From Cayo to Placencia: Your itinerary to plan a trip to Belize for 8 days

If you want to plan a trip to Belize, let’s start with the obvious. 8 days in Belize is NOT enough. But if you only have about a week to spare, then you’ll find 8 days in Belize plenty of time to start getting to know this beautiful, diverse country. Or, rather, it’s just enough time to get completely and totally spoiled by the amazing food, beautiful wildlife and landscapes, and the really kind people.

Initially, I decided to plan a trip to Belize as a surprise for Luke, who put up with a hell of a lot of shivering on our winter trip to France. Since he loves beaches and tropics, where better to escape? And, duh, he got onboard pretty fast — and this ended up being one of the best trips we’ve ever had.

Plan your trip to Belize: Day 1 — Flying into Belize and getting settled at Caves Branch Jungle Lodge

Look at that gorgeous lodge!

View from the lodge dining room

Highlights:

• Arrival
• Drive to Ian Anderson’s Caves Branch Jungle Lodge
• Settling in, booking next day’s excursions, and dinner #1 at the resort

Things to note:

• The customs line to enter the country looks daunting, but doesn’t always take forever. Remember to bring a pen to fill out your declaration (yes, to enter the country).
• Belize City is known in solo travel groups to be a high-crime area, and most travelers will recommend that you fly in and immediately get out.
• We booked a combo package with Caves Branch Jungle Lodge and Chabil Mar resort, which covered all meals, excursions, and in-country transportation.
• You can hear howler monkeys at all hours of the night, and you WILL wake up with a start on your first night.

Every flight we found from any major Mid-Atlantic airport to Belize departed at an absurdly early hour. So, we left Reagan International (in Washington DC) at about 5AM, connected quickly in Charlotte, and arrived at the Belize City Airport by 11AM local time. Neither flight lasted much longer than a full-length movie, which we both highly recommend. Once we arrived and went through customs, our Caves Branch Jungle Lodge driver picked us up and drove us the hour plus to the resort.

After we checked in, staff members gave us a tour of the grounds, parked us at the bar for a moment to get a welcome cocktail (local rum punch — no regrets!), and then led us to our little villa. Guys, the jungle suites are pretty much like living in a giant screened porch surrounded by tropical greenery. DEFINITELY no regrets!

In addition, our driver had warned us that Caves Branch dinners are a true event, but we still weren’t prepared for the three-course meal that awaited us. Everything is fresh, and as many ingredients as possible grown or harvested locally. This means that on your first night, you will almost certainly ROLL back to your room, and you won’t even mind. We could easily have done 8 days in Belize of JUST this.

Read more about our amazing stay at Caves Branch Jungle Lodge now.

Plan your trip to Belize: Day 2 — Cave tubing at Footprint Cave and a couple’s massage at Caves Branch

The entrance to Footprint Cave

Floating down the river like a goober.

Studying left-behind Mayan pottery and artifacts

Highlights:

• Breakfast #1 at the resort
• Cave tubing expedition
• Couple’s massage

Things to note:

• Footprint Cave and similar cave tubing expeditions are a less-intense way to explore the Mayan underworld (as compared to choices like Actun Tunichil Muknal, or the ATM Cave).
• Make sure you bring a GoPro
• or a waterproof phone with a way to hold on to it (don’t lose your phone in the cave!)
• You will find yourself completely spoiled after you have a massage in a private bungalow that’s open to a river view, surrounded only by birdsong and cicadas.

We initially wanted to do an ATM cave trip, but decided as we got closer to our vacation that we truly did want a vacation, not anything crazy intense. So, we booked a cave tubing tour, instead, and loved every second of it. Our tiny group drove through acres of orange groves in a beat up bus to get to the entry point for the river. We tubed through crystal clear water, right up to the mouth of Footprint Cave. It gets its name from the Mayan footprints calcified into the floor at the back of the cave. Though those footprints aren’t on display for visitors, you’ll get to see ceremonial tools, statues, art and pottery, evidence of fire, and some of the most beautiful rock formations you can imagine. Read more about our experience cave tubing Belize.

Once we returned to the resort, we showered and headed over to a private gazebo-slash-bungalow for a couples massage. The bungalow is closed off to the walking path by heavy curtains, but has a lovely, open view of the river below. Typically, the masseurs will play soothing music, but on this particular day, their speaker was on the fritz. This was fine with us, since the multitude of birds and singing insects got to be our soundtrack. We slept SO WELL that night.

Plan your trip to Belize: Day 3 — Full-day trip from Belize to Tikal

Posing with Temple IV — which we were about to climb!

That iconic Temple of the Great Jaguar plaza shot

Ruins and flowers — no better combo!

Highlights:

• Tikal!
• Sleep, man. Just sleep.

