Belize

The former capital, still the largest town and the country's transport hub, is somewhere most visitors pass through rather than linger in. The government moved inland to purpose-built Belmopan in 1970, after Hurricane Hattie flooded the low-lying city in 1961. A few hours are enough to see the hand-operated Swing Bridge over Haulover Creek, one of the last of its kind still in use; St John's Cathedral, begun in 1812 and the oldest Anglican church in Central America; and the Museum of Belize, in a former colonial prison, with good displays of Maya jade, pottery and coins. The Fort George waterfront has the water-taxi terminals for the cayes.

TipBelize City has a reputation for petty and occasionally violent crime in some neighbourhoods. Stick to the centre and the Fort George area by day, and take a taxi after dark.

About an hour north of Belize City, Altun Ha was a wealthy trading and ceremonial centre in the Classic period, close enough to the coast to deal in jade, obsidian and marine shell. Its two main plazas are compact and easy to explore, framed by restored pyramids. The tallest, the Temple of the Masonry Altars, is the one you'll see on the label of Belikin, the national beer, and in a tomb deep inside it archaeologists found a carved jade head of the sun god, the largest worked jade object known from the Maya world, which now appears on Belizean banknotes.

TipAltun Ha is the easiest Maya site to reach from Belize City and a popular cruise excursion; arrive early or late to avoid the groups.

Lamanai is reached in the most memorable way: by a fast boat ride of about an hour and a half up the New River from near Orange Walk Town, past mangroves, Mennonite farms and, if you're lucky, crocodiles, iguanas and herons on the banks. The name is usually translated as "submerged crocodile", and the site was lived in for longer than almost any other Maya city, from well before 1000 BC until after the Spanish arrived, when friars built churches here whose ruins still stand. In the forest are the Mask Temple, with huge stucco faces on its façade, the Jaguar Temple, and the High Temple, whose steep steps lead to a view over the canopy and the river lagoon.

TipHowler monkeys live around the site and are noisiest early in the day. Tours from Orange Walk usually include lunch and the boat ride; bring insect repellent.

The largest of Belize's islands is a long, narrow strip of mangrove and sand stretching up towards Mexico, with the reef running just offshore, close enough to hear the surf breaking on it. San Pedro, the island's only town, grew from a fishing village into the country's busiest resort, and its sandy streets are full of golf carts, beach bars, dive shops and restaurants. Resorts spread north and south along the coast. There are few broad beaches, as the calm lagoon behind the reef keeps seagrass close to shore, so most life happens on docks and in the water: snorkelling, diving, sailing, kayaking and fly fishing for bonefish and tarpon on the flats.

TipGolf carts are the main transport; they're easy to rent, but drive carefully on the busy roads at night.

Set up in 1987 as Belize's first marine reserve, Hol Chan, "little channel" in Maya, protects a natural cut through the reef at the southern tip of Ambergris Caye, along with seagrass beds and mangroves behind it. Because fishing has been banned here for decades, the cut is crowded with life: snapper, grunts and parrotfish in shoals, moray eels, green turtles, spotted eagle rays and the occasional nurse shark, all a short boat ride from San Pedro. Strong currents run through the channel, so snorkellers go with licensed guides.

TipA reserve fee is charged on top of the tour price; it's usually collected by the boat operator. Ask whether it's included when booking.

A shallow sandy patch just south of Hol Chan, inside the same reserve, where fishermen once cleaned their catch and nurse sharks and southern stingrays learnt to gather round the boats. The habit has stuck, and dozens of the harmless sharks and rays still glide in when a boat arrives, in water only two or three metres deep, so even nervous swimmers can watch them from the surface. Most Hol Chan snorkel trips combine the two sites.

TipDon't touch or feed the animals. Choose operators who follow the reserve rules, which aim to reduce the feeding that changed their behaviour in the first place.

