Belize 101
Disclaimer: majority of our time in this trip was spent in Belize with a couple days in Mexico, but really concentrated in the Tulum area. Thus, majority of this post is going to be centered around our experience in Belize, less on Mexico as the country is HUGE and we really only experience a bougie, exploding, influencer city that is obviously expensive and not a true representation of Mexico.
Overview
This trip confirmed one thing: we are not at all "relax on the beach vacationers" (real shocker). It's something we've dabbled in for maybe a day or two here and there and are just always looking forward to leaving the beaches and heading to fresher inlands. This trip was no different.
Coming from never ending MN winter, any place with copious amounts of sunshine and doesn't require a lot of clothing seems like the best idea once March comes around (exact trip timing was late March 2023). But knowing us, I made sure to balance the planned coastal destinations with inland adventures as well. Route overview: we flew into Cancun, mostly because flights were cheap and Belize was very accessible - however, we really only spent time in 2 cities in Belize. There are a LOT more places to go in Belize but with our time limitations and cautions to my normal way of planning (i.e. a.g.g.r.e.s.s.i.v.e), we stuck to 2 (plus a couple days in mexico).
Tulum, MX: 1.5 days, 2 nights —> definitely enough time. This city literally has construction going on in every nook and cranny of it! Along with the boom comes inflated prices, many tourists, bougie areas, and less “my type” of vibes. It was also DEAD. New housing and restaurants everywhere with no one in them. We were told by our bartender that Tulum was a COVID destination where people escaped to. So naturally, prices of normal services like a taxi skyrocketed which in turn led those same people out of Tulum. Now, Tulum is left with the bones of an expectedly larger population of long-term dwellers than it actually has. IDK! But I do know the taxi system is CORRUPT here; we were quoted $30 to drive 4 miles down the road. I didn’t see that taxi man leave our hostel with a passenger all day. Tulum is famous for cenotes (natural spring ponds), but the entrance fees get very old, especially if you are doing a tour de cenotes in a day!
Chetumal, MX: 1 night —> really only came here because it was where our water taxi to Belize departed from. I wouldn’t recommend spending much time here - just a city. It didn’t leave me feeling like I was longing for more, but a great place to get on the boat to Belize! Especially if you don't want to bus all the way to Belize City to catch the ferry. Although that would be a cheaper route, this way was much more efficient in terms of time!
Caye Caulker, BZ: 3 nights, 3 days —> 2 nights would have been enough - super small island, beach town with Bahaman vibes. We ferried here from Chetumal with a quick customs stop on San Pedro. It’s the place to go to find your inner hippie and foreign beach bum surfer fling. When I say super small, I really mean SUPER small. Do not find yourselves here during a hurricane!
San Ignacio, BZ: ~2.5 days, 3 nights —> perfect amount, even more to explore if we had another day! This inland, jungle town was really neat! We ferried from Caye Caulker to Belize City and then rented a car and drove to San Ignacio! A pretty small main street that was always bustling. Here you can find less tourists, Ma & Pap restaurants, and ADVENTURE. More our style of traveling - lots of Mayan ruins nearby to explore plus many other activities / tours available!
Belize City, BZ: simply flew out of the tiny ass international airport and passed through to get to San Ignacio —> as you will read everywhere, Belize City is nothing to rave about and is best to be avoided.
In summary, Belize is not a country I will likely go back to - although we had a lovely time, it didn't leave me wanting more.
COST / MONIES
Belize was expensive. And not just in “we like to travel cheap” standards - actually expensive! I expected Caye Caulker to be more expensive, simply because it’s a chill, island destination that survives off tourism and is constantly rebuilding due to hurricanes and boats over all of its food and goods. When you are on an island 1 mile wide or less, surrounded by the ocean, you can really only expect the fish to be raised locally. Cost is also challenging to summarize as it’s pretty variable - you can go real cheap and find rooms for $50/night or you can get luxurious for well over $250/night. When it comes to food and drink, I guess I would say it was somewhat cheaper than in the states, but not by a whole lot UNLESS you search out the local stands, which are always the best <3
One nice thing I liked is that USD is VERY accepted in Belize, and often preferred. The conversion is also $2 Belezean : $1 USD. Thus, it’s very simple to interchange money - in fact, you will notice you often get change in both USD and Belizean #WOAH Get ready for some quick math :P There are also ATMs in many places EXCEPT for on Caye Caulker. Have cash handy before you find yourself on this baby island! You can always boat over to the big island if needed - there are ferries running many times a day if you are really in a pinch!
