Belize holidays

Belize is Central America's smallest country and its only English-speaking one — a country of 400,000 people that punches massively above its weight for diving, Mayan ruins, jungle and beach. The headline experiences: the Great Blue Hole (the 300m-wide, 124m-deep submarine sinkhole, made famous by Jacques Cousteau, accessed from Ambergris Caye or San Pedro); the Belize Barrier Reef (the second-largest in the world after Australia's, UNESCO); the Caye Caulker laid-back-island lifestyle ("go slow" is the island motto); the Mayan ruins at Caracol, Xunantunich, Lamanai, Altun Ha (less-visited than Mexico's but architecturally extraordinary); the jungle interior at the Cayo District (cave-tubing at Crystal Cave, the Mountain Pine Ridge waterfalls); and the Garifuna culture along the Hopkins/Dangriga southern coast.

A 10-14 day Belize trip: Belize City arrival (quick transit — most travellers skip overnight here) → fly to Ambergris Caye / San Pedro (4 nights for diving including the Blue Hole day-trip and the Hol Chan Marine Reserve snorkelling) → ferry or fly back to mainland → drive to San Ignacio in the Cayo District (3-4 nights for Mayan ruins at Xunantunich and Caracol, the ATM cave tour, river kayaking, the Mountain Pine Ridge falls and the Big Rock waterfall) → optional southern coast at Hopkins or Placencia (3 nights for Garifuna drumming, jaguar reserve at Cockscomb, the Belize Spice Farm). The country is small — most journeys are 1-3 hours.