Access
Coming from USA or Canada, you can fly into Belize City
via Dallas, Miami, Houston, Atlanta and Charlotte.
From there you catch an airplane (12 flights/day) or a bus
(4 runs/day) onto Placencia.
From Europe you have the choice over America, usually with 2 to 3 connecting
flights resulting in a 30 hours plus journey, which is most of the time more
expensive than flying into Cancun, Mexico with a charter company.
At 2pm a plane leaves Cancun for Placencia (350$) arriving at 4pm.
From Cancun you can also take a bus into Belize City (50 US$)
and further onto Placencia by bus (10 US$) or by plane (100 US$. If you want to
go to Belize by road, we advise you to go to or stay
over for the night in Tulum, a charming place 150km/100miles south of Cancun
airport (1h30 journey with regular bus service to and from) with a unique Maya
temple alongside the turcoise Caribbean sea.
If you are 2 or more, it is usually quite economical to rent a car in Cancun
(some 40 to 50$ a day) for which you get additional comfort and freedom and you
save on excursions. Make sure you use a car rental company
(http://www.europcar.com/ or http://www.cancunrentacar.com/) which is
prepared to give you the authorization letter to cross the border with Belize and
eventually Guatemala.
Tulum to Placencia is 600km/400miles on well maintained roads. It can be done in
some 9 hours with stops of half an hour each 200km/120 miles and a probable 1
hour delay at the border to comply with
the administrative procedures; you have to get complementary third party
liability insurance for Belize which is not expensive, you have to have your car
sprayed against mad cow disease, you have passport and customs control and you
have to register your car.
Approaching Belize City, you should turn right in the direction of Burrel Boom
right after an army checkpoint. Stay on that road till the next roundabout and
head for Belmopan; this way you avoid the traffic of Belize City. Go all the way
to Belmopan and ignore the Placencia sign post on the western highway; it is a
shorter route but includes 40mls/60km dirt road.
Once in Belmopan, Belize's capital, you head to the south east over the
enchanting Hummingbird highway through the Maya Mountains. Before entering
Dangriga, turn right onto the Southern highway and drive another 50km/30miles
till the junction with the road into Placencia. Pass the village of Seine Bight
and proceed till you arrive at the Placencia airport. Michelo's hotel is at
1.5km/1mile from the airport on the main
street into the village on the left hand side just after the Atlantic Bank.
Different excursions inland are worthwhile.
A 2 day trip to the temple of Caracol or Tikal in Guatemala (each some 300km/200
miles): the first day
on this excursion you can also visit the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave and the lovely
Xunantunich tempel.
Popular 1 day trips are Cockscomb National Park, habitat of the jaguar, at 60km/
40miles, Monkey River to watch the pristine rainforest and
Jaguar Paw at 200km/120miles for cave tubing and zip lining through the jungle.
This trip is particularly recommended for children
in combination with the Belizean Zoo. Advisable also is the visit of the idilic
communities of Mayas at 150km/100miles from Placencia
with 3 small archeological sites and some pools for a refreshing swim.
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Belize map
