Travel Guide: Belize
You Betta Belize It!
Belize It Bay-Bee! Belize was a trip for the books. Truthfully, Belize was not high on my personal travel list. Luckily, for me , I have two close friends whose home country is Belize. Both of my friends go back home to Belize every year with their families for vacation. For the longest time I would say I was going to go down to Belize with them but this was the first time I finally made the trip. This was the first time I was just able to just book a flight and go. My friends and their family essentially took care of everything which was such an amazing blessing and experience.
Belize is a country that is compromised of many many cayes (pronouced keys) similar to what we know in the U.S. as the Florida keys. Overall there about 450 cayes in Belize. On this trip, we visited Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye which are two of the most popular cayes in Belize. Caye Caulker is a smaller caye in comparison to Ambergris Caye but an amazing experience. Caye Caulker, in my opinion, is more for backpack travelers or travelers who want the authentic island experience rather than luxurious. Ambergris Caye is the largest caye in Belize. The most popular area in Ambergris is San Pedro. San Pedro is a busy area which has majority of the island’s restaurants, bares, stores, and hotels. Typically, American travelers will stay in the San Pedro area to explore the island and the other cayes. San Pedro does offer more luxurious options for travelers who want that experience.
Travel Guidelines. We are very much still in a global pandemic so starting with travel requirements is pretty essential. Belize does require a negative PCR COVID test taken within 72 hours of your arrival to Belize for the airline and to enter the country (whether you are vaccinated or not). Belize is currently on a nightly curfew of 9pm every night no matter which caye you are on. Some Sunday’s, Belize is doing an entire island shut down where no one can be on the streets during the day and at night unless it is essential. On the streets, it is heavily enforced to wear a mask. If a police officer sees you walking on the street without a face covering you will receive a fined upwards of $100-200 USD. If you are driving in a car or golf cart you should be okay but always have your mask on hand regardless. The restaurants are not enforcing or checking for negative COVID test but some require that you have a face mask when entering as we do here in the states. Upon return, we took our COVID test at the resort for a fee of I believe $70.
Flights. PHL —> BZE … I flew from Philadelphia to Belize City on Delta Airlines. I flew from Philly because that is where my friends were flying out of which just made it easier. From Philly, Newark, and NYC there are typically not any direct flights to Belize City. The flights from these airports will more than likely include a layover in ATL, Miami, or Houston. The layovers around usually about 1-2.5 hours long which is not too bad. It should be expected when flying to Belize City that it will involve a layover from the Northeast region of the U.S. My flight was $456 but I did have a flight credit for about $180. The flights to Belize City typically run from $450-585. I advise to use Google Flights to track the flights especially if you have travel dates in mind.
Accommodations. Caye Caulker - We started the trip in Caye Caulker. We stayed at Island Magic Beach Resort. My friends and their family have historically stayed at this hotel every time they come back to Caye Caulker. Island Magic Resort is a beach oceanfront boutique hotel with 20 rooms in the entire hotel. The hotel is equipped with one restaurant and bar located on the beach. Island Magic is located in the center of town which makes it easy to get around and perfect for quietness. I stayed in a single king bedroom with a balcony that faced the pool and ocean view. The rooms range from $138-225 depending on the room type and season when you go.
Ambergris Caye - San Pedro - After staying in Caye Caulker for a night we traveled to Ambergris Caye more specifically San Pedro. In San Pedro, we stayed at Mahogany Bay Resort & Beach Club, Curio Collection by Hilton. Mahogany Bay is another hotel that my friends and their family have historically stayed at every time they return to San Pedro. Mahogany Bay is a luxurious hotel that offers a variety of refine wooden cottages. At Mahogany Bay there are single cottages but also family townhomes that have two, three, and four bedrooms. I shared a three bedroom family cottage with one of my friends. The three bedroom family cottage offers 2 king sized bedrooms, two bathrooms, a third bedroom with a twin bunkbed, kitchen and living room space, and a patio balcony area. Mahogany Bay gives a complete remote and exclusive feel for relaxation. The hotel provides an exclusive private beach which is about a 10-15 minute boat ride away from the resort which is fully equipped with staff, restaurant and bar, day beds that rest in the water, beach chairs, and some non-motorized water sports.
Getting Around. Getting around from each caye requires water taxi or small air transportation depending where you are going and what you are comfortable with doing.
