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Why Go to Belize?

Jordan and I had a chance to go on a winter vacation; however, we didn’t know which location, out of our long bucket list, we wanted to go to first.

We hit upon Belize.

I researched points of interest, hiking trails, activities, and information about the country.

Turns out, there are some pretty incredible options in Belize!

Table of Contents

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Belize is a beautiful country with so much to offer.

Mayan ruins, waterfalls, jungle hiking, Caribbean beaches, Cayes (pronounced “keys”), the largest living barrier reef in the world, and unique animals, plants, and birds.

The Belizean people are warm and welcoming.

English is the common language – the locals speak Creole and Spanish with one another.

The country is full of diverse cultures and people groups – something they are proud of and enjoy sharing with visitors.

I would recommend Belize for warm-weather lovers and the adventurous.

Here is an itinerary of what we did while in Belize for nine days:

Itinerary at-a-glance

Day 1 – Belize City to San Ignacio

Travel day.

Flew into Belize City – Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport.

Took an airport shuttle to San Ignacio.

Found our hostel – Bella’s Backpackers.

Had dinner at Authentic Flavors in San Ignacio.

Woman sitting at a wooden table in a restaurant.
Plate of rice and curry sauce.
Street corner at night in San Ignacio, Belize.
Green building on a street corner at night in San Ignacio, Belize.
Loft room in a hostel. Two beds and a fan with a hole in the floor for the ladder.
Cobbled street lined with buildings.
Belizean twenty dollar bill with illustrations of a queen, jaguar in a tree and words describing the bill.
The back of a twenty dollar Belizean bill illustrated with jungle animals.

Day 2 – San Ignacio to Caracol

Went on a walking tour of Caracol, one of the Mayan ruins in Belize.

Visited Rio-on-Pools on our way back from Caracol.

A man and a woman stand in front of Caracol stone monuments in Belize.
Large layered stone monument seen through jungle trees.
View of Caracol stone monuments from a hillside.
Caracol stone monuments.
Stone wall of a ball court in Belizean Caracol archeological site.
Caracol ball court.
Man stands at the top of a Caracol stone monument.
Caracol stone monument. Three layers of stone walls stacked with a steep staircase climbing the front.
A man and a woman standing at the top of a stone monument.
A man and a woman sitting at the top of a stone monument.
Characters of a language chiseled into the stone wall of a monument in Caracol archeological site.
A man shows a woman characters chiseled into a wall.
Caracol stone monument. Three layers of stone walls stacked with a steep staircase climbing the front.
Woman sitting next to characters chiseled into a stone wall.
Jungle view from the top of a stone monument.
Stone temple with four layers and a long staircase climbing the front.
Pools of water flowing through a stony riverbed.
Rio-on-Pools

Day 3 – San Ignacio to Cockscomb Basin

Took public transportation from San Ignacio to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary.

Settled into our cabin in the Reserve.

Went on a hike out to a waterfall — Ben’s Bluff trail.

Night hike to try to see some mammals. Discovered Belize spiders (it turns out they were harmless).

People sitting on a bus.
A banana leaf roofed hut next to a aquamarine ocean view.
Blue skies and white fluffy clouds over a lush green jungle.
Man stands on a wooden bridge over a small stream in a jungle.
Large map indicating trails and sites in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize.
Man and woman standing together with a lush jungle view behind them.
Trees and mountain view of a lush jungle.
Woman standing in a jungle with a waterfall in the background.
Large tropical plant.

Related Posts:

How to Make the Most of Your Trip to the Maya City, Caracol, in Belize

What You Need to Know to Plan a Trip to Belize

Caye Caulker, Belize – How to Make the Most of Your Trip

Belize’s National Parks {Reserves, Sanctuaries, Monuments, Archeological Sites and Caves}

Day 4 – Cockscomb Basin

Hiking in Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Reserve.

Explored some of the other trails in the park.

Night hike to try to see some mammals. Didn’t see anything but nocturnal birds.

Tropical jungle with palm trees and blue sky.
Tropical jungle at sunset.
River running through the jungle.
Boardwalk over a stream in the jungle.
Jaguar print impression in mud.
A trail sign in the jungle 'Tiger Fern Trail'.
Waterfall in the jungle.

Day 5 – Cockscomb Basin to Caye Caulker

Morning hike to the Plane Wreck.

Took a taxi to the main road from the Reserve. Then took a bus from the junction, all the way to Belize City. Took us nearly 4 hours, because of all the bus stops. A great way to see the culture of the place.

Took the Ocean Breeze ferry to Caye Caulker.

Found our hostel.