TRANSPORTATION
If you are used to taking traveler buses with decent comfort, AC, and fairly reasonable rates, you will not be finding these in Belize. This was something very strange coming from Mexico (which at least in the Yucatan has a very well-established tourist bus system) and other backpacker friendly countries. Your options for transportation:
1. local buses or what folks call “chicken” buses - literally an old Bluebird school bus packed full of people
2. shuttle vans - ~6-8x the price of local buses; intended for tourists traveling to the main cities. You can find these online or at the ferry ports!
3. rent your own car. We were totally planning to take buses around Belize until we started diving more into the details of the different options and understanding what each one offered
First off, let me just say I am not a “high-class” traveler who looks for ultimate comfort when on the road, BUT when you are in unforgiving sun and <90F temps with 80% humidity, some AC or at least fans for a 3 hour bus ride seems pretty reasonable to ask for. This will not be found. Instead, astronomical fees for shuttle vans are the next preferred way to travel. For a 2-2.5 hour ride, it cost $60-70 PER person one-way. Once learning this and needing to leave Belize City and come back to Belize City, we opted for renting a car as it was similar cost PLUS we were able to avoid paying CRAZY costs for tours to go the places we wanted to visit inland (mainly various Mayan ruin sites and other jungle nature places).
NOTES on car rental: gas is ~$6/gallon. Be sure to pay attention to the terms of your rental. Be sure to understand and align on car condition prior to leaving. Be sure to talk through your planned itinerary once you have the car as some rental companies are VERY strict where you can and cannot go in their rentals and will charge wild fees if they learn you did not disclose something - especially important if you are heading inland to places like Caracol or into Guatamala to Tikal.
We ended up renting a Jeep for ~$70 / day, all inclusive through a smaller rental company called AQ Rentals. They were super great, but their cars have definitely seen some things in their day. The AC was very weak on our rental (#sigh) and every time you turned the steering wheel it sounded like a wheel might fall off. BUT it got us through the wild drive to Caracol and ultimately everywhere we wanted to go! #WINNING
ACCOMMODATION
As mentioned, prices for accommodations vary wildly and are much more expensive in more tourist heavy destinations like the islands! We also splurged on the Caulker and got a nice beachfront, resort-like property. I probs would opt out of that looking back on the price tag. Outside of that and outside of Tulum, you can find reasonable hotels for $50/night.
Hot tip: if in Tulum, stay at Mayan Monkey. This was a SWEET hostel - amazing vibes, lots of spaces to hang outside of your room, and pretty good location. Highly recommend!
FOOD & DRANK
Num. I really enjoyed mostly all of the food I tried in Belize! The only thing I really didn’t care for was one variety of fry jacks I had that was SO thick and greasy I couldn’t stomach it; the only thing Jake really didn’t care for was the market tacos that fell out of his body the following 24 hours post-consumption. 🤪 As always, eat market food with caution!
Fry jacks: if you seek out the good ones, these can be lovely! These are really easy to find on-the-go at little Ma/Pa stands and typically VERY cheap. If you just want some eggs, beans, and meats for breakfast (who doesn’t?!), I highly recommend.
Rice/beans with stewed meat: this is a traditional Belizean lunch, but you will also find it on dinner menus sometimes (although they may be out of stock). I really enjoyed this hearty dish! The rice with beans is very tasty.
Coconut curry: I was surprised to see this on menus to be honest, but it is a VERY popular dish on the islands. Coconut everything is popular (as you can imagine why); I got coconut shrimp curry one evening and it was spectacular.
Quesadillas: how can you go wrong with a crunchy tortilla shell filled with cheese and meats?
Market fruits: if you want some fresh fruits or veg when you are inland, the markets are a great place to stop. You can also buy partial melons! And I was even able to find a stand that would cut up a pineapple for me! #porfavor (JK - English is the main language in Belize - who would have thunk!)
