Why honeymoon here? Newlyweds today are looking for something more than merely romping on any beach somewhere, they are increasingly thinking and planning for something unique, something so memorable few of their friends will have done. A recent study by Conde Naste Bridal Groups American Study shows honeymooners from North America typically spend twice as much and stay twice as long as your average vacationer. They spend on average $5,000. and want a really great experience. According to a recent travel article on CNN, Costa Rica and Belize are “are two of the most up and coming honeymoon destinations right now.”
A Honeymoon pose by the massive bamboo groves in the jungle surrounding Monkey River, Belize.
Compared to other destinations, honeymooners in Belize can get the full package: beaches, SCUBA or snorkelling, tour the rainforest, swim under secluded waterfalls, visit the majestic Maya Ruins, hike in the jungles, explore vast cave systems and best of all, hop across the border to either Mexico or Guatemala for a quick change of scenery and culture. Besides these advantages, as the former British Honduras, Belizeans speak English as their first language. Honeymooners from Latin America will be delighted to know that most locals also speak Spanish, and in some areas like Northern and Western Belize, most of the residents speak Spanish as their first language. U.S. dollars are accepted everywhere and you do not need a currency converter to figure out the exchange rate – its is two BZ dollars to one U.S. dollar. Here is a list by Lillie, a Boston English teacher on why Belize should be at the top of your list.
Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Honeymoon In Belize
When Colin and I got engaged, we spent months agonizing over which country to travel to for our Honeymoon.
At the last minute (read: two weeks before our epic wedding) I impluse-bought us two cheap plane tickets to Belize, a country I knew very little about. It turns out, Belize was a PERFECT Honeymoon destination for us.
1. Belize travel is easy. I’ve voyaged all over the world, including destinations that are notoriously frustrating for tourists, and I declare Belize travel a smooth joy. It’s not just that English is the official language, it’s that Belize has invested real thought and effort into its tourist industry. Signs are clear, there’s plenty of travel guidance online, and employees that we met from all levels of Belize’s tourist industry were wonderful. Which leads to the next point…
2. The people of Belize are great. How people treat you when you travel through a country can make or break your visit, and across the board, Belizeans made us happy. Everyone we interacted with was kind, knowledgeable, and eager to help.
When we got stranded miles from our San Pedro hotel in a downpour, a woman and her husband who were driving by picked us up in their van and brought us to safety. When we got badly sunburned, an Ambergris Caye hotel employee gave us his giant bottle of aloe vera, saving our skin. And whenever we were curious about a historical fact, or a type of tree, or a statistic about the country, we were able to ask whoever was nearby and get an informed, fascinating answer.
The people in Belize were also fun and friendly. More than one Belizean said to us, “I’ve been to America and liked it, but the thing that upset me was that no one in your country greets each other on the street.” In Belize, they do!
Spectacular and secluded – beach at Laughing Bird Caye.
3. Belize is quite safe. Naturally, no country is 100% crime-free, but I’ve been to 11 countries in Latin America, and I felt safest in Belize, BY FAR. I love Latin America, but there has always been a feeling of tension there for me, as people warn you of this or that attack which recently happened, and shady characters skulk around, eying your bags and cat-calling. In contrast, I was able to totally relax in Belize, despite being a normally paranoid traveler. There were also hardly any street vendors or tourist hustlers (a HUGE and refreshing departure from my other travels). Finally, the people are so friendly that whenever we got in a pickle, there was someone around to help us.
4. Belize is a manageable size. Part of what adds to the feeling of safety of Belize is its sweet little size. Everyone knows everyone else. When we’d check in at one hotel hours from another, we would learn that hotel clerk was the brother of the clerk we’d just left. Or we’d say, “We took the shuttle here with a guy from Holland,” and whoever we were talking to knew exactly the man we were referring to. Originally, we were planning on Honeymooning in Tanzania, but to get from one part of that large country to another would have been a full day’s journey. In contrast, Belize is the size of my beloved state, Massachusetts, which is a 3.5 hour drive across at its longest point. This means you can really get a feel for different parts of the country in a short amount of time, without major regret that you’re missing out.
5. Belize is interesting, unique, and has a fascinating history. This little country doesn’t feel, look, or act like America. It is not one of those countries where you arrive, see a strip mall, and grumble, “I could have seen this in Cleveland.”
That said, Belize has enough in common with our home country that we felt the perfect combination of comfortable and interested. We were never bored, and were fascinated both to explore close to our hotels, and to venture out on epic day tours.
Oooh, and those wonderful accents the people have! As my friend explained, “Belize is like Honduras plus Jamaica.” Unique, right?
6. Belize is close to the U.S.A. We were looking into Fiji for our Honeymoon, but that flight would have been a full day and $1,500 each. Instead, we paid less than $500 each for our flights, left Boston in the morning, traveled for fewer hours than it takes to visit my brother in California, and were on the beach by 1pm.
7. Belize is beautiful. After 11 days here, my computer now holds 1,000 photos, the majority of which could be sold as desktop screensavers representing “Tranquil Paradise.” We loved the variety of the beauty, too, from tropical beaches with azure water, to Mayan ruins in thick emerald jungle. The vistas were so perfectly romantic for a Honeymoon!
8. Belize cares about the environment. Throughout my travels, the sight of trash on the ground has been common, hurting the heart of this Earth-loving tourist. In Belize, however, signs abounded urging people to protect the environment by throwing garbage away properly, conserving energy by turning off lights, and so on. Yay!
9. Belize has options for many different budgets. Colin and I were staying and eating in high-end tourist areas due to my glamorous travel blogger connections, and prices were roughly equivalent to Boston. If we’d ventured out a bit more, however, we could have found budget food and lodging of all kinds.
Further, we were visiting during the “low season” (the rainy months in summer) when you can get even better deals, but I point out that Belize’s “worst” season was more than fine. It rained maybe an hour a day, but the majority of the time was sun-filled glorious.
10. Food and water safety are good in Belize. We drank bottled water our whole time in Belize, though we were told the country actually has all right water quality. That said, we never even got a stomach ache from the food and drink we consumed… except for the night one of us ate two bags of microwave popcorn and a jumbo bag of chips. (Can’t blame Belize for that.) Plus, the seafood is AMAZING!