Belize with Alaska Airways: The Caribbean’s best-kept secret

Once in Placencia, my first cease was a full-day journey to Moho Caye, a 12-acre island off the coast of Belize, with a domestically owned tour operator. We departed from the dock at Three Iguanas Villa, and the water beneath our boat, “Dancing Mermaid,” remodeled to a dreamy cerulean all through the 30-minute journey. Along the way in which, a pod of bottlenose dolphins — together with a child — swam alongside the vessel.

Between sipping from freshly plucked coconuts and lounging in hammocks, we snorkeled lazily across the island’s pristine white seashores. What greeted us was a dense, thriving coral forest populated by parrotfish, nurse sharks and noticed eagle rays. One visitor surfaced after an hour of underwater exploration and mentioned, “I think I’ve found my new obsession.”

Driving from Placencia to the inland journey hub of San Ignacio through the gorgeous Hummingbird Highway solely takes a couple of hours, and the rewards are extraordinary. Where Placencia strikes to the rhythm of lapping waves, San Ignacio pulses with jungle sounds: howler monkeys at daybreak, the frenzy of the Macal River, the chirp of 100 unseen toucans, macaws and different neotropical birds.

Maya ruins like Xunantunich and Caracol additionally sit in relative solitude throughout the low journey season. Cave tubing via jungle rivers, diving into the waterfalls of the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve and spelunking via caves like Actun Tunichil Muknal are simply a few of the explorations that await with out sacrificing a visit to the seashore.