Things to note:

• Bring about $20 USD if you intend to leave Belize at all during your stay, as they do have an exit tax.
• The drive/trip to Tikal isn’t easy or short, but it’s completely worth it.
• Bring a little extra cash to buy water and snacks once you get to Tikal. You’ll walk a fair bit and will likely get peckish.
• Yes, when you plan a trip to Belize, you may also be planning a trip to Guatemala. You just don’t know! :P

Let’s just start with a truth: Belize is chock-full of Mayan sites to explore. Another truth is that we had no idea when we might have the opportunity to come back, so we wanted to make whatever ancient site we visited a spectacular one. And that can only mean Tikal. Our driver escorted us a few hours to the Guatemala-Belize border, and a Guatemalan tour company took over, shepherded us through customs, and got us underway to Tikal on the other side.

Another few hours of driving, and we arrived at the national park. We hiked through several acres of wilderness and temple and building sites, all the time getting a continuing lesson in Mayan and Guatemalan history. We saw tons of wildlife, and got to hike up and around some of the largest known structures in the ancient Central American world. Absolutely unforgettable and, even though it took up one of our 8 days in Belize, this is a trip we passionately recommend. Read more about our adventure to Tikal in Guatemala!

Plan your trip to Belize: Day 4 — Bird watching at Caves Branch, a short hike, and arriving at Chabil Mar Villas

On the hunt!

Keel-billed toucan in the trees

Chabil Mar Villas

Highlights:

• Cayo District bird watching tour
• Riverbed hike
• Depart Caves Branch, arrive at Chabil Mar

Things to note:

• Yoga pants do NOT stop thirsty Belizean mosquitos, y’all.
• Bird watching, even for the more intense adventurer, can be absolutely thrilling because it forces you to see things in a completely new way. Plus, tropical birds are stunningly beautiful!

Neither of us loves an early morning, and we love it even less when we don’t feel certain that the missed sleep is worth it. For this, it definitely is. We got up at 6am to meet our guide at the Caves Branch main lodge. He quietly took us all around their nature preserve, toting a giant scope so he could help us spot some of the colorful birds typical to the area. He could recognize many of them even just by silhouette, which seems pretty much like wizardry to both of us! Read more about birding in Belize at Caves Branch here.

After we wrapped up, we got breakfast — oh, how we miss that fresh-squeezed orange juice! — got packed, and headed to the beach.

We arrived at Chabil Mar right in the middle of a squall that had us both really worried about safety, but it let up shortly after we got in, and we were able to get settled in our villa without issue. While Caves Branch had a rugged, family feel, Chabil Mar makes every effort at luxury and ease. It’s a heck of a contrast, and means you should definitely do your beach time second.

Plan your trip to Belize: Day 5 — Full-day Gladden Spit whale shark excursion

What we were praying to see… (courtesy of Seahorse Dive Shop)

The boat, never too far away. Thankfully.

Highlights:

• Speedy gourmet breakfast
• Whale shark excursion to Gladden Spit Marine Reserve with Seahorse Dive Shop
• Exhaustedly ordering room service when we return

Things to know:

• Plan a trip to Belize while snapper are spawning to have the best luck with these guys. But know you’re not guaranteed a whale sighting, as a snorkeler or a scuba diver, even if they’ve had sightings every day for the last week. Ask us know we know -_-
• If the weather has been dicey in the previous day or so, definitely look at the sailing forecast for the day you’re thinking of going out. Sitting in a dive boat for 6–8 foot swells or more will make you regret all your decisions.
• Related to the above, BRING DRAMAMINE — even if you don’t think you’re prone to motion sickness.
• Also, bring a rash guard or other sunproof cover up, and remember to wear it on the boat — and, ideally, in the water. That long in the sun will definitely give your skin a run for its money.

We’ve written a really detailed post about our whale shark experience in Belize. That said, the TL;DR is that open water snorkeling is no joke. Get ready to work for your sighting if the previous few days’ weather has been less than ideal, and don’t assume you have an iron stomach if you’ve never sat in a rollicking dive boat before. The payoff for this trip CAN be absolutely out of this world cool, but again — no guarantees. But as Malcolm Gladwell always says, sometimes you’ve just gotta pull the goalie :)

Plan your trip to Belize: Day 6 — Exploring Placencia village and amazing Belizean cuisine

Amazing Tutti Frutti gelato!

Rumfish y Vino menu sign

Placencia village main street view

Highlights:

• Explore Placencia Village
• Lunch at Chachis and Tutti Frutti
• Dinner at Rumfish y Vino in the village

Things to know:

• Order lionfish, snapper, and just about any other fresh seafood you can get your hands on. It’s FRESH fresh, and absolutely spoils you for the caliber of stuff you get if your home is landlocked.
• Follow the locals to restaurants. Their tastebuds will never steer you wrong.

