Belize packs Caribbean cayes with snorkel and dive sites, Mayan ruins like Caracol and Xunantunich, and cave tubing into a small English-speaking country. Dry season is February to May.
Good to know
- Belize dollars are fixed at 2 to 1 against the US dollar; both are accepted.
- Book tours with licensed guides; the Great Blue Hole needs a full-day trip.
- Hurricane season runs June to November.
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Places the planner can use
Mark places as a must or something to skip. The itinerary is built only from this list; ★ marks the destination’s highlights.
Guided cave trek to Mayan skeletons; strenuous.
Mayan ruins reached by a hand-cranked ferry, with a 130-foot pyramid you can climb for jungle views.
Float through cave passages on inner tubes with headlamps, surrounded by stalactites and bats.
Laid-back island with snorkeling at Hol Chan and the Split.
Sand-floored beach bars with rum punch, hammocks and a laid-back Caribbean sunset.
Small museums on Mayan artifacts and colonial history, a useful stop on a rainy afternoon in Belize City.
Visit a family cacao farm to see beans roasted and ground by hand, then taste fresh chocolate.
Famous sinkhole; dive or snorkel Half Moon Caye.
Snorkel at a protected marine reserve and swim with nurse sharks and southern stingrays at Shark Ray Alley.
Largest Mayan site in Belize, with a 140-foot pyramid deep in the jungle reached by a long, bumpy drive.
Native animals including jaguars and tapirs in natural enclosures, with an excellent rescue story.
Cultural experience in a Garifuna fishing village.
Grilled lobster and fish at beach restaurants.