Placencia

Placencia is a gorgeous emerald peninsula in southern Belize with 16 miles of sandy beaches. The Caribbean Sea is to the east and the lagoon lies to west looking towards the Maya Mountains on the mainland. 

Placencia is essentially divided into two parts: south of the airstrip and north of the airstrip. The entire peninsula can be easily navigated on a bike. 

The Main Street in Placencia Village is just a sidewalk! In fact, the “Guinness Book of World Records” recognizes it as the narrowest main street in the world.

We stayed in a beautiful beach front hotel where our days were spent reading and swimming.

The hotel had an amazing restaurant which fed us so well we did not venture out at all. They made the most fabulous cheesecake I've ever had.

The only negative here was the amount of sargassum. Its a brown seaweed that is taking over Caribbean beaches...it literally shows up daily in piles on the sand. The staff would shovel and shovel for hours and hours and barely make a dent in it some days. 

We spent 4 lazy days here before flying to Honduras and spending the night in San Pedro Sula before heading off to our next adventure in Copan Ruinas.

Ambergris Caye

Ambergris Caye, which is 25 miles long, is Belize’s largest and most developed island.

According to Ambergris Caye history, Spanish conquistadors originally explored Belize and claimed it for Spain, but they decided not to settle it because of a lack of resources. They eventually handed the colony over to the British, who declared it a British colony. Today, it’s still a Commonwealth country and the official language of the country is English, not Spanish and almost everyone in the country speaks it, which is quite odd as it’s completely the opposite of you cross the border into neighboring Mexico and Guatemala.

Even if Belize is firmly located in Central America, both islands we've visited have a distinctly Caribbean vibe to it.  Belize feels less like a Latin country, and more like a Caribbean one, we particularly noticed it in Caye Caulker.

Unlike Caye Caulker, there is a beach here. Its pretty small and a 30 minute golf cart ride but it was nice to swim and stick our feet in the sand in the afternoon! It's called Secret Beach but hardly a secret anymore...it was packed. The drinks were sooo insanely expensive, like 15usd per drink!!! crazy. I brought my own water hahaha.

Ambergris Caye runs right along the reef and no matter where you are along the beach, the view is spectacular. This was a 1 minute walk from our hotel!

Our hotel was so good!! Amazing pool and it was also a Taco bar where they had such good food and drinks.
Relaxing is officially done for a few days as we head tomorrow for San Ignacio where we tour some caves and ruins and waterfalls!

Caye Caulker

The island of Caye Caulker takes up a total of six square miles. Their motto is “go slow” making Caye Caulker is so relaxing and charming. All the island’s power is actually generated by diesel generators!!!! Seriously!

In keeping with the island’s “go slow” attitude, Caye Caulker has a strict no cars policy. No taxis, no buses, no family cars. This leaves the island blissfully tranquil and unpolluted. We could stride down the road peacefully without having to constantly look around to make sure we're not going to get run over. The only motorized 4-wheeled vehicles on the island are golf carts, which are available for rental for those too lazy to bike but we legitimately could leisurely bike from one end to the other in 10 minutes...I thought it so odd that otherwise non disable tourists drove around on carts. There were thankfully more walkers and bikers than golf cart drivers.

We biked everywhere, it was great!

While there isn’t much by way of beaches on the island, The Split is the perfect area for lying in the sun or taking a dip in the sea. Originally named such because the waterway that flows through here and divides the island in two was created by Hurricane Hattie in 1961. The Split is now the go-to place for anyone on the island looking to chill out. The Lazy Lizard, located on a wooden decking that hangs over The Split, sells food and drinks throughout the day and blasts out music for sun-worshipers to enjoy. Several bars have tables in the water, swings, diving boards, slides and loungers to relax on! We would spend our days by our house pool and head out at happy hour to hang at the split.

We rented a cute house with a little pool. There were 3 houses that shared the pool on the property but we had this pool entirely to ourselves the whole time. There was a private dock included too. We hung out there one morning but it was pretty windy so we opted for the pool the rest of the time.

The island is very close to some of the greatest diving and snorkeling spots.

Off the coast of Belize is a part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System that stretches from the upper Yucatan peninsula down to Honduras, making it the second biggest reef system in the world after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

Past the southern tip of Ambergris Caye is the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Hol Chan is Mayan for 'little channel." This sanctuary was officially established in 1987, and since then the return of all species of fish has been quite dramatic. It was some of the best snorkeling I've ever done!!

Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley is approximately 6km south of San Pedro Ambergris Caye.

Located just one mile south of the Hol Chan cut and included within the Hol Chan Marine Reserve is Shark Ray Alley. Once a place where fishermen cleaned their catch , it naturally attracted sting rays and nurse sharks to feed. Shark Ray Alley is now an attraction that offers visitors the rare opportunity to snorkel up close and personal with docile rays and gentle nurse sharks. As soon as you pull up they circle the boat and they are tons of them in the water throughout our snorkel.

 We had a fun and relaxing 4 days on Caye Caulker! Next we are heading to Ambergris Caye....the busier bigger island a 30min boat ride away.