Ultimate Belize Planning Guide
Nestled in the Caribbean and highly touted as a wonderful blend of cultures, histories, and island life, Belize should be high on anyone's bucket list.
Why Belize?
After our three year stint in London, we desperately wanted to explore the Western Hemisphere - particularly any beaches or diving spots! With the world's second largest barrier reef after Australia, Belize offers not only the stunning beaches, but spectacular sea life! Combined with the jungle and rainforest, Belize can offer a wide array of activities even if you don't want to be a beach bum! Compared to its Central American neighbor, Costa Rica, Belize is very similar with abundant tours or relaxing eco-lodges.
"Best" Time to Go
When we were researching the "best" time to go, the US winter months are the obvious choices. However, Belize's weather is remarkably similar throughout the year except for rainy season, April to November. Furthermore, the infamous hurricane season lasts from June 1 - November 1 so any trip in that range could be threaten by powerful storms.
However, the "best" time is any time that you can go! By visiting the "rainy" season, we saw Belize without hordes of tourists or inflated prices. Moreover, August is lobster season and September is Carnival. During our stay it rained almost every day but usually at night. There was only 1 day when it semi-ruined our plans, but we wanted a more relaxing day anyways so in the end, it didn't disrupt our activities.
Adventure Activities
With miles of coastline, most of the adventure activities involve the ocean but have no fear, there are ample tours to chose from if (or when) you get sunburned or prefer to explore the vast jungle and rainforest! Here are the tours that interested us throughout Belize!
Diving: Regarding Belize's Great Barrier Reef, there are so many diverse sealife diving locations. Because we chose two beach locations, click here to read about the options in Placencia and Caye Caulker.
Snorkeling: Similar to diving, snorkeling is abundant and there are a few key spots to spot elusive sea turtles or beautiful coral reefs. Click here to read about the options in Placencia and Caye Caulker.
Caving: Taking a journey into the Mayan underworld at Actun Tunichil Muknal, or the "Cave of the Stone Sepulchre", will be one of the most enlightening, epic, and unique experiences of your life. Leave the world of the living behind as you venture into the heart of the ATM Cave. Recently deemed as the #1 Sacred Cave destination in the world, the ATM cave is not only geologically beautiful with its crystalline stalactites and stalagmites, but also historically as it is a natural museum of ancient Mayan artifacts and a sacred burial place. This is known as the final resting place of the "Crystal Maiden", who is believed to be an ancient Mayan Ceremonial victim along with 13 other skeletal remains which includes men, women and children.
Mayan Ruins: Scattered through Belize, there are several important Mayan Ruins. We considered the following:
Xunantunich (Near Placencia): This beautiful Mayan ruin was a major ceremonial center and has several plazas and a large selection of classic period structures. The site also has El Castillo, the second tallest structure in Belize (after the temple at Caracol), at some 130 feet (40 m) tall. Those who are adventurous enough to climb to the top will be rewarded with panoramic views of Belize and Guatemala.
Caracol (near San Ignacio): One of Belize’s best ancient Maya temples, Caracol is deep in the heart of the Chiquibul Forest Reserve of the Maya Mountains in the Cayo District. Covering an area of nearly 25,000 acres, this site is impressive not only for its size, but also for its immense agricultural field system and elaborate city planning. Caracol is one of the most pristine and well-kept Maya sites in Belize. If you want to see an amazing piece of history, head to Caracol.
Tikal (near San Ignacio): Tikal is an ancient Mayan ceremonial center located just across the border in Peten, Guatemala, 19 miles north of Lake Peten Itza and the quaint town of Flores. After crossing the border, you will drive another 1.5 hours before arriving at Tikal National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Along the way we will pass small villages, beautiful lakeside scenery and rolling hills with rainforests and agriculture farms. Sadly, COVID prevented us from seeing these amazing ruins.
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary: Check out the world's only jaguar reserve!
Mayan Cooking: Cooking Tours are guided excursions that give you the opportunity to learn about traditional Belizean home cooking in Maya, Garifuna and Creole (Kriol) cultures.
