Belize

Belize sits on the Caribbean coast of Central America, between Mexico and Guatemala, and is the only country in the region with English as its official language. It was British Honduras until 1973 and became independent in 1981. Offshore lies the largest reef system in the Northern Hemisphere; inland are hundreds of Maya sites.

Known for Belize Barrier Reef, the Great Blue Hole, Maya temple cities, Garifuna drumming and punta and fry jacks and stew chicken.

Highlights

  • Great Blue Hole, Lighthouse Reef, Belize District: A near-circular marine sinkhole about 300 metres across and 125 metres deep, formed as a limestone cave system that flooded when sea levels rose after the last ice age. It sits inside Lighthouse Reef Atoll, roughly 70 kilometres offshore.
  • Caracol, Cayo District: The largest recorded Maya site in Belize, a city that rivalled Tikal and held tens of thousands of people at its peak. Its Caana pyramid rises about 43 metres and remains one of the tallest structures in the country.
  • Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Stann Creek District: Declared in 1986 as the world's first jaguar preserve, this reserve covers more than 400 square kilometres of the eastern Maya Mountains and protects tapir, howler monkeys and the headwaters of several rivers.
  • Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Ambergris Caye, Belize District: Belize's first marine reserve, established in 1987 around a natural break in the barrier reef; hol chan means little channel in Yucatec Maya. Its zoned sections protect coral, seagrass and mangrove, and the adjoining Shark Ray Alley.

Places in Belize

Getting around

Belize's buses run from town terminals under the Department of Transport, with the Belize City terminal as the hub; a route added in 2024 serves the Coastal Highway villages between Dangriga and Belize City. Between the mainland and the cayes the water taxis do the work: San Pedro Belize Express and Caribbean Sprinter sail from the Belize Marine Terminal on North Front Street to Caye Caulker and San Pedro several times a day, at fares approved by the Belize Port Authority.