Travel in Belize

Some people say that Madonna’s 1980s hit, “La Isla Bonita,” was based on Ambergris Caye, a gorgeous strip of island along Belize’s sunny Caribbean coast. Whether true or not, the caye is a fantastic vacation destination for anyone looking for white sand beaches—or water adventures along the world’s second longest coral reef system. The newest resort here, which just celebrated its grand opening, is the Margaritaville Beach Resort Ambergris Caye, Belize.

With its highlands draped in sub-tropical rainforest and its Caribbean coastline cradling the world's second largest barrier reef, Belize is a cornucopia of natural beauty. It’s also at the heart of the ancient Maya kingdom, one of the most influential and established Indigenous societies of Mesoamerica, reaching its peak in 250 to 900 A.D. 

This Saturday, Oct. 14, a “ring of fire” annular eclipse will dim the skies above a narrow ribbon of the Americas, from the western U.S. intoMexico and Central andSouth America, and this event is worth traveling for. Saturday’s spectacle — one of the country’s most hyped astronomical events of 2023 — will be the last annular eclipse to create a ring-of-fire effect above the contiguous U.S. until 2046.

It’s not often that traveling off-grid for a vacation actually accomplishes lasting relaxation. For any sense of real remoteness, I’ve long come to terms with the fact that you usually need to sacrifice some luxury: Hiking through silent desert valleys, camping in elephant-adjacent safari tents, and sleeping in jungle-nestled tree houses lit only by candlelight all come to mind as the kinds of places I’ve savored the off-grid experience, but felt there was a mandatory “roughing it” subtext. Often, you have to choose between remoteness and relaxation—but every once in a while you find the rare place that serves you both on a silver platter; that happened for me for the first time recently over a stay at Ambergris Cay, a completely private island located in the southwest Atlantic off the main chain of Turks and Caicos.

Belize Tourism Board is proud to announce it is the official host destination for the inaugural 2024 World Travel Sustainability Awards (WTSA), the new World Travel Awards programme to help drive Net Positive Hospitality in Travel and Tourism. Belize will provide the perfect backdrop to the awards as a destination that holds responsible tourism at the core of its value systems, developing projects that encourage travellers to engage with the country’s rainforests, reefs, and unique culture in a truly sustainable and responsible manner. The World Travel Sustainability Awards will be launched in Dubai at COP28 and feature more than 40 new categories. Belize and the WTA are developing a powerful network of trusted, authoritative partners, that will guide the awards programme on best practices, standards, criteria, and the actual award category list.

Heritage tourism experts grappled with complex issues of presenting culture and heritage to tourists at an international gathering of culture tourism experts 24-25 September in Valencia, Spain. Just over 100 delegates from 17 countries debated the latest issues, trends and opportunities affecting the sector, which accounts for 40% of all tourism activity, according to the UNWTO.

(MIAMI, Fl)—Is it a cruise? A rave? A music festival? It’s...all of the above. Renowned DJ and promoter Gary Richards, akaDestructo, is launching a bold start to 2024 with a five-day maritime music festival he’s calling FriendShip 2024. The main anchor? An exclusive island performance in Belize by Skrillex.

At the Sustainable Social Tourism Summit (León, 30 August – 2 September), UNWTO welcomed new high-level signatories to the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. The Secretariats of State for Tourism of Ciudad de Mexico, Queretaro, Guerrero, Quintana Roo, Nuevo Leon, all signed up to the landmark declaration, designed to guide tourism to Net-Zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. They join the Secretariat of State of Tourism of Guanajuato which signed up at the COP27 United Nations climate change conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The Secretary of State of Tourism of Guanajuato, Mr. Juan José Álvarez Brunel, heads the Sustainability Coordination of the National Association of Secretaries of tourism of Mexico A.C. (ASETUR) and led the discussion of climate action in tourism at sub-national level since becoming a signatory.

I've been globe-trotting full time since 2015 as a travel journalist and often find myself using various modes of transportation, including planes, trains, and automobiles. During my first few years on the road, this was never an issue. It wasn't until 2018 that I started to experience claustrophobia — a terrible anxiety for a travel journalist.

Every traveler worth their salt knows that Egypt is not the only country in the world to have pyramids, there are plenty of them in Sudan, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico, among other locations. In fact, the largest pyramid in the world, The Great Pyramid of Cholula, also known as Tlachihualtépetl, is in Mexico, just 80 miles southeast of Mexico City. And it’s not even the closest pyramid to the capital: The Archeological Site of Teotihuacán, just 27 miles northeast of the city is home to three of them. Actually, Mexico City itself has a few.

On the same day I was set to depart, I received an email telling me where in the world I’d be going. This was exactly what I’d been hoping for. The less I knew, the better.

Located on Central America’s northeastern coast, Belize has a distinctly Caribbean feel which sets it apart from its neighbours, Guatemala and Mexico. A visit here reveals an astonishing diversity of attractions and experiences, including hiking through jungles to enigmatic Maya sites and visiting national parks teeming with wildlife. Here are five incredible places not to miss.

The secret is out about Belize, although seasoned globetrotters added the country’s vast mountain range and deep-sea wonders to their bucket lists years ago. And as easy as it is to fly to the Central American country – most major U.S. cities are two to three hours away – it’s just as quick to obtain a visa to enter. In fact, you may not even need one. 

Southwest Airlines is already preparing for spring break next year with new flights to Belize, Los Cabos, and San Juan.

An Australian sailor and his beloved dog, Bella, were recently reunited after surviving two months stranded in the Pacific Ocean.  

Summer brings new perks and amenities to many top hotels and brands around the world. Dozens of new hotels and resorts are opening for the first time this season, but others are adding new features and renovations that repeat guests will be eager to see. From do-it-yourself goodies to eco-friendly changes, here is some of the latest news from the hospitality industry and properties around the world.

We scoured the globe in search of destinations offering that dazzling combo of great value and serious vacation appeal in 2017.

In an overhaul of its travel advisory system, the U.S. Department of State recently assigned every country in the world a travel safety rating. The safest places are ranked Level 1, while the places that Americans are advised to avoid are considered Level 4:

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If you want to stay at the best hotel in the United States, head to the French Quarter Inn in Charleston, South Carolina. And if you’re looking for the best bargain hotel stay in the world, it’s in a small town in northern Spain. That’s according to TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Awards, which just shared the best hotel ratings for multiple categories heading into 2019.

Getting from the West Coast to the Caribbean and Central America hasn’t historically been easy—there simply aren’t many nonstop flights, which makes for long travel days. But new offerings from Alaska Airlines could change that.