Stairs into the jungle.
Cockpit of a crashed plane in the jungle.
Plan crash in the jungle surrounded by greenery.
Side view of a moss covered plane wreck in a jungle.
Sign reading 'Plane Wreck 0.1 Km.'
Man walking along a dirt road in the Belizean jungle.

Day 6 – Caye Caulker to the Barrier Reef

Ragamuffin snorkel tour on a catamaran sailboat.

Swam with nurse sharks and rays. Visited the coral reef.

Enjoyed a beautiful day sailing and swimming in the Caribbean.

Marina lined with boats.
Palm tree lined waterway.
Dock off of Caye Caulker.
Colorful boats line a dock on Caye Caulker.

Day 7 – Caye Caulker

Canoed around the west side of Caye Caulker.

Explored the island.

Shopped (like, hardly at all).

Took a canoe out to watch the sunset.

Woman stands on a dock with palm trees and shoreline in the background
Orange building line sandy streets on Caye Caulker.
Large palm trees shade a row of colorful lawn chairs.
Dark blue and orange sunset over the ocean.
A man hangs off the end of a canoe with an orange sunset in the background.
Dark blue and orange sunset over the ocean.
Silhouette of a canoe paddler with a sunset behind them.
Silhouette of a canoe paddler with a sunset behind them.
Silhouette of a man standing in the ocean looking out at a sunset.
Silhouette of a canoe paddler with a sunset behind them.

Day 8 – Caye Caulker

Got up and watched the sunrise. Went back to bed.

Had a fry jack from Jenny’s Fry Jacks food cart.

Swam at The Split.

Bought and chopped open a fresh, cold coconut and enjoyed cold coconut water.

Canoe out to watch the sunset.

Canoe to the dock at Maggie’s Sunset Kitchen and ate a delicious lobster dinner.

Related Post:

See our full post on Caye Caulker.

Person stands next to a large letter sign that says 'The Split.'
Woman stands on a barrier wall next to the ocean, framed by palm trees.
A sandy beach surrounded by mangrove and jungle trees seen from the ocean.

Day 9 – Caye Caulker to the U.S.

Got fry jacks from Jenny’s Fry Jacks food cart – one with cinnamon and honey and one with cheese, ham, and egg.

A morning stroll around the island.

Ocean Breeze ferry to Belize City.

Took a taxi to the airport.

Flew back to the States. Made it home. 

What We Did in Belize

San Ignacio: 2 nights

Where We Stayed

Bella’s Backpackers – San Ignacio.

This is a backpackers hostel.

Activities

Caracol is one of the Mayan ruins in Belize.

We went with MayaWalks tour company.

The site is about two hours out on a bumpy dirt road. Our guide, Anselmo Galicia, was a fantastic source of history and explained the Belizean culture and the country’s diversity.

Caracol is a fascinating site that is yet to be completely excavated. There was so much to take in from the temple, bed-chambers, and a ball court.

On the trip from Caracol back to San Ignacio, we stopped at Rio-on-Pools. This place has to be the inspiration for all indoor water parks.

A short waterfall runs over dark-colored boulders, flowing into boulder-made pools. It’s an incredibly beautiful spot. The water is slightly chilly and makes a wonderful, refreshing swim spot.

Restaurants

Authentic Flavors, San Ignacio, Belize.

Open-air view.

Tasty food.

A combination of Central American and African flavors.

Wonderful freshly made fruit juices.

I had pineapple jerk shrimp, and Jordan had a peanut-butter based butter chicken.

Delicious!

Woman sitting at a wooden table in a restaurant.

Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Jaguar Reserve: 2 nights

Where We Stayed

We rented a cabin within the Sanctuary. A place named Mujan Naj (“The Bird House”). A private place with a private bathroom and shower in the cabin.

To reserve a space in the Sanctuary, you have to email the office and arrange with one of the rangers.

Cockscomb Ranger Station.
Building surrounded by jungle.
A brick path leads to a small cabin surrounded by jungle.
Wooden shutters with a jungle view.

Activities

Hiking

A trail map near the office shows a hiking trail system that branches out from the Sanctuary headquarters.

We were excited to try jungle hiking.

This was a self-guided activity.

Waterfall chasing

Ben’s Bluff trail has a waterfall trail that branches off. And Tiger Fern Trail has a double waterfall.

These waterfalls have refreshing pools to swim in and enjoy the surrounding jungle.

woman standing in a jungle with a waterfall in the background.
Night Hikes

The ranger suggested the Wari loop trail as a good night hike trail. A night hike is the best chance of seeing any of the larger animals.

This seemed like a fantastic idea when we started. We went out before the sun started going down.

But as we hiked back in the dark, we quickly realized that we had no desire to see any animals in the dim outlines of our headlamps.

