We spent 40 days (including transition days not included below) in Belize in February / March 2023.

Belize is a beautiful country.  Love the proximity from beach to jungle.  Ease to get around. Friendliness of people.  Fresh food.  

It is a progressive poor third world country. Most places you can’t put your toilet paper in the toilet, no helmets or seat belts required, some places you can’t drink the water, most of the houses have peeling paint, dusty film, banged up cars, pot holed roads.

This should not deter you from visiting as we highly recommend it for wonderful snorkeling, diving, Mayan culture and jungle activities. We traveled to Belize at the beginning of February for 6 weeks. Very little rain with some cool breezes to offset the hot sun.  Although we read about mosquitoes and sand flies it wasn’t as bad as we thought.  Beaches definitely had sargassum.  They try in some high-end resorts to rake it, but it's a losing battle.

Planning your trip

• Book international flights and hotels early, particularly during high season.  Doesn’t feel crowded but many sought after hotels have a limited number of rooms

• US citizens staying longer than 30 days must go to immigration office and get a visa extension. Note: going in and out of Guatemala for the day to visit Tikal did NOT reset the visa clock.

• Pack light / causal - laundry is everywhere. Inexpensive and quick turnaround.  Avoid heals as there are few sidewalks and lots of uneven surfaces. No need for fancy clothes very casual 

• Easy to get around without a car

• Food is fresh. Meals can be longer.  They are on island time. Kitchens are small and cook to order in most places

• When visiting ruins may want to check the cruise ship schedule to avoid big crowds 

• Tropic airways is very flexible even though our ticket said no changes we were able to get on an earlier flight no problem 

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CHECK OUT OUR VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE WITH REEF CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL