50 Reasons Why You Need to Vacation in Belize

December 4, 2021
by denidimchev@webohub.com +

1. Your bum will thank you. Flights to Belize from the U.S. take just a few hours from major southern ports so don’t plan on making much headway on the book you plan to bring along.

2. Everyone recommends Belize. From The Los Angeles Times, National Geographic magazine, Lonely Planet and Conde Nast Traveler, editors can’t get enough of this wonderland and readers reap the benefits!

3. You will experience the true meaning of diversity. While one of the least populated nations in Central America, Belize is home to Kriol, Mestizo, Mayan, Garifuna, East-Indian, Chinese, Mennonite and British populaces, each contributing to the unique nature of this society.

4. Animal lovers are thrilled to discover that around 40-percent of the country’s wildlife are categorized as protected thanks to a government that is serious about passing protection laws and setting aside sanctuaries.

5. Tell friends about visiting the only jaguar preserve on Earth and they’ll be jealous to hear about your Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary visit. While you’re there, you could spot Ocelot, Puma, Jaguarundi and Margay, too.

6. Avoid putting one more app on your already-crowded mobile phone! Everyone speaks English in Belize so you can eliminate translators from your vacation budget, too. Over 50-percent of Belizeans are multilingual.

7. You won’t have to turn into a Sherpa and drag tonnage of clothing. Temperatures throughout the country average 84-degrees F, thanks to proximity to the Equator.

8. You can get from place to place fast. Belize measures just 8,867 square miles making it just slightly larger than Israel, Wales and the state of New Jersey.

9. The highest point in Belize, Doyle’s Delight, isn’t hard to climb at 3,688-feet, and if you get to the top, you may find out why Doyle was so delighted.

10. Discover culinary delights contributed by Belize’s many cultures. Required tasting are fry jacks, Johnny cakes, gibnut, escabeche and hudut.

11. Meet the right dead people. No tissues needed to visit skeletal remains of Maya maidens, warriors and sacrificial victims brought to caves as sacrifices to a pantheon of gods.

12. The Belize Barrier Reef, the second longest on the planet, is home to 70 hard coral, 36 soft coral and 500 fish species plus hundreds of invertebrates.

13. Belize became the first nation in the world to completely ban ocean bottom trawling back in 2010 and offshore oil drilling close to the nation’s barrier reef and 7 World Heritage sites.

14. Discover why divers can’t get enough of Belize’s “Blue Hole.” Jacques Cousteau called his deep dive into this oceanic marvel the highlight of his time in Belize.

15. Visiting all estimated 100 cayes isn’t required, but the unique nature of each one makes for a fascinating comparative study if you love geology.

16. Zip line over a jungle canopy. Even if you’ve done so elsewhere, Belize is unique because you’ll be close to indigenous wildlife – including those you can’t see.

17. Belize’s topographic diversity must be seen to be appreciated. Explore savannas, mountains, jungles, tropical rain forest, coastal plains, swamps, rivers and lagoons.

18. Belize is home to the loudest primates on Earth. Howler monkeys start shrieking when these sense danger and you can hear them three miles away. Be careful. They love to toss branches at interlopers from lofty treetop perches.

19. Become a hot sauce expert. Marie Sharp’s Belize operation is legendary and required tasting even for tourists who aren’t hot sauce fans.

20. June begins lobster season in Belize. Festivals and celebrations pay tribute to this delicacy and Belize’s lobstermen make sure they deliver on quantity and quality.

21. Come for the caves! Walk among chambers filled with stalagmites and stalactites. Access Belize caves by walking in, swimming in, tubing in or repel down into select caverns for extra drama.

22. Find out why pirates frequented the land now known as Belize. These adventurers, known as baymen, used Belize as a jumping off point when they came to plunder everything imaginable.

23. You won’t experience currency confusion. One Belize dollar equals two U.S. dollars, an exchange rate not likely to change any time soon.

24. Belize’s Mayan ruins may number more than 900, but archaeologists are still looking for more. Not all of them are as vast as Caracol, Xunantunich, Lamanai, Cahal Pech, Nim Li Punit and Altun Ha.

