Arrived mid-morning in Belize City via Houston (overnight flight from Vancouver). Got a taxi for $20US directly to the boat pier, where I purchased a boat ticket ($10US) to Caye Caulker. After a 45-minute ride, I arrived and, with backpack on, set out to search for a guesthouse, settling on The Tropic Hotel which faces the oceanfront. After settling in, I took a swim at The Split, a sort of small beach area within easy walking distance, took in some lunch, and booked a tour for the next morning to go snorkeling.
The following morning I took a boat on the full-day Hol Chan snorkeling tour (9am-5pm; $60US). This was probably the best snorkeling tour I have ever done. Hol Chan is actually an underwater national park, with 4 zones: The Reef, The SeaGrass Beds, The Mangroves and Shark Ray Alley. The captain of the fishing boat swam with us, and we saw several sting rays, nurse sharks, giant sea turtles, large colorful fish, and toward the end of the tour watched as a giant manatee swam under us, and turned around to look back at us. Definitely a highlight. As part of the tour, we went to Ambergris Cay (San Pedro) for a couple of hours and walked around and had some lunch at a restaurant near the water. Got back late afternoon, and went for a nice dinner in a local restaurant.
After 3 nights on Caye Caulker, took the mid-morning boat back to Belize City, grabbed a $6 Bz cab ride to the bus station, and headed to San Ignacio. Stayed at Casa Blanca hotel on one of the main streets in the centre of town. The following day, hung out in San Ignacio, walking around the town. At 5pm, met up with Jim from Barton Creek Outpost who was driving a few people to the lodge (1 hour, $5US). Otherwise, the trip would have been $40US to get out there. Jim and Jacky live out in the jungle with their 3 kids and offer backpackers accommodation, mainly in tents and sleeping bags. They are in the land of the Mennonites, living beside a watering hole with swings, and numerous hiking trails. They also offer tours, of which I took two. One was to the waterfalls (2 areas), and the other was a canoe ride through the Barton Creek caves (next door to their lodge), which was an underground world of the Maya called Xibalba.
Headed out from Barton Creek Outpost to Placencia. Had to get a taxi from the Outpost to Balmopan (1 hour), and then a bus to Placencia (4 hours). Upon arrival in Placencia, I immediately liked it. It has a beautiful long, white beach, with colourful wooden houses and businesses. It was LobsterFest weekend, so it was starting to get pretty busy in the village.
Got a place at Lydia's Guesthouse for one night, and then changed over to Manatee Inn for the next 5 nights. The Manatee Inn is run by a Czech couple, and it is spotless. It is also very reasonable, at $25/night (single, with bath). My week there was spent with a couple from New Jersey, Chuck and Melissa, who were a blast. We had met at Barton Creek earlier, and reconnected in Placencia. And so the next 5 days were spent swimming, watching the odd World Cup game on the television at the beach bar, attending LobsterFest for the first 3 days, grabbing some great gelato, eating at some cool restaurants, including an amazing Chinese restaurant with Chuck, Mel and Bibi.
With 3 days left to go, I headed from Placencia to Dangriga by bus, and took a boat to Tobacco Cay, a tropical island that takes about 5 minutes to watch completely around. Upon arrival, I checked into a cabin (Tobacco Cay Lodge)($45US/night including 3 meals) which was run by a woman from Vancouver. The following day I booked a snorkeling tour, which was amazing. We went out toward Smithsonian Cay, and Saltwater Cay. 2 sessions of snorkeling, which were very different: one was shallower, the other much deeper, eventually landing on Saltwater Cay for 20 minutes. Headed back to Tobacco Cay. In the evenings, sat around the little beach bar, and chatted with some backpackers. The island is popular with travelers coming on the Raggamuffin Tours from Caye Caulker, as it is a stopover on their way to Placencia by boat.
Left on the boat back to Dangriga, and took a bus directly to Belize City airport (5 hours).