Unless you are a diver, Belize is often overlooked as a Caribbean destination. But I am here to say that Belize is small, but mighty! And definitely worth a visit. There are many things to do in Belize, and diverse activities at that. Belize has beaches, of course, and great diving, but it also has Mayan ruins, rainforests and hiking, and peace and quiet, which is often high on my list of sought out attractions! In addition, Belize is a short flight from mainland US; 3 hours from Miami, the route I took. English is the primary language and you can use the American dollar. So is there any reason NOT to head out to Belize for some R and R? No.
We split our Belize trip into two parts: Mountain/jungle and beach. This was easy to do but you have to make some transportation choices. That is, the major airport that serves Belize is a good three plus hours by car from beaches and mountain destinations. There are also small planes which cuts the driving time significantly. Against my better judgment I took one of these on our morning out. But it was really fine even though my nerves took a huge hit! Point is, driving is easy but more time consuming. We did a bit of both. And truthfully, there isn’t much by way of scenery between the two areas so flying is fine.
Our first stop was Blacaneaux Lodge. Unintentionally we also stayed at a sister property for the beach portion, and more on that later. (I have no affiliation with this place.) A driver picked us up at the airport for the private, 2-ish hour trek up the mountains to the resort. He was friendly and even had a local favorite snack, which was yummy–plaintains and guacamole. Off to a good start!
Before I talk about the things to do in Belize, I want to say that this resort is super relaxing. It was one of the most relaxing vacations I had despite long days caving and traipsing around Mayan ruins. First, there are no TVs in the rooms. STELLAR. (There is wi-fi.) Second, it is quiet. Children are permitted at this resort but those cabins weren’t near ours. (Lucky! But it is a family friendly property.) Third, the breezes are so nice at night. Slept like babies. In fact, my husband and I were sleeping 9 hours a night! Fourth, the staff was wonderful and attentive. Each morning at breakfast, they knew I preferred soy milk with my coffee and was gluten free and they made sure everything was ready. They communicated with each other so that our room was tidied while we grabbed out breakfast or left the property. That level of personalized attention was just relaxing. I never had to ask or worry.
Out cottage was more on the outskirts of the property, was private, and had its own plunge pool.
Caving
Back to things to do in Belize! Our first stop was the ATM cave, short for Achtun Tunichil Muknil. This is a famous cave that is believed to have been a cave where The Maya made sacred ritual sacrifices. This is arguably the most famous site in Belize.
You can look all the history up, but it has a perfectly preserved skeleton, which is the main attraction. I have no personal pictures of this caving experience because no one is allowed to take any. (Below pictures are from belizing.com.) You leave your cell phone in the excursion van. I was slightly nervous to explore this cave because it is essentially rock climbing, partially submerged, and reported claustrophobic areas. There are small crevices you must squeeze through and I simply did not know what to expect. The information out there in the Internet ranges from “easy peasy” to “this is an arduous adventure.” But we did it! It isn’t “taxing” because it is a grueling hike; rather, it is long and a mix of swimming and climbing up and down. The rocks can be slippery. Oh, and did I mention there is no light? Right. It is completely dark. You are deep into a cave so all you have is a small headlamp on your helmet. No visitors are allowed in there without a guide, which is how you have helmets and a head lamp. Each guide has maybe 6-8 people in a group so it is manageable. Note that there is a limit to the number of groups that can visit in a day so set this up in advance.
The first 30-40 minutes is a hike to the actual cave. Within 3 minutes, we were crossing a deep creek. There were 3 creeks to cross to get to the cave and the water height will depend on the season you visit. How anyone ever found this place is beyond me! Then everyone goes into the mouth of the cave (more swimming, but in half darkness as the mouth of the cave disappears). If you can’t stand the thought of swimming in water you can’t see and can only imagine what is swimming in there, this is probably not for you! Yes, there are fish and allegedly other critters (we saw a few bats) but I saw nothing besides those two things. Whew.
Within a few minutes, the light was gone. We saw the various stalactites and stalagmites as we trudged forth, alternating between water up to our knees (I am short) to a full swim and ducking through small openings. Only one was what I think would cause someone any claustrophobia and it is quick, so don’t panic!
Finally, you reach the place where they believe most of the rituals took place, but it is elevated. Everyone must don socks at this point (socks are mandatory and if you don’t have them, you cannot go up to this sacred spot), so whatever water shoes you may have had come off and socks go on. Then you climb up what I thought was a tricky, small rock formation to get to the “cathedral” area. I am vertically challenged so the difficulty was because my legs weren’t long enough to “stretch” to the next rock, particularly coming down. Of course, younger kids and teenagers jump around these areas like they have nothing to lose, but HELLO, I didn’t want to break an ankle deep into some cave where there was only one way out.
