You know a trip is this good when I just get back and I already have a post ready to go. I truly don’t believe that I’ve ever written a blog post about a trip this soon after coming back from it! After spending 10 days in Belize, I can really say that it is honestly up there in one of my favourite Caribbean destinations to travel to. Not yet over-globalized, this country has so much bountiful culture that has yet to completely convert to a tourism economy so that you don’t feel like you’re just traveling somewhere for the sun. If you want a breather from Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and the like typical Caribbean destinations, then Belize should absolutely be a place to consider.

Rent a Golf Cart

First things first, if you go to Belize and you’re staying anywhere outside of the main land, then you have to rent a golf cart! We stayed in San Pedro and the main mode of transportation was either walking or golf carting your way around the island. Sure you can hail a taxi, but golf carts are just so much more economical and efficient that it just makes sense! Make sure to take your time to shop around for the best prices though as you definitely don’t want to over pay. After doing some research online, we found that the average cost per day ranges anywhere from $45-75 USD depending on how long you’re interested in renting a golf cart for. Since we were visiting for about 10 days, we were able to lock in a lower rate of around $50 USD per day. The locals are absolutely more than open to haggling if you’re interested in renting the carts for an extended period of time, so have at it.

When it comes to gas, you should as a courtesy always return any vehicles that you rent with how much gas was originally in it. For the entire duration of our stay on the island, we only had to fill up gas about twice. In total, we spent about $30 USD on gas for 9 days—which is much more economical than anywhere in North America if you ask me! A full take should last you upwards of 4-5 days depending on how frequently you’re taking your cart out, and how far you’re driving it. For our whole trip, we gassed up about 1.5 tanks in total.

Drive out and spend the day at Secret Beach

Once you’ve gotten a hold of your golf cart, plan for a day at Secret Beach. This not so secret beach is a favourite of both locals and tourists but is quite the trek away from the ‘downtown‘ area of San Pedro. By golf cart, it’s a rough 45 minute away from the city, so I wouldn’t advise that you walk all the way out there.

If you do plan to go, I’d recommend that you head out early in the day so that you can have as much time as possible to lounge and soak up the sun there. Make sure to leave as soon as the sun sets because that’s when the mosquitoes will come out to play! We made the mistake of lingering a little too long and were eaten alive within an hour after the sun set (even while driving back on the golf carts).

At the beach, there are a couple of different bars to saddle up to, but I would recommend that you drive to the end of the road and park yourself at Secret Paradise Beach Bar because they will have the best water (it’s calmer and clearer), the best chairs (more umbrellas and shelter), and also the best in-water service (the wait staff will wade out in the water all the way to the floating dock with your order).

On your drive back home, look out for the ‘Truck Stop‘ where you can stop in for delicious eats!

Try Fry Jacks and Meat Pies

While on the topic of food, there wasn’t a single meal that we had while in Belize that didn’t taste good. But my favourite things to consume were definitely their Fry Jacks and meat pies. Meat pies are exactly what you’d expect them to be—miniature pies (about the size of the palm of your hand), filled with delicious sauce and meat. The filling is sort of like a stew—if you’ve ever had a chicken pot pie, it’s similar, except more spiced.

Fry Jacks on the other handle are like an enormous empanada, except deep fried and much more doughy. They’re typically stuffed with beans, cheese, and a protein of choice, and can be quite filling due to the high carb content.

Both are equally delicious and I’ve yet to find anywhere in Toronto that creates something similar.

Spend a day at Caye Caulker

If you’re a fan of a more low key relaxing island vibe, than Caye Caulker is the scene for you. San Pedro is amazing, but it’s definitely more of a hustle and bustle city as opposed to kicking back and relaxing on the beach. You won’t find too many beaches between San Pedro and Caye Caulker since Belize is better known for the Belize Barrier Reef and amazing snorkeling opportunities, but if you’re hunkering for some sand to lie down on, then you’ll definitely want to pay a visit to Caye Caulker.

If you’re staying in San Pedro or the main land, Caye Caulker is just a little ferry ride away. Once you arrive, take your time to wander around the 5 mile long island. It takes no longer than 30 minutes tops (if you’re enjoying a leisurely stroll) to walk from one end to the other. The island is also 1 mile wide, so you can easily travel from one ferry port to another as well. There isn’t much beach real estate on Caye Caulker specifically itself, but you can find your way to one if you cross over to the ferries on the other side of the island. While you’re there, enjoy some jerk chicken, go shopping for some beautiful souvenirs, or just revel in the crystal clear blue waters at The Split.

