Belize map

Belize

Belize was mostly about snorkeling, with some wildlife, a little hiking, and plenty of time relaxing on the beach. And about escaping winter back home! You may notice the absence of any Mayan ruins in our planning. Since we’ve been to Chichen Itza, we’re skipping any ruins. However had we not been to Chichen Itza we would likely have included Tikal. One big surprise: the food! We expected lots of rice and beans. It was so much more than that and we didn’t have a bad meal. Belikan Stout is quite good and is widely available.​

  • 24 days
  • 2020 Winter

Food and Beverage $43 per day

Average per person per day, including alcohol. We ate out every meal. Our first three stops included a meal plan.

Lodging $60-$99 per night

Not including taxes and fees.

Transportation $502 per person

This includes three flights within Belize, boats to and from Caye Caulker and Tobacco Caye, a rental car for a couple of days, a shuttle, and a few taxi rides.

Entertainment $100 per person

Entertainment included a snorkel trip, a daytime visit to the zoo, and a night tour of the zoo.

Days 1-4: Mayflower Bocawina National Park

Planned Activities

  • Hike

Actual Activities

  • Hike
  • Birdwatching

The Plan: This is the first part of a combined package along with Tobacco Caye. While the focus of this trip is snorkeling, we thought we’d fit in a little jungle and hiking. It will be interesting to be off the grid for the first time. 

The Reality: Our stay included two guided activities, so we did a guided hike and a guided bird-watching session. 

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Fly from home

Stay at Bocawina Rainforest Resort

Rooms were basic and comfortable. Onsite restaurant is fantastic.

Get around by walking

Days 5-8: Tobacco Caye

Planned Activities

  • Snorkel
  • Hang out on the beach

Actual Activities

  • Snorkel
  • Hang out on the deck

The Plan: I have always wanted to stay in an overwater bungalow, and this place has them, at not a huge price! Also looking forward to being able to snorkel off the beach, and to being off the grid on a tiny little island. 

The Reality: Pretty much like we envisioned. We did less snorkeling than we planned thanks to all the rain, but that just meant more time to hang out on the deck, which was even better than a beach!

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Boat from Dangriga

A shuttle from the rainforest

Stay at Tobacco Caye Paradise

Over water bungalows aren't fancy but the decks are wonderful. And so was the food!

Get around by walking

It's a tiny island.

Days 9-10: Belize Zoo

Planned Activities

  • Visiting the zoo
  • Night tour of the zoo
  • Driving around Belize

Actual Activities

  • Visiting the zoo
  • Night tour of the zoo
  • Driving around Belize … looking for a new duffel bag

The Plan: Once we learned you could do a night tour here, staying overnight was a must!

The Reality: Just like we planned, although our drive ended up including shopping for a new duffel bag. 

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Fly from Dangriga

Stay at Tropical Education Center

Lovely pond house and more great food.

Get around by rental car

Days 11-16: Caye Caulker

Planned Activities

  • Snorkel
  • Hang out on the beach

Actual Activities

  • Snorkel
  • Hang out on the beach

The Plan: We’ve heard people get warned here that they’re walking too fast, and that spending time in a hammock is a viable use of time. With that and a couple of snorkeling trips, we should be good!

The Reality: The weather prevented us from taking a second snorkeling trip.

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Ferry from Belize City

Stay at Colinda Cabañas

Nice, quiet waterfront cabañas. Various configurations. Their website has lots of tips.

Get around by walking

Days 17-24: Placencia

Planned Activities

  • Snorkel
  • Hang out at the beach

Actual Activities

  • Hang out at the beach

The Plan: Placencia is reputed to have the best beach in Belize, so that’s why we chose it for our last stop, for some chill out beach time. 

The Reality: We got some great beach time and skipped the snorkel trip because we didn’t want to deal with a long boat ride. We did get to see some sea life off the pier. 

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Shuttle from Belize City

After taking the ferry from Caye Caulker

Stay at Placencia Villas

Nice rooms close to restaurants though not waterfront. Suites include cooking facilities.

Get around by walking

book cover

Resources

  • We used Lonely Planet Belize (Kindle format) as our main resource. And by the way, that picture on the cover is of Tobacco Caye Paradise, one of the place we stayed. (It’s great.)*
  • TropicalSnorkeling.com has info on snorkeling in Belize
  • The Colinda Cabañas website has great local tips for Caye Caulker
  • We don’t often book packages but Island Expeditions made it easy to visit the Bocawina rainforest and Tobacco Caye and they offer a number of multi-day trips
  • We flew Maya Island Air within Belize and the service was excellent

Christmas Ornaments

We buy Christmas ornaments on each trip. We saw lots of rays on our trip. This is not the first time we saw tapirs but it was the first time we fed a tapir. The shark bottle opener was a bonus.