Ditching rainy skies for sunshine on a beachfront stay in Belize

Living in Seattle, Washington, can get you under the weather, and this was particularly true for me in March 2014, one of our rainiest months ever. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I booked my husband, Ken, and myself on a trip to Belize! 

We have each been to 36 countries, but neither of us had ever been to Belize. The weather looked like it would be great and the water temperature warm — just what we needed! 

Getting there

Booking our 9-day trip just one week before we planned to depart, I used an online low-fare calendar to get the best price on flights and the best routing. We chose United, flying from Seattle to Houston to Belize City in first class for $960 each, round trip. This included use of the first-class lounge and free baggage check, which was worth it! (Coach cost $780 round trip.)

Once we got to Belize City, we transferred to our flight with Tropic Air, one of the country’s two airlines that offer flights to Placencia, our final destination. Our one-way fare on Tropic was $92; Maya Island Air, the other airline, charged $89 each way. I just picked the one with the departure time closest to our arrival time and it worked. 

Before boarding the flight in Belize City, we had to go through security again, but it wasn’t that bad because it’s a very small airport. 

The plane was a 14-seater, something I was not used to, and with a bit of turbulence, let’s just say I was happy when we landed! 

Beachside bungalow

We chose Placencia because this 16-mile-long strip of land off the mainland has some of the world’s best beaches, diving, snorkeling and jungle trips. 

It has a famous pathway called “The Sidewalk” that goes from one end of town to the end where our little house, Casa Palma, was located. We found this house on VRBO (www.vrbo.com, listing No. 511083) and rented it from the Canadian owner, Tony Palma. We paid $900 for the week, and it was located smack-dab on the sand, 100 feet from the ocean! 

Our condo’s caretakers, Rosario and Perfecto, were great and were always on call. They did our laundry (for an extra charge), gave us bikes to ride around town and made our stay very comfortable. 

We never heard the neighbors next to us, even when we sat outside to eat breakfast, watch the birds fly by or gaze at the lovely flowers that surrounded the property. 

It was a 5-minute walk from Casa Palma to get to restaurants, bars, shops and cafés, and it was just a bit farther to the pier, where I was able to buy fresh fish for $5 per pound each day. 

As we walked along The Sidewalk, everyone said “Hello,” even if they didn’t know us, and we felt a real sense of community. I never felt threatened, even when out one night by myself. The Sidewalk was well lit at night, and nobody bothered or intimidated us for money. 

The Belizian people were interesting, and the atmosphere had a somewhat Jamaican feeling. The locals spoke Spanish but with a Creole dialect, so my Spanish was rendered useless. However, everyone spoke English, so there was little to no translating needed (except for some of the Honduran or Guatemalan people who came over the border to sell their souvenirs). 

Meals at restaurants like Tipsy Tuna, De’Tatch and Barefoot Bar all cost about the same price — around $6-$8 per person; beer cost $2 each. Most eateries had sandy floors, reggae music, cheap rum-and-Coke cocktails ($1.50) and daily specials of fish or tacos. 

We went to one restaurant that was a bit more upscale, Rumfish y vino, and that cost about $40 for the two of us, including lionfish carpaccio, seafood pasta (shared), cocktails, a glass of wine, a beer and the tip. Rumfish is a classic Italian place with modern decor (no sand on the floor). 

I was saddened to see lionfish on the menu, but when told that they were killing off grouper and other fish, I understood that the lionfish population needed to be thinned out.

On the water

For snorkeling, we went with the Splash Dive Center (phone 011 501 523 2080, www.splashbelize.com), which does a whole assortment of tours, including whale shark dives from March to the end of June. 

Whale sharks, measuring up to 40 feet, feed mainly on plankton, and you can swim with them! A 2-hour boat ride takes visitors to the reef, and the sharks are said to come out four days before and four days after the full moon. Unfortunately, we just missed them, so I would very much like to return to see them.

On our snorkel excursion, we went to a tiny island to snorkel while others went diving about 15 minutes away. I am a certified diver, as is my husband, but there was a windy storm in the area before our arrival that affected visibility, so we opted to snorkel instead. 

We saw huge turtles, a school of nurse sharks and lots of trumpet fish, parrot fish, puffer fish, lobsters, snappers and barracuda. The trip cost $90 per person, including a typical lunch of chicken, rice, beans and coleslaw, which was fine. 