Back in the 1960’s, a hurricane hit this island, causing it to split in half—hence The Split—and created a shallow swimmable area for people to visit that divided the North and South parts of the island. There isn’t any actual beach, so to access the wading waters there, you’ll have to climb down a set of stairs on the side of the island. It’s perfectly safe though and we found so many snorkelers wading around in chest deep water admiring the beautiful marine life.

Take the free ferry to KOKO King

As previously mentioned, you can definitely get access to a beautiful and private sand beach on Caye Caulker if you walk across the island to the other side and catch the free ferry that takes you to KOKO King. The only catch is that you’ll have to spend money while there in order to access the space. It’s quite easy and you don’t have to spend more than $15 USD to use the space for an entire day. Between lunch and drinks, you can easily hit the $15 USD minimum.

Get there as early as you can because the free chairs by the water get snatched up quickly (there are also no umbrellas or shelters for them, so you can decide if you really want them or not). We got there as early in the morning as possible and snagged the wooden swings attached to the floating dock and it was the best decision ever. With tables and chairs strewn throughout the dock, and a large overhead shelter, we never once worried about our belongings getting stolen, or it getting to sunny.

The bar will also serve you at the dock as well, so if you’re worried about being too far away from food and drink, worry not!

Charter a catamaran to Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley

Those that enjoy a little bit of adventure and the good old adrenaline rush will definitely need to charter a catamaran excursion to visit the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley. This full day excursion will provide you with access to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve where you will have the opportunity to go snorkeling in the Belize Barrier Reef and to observe different species of marine life. There aren’t too many sharks there, but if you’re lucky, you might stumble upon a few full grown nurse sharks, or even baby ones. Afterwards, the catamaran will take you over to Shark Ray Alley where you’ll actually have the chance to get up close and personal with full grown nurse sharks. Trust me, you’re going to want to experience this!

The sharks don’t ever attack humans, so it’s completely harmless to swim next to them. Just don’t swim in the middle of the pack as they’re feeding on any chum as they may accidentally mistake you for food in the midst of chomping down on their chow. You’ll never actually get targeted as prey though. Out of all of the excursions that we did while in Belize, this one most definitely had to be my favourite.

After visiting both places, the catamaran then takes you to Caye Caulker for a 2 hour lunch break to explore the island. You won’t have enough time to visit KOKO King, which is why I would advise that you set aside an entire day for that activity instead.

Visit the Community Baboon Sanctuary

By now you may have guessed that I love mingling with the wildlife! Besides swimming with sharks and rays, vising the Community Baboon Sanctuary was one of my other favourite excursions that we went on! This sanctuary is located on the mainland, and was a 1.5 hour ferry ride away from San Pedro, along with a 1 hour car drive from the ferry dock in Belize City. If you’re planning to visit the sanctuary, I would also set aside an entire day for this activity.

We had so much fun walking around the protected land on which the Community Baboon Sanctuary is situated. There aren’t any actual baboons there, but instead you’ll find black Howler Monkeys. We walked around with our guide, Robert, who imitated the call of the howler monkeys, for about 30 minutes before the monkeys decided to make their presence known. We learned that they like to sleep during the day, so they don’t frequently come out for strangers, but we happened to be in luck! About 4-5 separate monkeys paid us a visit and few of them braved us strangers by eating cocoa leaves straight out of our hands!

If you’ve afraid of wildlife, please don’t be. The howler monkeys are ridiculously gentle and will only grapple with you for food. Their fur was surprisingly soft and the palms of their hands were ridiculously soft for swinging around from tree to tree! Watch out Kobe, I may replace you with a howler monkey one day!

Stay at Mahogany Bay Beach Resort & Private Beach

Throughout the course of our trip to Belize, we actually stayed at 2 different hotels/resorts. However the first one that we stayed at won’t even exist by this time next year, so I didn’t feel that it would be appropriate to even share it since you won’t ever have the opportunity of staying there in the future.

We planned our trip out so that the majority of it (6 nights) would be spent in a lower rated hotel. We figured that most of the days early on in the trip would be spent away from the hotel pursuing excursions and other activities that we wouldn’t need anything overly fancy just to sleep. I’ll be honest with you when I say that blogging can definitely be glamorous at times, but I absolutely cannot afford to stay in a 5 Star hotel for an entire 10 days.

The later half of our trip (last 4 nights), we decided to pamper ourselves a little bit and to splurge on a fancier place. I stumbled onto Mahogany Bay Beach Resort and instantly knew that it would be the place. It was a little further way from the city centre as opposed to our first hotel, but the remoteness of its location made it possible for the property to be larger and more exclusive. We were lucky enough to score a deal where all 4 of our nights equated to the regular cost of 1 night in the hotel thanks to booking.com (I also used my code to get $40 off – have you redeemed yours yet?!) and I couldn’t have enjoyed my time there any more.

With a self-contained lobby, pool, restaurant, and variety of food booths scattered throughout the property, you don’t even need to leave to have fun. Oh, did I mention the private island and beach that the property owns? Yep, you heard me right! The hotel has its very own island which you can access by a free ferry shuttle service that operates on a schedule. When you arrive, what awaits you is a fully stocked bar, ample beach chairs with shelter, tables to dine at, and even amazing bed cabanas situated in the water. The water here is as crystal clear as you can get and is shallow as far as the eye can see. You’re probably not surprised when I say that we spent 2 entire days here!

Visit Altun Ha

If you like visiting historial monuments, then you’re definitely going to want to set some time aside to visit some of the Mayan ruins. Since there are so many of them in Belize, we didn’t get the chance to visit all of them (though I would have loved to!). We chose one that was closest to Belize City’s ferry dock, Altun Ha, which was only about a 1-1.5 hour drive from the city. There are many other ones to visit which are much farther in mainland, but would require much more time to drive to, so I wouldn’t recommend attempting to visit all of them within a single day.

We visited Altun Ha on a Saturday and were surprised to find that the entire place was completely empty. Remember how I mentioned that Belize has yet to fully convert its economy to rely on tourism like how Mexico has, days will go by when even the most popular tourist attractions in Belize won’t pull in a single person.

Their flow of tourism is in relation to the days that cruise ships dock at their ports (not Friday, Saturday, Sun, or Monday), so we had the opportunity to explore the entire plaza without any interruptions. I can’t say that the same would ever happen if you were to visit Chichen Itza in Mexico. Those Mayan ruins are literally always crawling with tourists. So if you can, try to coordinate your visit on a day where cruise ships aren’t docked.

I would also recommend that you ask for a guide tour of the ruins as well (it’s only $5 USD) as you’ll learn so much more about the place and its history as opposed to if you were to walk around by yourself. There aren’t any plaques or signage about the space so you’ll most likely leave without knowing a single thing about the ruins.

Also unlike Mexico, you’re still able to scale the tombs and ruins of Altun Ha. You’ll notice that you won’t be allowed to directly climb up the set of stairs on the front of the monuments, but rather be ushered to a set of stairs near the back. The reasoning behind this is to prevent any further degradation to the original Mayan handiwork by ensuring that all individuals use the recently installed set of stairs. And although these stairs definitely look sturdier than the original ones in the front, I’d absolutely remind you to be careful because ‘recent‘ in this case doesn’t mean lsat year, or even 5 years ago. You’re probably playing with numbers hovering around 40-50 years ago, so it’s not worth it to chance your fate even though the back staircase is a new addition.

Go Cave Tubing

I’m an adventurous type of person when it comes to traveling. I love getting outdoors and immersing myself in physical activities and excursions that not only challenge me physically, but also provide me with insight knowledge of a place’s past. Besides snorkeling and swimming with sharks and rays, we also indulged in some ziplining and horseback riding. But my favourite physical activity when it came to the excursions was most definitely the cave tubing.

When I say physical activity, I don’t mean that you’re going to be burning 3000 calories just doing one activity. By physical, I mean that you’ll be doing more than lounging around on a boat or exploring a museum. When it comes to cave tubing, we had to hike with our tubes for a bit (which entailed portaging our tubes across the lake 3 times) just to get to the final spot before we started our cave tubing experience. It isn’t all that bad and only lasts for about 20 minutes tops, so almost anyone can do it. And from there on it’s all easy!

Our tubes were then strapped together and we drifted off into the underground cave systems which brought us through a cavern that housed an underground water fall. We also passed by another cavern that opened up into a cenote (which we unfortunately didn’t get the chance to explore), and many other caverns that had interesting stalactites and stalagmite formations. It was so neat to see a cave system that the Mayans once referred to as Xibalba (the underworld) and to be journey through a place that they once feared.

If you’re an adventurer like me, then you’ll definitely want to add cave tubing to your list of excursions.

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That’s essentially it for my 10 things to do in Belize! There’s so much more that I want to share about Belize that will probably have to go into another blog post since this one is already quite long as is. But I hope that you enjoyed reading it, and that this post inspires you to plan a visit to Belize before it becomes over developed by the tourism industry.

Photography Credits: The Dunk Listt