Placencia is where tourists – mostly North Americans – come to swim, snorkel, scuba dive, hang out on the beach and drive around in golf carts holding bottles of Belikin stout at 10 in the morning.

There is little of the Garifuna/hippie vibe you’ll find in communities such as Hopkins, nor any of the urban hustle of Dangriga. Instead, the village of Placencia feels like an upper crust New England village transported to the Caribbean coast.

The drive to Placencia village down the narrow 4-mile-long peninsula is quite pretty. There are some lovely resorts of varied price ranges on the east-facing beach, and mangrove swamp on the western side. But open land on either side is disappearing at a fast clip as lots are bought up for development, both for upper-end resorts, and for private homes being sold to Americans and Canadians looking for their own slices of heaven in tropical climes.

Like most tropical places existing primarily for tourists, Placencia has a different feel from season to season. In the dog days of summer, the town is quieter, hotels are cheaper (some even close) and the overall tourist vibe much mellower. Peak times for tourists are May, June and July.

Adventures in Placencia Belize: White Sandy Beaches, Ancient Maya Cities and Pristine Nature Parks

When a nation’s footprint is less than 9,000 square miles, expectations surrounding the number of adventures one can enjoy during a visit are best kept low. After all, Vermont is approximately the same size as Belize and once you check out historic sites remaining from the nation’s settlement, hiking trails and ski resorts, attractions available to tourists are somewhat limited.

Within approximately the same area, Belize delivers endless adventures, including ancient Maya settlements, caves frequented by Maya priests, the best beaches in Central America, pristine nature preserves and lush parks, water sports at a barrier reef, and more. Since it takes a few hours to fly to Belize, you can start having adventures the minute you land and keep going until your return flight leaves.

-Placencia peninsula beaches give visitors access to endless water sports that run the gamut from snorkeling to diving and from deep water fishing to endless aquatic fun. Hang out at beaches on both the Caribbean and lagoon sides of the peninsula.

-Blasts from the (ancient) past. Belize is an epicenter of Maya history since there are 900 sites from which to choose for those who fancy ancient architecture, history, and archaeology. Wouldn’t you rather spend time gazing at Mayan cities built between 250 and 900 AD than tour Civil war-era sites that have only been around since 1793?

-Mother Nature’s best buds. Animals calling Belize home are everywhere visitors look. Among the most highly recommended reserves, parks, and wildlife refuges on Placencia are the Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Reserve, Bocawina National Park, and Monkey River where Howler monkeys converse with tourists, and bird watching is sublime.

Source: https://www.larubeya.com/adventures-in-placencia-belize/