Caye Caulker - Take a taxi from Belize City Airpot to the Water Taxi Terminal. Our taxi ride was about $25 USD. From my knowledge there is no option for public transportation to get to the Water Taxi Terminal. Once arrived at the Water taxi Terminal you will need to purchase a ticket to Caye Caulker which is about $20 one way. The ride to Caye Caulker is about 35-45 minutes from Belize City.
There is an alternative if you do not want to take a water taxi to Caye Caulker to maximize your time you can fly. Maya Island Air has five flights a day, between about 8 am until about 5 pm. Tropic Air has six flights, with the latest leaving around 5:30 pm.When buying your flight, make sure the time is coordinated. If you buy ahead of time, the price won’t be that much more than the water taxi when you consider the entire price including the taxi. The flight is about 10-15 minutes rather than almost 45 minutes on the Water Taxi. My friends have taken flights from Belize to Caye Caulker many times. This time we didn’t take any flights because of me honestly. I was scared because the plane is a smaller hanger plane and it gives me anxiety. I have agreed next time to take the tiny ass plane to maximize on time.
In Caye Caulker, there are no vehicles on the island. The only option to get around the island is golf cart, bike, and foot. Some of the hotels or resorts do offer setting up a taxi if you need to get around the island which typically range from $5-10 depending on how far you need to go.
Ambergris Caye - San Pedro - On this trip, we went from Caye Caulker to San Pedro via Water Taxi again. Where they drop you off at Caye Caulker when you arrive is where you will go to get the water taxi to San Pedro. The ride from Caye Caulker to San Pedro is about an 1.5. The water taxi to San Pedro from Caye Caulker is about $30.
Again, there is another alternative to maximize time. There is a flight that you can take from Caye Caulker to San Pedro. The flight is about $40-55 and is about 10 minutes long.
In San Pedro, there are vehicles on the island but locals and tourist typically use golf carts as a main use of transportation throughout the island.
Restaurants. Overall, for me personally, I thought Belize food was great. It is a mix of both Spanish and Caribbean foods.There are so many options to choose while you are in Belize you cannot really go wrong with any restaurant. Their popular dishes include lobster and conch (when in season), rice and beans, stew chicken, fry jacks, salbutes, tamales, and so much more.
Caye Caulker.
The Happy Lobster is great breakfast spot with a bunch of lobster options for breakfast especially the lobster omelets which are so good.
Street Food - Caye Caulker offers a lot of great street food options that include $10 lobster tails, shrimp skewers, grilled whole fish and so much more.
San Pedro.
Mahogany Bay Resort has a main dining restaurant and room service. The food here is good but it is more Americanize rather than the authentic feel and taste you will get outside the resort. At the resort there are a few third party vendors that come from the island of San Pedro so it is a little more local and authentic food that includes a taco stand, Japanese restaurant, Chicken Coop, coffee shop, and other options. I tried all these options and they were all pretty good.
Sandy Toes Beach and Bar Grill is located on a main strip where there are a lot of bars and restaurants. I am not sure if this main strip has a name but once you see Sandy Toes you will know you are in the right place. This area can be frequented night after night or day after day for food and drinks. The food and drinks were both pretty good here at Sandy Toes. We had a variety of things that included ceviche, nachos, tacos, chicken wings, and lobster fritters.
Alaia Belize - The Alaia is a Mariot Auotgraph resort that is about a 8 minute golf cart ride from Mahogany Bay. We went here for dinner one night at the Sea SaltRestaurant. The food and drinks were both amazing and definitely worth a trip off of our resort.
Manelly's Homemade Ice Cream has homemade ice cream that is really delicious.
Excursion/Exploring. Caye Caulker - I was at Caye Caulker for about 1.5-2 days. We tried to jam pack as much as we could because we weren’t staying as long. So, I will go over what I did while in Caye Caulker and list some other cool things to do while at Caye Caulker from my personal research.
What I Did:
Visit the Split - The Split is a small actual split in the island of Caye Caulker. The Split was caused by Hurricane Hattie back in the day that separated part of the island. Today, it’s one of the most popular spots in town in which to hang out. There are fun bars, turquoise waters, and many ways to pass your island days. We drank, ate and enjoyed the water.
Visit Lazy Lizard - One of the most popular of things to do in Caye Caulker is hang out at the Lazy Lizard. It’s the island’s largest bar/hangout where you’re sure to get tanned, drunk, and eat. The water is crystal clear and feels amazing. You can literally hand here all day if you wanted to.