ENTERTAINMENT / FUNSIES
Snorkeling with sharks: we were VERY pumped to go to the islands to snorkel. Ever since Hawaii, we had gotten pretty into snorkeling. And the reef in Belize is very well-known! However unlike Hawaii, snorkeling right off the coast is not really a thing. The whole grab some gear and jump in after breakfast isn’t really an option. The waves were also WICKED on the side of the island we stayed on. Treacherous waters! You have to join a tour to get boated out to the reefs! Which we spent a full day touring on - we snorkeled with sharks, sting rays, lots of fishies, turtles! All very cool, but the “main” known spots were also crazy busy with lots of other boat tours. When you are looking to book, read reviews and ask lots of questions about sustainability - like do they feed the fish? Or just observe them in their natural environment? If that’s important to you…we went with Reef Friendly Tours.
Cenotes (Tulum): these warm water bodies of water were pretty neat to pop in to. There are countless of them in Tulum and we rented a moto-bike and toured a few! Although cool, they vary in size and interest and all have kind of wild entrance fees for what they are. Pick a couple and check them out! Also bring snorkel gear as there are sometimes cool things happening - like the alligator we spotted!
Mayan ruins: soooo many Mayan ruins to see in all areas we went aside from the islands. Some are very large complexes, almost like a city of ruins, while others are smaller bundles of structures. Our favorites: Caracol - this one, you NEED a 4x4 vehicle for and can get to from San Ignacio. Although they are working on bettering the road (you will run into lots of construction), the last 10 miles or so were horrible. Giant pot holes, all washed out dirt. We saw a school bus in the parking lot with a school trip though, so as long as you take it slow and know how to dodge, you can do it! haha Seriously don’t think you can quick hop over to this site - it takes some proper planning for a day in the serious deep jungle. Tulum ruins - you can take a cheap local bus to get here or walk! We grabbed coffee and went and walked through. Makes a nice morning walk! Cahul Pech - you can walk to these ruins from the town of San Ignacio. These were pretty quiet ruins and walking around them was very peaceful. Highly recommend! One lovely thing about the ruins is you can literally just walk anywhere and all over the ruins! It’s like a giant jungle gym - literally!!
Volleyball on the beach: we happened to walk up onto a bar volleyball competition on the island. So naturally, we signed up. Honestly I don’t know I would even call it volleyball because it was SO windy that people were literally swinging and missing every other contact. Ay-yi-yiiiii! They also made us play with some drunk randos so there went out shot.
LANGUAGE / CULTURE
From a language perspective, Belize was very easy to travel. First off, their main language is English which was wildly surprising for me.
Belizean men: for the overwhelming majority of my encounters, I found Belizean people extremely welcoming and kind. Genuine curiosity, genuine recommendations, genuine interest in you visiting their country. However, the negative impressions seem to stick out, even tho much less frequent. Jakers was sick from the market food one day, so I was mostly exploring (and running to pharmacies) myself. I could not believe how different my perception was after just a few hours on the town myself - the full body scans, the stares, the cat calls, the "hey beautiful lady", etc. I honestly did not experience this a single time when my dime of a hubs was by my side - but take the man away and all rules are off. I know jakers looks pretty intimidating but serious shocker for me. I wouldn't call it India level nor was I really afraid of anyone acting, but it definitely added perspective. A worker with a rifle started chatting me up at one of the ruin sites - one of his first questions was "are you here alone?" - yuck. Anyways, warning to all my brave solo female wanderers!
SUMMARY
Overall, this trip was unique for us and allowed us to explore things we don’t typically spend time on. By far both of our favorite parts of this trip was being inland in the jungle/mountains. Probably partially because we had a car (=ultimate freedom), but also because it just felt more adventurous and explorative than the islands. We are just not huge “sit on the beach” folk - and as much as we enjoyed snorkeling the reef, we were very ready to get some fresh jungle air and wander into some unknown lands. We got that in San Ignacio!
Also important to note, I was pregnant on this trip! :D About 12wks only and I luckily felt great during my pregnancy, so it wasn’t much of a deal for me - aside from being VERY hungry and always in search of my next meal. #babesgottaeat Rhett got his first taste of the ocean and international waters in a single trip!
Peace, love, and yaaaa mon,
yo’ girl Jen
PS) I am finishing this post in December 2023 - we traveled here in late March 2023 :P I blame pregnancy and the need for sleep, and then baby boy’s appearance in September which has now consumed the latter part of the year. Mostly, I just wasn’t feeling inspired to write! Forgive me if I recollected anything incorrectly. It is very possible!
