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Welcome to The Southern Coast

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By Lan Sluder

As always in Belize, the transition from one landscape to another is swift and startling. As you approach the Hummingbird Highway’s end in coastal Dangriga, the lush, mountainous terrain of the north gives way to flat plains bristling with orange trees. Farther south, the Stann Creek Valley is where bananas, the nation’s first bumper crop, and most other fruits are grown. Equally noticeable is the cultural segue: whereas San Ignacio has a Spanish air, the Southern Coast is strongly Afro-Caribbean.

The Southern Coast isn’t so much a melting pot as a tropical stew full of different flavors. A seaside Garífuna village recalls Senegal, while just down the road a Creole village evokes the Caribbean. Inland, Maya live much as they have for thousands of years next door to Mestizos from Guatemala and Honduras who’ve come to work the banana plantations or citrus groves. Sprinkled in are expats from the northern climes, looking for a retirement home or trying to make a buck in tourism.

Tourist dollars, the staple of contemporary Belize, have largely bypassed Dangriga to land in Hopkins, and, even more tellingly, in Placencia, the region’s most striking destination. Just a decade or so ago there were only three small resorts on the peninsula north of Placencia Village. Now there are more than 20, stretching up to the village of Seine Bight, Maya Beach, and beyond. Despite the global recession, plans are in the works for new condos and hotels, although some of these developments were stalled by a shortage of financing and a scarcity of buyers. A few shut down, victims of the real-estate bust, or are rotting away in the tropical humidity. Still, owners of small beach resorts and inns are cashing in, selling out to developers, who are in turn combining several small tracts into one, hoping to put together larger residential or resort projects.

With the paving of the Placencia road now completed, with the on-again, off-again construction of a new international airport going on just north of the peninsula, and with talk of a new cruise-ship port on a caye off Placencia, or even in Placencia village, many believe that the tipping point for the Placencia peninsula has been reached and that the new wave of resorts and residential developments will be larger, more upscale, and more multinational. Local residents appear divided about the dramatic changes coming to the peninsula. Some embrace the development in hopes of a better economic future; others bitterly oppose it, citing the impact on the narrow peninsula’s fragile ecosystems. With the exception of a few shop owners and some guides, most Placencia residents appear to oppose the coming of mass cruise-ship tourism to the fragile peninsula, but powerful political and economic forces in the country appear to be ready to bring cruise ships to this part of Belize soon.

The surfacing of the Southern Highway from Dangriga all the way to Punta Gorda has made the region much more accessible. Off the main highway, however, most roads consist of red dirt and potholes. The road that once was the worst in the region, the dirt track from the Southern Highway to Placencia Village, has been transformed, thanks to a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank, into a smooth, paved, two-lane thoroughfare. The repaving of the Hopkins Road has been scheduled to begin by 2014.

Real-estate sales are a driving force in Placencia, Hopkins, and elsewhere along the coast. The lure is the beaches. The Southern Coast has the best beaches on the mainland, although as elsewhere inside the protecting Barrier Reef, the low wave action means the beaches are narrow and there’s usually sea grass in the water close to shore. (Sea grass—not seaweed, which is an algae—may be a nuisance for swimmers, but it’s a vital part of the coastal ecosystem, acting as a nursery for sea life.) Much of the seafront land has been divided into lots awaiting development; if things continue at this pace, the area will one day rival Ambergris Caye as Belize’s top beach destination. Indeed, at the Belize Tourism Board annual awards ceremonies in 2013, for the first time ever most of the national tourism honors for best hotels, restaurants, guides, and tourism staff went to the Placencia peninsula instead of San Pedro.

Top Reasons to Go to the Southern Coast

Beaches. The mainland’s best beaches are on the Placencia peninsula and around Hopkins. Although they’re narrow ribbons of khaki rather than wide swaths of talcum-powder sand, they’re ideal for lazing in a hammock under a coco palm. And you don’t have to fight the crowds for a spot—at least not yet.

Jaguars. The world’s first and only jaguar preserve is the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Chances are you won’t actually see one of these big, beautiful cats in the wild, as they roam the high bush mainly at night, but you may see tracks or hear a low growl in the darkness.