Pictures/Video at the Caye Caulker Sign . . . AND EAT - Like most islands there is a designated sign of the place where you are at. You can take pics and videos here. On the same road where the Caye Caulker sign is you will find a bunch of locals who are grilling fresh lobster, shrimp, fish, ribs, pork chops, and whatever else you want for dirt cheap! Definitely explore what the locals have to offer on this street because its HOT & FRESH and delicious!
What You Should Do:
Lobster Fest - This is one of Belize’s biggest events. Lobster Fest is just that a festival and one of the best times to experience Belize. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions it has been canceled. But when the world reopens, I plan on experiencing it for what I heard it to be . . . A BASHMENT and overflows of all the lobster you can eat.
Rent Bike or a Golf Cart to Explore - As I mentioned, there is not vehicles of the island of Cay Caulker only bikes and golf carts. So the best and only way to explore is by bike or golf cart. By foot too if thats your thing. However, to take in Caye Caulker I would suggest either one to get the full experience of exploration.
Water Activities - Caye Caulker has all the water activities one can think of. Typically, I would be down to do fishing, parasailing, scuba diving, or jet skis but I didn’t have a hairstyle that was equipped for any of that so I passed. But I will not the next time I am in Belize. I suggest you take full advantage of what you can water sort wise.
Visit the Great Blue Hole - The Blue Hole is a naturally-occurring marine sinkhole. From my understanding, there are a bunch of different ways to visit this Great Blue Hole. Whether it be a helicopter ride, or actually diving into the Great Blue Hole you pick your adventurist poison. It’s about 40-45 miles off the coast of mainland Belize and 2.5 hours by boat from Caye Caulker.
Ambergris Caye - San Pedro - I was in San Pedro for 5 days/4 nights so I got to a few things you might be interested in.
Private Beach Day @ Mahogany Bay - At Mahogany Bay, there is a private beach that is about 10-15 minutes from the resort by boat. I am not sure if it is open to individuals who do not stay at the resort (you’d have to research that). However, we rent a day bed which was I believe $30 or 35 dollars for the day. A full staff is at the private beach all day servicing food and drinks. We literally drink and ate the entire day. The water is so high you can walk out far into the water and still be standing. An amazing relaxing day!
Secret Beach - We rented a golf cart from Mahogany Bay Resort for two days and drove out to Secret Beach one of those days. Secret Beach is about an 1 hour and 20 minutes from the Mahogany Bay Resort. At Secret Beach there are bars and restaurants where you can rent chairs and lay out or go out a quarter mile into the water and still be walking on foot into the ocean. It was fucking amazing (excuse my French). From Secret Beach you can see Leonardo Dicaprio private island out in the distance and dream, lol.
Visit Caye Caulker ( if you are only staying in San Pedro) - If you are only staying in San Pedro for the duration of your trip, you can definitely take a day trip to Caye Caulker to experience all the things I just mentioned above. You’d just have to take a water taxi to Caye Caulker and catch it back to San Pedro.
Water Activities - Same as Cay Caulker, San Pedro offers a bunch of water activities. Go fishing, rent a boat, parasailing, jet skis, or whatever you can think of.
So what would I rate Belize on a scale of 10? Honestly I would give it a solid 9/10! Why? The reason being is because I think I got the full authentic Belize experience. A little bit of lux and a little bit a yard (real island) experience. I was able to travel with people who knew who, what, when and where. I am telling you, I was just there for the vibes and following along. A first in my many travels and my gratitude and appreciation for my friends and their family goes far beyond anything I could type here. IT WAS AMAZING! You do not always get that any place you travel so Belize has the advantage than anywhere else I have been. Aside from having home court advantage, Belize is a beautiful country. The people are diverse and friendly, the food is amazing, there are so many islands to see and go to, and you can go back to Belize and not have the same experience twice.
Some helpful travel tips when going to Belize:
Best time to travel is April to August . . . Lobster Fest starts and the weather is perfect.
Do not go late August into September as hurricane season begins and it rains a lot often. With the rain comes an intense amount of mosquitos that will literally eat you alive. At one point, I am sure I had over 50 bites on my entire body. That was not a pleasant experience, at all!
Monitor flight prices. The flights tend to go up and down but if you track it a deal might slip through the cracks.
Belize currency is $2 BZE to $1 USD. Therefore, our money stretches pretty far in Belize and you shouldn’t have to worry about doing complicated math on the bill. Also, Belize does accept USD, however, some places may give you Belize change back.
Other than that, if you decide to go to Belize I hope I offered some helpful things on your next vacation journey! Thanks for stopping by! :)
