Lonely Planet Belize , livre ebook

Belize

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to Belize
Belize’s Top 22
Need to Know
First Time Belize
If You Like…
Month by Month
Itineraries
Diving & Snorkeling
Belize Outdoors
Travel with Children
Regions at a Glance

On The Road

BELIZE DISTRICT
Belize City
North of Belize City
Burrell Boom
Community Baboon Sanctuary
Crooked Tree
Old Northern Highway
West of Belize City
Old Belize
Monkey Bay
Along the Coastal Road
Gales Point
NORTHERN CAYES
Ambergris Caye
Caye Caulker
Other Northern Cayes
Cayo Espanto
Turneffe Atoll
Lighthouse Reef
Half Moon Caye
Long Caye
NORTHERN BELIZE
Orange Walk District
Orange Walk Town
Lamanai
Río Bravo Conservation & Management Area
Corozal District
Corozal Town
Cerro Maya & Copper Bank
Sarteneja
CAYO DISTRICT
Belmopan
Around Belmopan
Hummingbird Highway
Belmopan to San Ignacio
Spanish Lookout
San Ignacio
Southeast of San Ignacio
Mountain Pine Ridge Area
Caracol
Northwest of San Ignacio
Bullet Tree Falls
Southwest of San Ignacio
San José Succotz & Around
Benque Viejo del Carmen
SOUTHERN BELIZE
Stann Creek District
Dangriga
Mayflower Bocawina National Park
Central Cays
Hopkins
Sittee Point
Sittee River
Maya Center
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
Placencia
Red Bank
Toledo District (Deep South)
Punta Gorda
Around Punta Gorda
Big Falls & Indian Creek
San Miguel
San Pedro Columbia
San Antonio
Blue Creek
TIKAL & FLORES, GUATEMALA
Tikal
Yaxhá
El Remate
Flores & Santa Elena

Understand

Understand Belize
Belize Today
History
Ancient Maya
People of Belize
Rhythms of a Nation
Belize Cuisine
Wildlife
Land & Environment

Survive

Directory A–Z
Accessible Travel
Accommodations
Customs Regulations
Electricity
Embassies & Consulates
Food & Drink
Health
Insurance
Internet Access
Legal Matters
LGBT+ Travelers
Maps
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Safe Travel
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Visas
Volunteering
Women Travelers
Work
Transportation
Getting There & Away
Getting Around
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to Belize

With one foot in the Central American jungles and the other in the Caribbean Sea, pint-sized Belize is packed with islands, adventure and culture.

Reefs & Cays
Belize Barrier Reef is the second largest in the world, after Australia’s, and with more than 100 types of coral and some 500 species of tropical fish, it’s pure paradise for scuba divers and snorkelers. Swimming through translucent seas, snorkelers are treated to a kaleidoscope of coral, fish, whale sharks and turtles, while divers go deeper, investigating underwater caves and walls and the world-renowned Blue Hole.
Add to this island life on the sandy cays, where you can spend your days kayaking, windsurfing, stand-up paddleboarding, swimming, fishing or lazing in a hammock, and you’ve got a perfect tropical vacation.

In the Jungle
Inland, a vast (by Belizean standards) network of national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and protected areas offers a safe haven for wildlife, which ranges from the industrious parades of cutter ants to tapirs, noisy howler monkeys, or the shy jaguar. Birders aim their binoculars at some 570 species, which roost along the rivers and lagoons and in the broadleaf forest. Keen-eyed visitors who take the time to hike can easily spot spider monkeys, peccaries, coatimundis, gibnuts and green iguanas.

In the Land of the Maya
Belize is home to one of the world’s most mysterious civilizations – the ancient Maya. The Cayo District and Toledo’s Deep South are peppered with archaeological sites that date to the Maya heyday (AD 250–1000), where enormous steps lead to the tops of tall stone temples, often yielding 360-degree jungle views. Explore excavated tombs and examine intricate hieroglyphs, or descend into natural caves to see where the Maya kings performed rituals and made sacrifices to their underworld gods.

Action & Adventure
Whether you’re scuba diving the Blue Hole, ziplining through the jungle canopy, rappelling down waterfalls or crawling through ancient cave systems, Belize is a genuine adventure. Head to Cayo District where you can tube or canoe through darkened underground river systems or hard-core spelunk in renowned Actun Tunichil Muknal cave. Ziplining is virtually an art form in Cayo and Southern Belize where you can sail through the jungle at half a dozen locations. Horseback riding is well organized and hiking is superb in national parks, such as Mayflower Bocawina National Park, Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Shipstern Nature Reserve and Río Bravo.

