• Belize Guide

  • Introduction to Belize
  • Weather
  • Things not to miss
  • Getting around
  • Entry requirements
  • Money
  • Public holidays

• Explore Belize

  • Belize City
  • The north
  • The northern cayes and atolls
  • Cayo and the west
  • The south

• Cities

  • Belize City
    

Belize Guide

The south

Belize's southern half contains its wildest terrain. Stretching along the coast south of Belize City is an elongated band of swamp, lagoon and savannah, whose nutrient-poor soil supports large, incongruous stands of Caribbean pine. Beyond Dangriga, at the far end of this coastal strip, the shoreline becomes a combination of sandy bays, peninsulas and mangrove lagoons, gradually changing to river-hewn valleys and forested ridges on the way inland toward the impressive Maya Mountains. The climate grows more humid further south, promoting dense, wildlife-rich rainforest – which has also developed resilience in the face of periodic Caribbean hurricanes and selective mahogany logging. In the far south, the estuaries of the slow-moving Temash and Sarstoon rivers, lined by the tallest mangrove forest in Belize, form Sarstoon-Temash National Park, adjoining protected land in Guatemala.

Inland from the coast and the Southern Highway, the Maya Mountains remain unpenetrated by roads, forming a solid barrier to land travel except on foot or horseback. The most accessible area of this rainforest, though still little visited by tourists, is Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, designed to protect a sizeable jaguar population and a perfect base for exploring the forest.

Population density in the south of Belize is low, with most of the towns and villages located on the coast. Dangriga, the largest settlement, is the headquarters of the Garifuna people – descended from Carib Indians and shipwrecked African slaves – and allows access to a number of idyllic cayes, sitting right on top of the barrier reef, and the South Water Caye Marine Reserve. The villages of Gales Point, north of Dangriga, and Hopkins and Sittee River, on the coast to the south, are worth visiting to experience the tranquil way of life practised there. Further south along the Southern Highway, the Placencia peninsula has become the focus of coastal tourism in southern Belize. The highway reaches its terminus in Punta Gorda, from where you can head south to Guatemala, visit ancient Maya sites and modern Maya villages in the southern foothills.