A short water-taxi ride south of San Pedro, Caye Caulker is the smaller, cheaper and more laid-back of the two main islands, with sandy lanes, brightly painted wooden houses and a "Go Slow" motto that people genuinely seem to live by. It is a favourite with backpackers and divers. At its northern end is the Split, a channel carved through the island by Hurricane Hattie in 1961, now the island's swimming spot and sunset bar. Day trips run to the reef, to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley, and to the manatees that feed in the waters nearby.

TipSailing trips that combine several snorkel stops are a Caye Caulker speciality, and some run all the way down to Placencia over several days, camping on small cayes.

In the middle of Lighthouse Reef, the most remote of Belize's atolls, a near-perfect circle of deep blue, about 300 metres across and more than 120 metres deep, sits in the turquoise shallows of the lagoon. It is a sinkhole that formed on dry land during the last ice ages, when sea levels were far lower, and flooded as the oceans rose. Jacques Cousteau made it famous in the early 1970s. It's part of the Blue Hole Natural Monument, within the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System World Heritage Site, managed by the Belize Audubon Society.

TipThe classic dive goes to about 40 metres to see stalactites under the overhanging wall, and is for experienced, certified divers only. The view is best from the air: scenic flights leave from San Pedro, Caye Caulker and Belize City. Day trips by boat take around two hours each way and can be cancelled in rough seas.

At the south-east corner of Lighthouse Reef, this small, palm-shaded island was declared a natural monument in 1982, one of Belize's earliest protected areas. Its littoral forest at the western end shelters a nesting colony of red-footed boobies, watched from a viewing platform among the treetops, alongside frigatebirds, iguanas and nesting hawksbill and loggerhead turtles on the beaches. The drop-off just offshore, the Half Moon Caye Wall, is among the best dives in the Caribbean, and Blue Hole day trips usually stop here for lunch and a walk.

TipOvernight stays are limited to a few basic camping and kayaking expeditions, which let you see the atoll after the day boats leave.

On the George Price Highway west of Belize City, this small zoo is different from most: it keeps only animals native to Belize, almost all of them orphaned, rescued, injured or born in captivity, in large enclosures set into the forest. It's the most reliable place to see the animals you're unlikely to spot in the wild, including jaguars, pumas, tapirs, the national animal, harpy eagles and the scarlet macaw. It makes a good break on the drive from the coast to Cayo.

For many visitors this cave, known as ATM, is the single most extraordinary thing in Belize. The day begins with a jungle walk across several river crossings, then a swim into the cave mouth, followed by an hour or more of wading, scrambling and squeezing through the river passage, by headlamp, before climbing up into a great dry chamber. There the Maya left offerings of pottery, and the remains of people who appear to have been sacrificed, some calcified into the floor. The most famous, a complete skeleton known as the Crystal Maiden, glitters with mineral deposits.

TipYou can only enter with a licensed guide, usually on a day trip from San Ignacio. Cameras and phones have been banned inside since 2012, after a visitor dropped a camera on a skull. In the upper chamber you walk in socks to protect the floor, so bring a pair. Expect to get completely wet, and know that the cave closes after heavy rain, when the river rises.

The main town of the Cayo District sits on hills above the Macal River, close to the Guatemalan border, and is the natural base for western Belize. It's a busy, friendly place with a Saturday market, good inexpensive restaurants and a choice of lodges in the forest around it. On a hilltop within walking distance of the centre, the small Maya site of Cahal Pech was an elite residence for centuries, with courtyards, temples and a ball court. Nearby, the Green Iguana Conservation Project and the medicinal plants of the Rainforest Medicine Trail are easy half-day visits.

TipFrom San Ignacio it's about two hours to the Guatemalan border town of Melchor and on to Tikal, which many visitors see on a long day trip or with an overnight stay.

The approach is half the fun: a small hand-cranked ferry carries people and cars across the Mopan River at San José Succotz, a few kilometres from the border. On a ridge above stands Xunantunich, "stone woman" in Maya, named after a ghost said to haunt it. Its centrepiece, El Castillo, rises some 40 metres, with restored stucco friezes of masks and celestial symbols on its upper walls. From the top you can see across the forest into Guatemala.

TipGo early in the morning, when it's cooler and the howler monkeys are calling. The ferry is free, and buses between San Ignacio and the border stop at the landing.

South of San Ignacio, the road climbs into a surprising landscape of Caribbean pines, red earth and granite outcrops, cooler than the lowlands and dotted with waterfalls and rivers. Rio On Pools is a series of granite rock pools and small cascades, perfect for a swim. Big Rock Falls drops into a deep, clear plunge pool, and the Thousand Foot Falls, which is in fact much taller, plunges down a cliff into the forest, best seen from a viewpoint across the valley. The Rio Frio Cave, a huge open tunnel the river passes through, is an easy walk from the road.

TipThe roads are mostly unpaved and rough, especially after rain; a high-clearance vehicle or a tour is best. Combine the area with Caracol.

Deep in the Chiquibul Forest, a long, bumpy drive from San Ignacio, lie the ruins of the largest Maya city in Belize. At its height, around AD 650, Caracol is thought to have held well over 100,000 people, and it famously defeated mighty Tikal in war in 562. Laser surveys from the air revealed a vast network of farm terraces, reservoirs and causeways around the centre. Its great pyramid, Caana, the "sky palace", rises around 43 metres and is still the tallest building in the country. In 2025 archaeologists announced the discovery of the tomb of the city's founding ruler, Te K'ab Chaak.

TipIt's a full day from San Ignacio. Bring water and food, and check road conditions; tours have at times travelled in convoy with the security forces because of the remote border area.

In the forested bowl beneath the Maya Mountains, Cockscomb was set up in the 1980s as the world's first protected area dedicated to the jaguar. The cats themselves are elusive and mostly nocturnal, so few visitors see one, but the sanctuary is a superb place for walking, with marked trails to waterfalls and swimming holes, river tubing, and chances to see tapir tracks, toucans, coatis and howler monkeys. Strong hikers can climb towards Victoria Peak, one of the highest summits in Belize, on a guided expedition of several days.

TipThe entrance is at Maya Centre on the Southern Highway, where women's cooperatives sell crafts. There are rustic cabins and camping at the headquarters for a night in the forest, when the chances of spotting wildlife are highest.

This village on a long, quiet beach is one of the main centres of Garifuna culture in Belize. The Garifuna descend from West African and Indigenous Caribbean peoples who were exiled from St Vincent by the British in 1797 and settled along the Central American coast. In Hopkins you can take drumming lessons, try hudut, fish cooked in coconut broth with mashed plantain, and hear punta music at weekends. Settlement Day, on 19 November, celebrates the Garifuna arrival in Belize with re-enactments of the landing and drumming late into the night.

TipHopkins is a convenient base for Cockscomb, about half an hour inland, and for snorkelling and diving trips to the reef and South Water Caye.

At the tip of a narrow, 25-kilometre peninsula with a lagoon on one side and the sea on the other, Placencia has some of the best sandy beaches on the Belize mainland. The village has a relaxed, small-town feel, with a narrow pedestrian sidewalk, once listed as among the world's narrowest main streets, running between the houses. Boats leave for the outer reef and cayes, for fishing trips and for the Monkey River, where howler monkeys and crocodiles are common.

TipFrom roughly March to June, around the full moon, whale sharks gather at Gladden Spit, a marine reserve off Placencia, to feed on the spawn of snappers. Trips are regulated, with limited numbers and licensed guides.

A tiny island of sand and palms on a reef formation known as a faro, about an hour's boat ride from Placencia, Laughing Bird Caye is a national park and one of the seven sites of the Belize Barrier Reef World Heritage Site. It is named after the laughing gulls that once nested here. The surrounding reef has some of the healthiest coral in the south, and the snorkelling straight from the beach is excellent, with reef fish, rays and turtles.

TipThere's a park fee, normally included in tour prices, and visitor numbers are managed; bring reef-safe sunscreen and pack out everything you bring.