hasards

health

Whilst reading health hasards is recommended, Placencia has no record of major disease outbreaks for the last 20 years, except for

covid 19

Michelo has developed Standard Operating Procedures to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Gold Standard Policy of the Belize Tourism Board, Ministry of Health, and other governmental agencies with regulatory authority related to the covid-19 pandemic.
Enhanced cleaning and sanitization
These measures include:
• Increased cleaning schedules for reception area
• Daily sanitizing of reception area
• Sanitation station at reception area
Wearing of masks
Our staff will be wearing masks at all times. Employees who handle any items passed between guests and employees will also wear gloves. While in Belize, we’ll also ask that you comply with the local regulations and wear a mask in all public areas.
Social distancing
We’ve implemented procedures to ensure social distancing:
• Floor markers and signage will remind guests and encourage social distancing while waiting in line at the front desk
• Unless requested, housekeeping services will not be performed during your stay. Any housekeeping services requested during your stay will be performed while you are out of the room
• Our employees will not enter your room (except in case of emergency)
Temperature checks
They will be required prior to check in. We are required to log the results of these temp checks (including your name, date/time, pass/fail, and the employee conducting the screen) and provide them to regulatory agencies if asked. Our employees are complying with temperature checks daily. The same information is logged for each of these checks as well. We are participating in THIS (the Tourism Health and Information System) for contract tracing as required by the Belize government. From time to time, you may be required to provide information about your activities and/or those you had contact with. Any trips taken in our vehicles must also be logged. We appreciate this may feel invasive or inconvenient, but your cooperation in providing this information helps keep everyone safe and will only be used for contact tracing in the event of a confirmed case of covid-19.
Response Plan to handle suspected or confirmed covid-19 patients
If a guest or employee is displaying symptoms of covid-19 (including but not limited to elevated temperature or respiratory symptoms), he will not be allowed in the common areas of the property.
Employees will be immediately relieved of all duties and will be asked to stay at home and seek medical treatment. They will not be allowed to return to work until cleared by a medical professional.
Guests will be asked by a manager to return to their accommodations immediately. Depending on the symptoms, the guest may be asked to quarantine in their room until further instructions are received by the Ministry of Health and/or medical professionals. Any testing, transportation, or quarantine will be at the guest’s expense. If travelling with others, the other members of the group may also be asked to self-isolate either in the same accommodations or in another accommodation, if available. Once quarantined, all further interactions and services to a guest will be contactless via WhatsApp, including housekeeping, room service, and general communication.

dengue feaver

Cases have been reported in the latter part of the rainy season (november - mid december). It's therefore important to select accomodation that
     is not too close to the lagoon (mangroves are ideal breading grounds for bugs)
     is built on a well drained piece of land (no mud pools after a rain storm) that has been cleared from rainforest vegetation
     has no open containers on the premises which accumulate rain water (mosquitos breed in still water)
     has well-screened rooms preferably with air-conditioning.
If you are a person who is allergic to bug bites, avoid going to the beach (sand flies) or lagoon (mosquitos) at surise, dusk, night time or before or after a thunder storm even fully dressed (there's allways one who is smart) and fully sprayed with bug repellent (works a limited time); stay also away from the rainforest.

crime

Whilst reading Belize Travel Safety is recommended, Placencia experiences on average 1 violent incident per year and numerous petty theft incidents like stolen wallets in bars and breaking into houses to steal valuables. It's therefore important to select accomodation that
     is positioned in a well lit area (which is not the case on the beach or in the woods)
     is surrounded by other dwellings preferably inhabited the whole year round by its owners
     has burglar proof entrance doors and windows
     has alarm systems.
Never allow a foreigner into your house or room, even not kids (often report valuable content of your room to the vilains).

fire hasard

In Placencia once in a while one or more houses (mostly adjacent ones) are completely destroyed by fire. It's therefore important to select accomodation that
     is built in concrete (also substantially less risk of scorpions, tarantulas and cockroaches)
     has its sleeping quarters on the ground floor (easier escape)
     has smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.
Don't smoke inside the house or the room.

noise

wind

The dominant wind direction is North-East, coming from over the ocean. This constant ocean breeze makes the climate so comfortable in Placencia. But it has its draw back for the dwellings on or near the beach: the constant howling from the wind blowing through the rows of palm trees on the beach. If you are allergic at this kind of noise, you better select accomodation that is positioned at least 150 to 200m/yards from the beach.

rain

It rains most of the time at night. And when it rains, it mostly rains havily. The great majority of the houses has metal roofs amplifying the rain noise. To limit that type of noise, select a
     concrete flat roof dwelling
     multifloor house with sleeping quarters on the ground floor.

traffic

Local traffic starts at 6am and ends around 8pm, apart from the odd taxi bringing some tourists to their resorts. Since the peninsula is so narrow, there are not that many places where you do not experience traffic noise, apart from the most South Eastern point of Placencia Village with its exclusive condos, the most Eastern villas on Harbour Place and some areas north of the air strip at the lagoon side. The problem is that they are far away from Placencia Village with its profusion of banks, bars, restaurants and shoping facilities and that one tends to have a transportation problem in these locations.

airplane

Airplane traffic starts at 7am and ends around 7.30pm. It's noise impact drops nearly to zero at 1.5km/1mile from the airstrip.

music

Most bars are located within the most southern 800m/yards of Placencia Village. To be on the safe side, select accomodation from Harbour Place onwards to the north. <

birds

Most people are woken by the birds at sunrise.

air conditioning

Although this is also a noise source, many people allergic to noise during the night, like the constant noise of an air conditioner overstemming the other outside noises which are usually already reduced by the louvers or windows which are closed to obtain effective cooling.