Caye Caulker | ALEKSANDAR TODOROVIC / SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Why I Love Belize
By Paul Harding, Writer
Belize is a bit Latin America, a bit Caribbean, and just a little bit British (the language is a giveaway) but it all works beautifully. I love the low-key, laid-back nature of the people and the seamless mix of cultures that make up the street life, music, food and festivals – Belizean, Creole, mestizo, Garifuna, Maya and even Mennonites and expats. I love that you can be snorkeling on the barrier reef one day and hiking in the jungle the next. And I love that Belize still feels just a little undiscovered…but perhaps not for long.
For more, see Our Writers
Belize’s Top 22

Diving the Blue Hole
The sheer walls of the Blue Hole Natural Monument drop more than 400ft into the blue ocean. Although it is partly filled with silt and natural debris, the depth still creates a perfect circle of startling azure that is visible from above. The wall of the Blue Hole is decorated with a dense forest of stalactites and stalagmites from times past. A school of reef sharks and the odd hammerhead keep divers company as they descend into the mysterious ocean depths.

MATTEO COLOMBO / GETTY IMAGES ©


Top Experiences
Kayaking Glover’s Reef
Lying like a string of white-sand pearls, Glover’s Reef consists of half a dozen small islands surrounded by blue sea as far as the eye can see. Its unique position, atop a submerged mountain ridge on the edge of the continental shelf, makes it an ideal place for sea kayaking, both between the islands and around the shallow central lagoon. Get a kayak with a clear bottom and you’re likely to see spotted eagle rays, southern stingrays, turtles and countless tropical fish swimming beneath as you paddle.

HENRY GEORGI / GETTY IMAGES ©


Top Experiences
Ambergris Caye
Also known as La Isla Bonita, Ambergris Caye is the ultimate tropical paradise vacation destination (and that’s what Madonna thought, too). Spend your days snorkeling the reef, kayaking the lagoon or windsurfing the straits; pamper yourself at a day spa or challenge yourself at a yoga class; ride a bike up the beach or take a nap at the end of your dock. After the sun sets, spend your evenings enjoying the country’s most delectable dining and most happening nightlife in San Pedro.

BRANDON BOURDAGES / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Garifuna Culture
Garifuna culture is strong in Southern Belize and its most obvious cultural impression is music and drumming. Dangriga and Punta Gorda both have opportunities to study drumming and drum-making with Garifuna drum masters, while the Garifuna village of Hopkins is a hotbed of drumming for most of the year, especially around full moon nights. Garifuna Settlement Day (November 19) is an event not to be missed, particularly in Hopkins or Dangriga. Tasty Garifuna cuisine can also be found at shack restaurants in these communities.

Hopkins | ROI BROOKS / SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Top Experiences
Caye Caulker
A brisk breeze is almost always blowing (especially between January and June), creating optimal conditions to cruise across the water on sailboat, windsurfer or kiteboard. The world’s second-largest barrier reef is just a few miles offshore, beckoning snorkelers and divers to frolic with the fish. The mangroves teem with life, inviting exploration by kayak. All these adventures await, yet the number-one activity on Caye Caulker is still swinging in a hammock, reading a book and sipping a freshly squeezed fruit juice. Paradise.

MATTEO COLOMBO / GETTY IMAGES ©

Top Experiences
Altun Ha
You’ve drunk the beer, now it’s time to visit the ruins that inspired the Belikin beer-bottle label. The most accessible of Belize’s ancient ruins, Altun Ha displays 10 different structures dating from the 6th and 7th centuries, and it was also the site of some of the richest archaeological excavations in Belize, although the artifacts have long since been removed. You’ll get your exercise climbing to the tops of the temples to take in the surrounding jungle panorama.

DAINEKO NATALIA / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Xunantunich
Xunantunich isn’t Belize’s biggest or oldest archaeological site, but it’s still one of the most impressive, especially for its remarkable hieroglyphics. After taking a hand-cranked ferry across the Mopan River, you’ll walk through bird- and butterfly-filled jungle, until you reach a complex of temples and plazas that dates back to the early Classic Maya Period. Once there, you can explore a number of structures, and even climb to the top of 130ft-high El Castillo for a spectacular 360-degree view of the surrounds.

FOTOS593 / SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Top Experiences
Belize Carnival
This is not the usual pre-Lenten extravaganza that takes place in other parts of the Caribbean in anticipation of the fasting season. In the 1970s, Belizeans started celebrating their own Carnival in September, as a spicy addition to the national holidays. Revelers don outrageous costumes and take to the streets in Orange Walk, Corozal Town and especially Belize City. In a flurry of movement, music and color, neighborhood camps design floats and wear costumes that depict local cultures and customs.

Deta