Belize, formerly British Honduras, became a country in 1981 when it was granted independence from British rule. With a total population of around 330,000, Belize is a very small Central American country nestled under Mexico along the Caribbean Sea. Its territory is comprised of slightly more sea than land because Belize’s beautiful Barrier Reef stretches south from Cancun along the full length of Belize’s coastline. As such, you can argue if you go to Belize and don’t make it out to one of the many islands, you didn’t truly see Belize.
To go just about anywhere in Belize, you first have to fly into Belize City. You can read more about Belize City in our Mainland post. But basically we recommend traveling right through as it’s reputation for being rough around the edges is quite valid. Monica and I spent a week on Caye Caulker and a few days in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. To get to the islands from Belize City, you can either take a hopper flight, or as we did, a 45 minute water taxi, which is actually pretty fun. Starting in Caye Caulker, we immediately experienced a more inviting feeling upon arrival than Belize City. Caye Caulker is a very small island lined with quaint beachfront hotels, restaurants, and adventure outfits. Everything is painted in bright colors and the “go slow” attitude is practiced throughout the island. The narrow sandy streets are dominated with people strolling, biking on beach cruisers, and selling BBQ food. Golf carts are the main vehicles so the island is very pedestrian friendly. We stayed at the Barefoot Beach Hotel toward the South end of town and highly recommend it.
We went in January/February which is their “winter”, but the average temperature was mid 80s and the sea was 80 degrees as well. The wonderful part about the northern islands, is that the reef is within a mile of the eastern shore. Because of this, the waves break out at the reef, and the mile back to the island is shallow, calm, and no waves break on the shore. It is easy to let the day slip by lounging on the many docks that line the island, taking breaks to swim in the crystal clear water. On our first night on Caye Caulker, the setting was perfect on our dock and I proposed to Monica; she said yes! So excited to be engaged to my best friend and lifelong travel partner.
Because of the proximity to the reef, Belize has some of the best diving and snorkeling in the world. There are countless outfits on Caye Caulker that will take you on half or full day excursions for cheap. We did a half day snorkel that is only a 10 minute boat ride to the reef where we saw colorful coral, and swam with countless types of fish, eels, nurse sharks and stingrays. It felt like we were in an aquarium and would highly recommend doing it at least once.
Traditional Belizean food consist of BBQ meats, fish, rice, beans, tortillas and coleslaw. It is simple, home-style cooking. But even on the island, we found many high level restaurants serving up delicious dishes. Including several places run by expats such as Pasta Per Casa (run by a Italian couple), and Crepes and Dreams (run by a Canadian couple). Also rum is nearly as cheap as water, and since the one Belizean beer, Belikin, is just OK, we found ourselves enjoying rum drinks everyday.
After a week on sleepy Caye Caulker, we took a water taxi to San Pedro. The town isn’t much bigger than Caye Caulker but it is much more built up and dominated by golf carts and vehicles. It is the main tourist destination in Belize, and we are glad we only spent a couple days here. There are also countless good restaurants and adventure outfits. We went snorkeling again and it was just as amazing the second time. We stayed at the Hostel la Vista which has a 3rd floor open terrace with hammocks overlooking the ocean. We enjoyed our time relaxing here.
One of the highlights were our flights leaving San Pedro, taking us to Belize City and on to Placencia in the South. The Tropic Air flights are 14 seat planes that fly at 3,000 feet, and it almost feels like a city bus. Monica got to sit in the co-pilot seat, and each flight is only 10-15 minutes where they quickly land in towns along the way to drop off and pick up passengers. It was beautiful flying over the blue ocean and seeing the lush mainland from the air.
To summarize, spending time on the islands puts you in a calm state of bliss. Cruising around on bikes with the warm breeze and drinking rum punches by the water is truly wonderful. Everyone is so nice as it is hard to be too bothered by the environment. It makes contemplating a simple island life a bit easier.
