Growing up in Belize city, with access to American television, it was hard not to want to leave. More than some desire for access to the toys I’d seen in ads between cartoons, it awakened inside me a curiosity to see the great big world out there that felt so much more distant and at once more real than the small town of a country I grew up in. But then I left, and I stayed away for a very long time, and suddenly, it was like something was pulling me back. Belize has a way of doing that to people. She lets you leave for a while, she might even let you think you can live without her. But then one day, you’re in your apartment in California, daydreaming about the smell of the jungle and the taste of the sea and you suddenly realize: it’s time to go home.

1. Rumfish y Vino
One of Belize’s only, and very first gastro-pubs, Rumfish y Vino sits within a historical white colonial on Placencia’s Mainstreet. With an atmosphere reminiscent of a Belize from times passed (or British Honduras, if you know your history), Rumfish offers gastro-fare with a distinctively Belizean bent. Their menu highlights local ingredients and the day’s freshest catch at every opportunity, and their drink menu offers more nuance and creativity than you’re likely to find at one of the many beach bars dotting the peninsula. A long-time fishing village, Placencia is the place to order seafood, and it’s considered a public good to order the invasive Lionfish whenever you find it on the menu, but if you’re in the mood for something more terrestrial, their braised short rib lasagna has been known to change a life or two.

2. Chial Reserve
The Cayo district boasts numerous luxury resorts, all offering their own unique view of their corner of the territory, but my absolute favorite place to stay when visiting is Chial Reserve. For those looking to stay active and in tune with nature on their trip to Belize, Chial Reserve, and the Cayo district itself, are the way to go. Among other amenities, the holistic resort offers hiking trails snaking all over the mountain on which it sits as well as a health and wellness facility that is their true focus. Their on-site restaurant Shade serves up some of the best whole-food meals you’ll find in town, and they source their ingredients from the small farm the mountain looms over. With a commitment to balancing both ancestral healing techniques and cutting-edge wellness technology, there really is no other place to relax in Belize quite like Chial. 

3.  Bambu Tea & Coffee
My struggle to find a decent latte in the country of Belize finally came to a close the day I walked into Bambu Tea & Coffee in Santa Elena, a small village just outside of San Ignacio Town in the Cayo district. Designed to call to mind a sort of urban jungle, the walls of the coffee shop are covered in vines, moss, and living mushrooms. Despite the decidedly botanical decor, the fare is pretty typical of a coffee shop or cafe; you’ll find paninis, pastries, coffee-based drinks, and a veritable cacophony of boba teas. Their menu is large, and everything is delicious, but if you order the super latte with three splendas, they’ll know Sam sent you. Adding a kimchi grilled cheese to your order couldn’t hurt.

4. Above Grounds Coffee Shop
Another favorite coffee shop, Above Grounds, like many of the more bohemian outposts in Placencia, resides inside an old colonial house hoisted up on stilts on the ocean side of the village’s main street. Serving local bagels, coffee of all kinds, and a large menu of fresh-pressed juices, the shop’s front patio offers the perfect vantage point to people watch, read a book, or just enjoy the breeze. 

5. Lark Caye
Accessible only by boat and featuring three distinct coves on each corner of the small island, Lark Caye is a short boat ride away from Placencia Village. Largely uninhabited despite the smattering of vacation homes across its beach, Lark Caye is home to tide pools, bioluminescent squid, and excellent lobster diving. If you intend to visit in hopes of swimming up your own lobster roll, Belize’s season runs from July 1 to February 28.

6. Balam Ha
A secret gem nestled along the Caves Branch River, Balam Ha is a nature park offering truly unique experiences. One of the most stunning water features you can visit in Belize, the Caves Branch River is the largest subterranean cave system in Central America. Many resorts offer excursions on its banks, but Balam Ha sets itself apart with its high-intensity UTV adventure, taking you on a high-speed chase up hills, through the rivers crystal blue waters, and even over small rapids. On the quieter side of things, Balam Ha also offers a four-course Mayan tasting menu including a lesson in cooking from their restaurant’s head chef, a renowned Keche Mayan culinary artist.

7. St Herman’s Bluehole
If you say the words “Blue” and “Hole” in the same sentence as Belize, nine times out of ten, you’d be talking about the site many Belizeans argue should be considered the 8th wonder of the world — the Great Blue Hole. The much smaller and too often overlooked St. Herman’s Blue Hole is a cenote attached to the St. Herman’s cave system by an underground river. Cool year-round, in stark contrast to Belize’s perennially warm ocean, the inland blue hole, as it is often called, is home to hundreds of species of birds and many wild cats, including jaguars and the smaller jaguarundi. The park is rarely crowded, but if you intend to have the sinkhole to yourself, try to make it there for their opening at 8am

8. Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
Sandwiched between the Maya Mountains and the Cockscomb ridge, the Stann Creek district’s Cockscomb Basin is home to the world’s only jaguar sanctuary. Created to protect the breeding ground of the jaguar, the park features trails winding around the entire reserve, up mountains, and around waterfalls. One of my personal favorite trails leads you to a crashed surveyor plane used to track jaguars back in the 80s, slowly being taken over by the jungle it plummeted into. The reserve offers cabins in certain areas as accommodation, as well as campgrounds at certain peaks. If you plan to take the waterfall trail, bring lots of water! You won’t see any running downhill for at least an hour (two if you’re a slow hiker).

9. Turneffe Island Resort
One of many private island resorts making their home among Belize’s barrier islands, Turneffe Island Resort has to be my favorite. 30 miles from the Great Blue Hole, Turneffe is a fishing and diving resort with private cabanas scattered throughout its 13 acres. While I could wax poetic for stanzas about the sunrises on the east side of the island and the sunsets on the west, the quiet sound of the breeze across the waves, the total lack of sound from streets or any semblance of society, but my absolute favorite thing about Turneffe has to be their dinner time routine. Rather than the starched table-cloths you’d expect from a private island, the dining hall isn’t a hall at all, it’s a series of picnic tables under the stars, where all guests are welcome to share a meal of fresh-caught fish, family-style. 

10. Belize Zoo
The Belize Zoo, a short drive from Belize City, is a small rehabilitation zoo that only takes in animals that would otherwise be unable to survive in the wild. The rehabilitated, orphaned and otherwise handicapped animals rely entirely on donations and ticket revenue for food and shelter, so making a stop here helps support Belize’s wildlife. The zoo also offers overnight accommodations which include an exclusive tour of the zoo at night. One animal worth looking out for is the Coatimundi, or the quash as we call it locally. The small animal looks like a cross between a red panda and a racoon, with an afinity for lovely smells. As a child in Belize, I would beg my mother for her perfume to spray on leave to hand them through their grate, and watch them rub the scent all over their bodies. In the wild, coatis do this with flowers to attract their mates.

11. Cristo Rey
A true local gem, I had an inner battle about sharing this one, but in the end decided the site too beautiful to not recommend. Cristo Rey Falls, a small swimming hole in the village of Cristo Rey sits just below a nameless ashram that offers daily meditations and yoga classes free of charge and vegan food by donation. The falls themselves have remained a popular swimming hole among locals for generations for obvious reasons. Recommended activity is planting yourself on the rock stage, and launching yourself into the water. Don’t be scared! We’ve been doing this since we were kids. 

12. Goff’s Caye
A large sandbar or a barrier island depending on who you ask, Goff’s caye is a national heritagel site thanks to the Colonial-era fishing camp and grave plots that once stood on the fickle piece of land. Thanks to Goff’s cayes nature as a sandbar, the island shifts from one shape to another depending on the tide, making permanent structures on certain parts of the island an impossibility. Sitting on the edge of Belize’s barrier reef, now the largest (living) reef in the world, the waters surrounding Goff’s caye are home to sea turtles, sting rays, dolphins and whale sharks.

13. Belize Spice Farm & Botanical Garden
Established in the early 90s by expats from India’s Kerala, Belize Spice Farm in many ways feels like stepping into another world. With large ponds covered in lotuses and enormous Victoria water lilies, and acres and acres of plants exotic even to Belize, it is very different than the typical Belizean farm or plantation. Their tractor-pulled caravans will leisurely escort you through their sweeping property as your guide explains the way he individually pollinates every vanilla bean on the property himself (before 8 am, every day). The entire tour culminates in the gift shop with a refreshing sample of juice sourced from the gardens. If you’re in the market for a souvenir, organically grown spices are an interesting change from the typical fridge magnet.