Where Caribbean Bliss Meets Mayan Beauty

Picture yourself in the Caribbean. Turquoise waters. White sands. Endless reefs. Palm trees, just how you imagine. I’m your host, Stephen Bailey. And today, I want to take you on a short journey to a very underrated and lesser-known Caribbean country. I want to take you to Belize.

Before I traveled to Belize, my picture of Caribbean bliss was probably very much like your own. It was how the brochures imagined it to be. And I thought it was only something I could experience on a Caribbean island. And then I went to Central America and I discovered Belize. Where this Caribbean bliss meets Mayan beauty, and incredible Caribbean marine life is complemented by wildlife-filled jungle.

It’s tropical, it’s colorful, and it’s dominated by moments of stillness and solitude. There are private islands where you can spend the day, or you can spend the night — or many nights. Yet on the interior, you can go stay in the jungle. You can go stay deep inside the trees.

The world’s longest barrier reef, I’m sure you know, it’s the Great Barrier Reef. And then what about the second? The world’s second longest reef is the Belize Barrier Reef. There are hundreds upon hundreds of individual reefs, each one of them different, all along the coastline, complemented by this huge variety of small and slightly bigger islands, which they call cayes. And as I was there, I was having at first the quintessential Caribbean experience. The Caribbean experience, I’d always thought of. I went diving in the Great Blue Hole. I went snorkelling in Hol Chan Marine Reserve, where there’s a place called Shark Ray Alley. Incredible, to be so close to so many sharks, such beautiful creatures. I went on a catamaran trip. I went big game fishing. I did those things that I always hoped I could do in the Caribbean.

Finding Treasures In The Mainland

And that was the first five days of my trip, interspersed with drinking cocktails and lying around and generally doing what I expected to be doing in the Caribbean.

I didn’t expect to find it in Belize, but it was just how I had pictured it before. Belize is located south of Mexico and to the east of Guatemala. A long Caribbean coastline. And along that coastline is the world’s second longest reef. Second only to the Great Barrier Reef. Hundreds and hundreds of diving and snorkel spots. Hundreds, innumerable, small islands. Also, larger islands where there are resorts, where there’s more life. Small islands where there is nothing, just one hotel.

So, that was one half of my experience. I’m not really much of a beach person. And what I really loved about Belize was, Belize is the destination for people who are not really beach lovers, because it’s not just about the beach. Belize has got this incredible jungle as well.

So one day I was on a catamaran, the next day I was hiking, searching for jaguars. One day I was lazying away beneath the palm trees, the next day I was going kayaking down a river to find some caves. It’s in the mainland where Belize holds so many treasures.

The Caribbean attracts people there. The Caribbean and its quintessential images are why people want to go there. Yet as I was on the mainland, I was finding all these treasures — ruins, waterfalls, caves, birds, hikes, climbing, kayaking. Unfortunately, not jaguars, but it’s incredible to know that jaguars still exist in the forest there. And then, as I spent more time away from the coast, as I explored more of the interior — especially around San Ignacio, Big Rock Falls, Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve — slowly, I realized that Belize is the opposite of an island. Belize is a country with an incredibly diverse offer, a country that is so much more than its Caribbean coastline.

Four Holidays In One

And the most special experience was learning and connecting with the Mayan culture. Belize — or what is now the country of Belize — was formerly the land of the Mayas. And the tallest building in Belize was built by the Mayas, 800 years ago. Eight hundred years ago, and it’s still the biggest building in the entire country.

Its name is Caracol. You can climb the many steps to the top of the ruins. Beautiful views from there of rainforests and mountains. They tell me there’s no better view in the country. Certainly usually there  is no better view than from the top of the tallest building. And discovering this Mayan cultural heritage then kicked off a whole other two or three days of learning about another side to Belize. So that, after two weeks of going on a Caribbean trip, I’d ended up having maybe three or four different holidays in one. And I was planning, “Okay, when am I going to go back to Belize?”

Because there’s the Caribbean, and I loved it, but then there’s all this other stuff. Like, I want to go back there. I want to find that jaguar. I want to spend more time on the coast. I want to do more diving. I want to be in the jungle. I want to be kayaking. I want to go find a manatee. I’ve never seen manatees, you can see them at Swallow Caye in Belize. You can see toucans. You can go caving in Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave. You can go across the border to Guatemala to see Tikal, one of the great attractions of Central America. So much taking place in a country that very few people even know about.