We’re talking pitch black night in a jungle. Yeah, we’re brilliant.

Will we be doing that again?

Absolutely!

Seeing the jungle at night, even without animals, is a fantastic experience.

We did night hikes both of the evenings we stayed at the Sanctuary.

The first night, we were hiking back and started noticing points of light on the sides of the trail. Jordan went over to investigate and discovered a large spider!

Its eyes were reflecting the light of our headlamps. As we kept hiking, we noticed that the lights dotted both sides of the trail all the way back.

We discovered later that these spiders were probably Wolf Spiders. A harmless kind. Still, we had the heebie-jeebies.

The next night, we were on a different trail and came across a group of nocturnal birds. We were hiking along and noticed a rather larger glint ahead of us.

For a moment we thought we were walking towards a much larger spider, or some other creature. As we came closer, the bird surprised us by frantically flapping away.

After catching wings in the beams of our headlamps, we took a breath and were fine.

Animal tracking

While we didn’t see any of the varied mammals during our visit, we did find a fairly fresh track.

After showing the rangers and looking in a tracking guidebook, we decided it was probably jaguar tracks.

This was almost as good as seeing the jaguar itself.

Jungle at sunset.

Food

It’s bring your food and water.

A community kitchen is available, but you must bring your lighter, or the propane stove is useless. We know from experience.

We carried in two-gallon jugs of water for our two days. We bought them at one of the grocery stores along our way.

For food, we packed some snacks like trail bars, dried fruit, crackers, canned smoked oysters, and a dry salami. We also picked up a few canned fruits, veggies, and tuna.

Caye Caulker: 4 nights

Where We Stayed

Bella’s Backpackers – Caye Caulker.

This is a backpackers hostel. It was also the place for the party scene.

We did not fit in.

But it was a growing experience for both of us. We did have a private room, which gave us space to ourselves.

The hostel is located right next to the water, with a private dock.

There are canoes that we were able to take out for free. We used these to do several sunset paddles, which were beautiful.

Activities

Snorkel tours

We went on a snorkel tour with Ragamuffin Tours. I would highly suggest them as tour guides.

We visited Hol Chan, a part of the coral reef.

Swam with nurse sharks and rays.

Got to see all kinds of fish, coral, sea creatures, and a sea turtle.

Ragamuffin’s full-day tour includes lunch, a snack of shrimp ceviche (basically pico de gallo with shrimp and some spices), and rum punch on the trip back to Caye Caulker.

Ragamuffin is also a tour company that intentionally protects the barrier reef. As the largest living barrier reef in the world, the Ragamuffin tour company desires to save it for future generations. They won’t allow you to touch the creatures or the coral, and they won’t feed the sharks. You will still have an incredible time getting up close and enjoying the beauty of the coral gardens and brightly colored fish.

Man and woman wearing snorkels swim in the ocean while smiling at the camera.
Nurse shark swimming around the Belize Barrier Reef.
Catamaran sail boat on a brilliant blue ocean with blue sky.
Sea turtle diving underwater shot.
Man snorkeling gives the camera two thumbs up.
Catamaran boat loaded with passengers seen from the water.

Swim at The Split

Caye Caulker is split into two sections. This occurred after a hurricane back in the ’70s. The north end of the lower portion of Caye Caulker is called The Split.

A cement wall drops down into the ocean on both sides. On the Eastside, there is a great place to swim, climb, or jump into the turquoise water.

Restaurants

Here is where we ate while in Caye Caulker.

Jenny’s Fry Jacks (food cart)

We had a fresh fry jack with cinnamon and honey and a fresh fry jack with ham, cheese, and egg. It’s hard to pick one.

Kareems BBQ (right on the beach)

We had shrimp curry, and BBQ pork ribs.

Wish Willy’s

We had grilled fish and rice.

And Home Again

We took the Ocean Breeze ferry back to Belize City and then a taxi to the airport.

And then, home.

What Would We Do Differently? 

The only struggle we had during the trip was our sleeping arrangements.

In retrospect, I picked the party hostels.

Now I know to look for descriptions of quiet places.

While we had a great time overall, we value getting a solid night’s sleep over listening to late-night rap music.

Read the descriptions and reviews of the places you book to stay.

Lesson learned.

Belize in Retrospect

If you can travel to Belize, I highly suggest going.

The unique history, culture, beauty, and diversity are incredible.

From jungle to tropical beaches. Hiking, swimming, snorkeling, diving, relaxing. There is so much to see and do in Belize.

Resources

Books

Lonely Planet: Belize

Websites

Travel Belize: This is the country’s official tourism website.