The cathedral area was expansive–high ceiling and huge, flat area for whatever activities they were doing back then. One interesting point to mention is that in America, no one would be allowed to walk around there. Ancient pottery litters the floor in random places. They have it marked with flat plastic tape on the ground. Yes, no fence or barrier so if someone isn’t paying attention, they could just step on it. In this area you can see where the Mayans had fires and there are various skulls and bones visible. To see the full skeleton, the “Crystal Maiden,” so named because of the crystals on her skeleton, you have to climb even further up a rickety ladder to another area. After this piece de resistance, it is back out the cave.
Most tour groups that have lunch waiting for you upon exiting. This excursion from our lodge (arranged through our lodge, but there are ways to do this independently), went from about 8 am until 1:30 or 2, including the 45 minute drive to the cave lot. Actual cave time was maybe 90-120 minutes. There are bathrooms to change out of your wet clothes before lunch. All in all a cool experience. I had never been “caving” before, though this was guided and not some spelunking expedition!
Mayan Ruins
Next thing to do while in Belize is to go to Guatemala! Of course! It was a three hour drive to Tikal, an ancient Mayan city. We had a private tour which was nice given how far the drive was. The Guatemalan border looks just like you imagine it would, a bit desperate. Americans have to pay around $20 to pass into Guatemala. Once there, Tikal is this gigantic Mayan city that has been partially uncovered. The history of the Mayans is fascinating. A little reading ahead of time or a knowledgeable guide can make the tour a bit more interesting. There was a lot going on here at Tikal at one point. The Mayans built an entire resevoir system and had a thriving city. There is a lot of speculation about why the Mayans abandoned these cities, but one they think is that they cut down a lot of the jungle to build their cities, which changed the rain patterns. Without rain, the reservoir dried up and there would be no surviving here without water. But who knows since the Mayans, which were all over Central America, seemed to have disbanded completely and fairly quickly. They did not disappear, as many families in Guatemalan are Mayan in origin and some even keep some aspects of the language and culture alive.
We were there in March and it felt like 179 degrees out! Bring a hat and sunscreen and some water. Again, there is a lot of climbing to the top of the ruins and hiking through the area. If you get lucky, maybe you see a jaguar. We saw spider monkeys and the animals that looks like giant rats but are more like raccoons apparently. Worth the visit. And, let me tell you that between the resort, which had a Guatemalan restaurant and eating lunch in Guatemala, I fell in love with corn tortillas and Guatemalan black beans! The corn tortillas there are smooth like flour ones and made by the side of the road for every restaurant we saw. “Restaurant.” Keep in mind that Guatemala is a densely populated but extremely poor country. That part wasn’t fun. But it has a rich history and the people were lovely and friendly.
Our next excursion was to a place called Caricol. This was a 1.5 hour drive from the resort and on the bumpiest, muddiest, “roads” around. Again, how these places were discovered is curious. People just hacking through the jungle? There was infrastructure work going on so perhaps they are building better access to this place, but wow. I got a massage at the resort the next day… 😉
Caricol is smaller than Tikal but shares a similar history. Interesting to see. Also interesting to see the archeology tents set up for the community living and working there. There are active excavations all around. Not every structure at Caricol is uncovered, which is true for all the Mayan cities. Many are deep under jungle growth in part because once the structures are uncovered, it costs a lot of money not only to restore them, but also keep it in good enough condition for people to climb all over. This is why in a large and bustling Mayan city, perhaps only 5%-10% of it is visible today.
The next day, we stayed close to the resort. After a day of almost relaxation (we walked down the the nearby waterfall) we had a lovely tour of the resort’s huge organic garden and a completely vegetarian feast made right there. Really delicious and I recommend booking this meal right when you check in (or before, if possible).
Then we were off to the beach resort, Turtle Inn. Blacaneaux arranged the drive with one of their drivers. In retrospect, I wish perhaps we had arranged a flight. The drive was 3 hours and there is no scenery to speak of on the way down the mountain.
Turtle Inn was bigger/more densely populated, had way more kids around (makes sense) and was not nearly as luxurious. The cabins were the same but the service was lacking. I mean, these are first world problems, but just saying. No one knew us and no one was anticipating our needs. Moreover, the food was not nearly as good except for the fish tacos. That fresh red snapper was divine!
This beach resort does have excursions to Mayan ruins as well, but since we had seen those, we opted for snorkeling (we don’t dive) and a sunset cruise and basically rested, more massages, and rode the complimentary bikes into town. The sunsets are gorgeous there but the beaches weren’t as vast or fabulous as other Caribbean resorts. I would definitely return to Blacaneaux, but not Turtle Inn. On this stretch of beach, there are other resorts. It isn’t over run with huge properties like Cancun, but there are some options.
Our last morning there, we left at sunrise to the local airport and arrived before the airport was even open…yes, it is that small. And then you are supposed to casually jump on a plane that hardly looks real and just take off over the ocean. Eeesh. But a 30 minute flight was better than a 3-4 hour drive to Belize City.
And there you have it! 10/10 recommend Belize, even if you are not a diver.