Soaking up the sun

Our stay was truly idyllic, and we soaked up every minute of the glorious surroundings of the property every day from the hammocks that were provided with our rental. 

I brought a collapsed floatie, which I pumped up with our caretakers’ bike pump, to float my cares away in the ocean just outside the condo. There weren’t any waves, just a slight lapping of water, making it perfect for anyone of any age or capability. 

The water at the condo was potable right out of the tap, which was different than anything I had been taught to expect in my previous travels overseas. We never got sick.

One odd thing about staying in Placencia is that you can’t flush any tissues or toilet paper down the toilet — anywhere! You just have to remember to put them in the waste bin and empty it daily. 

River tour

We decided to take a Monkey River tour, which we booked the night before at one of the little stands along The Sidewalk. Our guide had lived in the Monkey River area for most of his 50 years of life. 

The tour cost $65 per person and included a 1½-hour boat ride there and tours of the river and the jungle. We saw a crocodile, a boa constrictor, bats, lots of howler monkeys, toucans, weird spiders, egrets and other birds that I don’t recall the names of. 

Our guide was an expert in the flora and fauna, and he told us many things about each tree, its purpose and its life circle within the jungle. He showed us big hives of termites and even put his hand in and ate some! He said they tasted minty; I’ll have to trust his judgment. 

There were also mosquitoes and fire ants, so you have to put on lots of bug repellant and watch your step as you walk through the jungle. 

On the way back from our jungle walk, which took about 45 minutes and was not a big workout at all,  we looked for manatees, as there are many, but we saw only one from afar. Cruising the winding path between the mangroves on the little boat provided a welcome cool breeze.

Eating local

The weather in Placencia was perfect during the day, about 85°F, and there were afternoon trade winds. We enjoyed getting up early, taking a walk down to the pier and getting our freshly caught fish for dinner, which we later cooked on the grill outside of our unit. We also bought local fruits and vegetables to enjoy with our fish. 

About a 5-minute walk from our condo there was a market, where we found fresh corn tortillas in the morning for 50¢ to have with our farm-fresh eggs. They had nearly everything, but the meat was frozen, so we had to plan ahead if we wanted something other than fresh fish. 

We bought our fresh veggies and fruits from the stand near Rumfish, which was on the street where cars can drive, about a 2-minute walk from The Sidewalk, where no cars are allowed. The gorgeous papayas, melons, plantains, cilantro, eggplants, tomatoes, etc., were fantastic! 

There are numerous shrimp farms there, so you can always find fresh shrimp, but only in the restaurants. Lobster is available starting June 18th, but we were there prior to lobster season. 

Winding down

As our vacation was coming to a close, we went shopping for souvenirs. I bought a couple of handmade dresses for $30 each, and two large purses, all handmade and embroidered with lovely colorful flowers, for $20 each. 

There were also hip headbands, which everyone seems to be wearing nowadays, for just $5 each, so you can load up on goodies for family and friends without feeling much pinch. Have cash available, as vendors don’t deal with credit cards. 

Overall, Belize is like how Mexico used to be — dirt streets, kids playfully running around on the street, cheap prices and no hard-core vendors. It was safe, fun, friendly and, above all, sunny! 

I will note that when we changed planes in Houston on our way home, we barely had time to make our connection, even though we had an hour and 45 minutes. Forget visiting the first-class lounge; we were stuck in Customs and Immigration! 

Houston’s airport has the automated Immigration processing, and because my husband has “III” after his name and his ticket didn’t include that, we got a big “X” on the Immigration forms that popped out of the machine. We were told to go to a specific line, and we were there for nearly 50 minutes. So make sure your boarding pass matches your passport to avoid a problem. 

Once we made it to the Customs area, there were about 500 people in line; a large British Airways flight had just arrived. That was scary, as the minutes progressed and our boarding time approached for our flight to Seattle. 

Luckily, I saw one of those electric carts going in our direction once we cleared Customs, and we hopped aboard to get to our gate in time. 

For anyone at any age, I recommend a trip to Belize to enjoy its simplicity, the hospitality, the locals’ sense of humor and, above all, its gorgeous, untouched surroundings.