Belize Favorite Adventures
OUR FAVORITE ADVENTURES
Belize
Our Belize Favorite Adventures
Our Belize Favorite Adventures
Belize is a relaxing (and fun) place to visit for an American, or any English speaking visitor. It has tropical beaches, jungles filled with adventure parks, and world class diving, snorkeling and birding opportunities. And Belize’s primary used language is English. Here are a few of our favorite adventures.
# 1. Birding
Belize offers some of the best birding in the world, including the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve and Red Bank Village (described in more detail below).
# 2. Caving
Belize has numerous amazing and unique caves to explore. Don’t miss the ATM cave, which is a once in a lifetime caving experience that enables you to explore an untouched Maya archeological site, complete with the intact skeletons of people sacrificed by the Mayas in times of environmental stress, including droughts. Other amazing caving adventures include Crystal Cave and Dark Cave which involve rappelling into sinkholes.
# 3. Exploring Garifuna Communities
We loved our time in Placencia which is on the beaten path but has nevertheless maintained its Garifuna roots. Hopkins and Punta Gorda also offer opportunities to experience Garifuna culture.
# 4. Expoling the Mayan Ruins
The ruins of Lamanai are awesome, as is the boat tour to get there. There are also great ruins out of San Ignacio, including Caracol.
# 5. Exploring the Deep South
We did not have time to go to the deep south but heard great things about the Maya villages in the area including Big Falls and San Miguel. Don’t miss this if you haven’t had the opportunity to explore Maya communities in other countries like Guatemala or Mexico.
# 6. Jaguar Tracking
One of the best places to see a jaguar in the wild is the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, a 150 square mile sanctuary on the eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains and one of the best places to see jaguars in the world. Unfortunately, the only jaguar that we saw in Belize was in the Belize Zoo. We generally don’t like zoos, but the Belize Zoo is worth a visit, especially since it is focused on educating Belizians about the native wildlife in Belize and the zoo only takes in injured animals that wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild on their own.
# 7. Observing Scarlet Macaws
Red Bank Village is the best place to see Scarlet Macaws in Belize. The birds feed on the Annatto and Pole Wood trees along the river between December and March.
# 8. Pursuing Adventures on the Hummingbird Highway
Sure, the Hummingbird Highway is just a road, but its scenery is stunning. In addition, there’s all sorts of adventures along the Hummingbird Highway, including amazing caving, hiking and swimming in cenotes.
# 9. Scuba Diving and Snorkeling on the Belize Barrier Reef
The atolls and cayes of Belize offer amazing scuba diving and snorkeling. Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker are the most popular bases for diving, but Hopkins and Placencia are also good, with fewer crowds. Don’t miss a trip to the Blue Hole, a 400 foot deep sinkhole that Jacques Coustea rated as one of the top 10 dive sites in the world. Dive trips to the Blue Hole also typically also include a visit to the red-footed booby bird sanctuary at Half Moon Caye and the Half Moon Wall dive which in our opinion is even more spectacular than the Blue Hole dive due to the diversity of corals and fish on an extremely healthy reef. Keep in mind that getting to the Blue Hole is a long boat ride so you might want to take some Dramamine with you if you are prone to seasickness.
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