Chocolate Tours! Visit a traditional Maya Chocolate Factory! Yes, you get samples and you'll make your very own chocolate the way that the Mayas did!
Jungle Adventure Activities: In San Ignacio, there are a host of other tours you can do from bird watching to canoeing to ziplining!
Planning in COVID
With the unknown looming over most of the trip, planning was incredibly difficult because we didn't want to commit to large prepaid expenses. Using a variety of methods, we managed to find hotels that accepted payment on arrival or had generous cancellation policies.
For those who are really worried, you can always buy Cancel For Any Reason insurance within three (3) weeks of your flight booking. This type of insurance allows you to book all your prepaid hotels, tours, or other flights with the peace of mind that allows you to cancel for any reason. Typically, travel insurance only covers qualified reasons like documented COVID cases but this insurance covers your fixed costs in case Belize or the country enforces a quarantine or closes its borders.
Pro Tip: We buy through Trawick International using the Safe Voyagers product! For our $700, we spent $50 on our insurance policy!
Phone Plan
Because we did not want to pay $10/day for Verizon's international plan, we opted for a new service called Airalo. Because it is an eSim, I had data throughout the trip which was useful for coordinating between hotels and finding ferry times. While I certainly could have lived without it, it was handy to have during our travel days!
Currency
In Belize, USD is accepted as easily as the Belizean dollar. Initially, I brought $200 in USD cash, but honestly wish I brought more cash in small bills. While most of the country accepts credit cards, we used cash a lot during our shuttle trips or beach BBQs. There are ATMs readily available throughout the country, but be wary of the ATM fees adding up!
International Flights
All international flights land in Belize City, the capital of Belize. Because we are based in Atlanta, the three hour direct flight from Atlanta is one of the best deals on the market! After we landed, because of COVID, we stood in a long line, maybe 30 minutes, to have our COVID tests checked. Once we passed through these checks, customs was a breeze.
Pro Tip: We found our flight for $250 via Scott's Travel Deals
Domestic Flights
Because Belize does not have the best roadway system, travel time can easily be cut in half by flying one of two domestic carriers - Maya Air and Tropic Air. Each offers a relatively cheap ($60-$100) ticket with only 25 minutes in the air to destinations through Belize.
For our itinerary, we wanted to shave drive time so we opted to fly from Belize City to Placendia. For only $104 per person on Maya Air, it saved us over three hours in the car right after landing from Atlanta! Once we exited customs, the Maya Air counter was straight in front of us and we easily re-checked our bags. After going through security, unknown to us, we were bumped to an earlier flight. We were really curious why they were calling our names on the loudspeaker...
Pro Tip: Similar to most airlines, buy early to lock down specials and cheap fares!
Shuttles
Rather than rent a car, I decided to hire a shuttle. After researching on Trip Advisor and other travel blogs, I landed on William's Shuttle Service. Rather than charge per person, William's charges by trip saving us lots of money!
From Placencia to San Ignacio, our shuttle cost $320 compared to two flights costing over $800! Plus, we choose to make fun, local stops along our route ensuring that we would not be stuck in the car for the entire journey.
After San Ignacio, we took the three hour shuttle to Belize City Port. Again, William's Shuttle cost $130 in total compared to $100 per person quoted from another travel agency.
Next Read: Click here to read about our shuttle experience to San Ignacio and to the water taxi.
Rental Cars
While I read in travel blogs and websites to avoid the roads, I thought the roads were not that bad in Belize. If you plan on going on self-guided tours to any Mayan ruins, then yes, you will encounter rocky rural roads. Otherwise, the highways and most roads are totally fine.
I read great things about Crystal Cars for rental cars, but obviously did not use them.
In Placencia, we saw a lot of people rent golf carts and we even did for 1 day, but make sure you get a fast golf cart otherwise it is barely better than a bicycle!
Ferries
To get to one of the most popular islands, Caye Caulker, there are a few ferry companies that shuttle over tourists from 9am to 5:30pm. Costing only $16 per person one way, we could have purchased our tickets ahead online here but tickets are also available at the port terminal.
