Belize Travel Guide

Turtle Inn - Francis Ford Coppola’s beach resort in Belize

The Turtle Inn might be the most famous resort in all of Belize simply because it’s not only owned by, but it’s partially designed by Francis Ford Coppola, who’s best known as the director of the Godfather trilogy. And speaking of trilogies, Coppola also owns two other posh resorts in the region. His first resort was the Blancaneaux, which is located deep in the Belize jungle, and the famous auteur also owns the La Lancha Resort, which is not far from Tikal in Guatemala.

Location

The Turtle Inn is located about 2 miles from Placencia Village way out on the Placencia Peninsula, but it’s meant to be a self-contained paradise so its remoteness is one of its features rather than being a liability. In general, the beaches of Belize are not nearly as nice as many might expect before they arrive, but unsurprisingly the Turtle Inn is situated on one of the finest beaches in the entire country.

Random Belize Photo of the Moment - Modest home on stilts

Here’s yet another one of our Belize pictures. I think this is on Caye Caulker, but it’s possible that it’s on Ambergris Caye to be honest with you. The islands do look quite alike from angles like this. This is a typical modest home of a local, and something you won’t often see advertised when searching for Belize real estate that is meant for expats. Most locals do live in homes like this, and stilts are pretty much mandatory for any place that doesn’t want their bottom floor flooded every few years. …

Belize videos that will help you get a sense of the place

If you’ve yet to come to Belize for the first time, this whole country probably sounds rather mysterious. It’s an odd combination of Caribbean influences that are quite unlike most of the rest of Central America and Mexico, with a pace of life that is so relaxed at times that it can make a wheat field seem like Times Square by comparison.

So here are 5 videos that can help you get to know the country a bit better before you come:

San Pedro golf cart tour

With the exception of what looks like a potentially horrifying crash with a young bicyclist about 2:20 in, this random golf cart tour through the heart of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye is a bit dull. It actually makes San Pedro seem worse than it is, and the loud cart noise doesn’t help, but it’s still interesting to see the lay of the land in the commercial heart of the city.

Random Belize Photo of the Moment - Red river in Ambergris

Here’s a photo we took in 2007, which is in our Ambergris Caye photos section of our Belize pictures area. No need to adjust your monitor, that is a red river and we aren’t sure why. If this was in Belize City with its astonishingly high murder rate you might wonder if this is a river of blood, but on peaceful Ambergris Caye that doesn’t seem likely. This is about a mile north of the Split on the island, and if you know why this is red, please leave a comment because we’d like to know. …

August in Belize

August is one of the least popular months to visit Belize, so those who dare are rewarded with cheap hotel prices, limited crowds, and wonderful solitude (for the most part). This is the first month on the calendar that visitors have to keep an eye on storm systems in the Caribbean before they arrive. More of this is covered in the summer in Belize section, but put simply, instead of having a zero percent chance of being in the path of a slow moving hurricane, visitors to Belize in August and September have a very tiny chance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

August events in Belize

San Pedro’s International Costa Maya Festival – early August in Ambergris Caye – This used to be called the Sea & Air Festival for some reason, but now the Costa Maya Festival is the absolute highlight of the San Pedro entertainment calendar. There are parades, dancing, bands, contests, and international food, which are all featured at this 4-day blowout. Since this is the off-season for tourists you can expect a mostly local crowd, which should add to its authenticity. The 2008 dates are August 7 – 10. More information is available on the official Costa Maya Festival site.

Deer Dance Festival – late August in San Antonio – This festival runs for 9 days starting in late August in the southern Belize city of San Antonio, which is just a bit inland from Punta Gorda. It’s a Maya religious celebration where the highlight is a simulated deer hunt featuring costumed characters that reenact the hunted while the hunters symbolically pursue. The 2008 dates are hard to confirm at this point, but it’s always late in the month and sometimes stretches into September.