Water Sports. Anglers won’t be disappointed by the bonefish, tarpon, and other sportfishing. The Barrier Reef here is generally 15 miles (25 km) or more off the coast, so it’s a long trip out, even with the fast boats the dive shops use. However, there are patch reefs around closer islands, with excellent snorkeling. Serious divers will find two of Belize’s three atolls, Turneffe and Glover’s, within reach. In a charter sailboat you can island-hop in the protected waters inside the reef.

Getting Oriented

From the north, two roads lead from the George Price Highway (formerly Western Highway) to the Southern Coast: the Hummingbird Highway from Belmopan, and the Coastal Road from La Democracia. The Hummingbird is paved, and the most scenic drive in all of Belize. The Coastal Road is unpaved, dusty, or muddy, depending on the amount of rain. Despite the name, it does not hug the coast; in fact you never glimpse the sea from it. The loose gravel roadway is an accident waiting to happen. In short, if you’re driving, take the Hummingbird.

Off the spine of the Southern Highway, various shorter roads lead to villages on the coast and inland: from the highway it’s about 4 miles (7 km) on a partly paved road to Hopkins (the road is supposed to be surfaced soon); 25 miles (42 km) to Placencia Village, nicely paved all the way; and 5 miles (8 km) to Big Creek/Independence on a paved road.

Gales Point and Dangriga. Gales Point is a small Creole village, with a beautiful waterside setting, known for the manatees in nearby lagoons. Dangriga is the largest Garífuna settlement in Belize, and a jumping-off spot for several offshore cayes. However, neither Gales Point nor Dangriga is a tourism center.

Hopkins. The most accessible and friendliest Garífuna village in Belize, Hopkins has good beaches and a growing tourism industry. It’s similar to what Placencia was like 15 years ago.

Placencia Peninsula. This peninsula has the best beaches on the mainland. With the paving of the Placencia road, real-estate development and tourism are taking off, bringing more high-quality accommodations and dining, along with problems associated with development.

Planning

When to Go

The weather on the Southern Coast is similar to that in central and northern Belize, only a little wetter. On average, for example, the Cayo District has rain, or at least a shower, on 125 days a year, while in Stann Creek District there’s some rain on 183 days—usually thanks to late fall and winter cold fronts or summer tropical fronts passing through. These showers are generally followed by sunshine. Summer daytime temperatures along the coast reach the high 80s, occasionally the 90s. Humidity is high most of the year, typically 80% or more.

Getting Here and Around

Air Travel

You’ll arrive fresher if you fly. From Belize City (both international and municipal airports) there are frequent flights to Dangriga and Placencia on Maya Island Air and Tropic Air. There are more than 20 flights daily between Belize City and Placencia, and more than a dozen to Dangriga. You’ll generally fly in small turbine or prop aircraft, such as the 13-passenger Cessna Caravan C208. Fares to Placencia are BZ$180– BZ$197 one-way from the Belize City municipal airport, BZ$213–BZ$233 from the international airport; to Dangriga, fares are BZ$91–BZ$106 from municipal, BZ$144–BZ$160 from international.

Boat and Ferry Travel

There is a well-established water taxi, a small boat named the Hokey Pokey, between Placencia Village and Independence, a village on the west side of Placencia Lagoon. Fare is BZ$10 one-way. Currently there are seven trips each way daily, with reduced service on Sunday. Schedules for the boat are set to coincide with James Bus Line stops in Independence, so you can make connections to Punta Gorda to the south, or Dangriga, Belmopan, and Belize City to the north.

From Placencia, a weekly boat, the D’Express, runs to Puerto Cortes, Honduras, on Friday, with a stop in Big Creek across the lagoon to clear immigration and customs. It departs from the Shell Dock at Placencia village (note that the service station is no longer a Shell station, and as of this writing is closed). In Puerto Cortes, the boat arrives at the Muelle de Mariscos, next to Delfin restaurant and returns from Puerto Cortes on Monday morning. Fare is BZ$120 one-way. Get information from the Placencia Tourism Center in Placencia village.

