Plan a trip

The Southern Coast, Slowly

Hopkins, then Placencia (Gladden Spit in season), Cockscomb, Toledo and Punta Gorda, and the Sapodilla Cayes.

An open-sided beach bar with a white roof among coconut palms, tables and stools on the sand, and a lounger in the foreground.
A man in a red kayak paddling along a narrow channel through a tunnel of mangrove roots and branches.

Overview

For a second trip, or a first one with time. This route stays south, where Belize is wetter, greener and quieter, and moves at the speed of the coast: Garifuna Hopkins, the peninsula at Placencia, the jaguar reserve, and the far south of Toledo, finishing on the most remote cayes on the reef.

Time it for April or May and the Placencia leg can include the whale sharks at Gladden Spit.

The route, stop by stop

01 · Hopkins & Dangriga · 3 nights

Drums, hudut, and the mangrove creeks.
Flight to Dangriga, about 20 minutesCheck before you travel

02 · Cockscomb Basin · 1 to 2 nights

The jaguar reserve's trails at dawn, and the waterfall.
Road, about 30 minutesCheck before you travel

03 · Placencia · 4 nights

Sailing, Laughing Bird Caye, and Gladden Spit in season.
Road, about 45 minutes to 1 hourCheck before you travel

04 · Toledo & Punta Gorda · 3 nights

Cacao farms, rivers and a long boat day to the Sapodilla Cayes.
Road or short flightCheck before you travel

How the nights split

  • Reef: 3 nights
  • River: 2 nights
  • Coast: 7 nights
  • Best months: February, March, April, MayCheck before you travel

Good for

  • Second trips
  • Couples with time
  • Families who like a slower pace

Worth knowing

Fly home from Punta Gorda via BZE.

Expect afternoon rain in the south even in the dry season.

Other routes

Each one is a starting point, not a package.

All routes
10 to 11 nights

River to Reef

A river lodge in Cayo, down the Hummingbird Highway to Garifuna Hopkins, then out to South Water Caye or Glover's Reef.

  • Cayo → Hopkins & Dangriga → Glover's & South Water
  • Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Nov, DecCheck before you travel
  • Works with children
A still, green river between banks of dense forest, seen past the railings of a bridge.
8 to 9 nights

Three Atolls

Ambergris, then Turneffe, then Lighthouse Reef by private boat or atoll lodges, and a short flight back.

  • Ambergris Caye → Turneffe Atoll → Lighthouse Reef
  • Best: Mar, Apr, May, JunCheck before you travel
  • Best for adults and older teens
An aerial view of white surf breaking in lines over a reef, with green-blue water behind it.