Belize is the second smallest country in Central America with El Salvador being the smallest. It’s the only country in Central America where they adopted English as an official language and where their culture can be stated as being more Caribbean than Hispanic. Belize has beautiful Caribbean Sea shorelines to the east and dense jungle to the west. Stunning Belize is world famous among divers for its fascinating Blue Hole. Belize’s jungle areas are rich with Mayan ruins. Keep reading to find out the places you can’t miss on a trip to the budget version of the Caribbean.
Facts
- Capital: Belmopan
- Language: English, Spanish
- Currency: Belize Dollar (1 € ≅ 2.2 BZ$)
- Population: 360.000
- Size: 22.966 km² (½ of Holland)
- Daylight saving time: No
- Visas: Not required for most nationalities
- Best time to visit: Nov – March (dry season)
- Visited: 2016 (part of Central America trip)
San Ignacio & ATM Cave
I entered Belize by bus from Flores, Guatemala. The bus dropped me at the border and from there I shared a cab with 3 school girls to the town of San Ignacio which is just a few kilometers from the Guatemalan border. I already felt the laid back Caribbean vibe at the border control. The immigration officer was probably one of the most relaxed officers I ever encountered during a border crossing. Oh Wow, Belize is chill, very chill! You will love it from the first moment you set foot into this great country. I used San Ignacio as my base to explore the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave.
Street scene @ San Ignacio.
Hello, little friend!
The ATM cave is one of the most popular Mayan burial sites. There are countless chambers to be explored where you will find many ceramics, stoneware and even skeletons! All left by the Mayans who used to live in the cave’s chambers many, many years ago. I joined Pacz Tours for a tour to the ATM cave. It’s by far the greatest cave experience I ever had. It was absolutely epic! So, it goes like this. First you will hike roughly an hour along a river towards the cave entrance where you will encounter 3 stream crossings (water up till your waist). When I arrived at the cave entrance I got a flashback to the final season of the TV show ‘Lost’. It looked like the cave where The Man in Black a.k.a. The Smoke Monster was created; Lost fans will know what I mean 😉
Am I in the TV-show ‘Lost’? The entrance to the ATM Cave.
Inside the cave.
So, once in the cave I spent a few hours swimming, climbing and exploring the fascinating chambers. If you’re claustrophobic it might not be the best tour for you, because in some parts of the cave you are squeezing your body through various small openings while only your head is above water. I loved it! In the inner chambers you have to take off your shoes and continue exploring only on your socks to prevent damage to the artifacts. It’s adventurous and challenging, but so much fun! The highlight of the inner chambers is a very well preserved skeleton of a young girl which you will reach by a very narrow ladder. Indiana Jones style! After the inner chambers you will make your way back to the starting point for a great lunch and well deserved shower.
Walking, crawling and swimming through the ATM Cave.
I guess she has been here for a while.
The tour is a bit pricey (~$100), but definitely worth it! You will get wet from chin till toes, so bring swimming wear, t-shirt, water shoes, socks and a dry set of clothes. Nothing else, because you need to have your hands free in order to climb and squeeze yourself through the cave. Camera’s are not allowed anymore into the cave due to too many broken camera’s and broken artifacts. I received the pictures of the cave’s inner chambers from the marketing department of the tour operator.
Caye Caulker
From San Ignacio I took the bus to Belize City. The buses in Belize are great! They drive around in those old American yellow school buses which I found just wicked. We had a short stop in the capital of Belize, Belmopan. It didn’t look like there was a lot going on here. Most backpackers rush through Belize City to catch the boat to the famous backpacker hangout, Caye Caulker. Belize City doesn’t have a lot of sights to tick off, but you can easily spend here a few hours.
Leaving the bus station of Belmopan.
Arrived at Caye Caulker!
After I got off the boat I started to shop around for a place to stay. I realized pretty quick that the prices are quite steep on Caye Caulker. I choose to stay in Chinatown Hotel, just off the main ‘road’. A perfect place to stay with a rooftop pool which is always a plus! The island is small, so nothing is far away. Spend your evening at the split for amazing sunsets and tropical island bar life. The split is named after the place where the island was divided into 2 by the force of nature many years ago.
Caye Caulker is a very relaxed island!
For me the main reason why I wanted to go to Caye Caulker was to dive into the famous Blue Hole. After shopping around the various dive operators I realized that it wasn’t going to happen for me. You need your Advanced Padi (I only have Open Water) and a minimum of 25 logged dives (I only have about 20). So they didn’t allow me to join, bummer! But I can always go back once I have their requirements! So, no worries. I opted for a snorkeling tour instead. We took the boat to various snorkeling spots.
Waiting for my snorkeling tour!
Turtles and sting rays!
The water is clear, the coral is great and the tropical fishes are everywhere. OK, great, but nothing special, I’ve seen better snorkeling spots in my life. Until we reached our last snorkeling spot. That changed everything! Our tour guide started to throw raw fish into the sea and within a second sting rays, nurse sharks, manta rays, turtles and countless other fishes started to flock around the boat.
Checking out the underwater world of Caye Caulker!
Passing by a friendly jellyfish.
Nurse shark and sting rays!
I jumped into the water and I thought that I was in the middle of a fish invasion, so may big fishes! It was insane and surreal! It was like a gigantic aquarium! They were everywhere and super friendly! That was an epic day! It was really special, exceeded my expectations and totally forgot about the Blue Hole! The Blue what? Don’t miss out this great tour!
Wooden houses in Belize City.
Left: See you next time Caye Caulker! – Right: Clock tower in Belize City
Below a short video of the fabulous snorkeling trip!
Belize also has a few remarkable Mayan ruins like Xunantunich and Lamanai which are located in the dense jungle. I skipped the ruins in Belize to prevent being overloaded by ruins as I already visited many ruins in Guatemala and Mexico before I arrived in Belize. But I would recommend to visit them as a day trip if you’re ‘new’ to the world of Maya ruins.
After a few days enjoying the Caribbean Caye Caulker backpacker vibe I returned to Belize City to catch my flight to Roatan, Honduras!
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