Happy Go Luckie Tours in Hopkins has a water taxi service from Hopkins to Dangriga (BZ$50), Tobacco Caye (BZ$50), Placencia (BZ$100) and a few other destinations. Prices are based on a minimum of three persons. There is no fixed schedule; passengers must book trips in advance.

Bus Travel

In the south, James Bus Line runs from Belize City via Belmopan to Dangriga and Independence and then Punta Gorda. Schedules are subject to change, but James Bus Line has about 10 buses daily. Ritchie’s Bus Line also has three to four buses daily each way between Dangriga and Placencia, with reduced service on Sunday. Fares from Belize City are around BZ$15 to Dangriga (BZ$10 between Dangriga and Placencia). With connections, the trip from Belize City to Dangriga and Hopkins is three to five hours; Placencia is around five to six hours or more, depending on the number of stops and connections. Buses are usually old U.S. school buses or ancient Greyhound buses, are often crowded, and don’t have air-conditioning or restrooms. The James Bus Line buses generally are in the best condition.

Car Travel

To get to Placencia, head southeast from Belmopan on the Hummingbird Highway. The highway is one of Belize’s better roads, as well as its most scenic. On your right rise the jungle-covered Maya Mountains, largely free of signs of human habitation except for the occasional field of corn or beans. As you approach Dangriga you’ll see large citrus groves.

Several small local outfits, including Barefoot Services, rent cars in Placencia. Some also rent golf carts, which can be driven on the roads. Budget, based in Belize City, has a branch in Placencia. Car rental rates in Placencia start at around BZ$160 per day, plus tax.

Taxi Travel

If you need a ride to the airport in Dangriga, have your hotel call a taxi. The fare from downtown Dangriga to the airstrip at the town’s north end is about BZ$6–BZ$8. From Dangriga to Hopkins the fare is around BZ$100–BZ$120. Taxis are expensive in Placencia, given the relatively short distances involved and the fact that the road is now paved. Fares within Placencia village are BZ$6 for one or two persons and BZ$6 each for three or more. From the village to the airstrip the fare is BZ$12 for one or two persons, and BZ$6 each for three or more. It’s BZ$22 for one or two persons between Placencia village and Seine Bight, and BZ$8 each for three or more. Between Placencia village and the north end of the peninsula, where The Placencia condotel is, it’s BZ$50 one-way for one to three persons and BZ$15 per person for four or more, and BZ$40 one-way between Placencia village and Maya Beach for one to three persons and BZ$15 per person for four or more. Your hotel can arrange a taxi for you, or call Radiance Ritchie.

Contacts
Radiance Ritchie. | Placencia Rd., | Placencia | 523/3321.

Emergencies

Placencia has a small medical clinic with a physician and nurse. Seine Bight, Hopkins, and Independence also have medical clinics. For more serious medical attention you should go to the Southern Regional Hospital in Dangriga or one of the hospitals in Belize City. The Belize Emergency Response Team, based in Belize City, provides ambulance and air transport all over the country. Wallen’s Market has a small pharmacy. Dial 911 in case of emergency.

Money Matters

There are three banks in Placencia. Atlantic Bank has an office on the road just north of Placencia Village, as well as a second ATM in Placencia Village, and ScotiaBank is also in the village. Belize Bank has an office at Placencia Point. All three banks have ATMs that accept foreign-issued cards.

Belize Bank in Dangriga accepts foreign-issued ATM cards. First Caribbean International Bank in Dangriga has an ATM that accepts foreign cards. Belize Bank now has an ATM in Hopkins, but not a full-service branch.

About the Restaurants

Broiled, grilled, fried, sautéed, cooked in lime juice as ceviche, or barbecued on the beach: any way you eat it, seafood is the life-stuff on the Southern Coast. Restaurants serve fish, lobster, conch, and shrimp, often fresh from the boat, or, in the case of shrimp, straight from the shrimp farms near Placencia.

