Placencia, Belize
EXPLORERS' HUB
It's late in the afternoon that Placencia Village reveals itself as a frontier beach town, a small, sandy outpost dangling between jungle and deep blue sea at the tip of a 12-mile-long peninsula. Wander down the beach – mainland Belize's best – to its southernmost point and sip a cold Belikin as the boats return to the town docks after a day of offshore adventures. There you'll catch a contact high from divers who've just explored the hemisphere's greatest barrier reef or swam with humongous whale sharks. The snorkelers and fishermen in smaller boats were out amid the Belize Cayes - idyllic dollops of sand surrounded by corals and flats - surveying reef creatures or stalking game fish. Later tonight you'll meet all these sportos reliving it up at Cozy Corner and Barefoot Beach Bar - they'll be the ones with "raccoon eyes" sunglasses tans.
Skip ahead to the next Beach Town...
PIER REVIEW
As the sun falls toward the Maya Mountains, the spot for your next beer is Yoli's on the pier, a great vantage point for toasting the sunset and meeting cruisers off the sailboats that bob at anchor in the lee of Placencia Caye. Any boat you see still heading in from the west (the mainland side) either spent the day watching black howler monkeys and crocodiles along the serpentine shores of the Monkey River, or it's a late crossing of the Hokey Pokey, the taxi boat out of Mango Creek that's ferrying backpackers. Even with new luxe condos and second-home sites putting down roots north of town, Placencia is still a good bet for budgeteers.
RUSH HOUR
Life in Placencia mainly runs north and south, paralleling the lagoon, the beach and the two main streets - one an actual road; the other the town's famous sidewalk thoroughfare just behind the beach. Dusk, however, brings crosstown traffic and a flurry of flip-flops as foragers – both temporary townies and guests of the resorts a few miles north on the peninsula – shuffle back and forth trying to choose between the joints lining the main road and those on the sidewalk. For a Central American village of just 800 residents, the dining selection is dizzying. If breakfast was the lobster omelet at Omar's and lunch Cozy Corner's lobster burger, should you keep the crayfish theme and see if De'Tatch has lobster as tonight's seafood special? Or should you try the creole fish at Wendy's, something fancy at French Connection or maybe just grab a pizza and eat it on the beach?
NIGHT FANTASTIC
After dinner, the choices become easier. First, a beach-town standard with a local twist: genuine Italian gelato in Belizean flavors (pineapple, coconut, banana, etc.) at Tutti Frutti. Then the party hats go on. The Placencia Breeze is the official ear to the ground, but after a couple days, you'll know the skinny. Barefoot Beach Bar offers live music four nights a week; Sunrise Restaurant and Bar might have the karaoke machine cranked up; and down at the dock, you'll hear if Tranquilo out on Placencia Caye has a band playing. Late action is at Tipsy Tuna sports bar and D'Eclipse, where bashments break out regularly.
By morning, Placencia is once again an adventure base, hawking trips to the rainforest, Maya ruins and Garifuna settlements, along with the siren call of the Cayes. The beach itself seems like a bonus – except after late nights, which is when you really appreciate Placencia's superlative set of beach-town essentials: breakfast burritos, warm water for a wake-up swim, cool breezes, and long stretches of soft sand just steps away from laid-back beach bars.
Continue to the next Beach Town...
GO THERE
Fly American, Continental, Delta or Taca to Belize City, then hop a half-hour flight to Placencia on Tropic Air (tropicair.com) or Maya Island Air (mayaairways.com).
STAY THERE
Seaspray Hotel - Rooms with kitchenettes and sea-view porches from $50 in low season ($60 high). 501-523-3148; seasprayhotel.com
Inn at Robert's Grove - Beachfront suites from $155 in low season ($189 high). 800-565-9757; robertsgrove.com
MORE INFO
800-624-0686; placencia.com; travelbelize.org
Related Content
Bird watching, hiking, kayaking, turtles -- this Caribbean island has it all
A dozen Caribbean denizens and some top places to see them.
The Maya predicted the world would end when its calendar did -- in 2012. While this wouldn’t sound like the makings of a great vacation, it actually lends itself to an unparalleled Caribbean travel opportunity.
Five places to channel your inner Robinson Crusoe—without ending up a true castaway.
Though the words "beach" and "bar" together in a sentence pretty much guarantee a good time, here's a list of our six favorite beach bars in the Caribbean.
