2023 in Belize (Harvest Caye and Placencia)

On April 4, 2023, the Norwegian Joy brought me to Harvest Caye, Belize, which resulted in the visit of my 29th unique country:

This made it my:

• 1st time in Belize
• 3rd country in Central America
  • after Mexico + Honduras

Visit

So, Belize: the only English-speaking country in Central America: it even had Queen Elizabeth II on its local currency, the Belizean dollar. As such, I considered Belize the "Canada of Central America".

Even though the Norwegian Joy cruise ship brought me to Harvest Caye, I also took a ferry to a mainland village called Placencia. This ferry was offered by the cruise line, but not advertised; I only knew of it from experienced travellers on YouTube.

Harvest Caye

Harvest Caye is a private island owned by the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). You can stay here, lie on the beach chairs and do nothing. Or, you can go on an excursion to experience a more authentic Belize (which I later did).

My pet peeve about Harvest Caye: even though it was a private island, food and drink were somehow not complementary. Even with a drink package, NCL still charged extra for drinks. Why? Why? Why?

So, I decided not to spend too much quality time here. Instead, I opted to make use of NCL's unadvertised "excursion": a $29 ferry ride to Placencia. The ferry would just take us to this village without any guided tours. This made it a lot cheaper than any advertised excursion from the cruise line. Also, one could not book this ferry ride online; one had to purchase a ticket on the ship from guest services!

Placencia

So, the ferry took only a few minutes to reach the mainland Belize to a village called Placencia, at the end of an overstretched peninsula. Placencia also lies about a 3 hour drive from the capital, Belize City. The ferry just dropped us off here to do whatever we wanted and have us come back at specific times.

It felt enough just to walk without guide or plan along the Placencia Sidewalk and Placencia Road in order to experience a thin slice of life in Belize. Several Mayans tried to set up shop, selling handicrafts. I bought some out of sympathy but who knows how authentic they were and whether some guy would later exploit their revenue. I find it all so unfortunate.

I went into a beachside bar (Tipsy Tuna) and had some "local" Belikin beer for (if I can remember) less than US$2 a bottle at 10 o'clock in the morning. The beaches were very empty and serene at this hour and that felt great. A huge cruise ship load of tourists had just arrived a few kilometres away and yet I had this beach all to myself!

Walking back towards the ferry port, I saw a general store owned by a Chinese family. They spoke English with a local accent. It was quite a highlight to see their presence here.

Once I returned to Harvest Caye, I skipped that private island again and walked straight back onto the ship.