25. The Belize economy is based on a private enterprise system mostly dependent upon agriculture, agro-based industry, merchandising and tourism.

26. Belize’s colorful flag is the only one featuring images of people in its design.

27. Belize City, once the nation’s capital, was destroyed by a hurricane in 1970. Officials moved the capital 50 miles inland to Belmopan.

28. The names of some Belize creatures are quirkly. They include the Owl-Eye, Blue Morpho and Swallow Tail Cattle Heart Butterflies, Peanut-Head Lantern Bug, Red-footed Booby Bird, Lady-of-the-Night Orchid and False Vampire Bat.

29. Belize’s national animal, known as a tapir, is actually a hybrid of a horse and rhinoceros. It may look like a guinea pig, but at over 500 pounds, one of these would be expensive to feed.

30. Pop singer Madonna was so impressed by her San Pedro Belize stay, she wrote the song “La Isla Bonita” to pay tribute to the area’s beauty, people and natural wonders.

31. Chocolate lovers will find homes in Belize! Cacao tree farms proliferate the landscape but all credit goes to ancient Mayans who prepared it for royalty.

32. Master the thumb lock to show how much you like the people you meet. It’s considered Belize’s equivalent of the handshake or a high-five.

33. Learn more about Belize folklore, especially the thumbless, evil dwarf named El Duende and the nation’s most famous yeti, El Sisimito. This huge creature is easy to spot. His knees are missing and feet are on backwards.

34. Belize offers travelers weary of crowds enough “space” to suit their fancies. Though around 1 million tourists visit annually, there is no shortage of places where you won’t spot a soul.

35. There are 450 uninhabited cayes off the Belize coastline. Despite a lack of people, 450 watchmen are appointed by the government to oversee each one.

36. Taste the Queen’s Rat as part of your Belize culinary tour. It was served to Queen Elizabeth and she enjoyed it so much, it’s become a menu staple.

37. Learn more about hardwood timber resources that once fulfilled the U.K.’s hunger for mahogany woods from which iconic Chippendale furnishings were crafted.

38. Sympathize with Belizeans who rose up in protest when the government initiated tax increases in 2005. This will feel especially good if you can’t rail against the IRS.

39. Think your neighborhood dynamic is bad? Guatemala dislikes Belize so much, Guatemalans refuse use the country’s name, instead calling it “Department No. 23.”

40. Despite being small in size and having a small population, Belize has the 3rd highest per capita income in Central America.

41. Find peace in Belize. There are more employees working for McDonald’s fast food restaurants than there are members of the nation’s army, navy and air force combined.

42. You could run into more cashew trees in Belize than people! Some cashews are yummy and some are poisonous. The good ones often wind up in Belize’s tasty cashew wines.

43. If you visit Belize on Good Friday, go to church and leave your swimsuit in your luggage. It’s bad luck to swim on Good Friday. Indulge your inner fish on the other 364 days.

44. The Belize Audubon Society reports sightings of the largest concentration of Scarlet Macaws in the region. There are only an estimated 400 Scarlet Macaws in Belize, so if you spot one, consider yourself lucky.

45. Don’t miss St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park. This lush 575-acre forest’s geological wonders include a cave and a pool fed by an underground stream.

46. Hang out with whale sharks if you visit Belize in the spring. These sharks may be imposing but tourists come in droves to swim with them every year.

47. Satisfy your inner conservationist. The number of eco-lodges in Belize is growing. Don’t wait any longer to satisfy your childhood dream of sleeping in a tree house.

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48. Come to Belize to learn more about real estate opportunities. Oceanfront properties are surprisingly affordable for those seeking investments, second homes and retirement communities.

49. Hold your wedding in Belize! Destination weddings are trending. If you want to go all out, bring a large entourage and rent an entire island if the spirit moves you.

50. Forget waiting until your 60s to dump your job. The retirement age in Belize starts on your 45th birthday and qualifications for becoming an ex-pat are so inviting, you wouldn’t be the first person to come for a beach vacation and stay to shop for properties.