Expect mostly small, locally owned restaurants; some breezy beachside joints with sand floors, others wood shacks. Placencia has by far the largest number of eateries, with Hopkins a distant second. Chef Rob’s is Hopkins’ best restaurant. Some of the upscale restaurants are in resorts, such as Inn at Robert’s Grove and Turtle Inn. The Bistro at Maya Beach Hotel is one of the country’s best restaurants. And it’s worth making a trip to Placencia just to sample the incredible gelato at Tutti-Frutti.

Off-season, especially in late summer and early fall, restaurants in Placencia and Hopkins may close for a few weeks, and on any day the owners may decide to close early if there are no customers, so call ahead. It’s also a good idea to make reservations so the cooks will have enough food on hand.

About the Hotels

There are two kinds of lodging to choose from on the Southern Coast: small, basic hotels, often Belizean-owned, and upscale beach resorts, usually owned and operated by Americans or Canadians. The small hotels are clustered in Placencia Village, Hopkins village, and in Dangriga town. The beach resorts are on the Placencia peninsula north of Placencia Village and also near Hopkins. Several of these resorts, including Hamanasi in Hopkins, are among the best hotels in Belize. There also are some vacation rental houses near Hopkins and on the Placencia peninsula.

At least a dozen condo developments have opened, are under construction, or are in the planning stages on Placencia peninsula and near Hopkins. Only time will tell whether all these plans will fully materialize (one large condo development, Bella Maya, on the Placencia peninsula, closed, but in mid-2013 reopened under different management) or whether supply will outstrip demand, but it’s clear that this area has reached the point where, sooner or later, development by large international companies is inevitable.

Hotel and Restaurant Prices

Prices in the restaurant reviews are the average cost of a main course at dinner or, if dinner is not served, at lunch; taxes and service charges are generally included. Prices in the hotel reviews are the lowest cost of a standard double room in high season, excluding taxes, service charges, and meal plans (except at all-inclusives). Prices for rentals are the lowest per-night cost for a one-bedroom unit in high season.

Tours

Altogether, Placencia has about 80 licensed tour guides. Most of the guides, except the fishing guides, work on a contract basis for resorts or tour operators. These tour guides and operators offer dive and snorkel trips to Laughing Bird or other cayes and to the Barrier Reef, wildlife tours to Monkey River, birding tours to Red Bank, hiking trips to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, excursions to Mayan ruins, and other tours.

The larger resorts on the peninsula, including Inn at Robert’s Grove, Chabil Mar, Turtle Inn, and others, offer a variety of tours and trips, using tour guides they have come to trust.

To book tours and trips, check with your hotel or walk along the sidewalk in Placencia Village, where several of the tour operators have small shops. Also check with the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA) visitor information office, which publishes a monthly tabloid and online newspaper, Placencia Breeze. The BTIA’s friendly staff can advise you on tours. You’ll probably pay a little less by booking in the village instead of at your hotel, but the savings may not be worth the effort.

Adventure Tours and Multisport

Toadal Adventures Belize.
Dave Vernon’s Toadal Adventure provides top-notch multiday sea and river expedition kayak trips in southern Belize. Toadal Adventures can customize trips to your specific schedule and interests. Dave and Deb Vernon also operate a budget guesthouse, Deb & Dave’s Last Resort, and a more upscale lodging, The North, in Placencia village. | Point Placencia, near sidewalk | Placencia | 523/3207 | www.placencia.com/Members/Toadaladventure.html.

Boating, Sailing, and Water Sports

Five- or six-hour snorkeling trips inside the reef, to Laughing Bird Caye and other snorkel spots, are around BZ$125–BZ$150, while a full-day snorkel trip might run BZ$140–BZ$160. Half-day boat trips to Monkey River are around BZ$120, while a boat excursion on the Placencia Lagoon to look for manatees is around BZ$80–BZ$100. Full-day Cockscomb day trips run about BZ$150–BZ$170. Most full-day trips include a picnic lunch. If you’re going to an area with an admission fee, such as Cockscomb, often the fee is additional.

Belize Sailing Charters.
Belize Sailing Charters has day sails on catamarans from Placencia. Several boats, including El Gato and Winnie Estelle, do day trips out of San Pedro. Sailboat owners tend to be free spirits who may pick up and sail to another port at the drop of a yachting cap, so check locally to see what boats are still sailing.