7-8 Day Itineraries
In my research, it became apparent that there are two different itineraries that most people follow because of the travel times.
Caye Caulker to San Ignacio
San Ignacio to Caye Caulker
Depending on our personality and if you prefer nature or beach, on a 7 day trip, you split your time 4 days / 3 days. I would prefer to end the trip in Caye Caulker because you will have slightly less travel time (1.5 hours) to the airport compared to the 2-2.5 hour drive from San Ignacio.
Our Itinerary
We opted to cram more into the schedule! Initially, we were thinking the San Ignacio to Caye Caulker route, split into 3/5 days, but I saw Placencia had a higher turtle sighting percentage than Caye Caulker. Thus, we changed our minds and added Placencia as our first stop!
In hindsight, I would decide well in advance of the trip what kind of trip you want. If you want adventure activities and prefer nature, spend more time in San Ignacio and visit Caye Caulker. If you're more of a beach person, then Caye Caulker should be your objective. While we will probably end back in Placencia for whale shark diving in March, we definitely preferred Caye Caulker.
Wait, How much!?
Perhaps my favorite part of any trip is setting the budget! Not only does it allow me to plan and get excited about tours or the local food, but I get to see how well my planning ended up!
In terms of both flights and ground transportation, it is higher than normal Belize budgets because we decided to visit Placencia, thus adding two travel legs to our trip. However, I found a great way to combat those costs by choosing William's Shuttles which charged by ride rather than per person like most shuttle companies. We missed our budget because I forgot about our Ubers and we added bags at the last minutes for our sunscreen and hot sauce!
For our hotels, in terms of price, the most expensive was Gaia Riverlodge in San Ignacio, followed by Laru Beya in Placencia and then Caye Reef in Caye Caulker. We could have definitely saved money in the jungle, but I wanted to get the full experience since we only had 2 nights there. In hindsight, because of the extra travel costs and location, if we wanted to save money, I would have stayed in San Ignacio.
One area where we did really well was activities - primarily because we decided not to do any of the ones we thought we would do. Initially, we were thinking about 5 tours, but either due to weather or laziness, we only did two snorkeling trips and Caracol Mayan Ruins.
Our food and drink budget was initially $60 a day which we unfortunately did not hit because we stayed at two isolated resorts in Gaia and Laru Beya which meant prices were slightly higher especially for alcohol. Plus, I wanted all the fresh lobster so I did not mind paying a premium for my fresh seafood!
Finally, I usually add 10% of the above costs for miscellaneous expenses because I always forget something and something pops up during the trip. For this one, I forgot about our dog overnight expenses and we had $150 in COVID tests... Not the most exciting expenses!
COVID Rules
Because of the unique COVID situation in 2021, at the time of booking, Belize had one of the best COVID protocols where we would not have to take a test if we were vaccinated or we could opt for a $50 Rapid Antigen test upon arrival. By the time of our trip, the rules changed again that everyone had to take a test either before arrival or pay $50 in cash for a rapid antigen test.
Pro Tip: Check the country's tourism website or contact your hotel if you're unsure of the requirements as they may change daily!
COVID Testing
At the time of our August 2021 trip, we not only had to get tested on the way to Belize, but also on our return. We just love getting swabs up our nose!
For our Belize entry test, we thought we had a fail safe plan by going to an urgent care clinic and receive a rapid antigen test. However, our urgent care was closed so we had to resort to plan B of a drive-thru PCR test... Safe to say, go with the rapid antigen test if at all possible!
To re-enter the US, we opted for at-home rapid antigen test by eMed. For a pack of 6, we paid $150 and cut the COVID test cost in half and we did not have to travel or worry about it when we were suppose to be on the beach! Each test took 25 minutes in total and we barely felt the swab in our noses. I highly recommend!
Pro Tip: When you order eMed, they ship the next day! Ensure you download the Navica app before you leave the US so you don't run into any issues and bring along your laptop!
