenticity. You will touch down at the country’s main international airport and transfer to your boutique hotel on the waterfront. Here, you may be treated to pods of dolphins in the water. You can spend the afternoon with your guide, walking around the highlights of the capital.

Placencia soothes the soul and is easy on the eye. Today, you will fly here from Belize City. Here, you will be staying at a private villa on a strip of sand. It is easy to spend the day not doing anything but basking on the beach and taking a stroll along the white sand. When out walking, you can dip into the mangroves or explore one of the tiny fishing hamlets around the peninsula. There are options to take a boat tour, and there is great snorkeling available within a short walk of your villa.

Birds and marine life will fill your day at Laughing Bird Caye National Park. Today, you will embark on a boat trip to the park, where you will be met by squawking birds, pelicans, and laughing gulls. You can explore the land and discover rare birds, including ospreys and green herons. You can then indulge in a stroll through the mangroves with your guide, where you might find some nesting sites. You will then return to the shoreline and swim out from the beach with a mask and snorkel. After a break for lunch, you can snorkel at an offshore reef and descend from your boat into the water.

Monkey River provides a classic safari experience. Here, you can sit back in the boat and watch the wilderness unfold. Howler monkeys can be heard before they are seen. You may spot them in the treetops and wonder how such a relatively small primate can make such a loud noise. After an early breakfast, you will set off on a boat safari through the mangroves. After Monkey River, you can spend the rest of your morning in a small Maya village. It is not a magnificent ruined city, but rather, it is a living village that continues to preserve traditions. Here, you can share stories, take photos, eat lunch, and learn about life in the rainforest before continuing to the Maya ruins of Lubaantun.

This morning, you will fly from the coast to the rainforest. You will land in San Ignacio, where your eco-lodge has its own private stretch of the wild. Iguanas are common here, and you will find out more at a nearby iguana conservation project. Self-guided hikes can lead you far into the rainforest with monkeys and other wildlife. In the evening, you can bask on your balcony and listen to nature’s lullaby. At your lodge, monkeys, birds, and distant howlers are the sounds that will surround your first night at the lodge.

Xunantunich is arguably Latin America’s most underrated ruins. The complex architecture belies its age with intimate details that make it hard to believe that the city was built more than 1,300 years ago. Most of the stories cannot be proven, but there is some evidence to suggest that Xunantunich flourished twice with a period of abandonment in between. Unlike some Latin American archaeological sites, you can climb the highest ruins at Xunantunich and ascend the moss-covered temple steps to the second-tallest building in Belize. After lunch, you can spend the afternoon canoeing through Barton Creek Cave.

A sand-encrusted skeleton waits eerily within Actun Tunichil Muknal, which is believed to have been a sacrificial offering site. Other spooky artifacts showcase how the cave was used by the Mayas. It is quite an adventure just to get here, and you may need to swim across rivers and hike into wild canyons. The remoteness also hints at the Maya underworld, which is suggestive of a site that was deliberately far from main cities. For the most part, you travel by boat, and your spotlight will illuminate the Maya inscriptions in the cave walls. Other skeletal remains can be seen in addition to the raw beauty of the subterranean rainforest landscape.

Today, you will circle back to the Caribbean and fly to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. Upon landing, you will have a boat transfer to Caye Caulker. Smaller and even quieter than its neighbor islet, Caye Caulker fulfills all the promise of the Caribbean. Turquoise water, soft white beaches, and palm trees are just some of the highlights that you can expect. Tourism developed first on Ambergris Caye, and it is only in the last few years that luxury developments have been brought to Caye Caulker. Your boutique guesthouse can be found on the quiet side of the island, although you will only be a casual walk away from excellent seafood restaurants and sundowner bars.

Snorkeling with sharks is safe, and it is also exhilarating. You can watch for nurse and reef sharks, which are incredibly iconic in shape. Rays are also plentiful here, although they are harder to find because they move with cunning. Shark Ray Alley is the most famous snorkeling destination in Belize, and today’s day trip will begin here before transferring to two other snorkeling spots in the Hol Chan Nature Reserve. The underwater excursions will be guided, and you will rarely need to swim. Instead, the Caribbean currents will pull you around the reefs.

It is the eclectic array of colors that make the Great Blue Hole special. The hole is deep, blue, dark, and eerie. Small sandy islets provide incredible views, and you will be able to see the collections of coral that form the largest reef in the Northern Hemisphere. A helicopter sightseeing flight will be an excellent way to experience the landscape. The pilot will circle around the Great Blue Hole so that you can get an uninterrupted view. All of the seats are window seats, and the flight will last for about an hour. Once you touch down after your morning flight, the rest of the day will be at your leisure.

Your vacation will be over, although there will still be the chance for some adventure as you take a speed boat back to Ambergris Caye before a 15-minute flight across the sea to Belize City. You will then transfer to the international airport, where you should have time to stop for some shopping before you leave.