Must-see attractions in Belize

  • underwater buddy team reef

    Hol Chan Marine Reserve

    Ambergris Caye

    At the southern tip of Ambergris, the 6.5-sq-mile Hol Chan Marine Reserve is probably Belize's most oft-visited diving and snorkeling site. It offers…

  • View of west facing frieze of Mayan temple in Belize.

    Xunantunich

    Cayo District

    Set on a leveled hilltop, Xunantunich (shoo-nahn-too-neech) is one of Belize's most easily accessible and impressive Maya archaeological sites. Getting…

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    Belize Zoo

    Belize District

    If most zoos are maximum-security wildlife prisons, then the Belize Zoo is more like a halfway house for wild animals that can't make it on the outside. A…

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    Caracol

    Cayo District

    Once one of the most powerful cities in the entire Maya world, Caracol now lies enshrouded by thick jungle near the Guatemalan border, a 52-mile, roughly…

  • Museum of Belize

    Belize City

    This modern museum in the Fort George District provides an excellent overview of the story of Belize, told through exhibits housed in the country's former…

  • A Red-footed booby (Sula sula) sits on a branch in a breeding colony on Half Moon Caye off the coast of Belize. This is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.; Shutterstock ID 583848568; Your name (First / Last): Alicia Johnson; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial ; Full Product or Project name including edition: Belize

    Half Moon Caye Natural Monument

    Belize

    Half Moon Caye Natural Monument is known first and foremost as providing nesting grounds for the rare red-footed booby bird, but the island's enchantments…

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    Goff's Caye

    Belize City

    Some of the most spectacular snorkeling in Belize happens just a short swim off the powder-white sands of Goff's Caye, a tiny, uninhabited island just a…

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    Green Iguana Conservation Project

    San Ignacio

    On the lush Macal Valley grounds of the San Ignacio Resort Hotel, this excellent program collects and hatches iguana eggs, raising the reptiles until they…

  • Living Maya Experience

    Southern Belize

    Two Kekchí families in Big Falls village have opened up their homes as a cultural experience for visitors and both are excellent. The Cal family…

  • Belize City, Belize, Belize, Central America

    Swing Bridge

    Belize City

    This heart and soul of Belize City life, crossed by just about everyone here just about every day, is said to be the only remaining manually operated…

  • Corozal House of Culture

    Northern Belize

    Built in 1886, this fine old Spanish Colonial building once housed a bustling market beside the old customs house. It was one of only 11 buildings spared…

  • Lamanai Mayan ruins.

    Lamanai

    Northern Belize

    Perhaps the most fascinating Maya site in Northern Belize, Lamanai lies 24 miles south of Orange Walk Town up the New River (or 36 miles by unpaved road)…

  • Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary

    Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary

    The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is Belize’s most famous sanctuary and one of its biggest protected areas. This great swath of tropical forest…

  • Mask Temple

    Northern Belize

    The Mask Temple (Structure N9-56) was begun around 200 BC and modified several times up to AD 1300. It has two 13ft stylized masks of a man in a crocodile…

  • Mexico Rocks

    Ambergris Caye

    This snorkeling site, 15 minutes from San Pedro and with a maximum depth of just 8ft, is a unique patch reef towards the northern end of the island…

  • Hol Chan Canyons

    Ambergris Caye

    Four miles south of San Pedro, this part of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve is famous for its dramatic canyons and ample sea life, including eagle rays,…

  • Image Factory

    Belize City

    The country's most innovative and exciting art gallery stages new exhibitions and hosts regular book launches, usually of work by Belizean artists…

  • Belize, Belize District, Altun Ha, Tourists in front and on top of the Temple of Masonry Altars in Plaza B of the Mayan ruins A large carved jade head of the Mayan sun god Kinich Ahau was found in the temple.

    Altun Ha

    Belize District

    Altun Ha, the Maya ruins that have inspired Belikin beer labels and Belizean banknotes, stands 31 miles north of Belize City, off the Old Northern Hwy…

  • Black or Guatemalan Howler Monkey, alouatta pigra or caraya, sitting on a tree in Belize jungle and howling like crazy. They are also found in Mexico and Guatemala.; Shutterstock ID 650139157; Your name (First / Last): Alicia Johnson; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial ; Full Product or Project name including edition: Belize

    Mayflower Bocawina National Park

    Southern Belize

    This beautiful 11-sq-mile park of jungle, mountains, waterfalls, walking trails, swimming holes and small Maya sites lies about 16 miles southwest of…

  • UNSPECIFIED - FEBRUARY 07:  Old ruins of a Mayan Temple, Lubaantun, Stann Creek District, Belize  (Photo by DEA / M.BORCHI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

    Lubaantun

    Southern Belize

    The Maya ruins at Lubaantun, 1.3 miles northwest of San Pedro Columbia, are built on a natural hilltop and display a construction method unusual in the…

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    Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary

    Belize District

    Between November and April, migrating birds flock to the lagoons, rivers and swamps of the massive Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, which is managed by…

  • manatees: trichechus manatus being watched by tourists. sw allow caye, belize

    Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary

    Caye Caulker

    About 19 miles southwest of Caye Caulker, the vast Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary spans nearly 9000 acres, including Swallow Caye and some parts of…

  • Shipstern Conservation & Management Area

    Northern Belize

    Run by a nonprofit organization, this large nature reserve, which protects 43 sq miles of semideciduous hardwood forests, wetlands, lagoons and coastal…

  • A Black Howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) rests in the jungle canopy of Belize. Black howlers, found in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, are folivorous, eating mostly leaves and occasional fruits.; Shutterstock ID 260268743; Your name (First / Last): Alicia Johnson; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial ; Full Product or Project name including edition: Belize

    Community Baboon Sanctuary

    Belize District

    Since 1985, more than 200 landowners in seven villages northwest of Belize City have signed pledges to preserve the habitat of the black howler monkey,…

  • Snorkeling in Belize

    Caye Caulker Marine Reserve

    Caye Caulker

    Declared a marine reserve in 1998, the 61-sq-mile Caye Caulker Marine Reserve includes the portion of the barrier reef that runs parallel to the island,…

  • The Split on Caye Caulker Belize

    The Split

    Caye Caulker

    A narrow channel that splits Caye Caulker into two, the Split has clean, deep waters free of seaweed, making it one of the island's best swimming areas…

  • Barton Creek Cave

    Cayo District

    Barton Creek rises high in the Mountain Pine Ridge and flows north to join the Belize River near Georgeville. Along the way it dips underground for a…

  • Shark Ray Alley, Caye Caulker, Sand Pedro, Belize ; Shutterstock ID 1098661994; Your name (First / Last): Alicia Johnson; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial ; Full Product or Project name including edition: Belize

    Shark Ray Alley

    Ambergris Caye

    Only snorkeling is allowed at this perennially popular spot, which is in a shallow part of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Shark Ray Alley was traditionally…

  • Caye Caulker Forest Reserve

    Caye Caulker

    The northernmost 100 acres of the island constitute the Caye Caulker Forest Reserve, declared in 1998. Birdlife is prolific in the reserve, particularly…

  • Cahal Pech

    San Ignacio

    High atop a hill about a mile south of San Ignacio, Cahal Pech is the oldest-known Maya site in the Belize River valley, having been first settled between…

  • Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

    Belize District

    A natural, privately protected area just off one of the country's main highways, this 1070-acre wildlife sanctuary and environmental education center…

  • CBS Museum & Visitor's Center

    Belize District

    In a newly constructed building, CBS Museum & Visitor's Center has a number of good exhibits and displays on the black howler, other Belizean wildlife and…

  • St Herman's Blue Hole National Park

    Hummingbird Highway

    The 575-acre St Herman's Blue Hole National Park contains St Herman's Cave, one of the few caves in Belize that you can visit without a guide. The…

  • Belize Botanic Gardens

    Cayo District

    The magnificent Belize Botanic Gardens, accessed from the grounds of Sweet Songs Jungle Lodge, hold samples of roughly one-quarter of the approximately…

  • Old Belize Exhibit

    Belize District

    This is the original Old Belize, which manages to pack the country's entire ecological, archaeological, industrial and political history into a 15-minute…

  • Santa Rita

    Northern Belize

    Santa Rita was an ancient Maya coastal town that once occupied the same strategic trading position as present-day Corozal Town, namely the spot between…

  • García Sisters' Place

    Cayo District

    The García sisters display and sell a wide assortment of beautiful black-slate carvings. These five sisters developed this craft, which is now widely…

  • High Temple

    Northern Belize

    North of the ball court, across a plaza shaded by trees, is Structure N10-43, the highest at Lamanai, which rises 125ft above the jungle canopy. Few large…

  • Tres Cocos

    Ambergris Caye

    The dive site is a bit deeper than most around San Pedro, with coral heads rising up to 50ft and a wall with spurs that spill out from 90ft to 120ft, but…

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