Frommer's Favorite Experiences

Spending the Night in a Mayan Ceremonial City: An intimate and rather luxurious nature lodge, Chan Chich Lodge is built right on the site of a minor Mayan ceremonial city. The hills just outside your private cabin are unexcavated residences and pyramids. Ruins and basic excavations dot the grounds, and the surrounding rainforests are rich in bird and animal life.

Exploring the Cayes & Barrier Reef: Running the entire length of the country's coastline, the Belize Barrier Reef is the second longest continuous barrier reef in the world. Here you will find some of the best snorkeling opportunities and scuba-diving sites in the world. Moreover, the barrier reef is lined with hundreds and hundreds of small islands, or cayes. Most are uninhabited.

Drinking a Cool Seaweed Shake: Made from dried natural seaweed, blended with both condensed and evaporated milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and some ice, this drink is surprisingly refreshing and tasty. You can get these drinks at several beach destinations around Belize, but Placencia seems to be the home of the seaweed shake.

Diving at Turneffe Island & Lighthouse Reef Atolls: For many divers coming to Belize, these spots are the Holy Grail, and justifiably so. Both of these mid-ocean atoll formations feature nearly endless opportunities for world-class wall, drift, and coral garden diving. As a cherry to top this cake, this is also where you'll find the Blue Hole.

Chartering a Sailboat for Some Isolated Island Explorations: The protected waters, steady gentle trade winds, and hundreds of isolated islands and anchorages make Belize an ideal place for bareboat charters. Given the shallow draft, increased interior space, and reduced drag, a multihull is your best bet.

Staying with a Mayan or Garífuna Family: It certainly isn't going to be like a night at the Four Seasons, but if you're looking for a real cultural exchange experience, you should consider actually staying with a traditional Mayan or Garífuna Family. The Toledo Ecotourism Association can organize this for you.

Fly-Fishing for Bonefish, Permit & Tarpon on the Outer Atoll Flats: Belize is a world-class fishing destination, and while offshore fishing for bigger game is possible, the real draw here is fly-fishing for feisty and world-record size bonefish, permit, and tarpon (actually, the tarpon get as big as most deep-sea game).

Night Diving: If you've come to Belize to scuba dive, you should definitely try a night dive. Many creatures are nocturnal, and the reefs here come alive at night. Moreover, the brilliant colors of the coral and sea life really shine under the strong glare of an underwater light, and there's something truly eerie about the experience.

Betting on a Chicken Drop: A chicken drop is a sort of poor man's version of roulette, and much more fun. Numbers are painted on a grid and bets are placed. Then, a chicken is set loose on a wire mesh screen suspended over the grid. The winner is chosen by the chicken's first "drop." In addition to any monetary winnings, the "winner" often must clean the grid. You'll find a chicken drop held every night at the Pier Lounge on Ambergris Caye.

Kayaking & Camping around Glover's Reef Atoll: The relatively calm protected waters of the atoll and manageable distances between islands make this a perfect place to explore under your own power, paddling a one- or two-person sea kayak.

Riding an Inner Tube through the Caves Branch River Cave System: This is certainly the most popular and probably the easiest way to explore Belize's vast network of caves. You strap on a battery-powered headlamp, climb into the center of an inflated car inner tube, and gently float through a series of limestone caves, your headlamp illuminating the stalactites and the occasional bat. The entire sensation is eerie and slightly claustrophobic, but fun nonetheless -- especially if you go with a small group on a day when the caves are not crowded.

Canoeing, Kayaking, or Inner Tubing on the Macal or Mopan Rivers: These two rivers converge around the city of San Ignacio, in the Cayo District. Upstream from town on either river are ample opportunities for paddling or floating. Depending on the water level and the section you choose, this can range from a lazy canoe or inner tube paddle to a Class III kayak trip over rushing rapids.

Horseback Riding through the Cayo District: The Cayo District is a perfect area to explore on horseback. Rides can be combined with visits to jungle waterfalls and swimming holes, as well as nearby Mayan ruins.

Stargazing on a Clear Night: This is one of my favorite nighttime activities, but it is especially rewarding when there is no (or little) ambient light. Given its sparse development and low population density, Belize offers a wealth of opportunities for some truly spectacular stargazing. Your best spots are the isolated beach getaways of Belize's three mid-ocean atolls, but you can also enjoy the astronomical splendor from any number of deserted beaches or rural mountain getaways.