colorful beach chairs at Placencia – Belize

14 Things I Love About Belize

1. Vibrant Colors

Anyone who knows me even a smidgen has noticed that I absolutely adore bold, vibrant colors. In this regard, I fit right into Belize, where boldly-colored houses, hotels, bars, beach chairs and buses are the norm.

Just looking at all these gorgeous colors every day makes me feel happy and alive.

2. Aquamarine Caribbean Sea

Speaking of gorgeous colors, the sea in Belize comes in the most unbelievable shades of turquoise, aquamarine, teal, pale green and blues that I’ve ever seen – and that’s in 18 years of world travels, much of it in the tropics.

Swimming in these dreamy clear Caribbean waters under cobalt blue skies and puffy white clouds is a surreal experience, like floating in paradise.

aquamarine seas at Caye Caulker island – Belize

3. The Belizean Barrier Reef

The Belizean Barrier Reef runs 185 miles just off the coast of Belize, paralleling the country’s entire coast north to south. It’s part of the much larger MesoAmerican Barrier Reef that runs from the tip of Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, to the north, down to Honduras.

The reef also carries UNESCO World Heritage status – it’s the largest reef in the western hemisphere and second largest barrier reef in the world.

The reef’s protected status, Belize’s low population and the country’s relative anonymity as an international travel destination mean this massive reef / island system is particularly pristine. Divers visit from all over the world, though not in the mass numbers found at other Caribbean dive destinations like Cancun, Cozumel and Grand Cayman Islands.

And, incidentally, the massive reef system is what accounts for those incredible shallow sea colors I love so much here.

pretty golden beach at Hopkins – Belize

4. White-sand beaches and Islands

The 185 miles of barrier reefs consists of hundreds of low-laying islands, including three of the Caribbean’s four atolls. Many are nothing more than clusters of dense mangrove forests, others shifting sand islands. But several dozen larger islands are inhabited with towns or resorts or even just a private home or two.

These islands are the quintessential tropical paradise islands with swaying coconut palms, powdery white sand beaches, turquoise waters and offshore coral reefs.

Mainland Belize also has several decent beaches, particularly at Placencia Peninsula and Hopkins town in southern Belize.

pier in stormy sky Caye Caulker

5. Wooden Piers

It seems like anywhere there’s water in Belize long wood plank boat piers are thrusting gracefully into the water. I’ve found them at all the mainland beaches, inland rivers, mangrove estuaries and island shorelines I’ve visited.

The charming piers also provide great photo opps, often with water birds, boats, sunrises and sunsets.

6. English-speaking

This aspect of Belize is a like/dislike factor for me. On the one hand, it makes traveling in Belize super easy. It’s also a nice change of pace from needing to speak Spanish all the time in every other country in Central & South America.

On the other hand, it makes Belize feel a lot less foreign. In fact, being in Belize often feels very similar to being in the USA. That rather takes away from the ‘traveling the world’ experience for me.

I actually enjoy being in countries where I have to speak other languages. It makes the place feel more foreign and more special. When I have to speak other languages to interact with locals I also feel closer to the local people & culture.

road signs at tiny Placencia airport – Belize

7. Friendly, unimposing people

Since Belizeans primarily speak English, it’s very easy for them to interact with visiting international travelers.

With their laid-back nature, Belizeans are friendly toward tourists, but quite distinctly unimposing. You’ll never find locals pushing their merchandise or services on people, like in Thailand or Bali, Indonesia. Instead, just like in north America and Europe, Belizeans simply wait for customers and guests to come to them. That’s a very comfortable approach for western travelers.

English signs and names of businesses and services also makes it very easy for visiting travelers to get around. No deciphering Spanish signs required, like in every other Central American country.

colorful seaside wooden cabins at Caye Caulker – Belize

9. Wooden houses

It’s such a pleasure seeing wood houses! So much of the developing world has been over-run with hideously ugly concrete shops, houses and even whole towns full of horridly plain square concrete box buildings.

Arriving in Belize with its charming wood houses on stilts, beach-side wood cabins, chairs and little wood shops, bars and restaurants is a real visual pleasure.