About once a month, Belize Sailing Charters offers a nine-night private catamaran sail from Placencia to the Rio Dulce in Guatemala, with a visit by land to Tikal, for around BZ$20,000 for two persons. | Main St., Point Peninsula | Placencia | 523/3138, 505/717–7301 U.S. number | www.belizesailingcharters.com.

Joy Tours.
Joy Tours offers a wide range of land and sea tours. Sea tours include whale shark trips, fishing, diving, kayaking, and snorkeling. Land tours include hiking in Cockscomb and other destinations near Placencia. | Placencia | 253/3325 | www.belizewithjoy.com.

Splash Dive Center.
Splash Dive Center offers dive and snorkel trips, including late spring and early summer whale shark trips. It won the 2013 Belize Tourism Award for “Best Tour Operator.” | Splash Dive Center | Placencia | 523/3058 | www.splashbelize.com.

Sunsail.
Clearwater, Florida–based international charter company Sunsail offers sail charters from Placencia, operating out of the same marina as TUI Travel sister company The Moorings at Laru Beya Resort. Weeklong Sunsail bareboat charters are around BZ$6,000 to $14,000, depending on number of sailors, size of boat, and time of year. | Laru Beya Marina | Placencia | 877/651–5610 In the U.S. and Canada, 523/4057 | www.sunsail.com.

Mayan Ruins

Day trips to Nim Li Punit and Lubaantun Mayan sites near Punta Gorda cost around BZ$160–BZ$190 per person, while day trips to the Mayflower ruins and waterfalls run about BZ$120.

Destinations Belize.
Owner Mary Toy, a former attorney in the U.S., has been offering tours in the Placencia area since 1998. Destinations Belize is especially strong in arranging guided fishing trips, but it also offers land and sea tours of all kinds. In addition, Mary Toy can help with overall Belize trip planning, including booking hotels and transportation. Toy has been a leader of the Peninsula Citizens for Sustainable Development, an organization dedicated to responsible and well-planned development in the Placencia area. | Placencia | 253/4018, 610/4718 | www.destinationsbelize.com.

Visitor Information

The Placencia office of the Belize Tourism Industry Association is now in a new location behind Re/Max Real Estate on the Main St. The BTIA publishes the Placencia Breeze, an informative monthly newspaper, and has a very helpful website listing all accommodations, restaurants, and bars, www.placencia.com. Another helpful site on Placencia is put together by local resident Mary Toy, www.destinationsbelize.com. Hopkins has several interesting websites put together by local residents, including www.hopkinsbelize.com and www.cometohopkins.com.

A Great Itinerary

If You Have 3 Days on the Southern Coast

Base yourself in Placencia. On your first full day, walk the Sidewalk in Placencia Village, hear the latest gossip, and get to know a little of village life. Hang out on the beach at your hotel and get on Belize time, then have drinks and dinner in the village, perhaps at Rumfish y Vino, Secret Garden, or La Dolce Vita. If you still have energy, have some Belikins at the Barefoot Bar or Tipsy Tuna. On your second day, take a snorkel trip to Laughing Bird Caye or another snorkel area, or, if you dive, do a full-day dive trip to Turneffe or Glover’s atoll. On your final day, drive or take a guided tour to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Be sure to stop at the Maya Centre craft cooperative for gift shopping. If there’s time, also visit the Mayflower/Bocawina National Park, with its Mayan sites and waterfalls. End the day with dinner at the Bistro at Maya Beach Hotel.

Information
Belize Tourism Industry Association. The Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA) office, also known as the Placencia Tourism Center, in Placencia village offers friendly and helpful information about lodging, tours, transportation, restaurants and other visitor information. In 2013, the office moved to a new location behind Re/Max Property Center on Main Street. The BTIA publishes the informative monthly tabloid newspaper, Placencia Breeze, which is also available online on the Placencia BTIA’s website. | Main St., Behind Re/Max Property Center, | Placencia | 523/4045 | www.placencia.com.

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