Jungle, islands, beaches galore
Jaunt to Belize for ancient ruins, blue waters and vivid beauty
On my first full day in Belize, I climbed Mayan pyramids under a blazing sun — and then cooled off by swimming to a mountain cascade.
Three days later, I relaxed in a hammock in a shanty on a tiny island along a barrier reef miles off the Caribbean coast.
Two days after that, I gorged on a huge Indonesian spread at a five-star resort owned by Hollywood’s Coppola family.
Welcome to choosing your own adventure, Belize-style.
It’s a small Central American country with a laid-back Caribbean vibe where indigenous influences thrive, Bob Marley is in heavy rotation and English is the official language. (Fully independent since 1981, Belize remains a Commonwealth realm.)
Belize is the least populous country in Central America. The largest crowd I saw when I visited last winter was in its cramped central airport. Once we were free from customs, I pulled our rental SUV onto a barren highway surrounded only by wetlands and signs warning of “Tapir Crossing.”
My companion and I wanted to sample a little of everything: the jungle, the islands and the beach. To pack all that into a week, we traveled independently, but most visitors rely on their resort to guide them.
Belize has a wide selection of luxury lodging as well as dirt-cheap options, but the middle range is largely missing — so if you were looking to hatch a business plan in paradise, you’re welcome. We booked a mix of high- and low-cost accommodations.
In the western Cayo District,
we checked into Ka’ana Resort,an all-inclusive ecolodge outside the city of San Ignacio. On a manicured estate under towering trees, our condo above the pool was decorated in mahogany. Dinner was served in a “Bachelor”-esque courtyard: a richly spiced blackened yellowfin tuna for
me, followed by ice cream made with fruit from the grounds. Better yet was the traditional Belizean breakfast featuring fry jacks: puffy triangles of fried bread to be filled with refried beans, eggs and whatever else is on your plate.
Ka’ana was a fine base for exploring, starting with a morning trip to the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich. On the banks of the Mopan River, we drove aboard a hand-cranked platform that slowly crosses the stream. Once on the other side, we found ourselves in the middle of a Mayan temple city from the first millennium.
The heart of the site is El Castillo, a step pyramid 130 feet tall. Climbing to the top, we had a sprawling view of the forest canopy, reaching across the border with Guatemala. By noon on a Sunday, Xunantunich had become a gathering place for Belizeans picnicking and hanging out in this casual-yet-sacred space.
We headed an hour into the highlands of the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. Somewhere beyond the road, we descended a steep staircase to the 150-foot Big Rock Falls — the classic beersign image of a mountain waterfall. I bellyflopped over some rapids and attempted to swim closer to
the cascade, but the current was too powerful, so I was jettisoned down the creek in front of visiting Australians and Jamaicans. It was worth a try.
We moved on to nearby 1000 Foot Falls — actually 1,600 feet, a contender for Central America’s highest. That’s when I discovered Belize’s backroads. The lonely “road” to the falls was rocky and harrowing, pushing my Mitsubishi 4x4 to its limits, and we were rewarded at the end with only a distant overlook of the spout. It’s all part of Belize’s underdeveloped charm, but now I understood why many people leave the driving to guides.
Hungry, I was relieved to discover we were not far from Blancaneaux Lodge, one of two luxury “hideaways” in Belize owned by the family of filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. As fans, we had to drop into the gated estate for dinner. In true “Godfather” fashion, we tucked into a killer Italian meal at their Montagna Ristorante. Fine Italian cuisine on a thatch-roofed balcony in the jungle? The next time I’m in Cayo, I’d stay at Blancaneaux.
The next day I returned to those roads to head to Barton Creek Cave. When I arrived unannounced at the cave — which opened onto a green lagoon by an empty
tiki bar — a tour group had just ventured in. But later the guide, Alex, agreed to a solo tour.
I sat in the canoe wearing a headlamp as Alex paddled into the cave. I wasn’t prepared for its scale. The vast tunnel extends about 5 miles under a vaulted cathedral ceiling, with about 1 mile accessible by canoe. The cave, of course, looms large in Mayan history. Alex recounted stories of human sacrifice in gory detail, and pointed out ledges where he said artifacts and the skulls and bones of victims were still resting. I switched off my light to experience the absolute darkness.
On Tuesday, we descended
the idyllic, 53-mile Hummingbird Highway to the sea. In the coastal town of Dangriga, we laid eyes on the blue Caribbean for the first time on the trip. We boarded a shuttle boat, which whisked us 11 miles to a tiny island, Tobacco Caye.
The Belize Barrier Reef is part of the second-largest coral reef system in the world — a hotbed for snorkeling and diving, with remote island resorts that offer off-the-grid stays. The only short-term availability I could find was a budget gem: Tobacco Caye Paradise, featuring a half-dozen iconic, brightly covered cabanas perched off the tip of the isle. They may be the only over-water cabanas in Belize — and they were $80 a night, plus a meal plan.
The rest of Tobacco Caye, which is about the size of a city block, is crammed with three more lodges, two bars and a research station staffed by college kids. But our one-room shanty overlooked the nearby breakwater and offered total privacy.
Our first night, we lay in hammocks and zoned out to the night sky. The next day was a washout, but listening to the rain pelt our metal roof while mist enshrouded the islet made for an excellent recharge.
Joe, the chef, served up three meals a day of Belizean meats and veggies, while the guests gathered to share their day’s exploits. Elliott from Canada was on a long-term stay, he said, to “reset my circadian rhythms.” Caitlin from Oregon clutched a Belize field guide and enumerated the otherworldly fish and coral she’d seen.
I woke at sunrise, strapped on my rented snorkeling gear and waded into the warm waters near the Reef ’s End. Almost immediately I confronted a stingray. From there, I was thrust into a vivid underwater world, colored by mounds of giant coral. A
French tourist swimming nearby pointed out a spiky, venomous lionfish — stunning, but invasive.
After roughing it on the caye,
we closed out our trip in the complete comfort of Placencia , the laid-back resort capital of southern Belize. At Naia Resort & Spa, our villa featured an outdoor jungle shower and overlooked a white-sand beach. Mysteriously, the place was also something of a ghost town, with people on the beach outnumbered by gibnuts — large, cute, wild rodents that are also a local delicacy.
For dinner, we turned again to the Coppolas, whose flagship Turtle Inn is on Placencia’s main drag. The family is going for a tribute to the paradise of Bali, so in the open-air Mare restaurant I ordered a Dutch-Indonesian rijsttaffel (rice table).
On our last full day in Belize, to burn off that rijsttaffel, I borrowed a kayak at Naia and paddled a mile to False Caye, so named because the island is really a large stand of mangrove trees. I paddled into a sheltered bay and parked, and had my favorite moment of the trip.
There, with aluxury resorts and tourists out of view, I simply sat in silence for a while on my own secret island.