Excursions are wonderful, but often, nothing beats walking around and getting to know a place from a more local perspective. Placencia is a tiny village with serious island vibes and very little to do EXCEPT eat amazing food. We took one of Chabil Mar’s golf carts and buzzed around the main drag a bit to enjoy the colorful buildings and chill vibe. We stopped at Chachis, pizza place that had me absolutely dreaming of pizza for the following week. We also made a point of stopping at Tutti Frutti gelateria, even though it seems weird to have an Italian confection be a famous offering in a Central American beach town. Y’all, your tastebuds will thank you hardcore. Super fresh ingredients mean you’ll have some of the most flavorful gelato you can imagine. I would literally plan a trip to Belize just for this — and 8 days in Belize isn’t enough!

Finally, we came back out in the evening to take advantage of Chabil Mar’s village dining credit. We took the recommendation of a couple of locals and tried out Rumfish y Vino. It’s not cheap eats by any stretch, but their cuisine is stunning. From the fried and seasoned plantain chips to the lionfish to the coconut curry red snapper — you’ll feel as grateful as we did for a golf cart to get back to the villa!!

Plan your trip to Belize: Day 7 — Reef snorkeling near Silk Cayes and a romantic dinner on the Chabil Mar pier

Beautiful, even on a cloudy day in the rainy season

Smiling in a snorkel mask — did he choke a second later?!

New friends, amazing tour!

Highlights:

• Full-day reef snorkeling trip to Silk Cayes with Splash Dive Shop
• Stop at Hatchet Caye resort
• Dinner on the Chabil Mar pier

Things to know:

• Swimming with nurse sharks and loggerhead turtles is absolutely unbeatable and is a stop included with most Silk Caye snorkel trips.
• Hatchet Caye is definitely worth looking into for a stay if you’re not trying to see a ton of Belize during that portion of your trip. Their facilities look stunning, and their views are unbeatable.

Snorkeling easily ranks as one of our favorite things to do. And even though this particular trip wasn’t 100% perfect (thanks to sediment stirred up by all the chop in the water), fact of the matter is, we still got to swim with nurse sharks and loggerhead turtles and see beautiful wildlife, and we still got to have super unique Silk Caye all to ourselves. Plus, our guides absolutely made the trip. Ruth wasn’t just an awesome snorkel guide, she also educated us about her culture (Mestizo culture) and spent time getting to know us, as well. We truly couldn’t have asked for a better trip snorkeling in Belize.

On the way back to the mainland, we stopped for a cocktail or two at Hatchet Caye (no, our guides didn’t join us for anything more than an ice cold Coke, since they ARE professionals! :) ) and to enjoy their lovely views. We’ll certainly be exploring our options of staying there next time we visit!

Finally, once we returned back to Placencia, we freshened up and walked around the resort a bit. Then we enjoyed a beautiful, romantic, and breezy dinner on the Chabil Mar pier. Eating with unlimited ocean views really is something! When you plan a trip to Belize, this one’s a must-do.

Plan your trip to Belize: Day 8 — Flying out of Placencia and heading home

Boarding our Cesna on the tarmac

Placencia airport

Placencia airport boarding pass — which you then return to the staff!

Highlights:

• Early breakfast and packing
• Flight out from tiny Placencia airport
• Home!

Things to know:

• If you don’t enjoy Cesnas, you won’t enjoy the flight from Placencia airport to Belize City.
• The exit tax also applies to flights out of the country, but most airlines will include that in the cost of your ticket (it’s why your estimated cost of ticket will jump up when you go to check out from your airline of choice).
• Again, make sure you have a pen. Hunting one down in the airport is… a gigantic pain in the ass, honestly.
• BZE is tiny, but it can get SO CROWDED. If you don’t like being around tons of people, make sure you prepare yourself for the possibility of waiting in a sea of humanity.

We travel a fair bit and rarely love the idea of coming home, but this trip gave us much stronger than usual heartache about leaving.

Still, we got up early for a final tasty breakfast, got all packed and loaded up, and headed to the single-strip Placencia airport for our flight back to Belize City. Our pilot gave us a perfectly safe trip, but for those not accustomed to flying in tiny, tiny planes… ehhhhhhh. Just hang on to your stomach :)

Once we got through customs and security at BZE, we had a fair while to wait for our flight, so we waded through the crowded gift shops and searched our some airport food. Hey, you do what you have to, right? And then, just like a really good dream that ends too soon, our time in Belize came to a close.

Did you plan a trip to Belize? What was your favorite part of your time in this gorgeous country? Share below in the comments!

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Originally published at Two Restless Homebodies.