A country · 54 places · 6 regions

Belize, all of it.

54 curated places across 6 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Great Blue Hole · via Wikimedia Commons

The 4 biggest regions — Belize District, Cayo District, Stann Creek District and Toledo District — read below as chapters, with 2 more waiting past them.

Chapter I · Belize District · 19 places

Belize District

The Great Blue Hole is a circular marine sinkhole roughly 300 metres in diameter and 125 metres deep located at the centre of Lighthouse Reef Atoll off the coast of Belize. The dark indigo circle surrounded by pale turquoise shallows is one of the most recognisable dive sites on earth and was popularised globally by Jacques Cousteau. Beneath the lip of the cave system, massive stalactites hang from submerged overhangs, confirming the structure formed as a dry cave during the last glacial period.

Great Blue Hole

Belize District, Belize

✦ April to June · $$$

Ambergris Caye

Belize District, Belize

✦ February to May · $$

Altun Ha

Belize District, Belize

✦ December to May; mornings beat both heat and tour-bus crowds · $

All 19 places in Belize District →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Cayo District · 13 places

Cayo District

Caracol is the largest known Maya archaeological site in Belize, situated deep in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve near the Guatemalan border. At its Classic period peak it supported an estimated population of over 100,000 people across a metropolitan area spanning more than 170 square kilometres. The tallest structure, Caana or Sky Palace, rises 43 metres and remains the tallest man-made structure in Belize; its summit offers sweeping views over an unbroken forest canopy.

✦ November to May · $$

Meet Caracol All 13 places in Cayo District →

Chapter III · Stann Creek District · 7 places

Stann Creek District

A narrow peninsula village with some of mainland Belize's best beaches and a famously slim main sidewalk threading between wooden houses. It doubles as the jumping-off point for whale shark dives at Gladden Spit and day trips to the southern cayes.

Placencia

Stann Creek District, Belize

✦ March to June for calm seas and the whale shark season around full moons · $$

Hopkins, Belize

Stann Creek District, Belize

✦ February to May; November 19 brings Garifuna Settlement Day celebrations · $

Tobacco Caye

Stann Creek District, Belize

✦ March to June for calm, clear water outside the windy season · $

All 7 places in Stann Creek District →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter IV · Toledo District · 5 places

Toledo District

A small Creole village at a river mouth where boat tours push upstream past howler monkeys, manatees and mangrove birdlife. It offers a raw slice of southern Belize's riverine wilderness.

✦ December to April · $

Meet Monkey River Town All 5 places in Toledo District →