Belize was the last trip my husband and I took before Covid hit!
The last week of the year is reserved for some sunshine! I was looking for a warm getaway with direct flights from both LA and NY (that wasn’t Mexico). Costa Rica & Belize fit these criteria. Having been to Costa Rica before, we decided to go with Belize and it was un-belize-able! Here’s how to spend 10 amazing days in Belize. Just be sure to take some bug spray – you will need it.
Itinerary: 6 nights Ambergris Caye (island) & 4 nights Jungle Lodge (mainland); For other itinerary options, check out these Belize destinations.
Getting to Ambergris Caye : 15 min flight to San Pedro on a small plane from BZE, Airlines: Tropic Air or Maya Air; It was $80 one way and totally worth it. Beautiful views. Very convenient as you don’t have to switch airports. You land in BZE, grab your bags, clear immigration/customs and then as you walk out, you’ll see the door to the domestic terminal where you check in & hop on a tiny plane. Cheaper option is ferry, but that takes longer, first you’d have to take a $20 USD taxi to the ferry terminal and then an hour and a half ferry.
Where to stay
Ambergris Caye is the largest island in Belize, but it’s actually quite small & easy to get around. While you see cars, the majority of people get around the island on golf carts so be sure to rent one (Rick’s Rentals)! I expected large crowds since it was Christmas week, but surprisingly, the island felt reasonably calm. San Pedro is the main town and while it was busy in the evenings, it never felt like it was swarming with tourists. From my limited experience, Belize felt less developed / touristy than Costa Rica, but I quite liked that about the country.
If you are looking for some peace and quiet, I recommend staying right outside town, but I bet you can find pockets of quiet in town too. Our options were really limited because most places were already booked (I looked in September for Xmas and had trouble finding availability). If you are going at a busy time, be sure to sort out your accommodation wayyy ahead of time! A boutique hotel I considered was Victoria House (unavailable for our dates).
We stayed at Hol Chan Reef Resort & Villas. It was more of a hybrid between an airbnb and hotel. Pros: INCREDIBLE front desk (they booked our domestic flights, made dinner reservations, had our golf cart waiting upon arrival, I cannot say enough good things about them), Quiet & Peaceful, Great value for $, On the beach, 10 min boat ride to some of the world’s best snorkeling; Cons: No restaurant on site, but they can arrange for a cook to come over, 3 miles out of town which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it takes about 25 min to get to town on a golf cart on bumpy roads, Not the prettiest beach (but that is subjective), but 10 min golf cart ride away was a beach club & restaurant called South Beach which we loved, its beach was much nicer. I don’t recommend staying more than 2 miles outside of town, but that’s a personal preference.
Snorkeling
You cannot go to Belize and skip the Belize Barrier Reef! It is the largest reef system after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Ambergris Caye is the perfect location to access it. I am not a great swimmer and this was the nicest snorkeling experience I’ve ever had – I’ve done it in Thailand, Mexico and this was by far my favorite.
Hop on a tour to Hol Chan Marine Reserve – they make two stops – the second stop is Shark Alley, where you get to swim with nurse sharks, which are harmless. I used Suya tours because that’s what the hotel recommended and they were great. Our group was small – 8 of us of which only 6 of us snorkeled with a guide. Our guide was great and kept the pace slow. The water was very calm (I get sea sick and didn’t feel sick in the water). Our tour was 2 hours total, but probably a tad longer if you are going from San Pedro – it was just a 10 min boat ride to the reserve from our airbnb. You can probably use any tour company just ask how many people they take at once – I loved that ours was on the smaller side, but I did see some larger boats in the water!
Nurse sharks – we swam with them!!
Restaurants
Lastly, food! Here are some of the places we went to and some that were recommended, but we didn’t make it to.
El fogon – in town, local food, casual, multiple locals told us to go here. It was pretty good but not as amazing as people said (they built it up sooo much)
Elvi’s Kitchen – didn’t go but really wanted to – multiple folks recommended
Blue Water Grill – delicious! Our favorite meal.
Robin’s Kitchen – roadside jerk chicken. Amazing. Cash only. Just a table and some chairs, don’t expect much; about 15 min golf cart outside San Pedro.
Eat a Papusa at Waruguma (we didn’t get around to but a local told us to do this)
Black and white – didn’t get to this but was recommended to us
Sunset roof lounge – rooftop bar in San Pedro – great drinks /music. Not too far from el fogon
Jungle time!
After 5 days on the island, we were ready for a change in scenery! We flew back to BZE, where we were picked up and driven 1.5 hours to the Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge. This is a splurge worthy place – we loved our 4 nights here! The lodge has 30 something rooms, sits alongside a river and is surrounded by mountains. The grounds are beautiful and you can easily entertain yourself for a few days without leaving – the photo below was taken at a view point, a 20 min climb (from the property itself). We also explored a pitch dark ceremonial Mayan cave with a guide (also on their land) and that was quite the experience!
Other popular activities in the region include cave tubing through St. Herman’s Cave (there are other caves too), horse back riding and popping over into Guatemala to see the Mayan ruins in Tikal. If zip-lining or rappelling is your thing, Belize is full of options.
For other eco-friendly lodge options, check this page out.
P.S. The local currency is Belize Dollar, but US Dollars work everywhere. Be sure to take cash with you as credit cards do not work everywhere.