My 2024 Belize Travel Wish List

The tiny country of Belize has SO much to offer – food, cultures, diversity, adventures – that each time I visit one incredible spot I hear about 5 more to add to my Belize Bucket List.

So on this Boxing Day, as we prepare to enter the new year, here’s my 2024 Travel Wish List. In “hard copy” so I don’t let the year slip by with day-to-day busyness – and I get moving around this incredible country.

Glovers Atoll Resort

What I picture: A tiny coconut-palmed island on the edge of a remote atoll off the coast of Hopkins in Southern Belize. The island hasn’t changed in decades. Internet is spotty, you are living on fresh fish and coconut water. Rent an over-the-water cabana for an insanely reasonable price (best prices in Belize?) and just sun, swim, snorkel, nap, read, stargaze from your dock, and repeat in one of the most beautiful spots on earth. For a week. This is the major stumbling block – you need to commit to a full Sunday to Saturday! Check out the website! I LOVE this map they provide.

Caracol

What I picture: Belize’s largest and most majestic Maya site tucked in remote jungle, in the Cayo District, almost at the Guatemalan border. It’s so majestic that Ka’ana, the largest structure at the site, remains the tallest building in the country. We wander the site with a guide, surrounded by squawking parrots and chattering monkeys, and don’t see another visitor.

More pics of Kate and William if you like. They even had an incredible formal dinner party for 100s out at the site later that evening. (Note: I am not expecting all that)

Drive the Coastal Highway

Before 2023, when you rented a vehicle on the Belize mainland, there was a warning: CAR NOT INSURED ON THE COASTAL HIGHWAY. Stay OFF the Coastal Highway.

This unpaved road – that connects the outskirts of Belize City with Dangriga runs close to the coast. A rough ride in dry weather, it could be unpassable in the rainy season. PLUS, the cell connection was spotty and there were no service stations. There was very little along the way but fields and jabiru storks.

In 2023, PAVING of the Coastal Highway was completed. Cutting the time for driving from Dangriga to Belize MUCH shorter but also connecting some remote villages – like the unique Gales Point.

See my 2019 post: Gales Point: One of the Most Unique Spots in Belize & An Effort to Save the Endangered Hawksbill Turtle

I want to drive it! And return to Gales Point – on the tiny spit of land jutting out into a lagoon in what feels like the middle of nowhere! But man is it pretty.

Punta Gorda

I visited Punta Gorda, the southernmost town in Belize, almost 10 years ago! The town and the surrounding area almost feel like another country – this can’t be the same Belize as busy San Pedro town. It was the first place I heard Garifuna, Spanish, a Maya dialect and Kriol all spoken at the same weekly market. I want to stay in Punta Gorda town, I want to stay at the gorgeous Copal Tree Lodge perched above the jungle lined river. I want to visit the Garbutt’s at their storied fishing lodge. (Maybe drop Jeff off there for a day or two while I head out to the Silk and Snake Cayes) That should be a good start!

Sailing with the Rum Punch II

This one is right here on Ambergris Caye. Sail for an afternoon with Captain George on the old school Belize fishing boat – the Rum Punch II.

Listen to Mr. George’s stories about growing up in Placencia (before a road even reached there) and moving to San Pedro as a young man. Sitting on the edge of the boat dragging your toes in the water as it silently cuts through Ambergris Caye’s crystal clear waters. Only the creaking of the wooden rigging as he makes tiny adjustments. Fishing, conch hunting or just sunning. I can’t believe I haven’t done this in over a decade either!

Hike Davis Falls

A friend told me about this adventure off the beautiful Hummingbird Highway. You take a tractor some of the way, you hike a bit and you hear the waterfall. The second highest in Belize. Swim and enjoy – I bet it’s magic after a hike through the jungle!

Spot a big cat at Chan Chich Resort

Chan Chich Lodge on its own seems like an AMAZING destination. Located in the Orange Walk district, surrounded by miles and miles of protected lands, I’ve been told it is my very best chance to see a jaguar or a puma out for a walk. I am OBSESSED with their social media – and trail cams – that show some of the wildlife around the resort. INCREDIBLE.

Take the Maya Tren

The Mayan Train is the MEGA-PROJECT that is happening now just to our north – on the Mexican Yucatan. A train connecting Cancun and Merida and Campeche and Chetumal – beach resorts and Maya sites. Cities and villages. It has been FRAUGHT with controversy…running over cenotes and unexcavated Mayan sites. And is expected to cost over $25 billion dollars. (That’s over 10x the GDP of Belize)

It is now running, though not without problems, between Campeche, Merida and Cancun. Maybe I’ll wait until it reaches down to Chetumal? But I’ve always wanted to visit Campeche…we shall see!

Please let me know if you’ve done these trips and what you think. PLEASE let me know if there are any more trips you think I HAVE HAVE HAVE to do!

Now…I’ll I need to do is make some more money and free up some time and…I’m off! 2024 is the YEAR!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and are still enjoying your holidays AND planning a trip to Belize for 2024.