Hip, hip hooray for wooden architecture!

one of many Go Slow signs at Caye Caulker – Belize

8. Laid-back chilled-out pace of life

Belize is the least populated country in Central America. Population density is only 15 people per sq km. It has little industry or exports. Aside from the large Mennonite community, Belizean people can be described as decidedly non-industrious.

Belize also features a tropical climate, a long coastline and hundreds of sandbar islands & cayes.

All these factors lend themselves to a very easy-going, slow-paced life. In fact, the primary theme on Caye Caulker island is ‘Go Slow’, which is signposted along sandy roads all around town.

Any visitors who dare walk faster than a casual meander are teasingly reprimanded by the locals. Being a speedy walker myself, I’ve even been ‘threatened’ several times with ‘speeding fines’ by local street vendors!

palapas in sea at The Split – Caye Caulker

10. Thatched roofs

One of my favorite architectural features in the world is thatched roofs. They create such a relaxing low-key atmosphere, are visually attractive and often emit a lovely, sweet leafy fragrance.

While thatched roofs are still common in Bali and parts of rural Thailand, they are not found in many countries of the world any more. Wherever I do find them, I’m delighted to enjoy their wonderful beauty and ambiance. They are always a pleasure to sit under and to photograph too.

Quite happily for me, thatched roofs are very common in Belize’s coastal towns and islands. The leafy roofs cover houses, open-air restaurants and bars, pavilions and other small buildings. Utterly charming!

11. Fresh lobster and conch

One of the first things that surprised me about Belize was the ready availability of fresh lobster and conch. Both are served on a daily basis at all coastal towns, resorts and island restaurants. Even street vendors grill up fresh lobster and conch here!

Prices are quite reasonable, especially compared to prices just about anywhere else in the world. A full lobster tail dinner with rice, beans and vegetables generally costs $25-30 BZ / $12.50-15 US. A large conch satay with rice & beans and coleslaw costs $10-15 BZ / $5-7.50 US. Where else in the world can you eat these gourmet seafood items at such low prices?

Fry Jack

12. Fry Jacks

Fry Jacks are a uniquely Belizean dish. They are basically a deep fried bread that puffs up with an open central pouch when fried. They are then stuffed with any combination of ingredients like eggs, beans, cheese, ham, chicken or beef.

Fry Jacks are generally eaten for breakfast, but are popular for lunch as well. Anytime of the day they are filling and delicious.

13. Latino street foods

Latino street vendors and small local restaurants around Belize serve up a huge variety of Latino foods at very low prices. Small items like tacos, ganaches and salbutes generally cost just $1 BZ / $0.50 US. Five to six of them make a filling lunch or dinner.

Larger items like chicken, beef or fish burritos cost $5-8 BZ / $2.50-4 US.

I regularly eat these tasty filling meals, which helps keep the budget low in relatively expensive Belize.

beach-side restaurant at Placencia – Belize

14. Belize feels safe

Thus far, I’ve been in Belize nearly one month and have seen half the country, slowly traveling northward from the Guatemalan border up to Belize City en route to Caye Caulker island. I’ve stayed at Placencia, Hopkins, Hummingbird Highway, San Ignacio and Caye Caulker.

I’ve slept in hostels, a tent, small guest houses and animal shelter housing on Caye Caulker.

I’ve traveled by local buses, taken solo hikes in jungles and riversides, explored local areas by bicycle and even hitch-hiked twice.
During all those explorations and stays at towns, beach-sides and islands, I’ve felt perfectly safe. Locals in each destination have told me it’s safe to walk around solo, even at night. I’ve also felt my valuables to be safe, even in some quite loosely secured rooms.

Apparently the only dangerous place in Belize is Belize City and that, from what various locals have told me, is due to gangs and drugs. Outside of that city, Belize seems to be quite safe in terms of both personal property and non-violence. It certainly feels safe and non-threatening here to me.

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You might also enjoy:

Introduction to Belize

17 Reasons Guatemala is an Easy Travel Destination

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