Month: May 2025

Belize

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CITIES VISITED:

  • Belize City (1 night) – not much happening here so only worth staying if you need for transit reasons.
  • Caye Caulker (4 nights)
  • San Ignacio (2 nights)

PRO TIPS:

  • USD are widely accepted so bring some to get you started. You’ll get change in Belize dollars when paying in USD.
  • Hostels can book out in Caye Caulker so you might want to book ahead.
  • There’s a $20usd ($40 Belize dollar) exit fee when you leave by land. When you leave by flight I believe it’s included in your airfare.
  • The ATM’s didn’t work for me on Caye Caulker so bring enough USD or get money out in Belize City.
  • Bella’s Backpackers puts on a Sunday Funday party if you want to schedule your stay to be there for it.
  • When entering/leaving Belize via the airport there is a customs form you need to fill out. To save time I filled it out online beforehand, but you can also fill out the physical form upon arrival.

CITY: CAYE CAULKER

HOW LONG: 4 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

I stayed at Blue Wave Guesthouse. It was a very basic room but it was a treat to have it to myself with a private bathroom. AC was a godsend and I slept well here. They spruced up the room everyday. WiFi worked well. Location was perfect and there were cute hammocks everywhere. You also got a 10% discount when diving with Blue Wave across the way. They provided a water jug during the reception hours where you could fill your water bottle. 7/10 would stay here again 

WHERE TO EAT:

  • Ice and Beans Cafe – great for an early bagel or a yummy smoothie bowl. Nice comfy seating outside right on the water. The customer service was above and beyond (makes me think someone from the US runs it) 
  • The Magic Cup – this place has my favorite smoothies on the island! 
  • Paradaiso Cafe – had some great breakfast sandwiches here after diving
  • There was a pupusa stand right next the basketball court that made incredible, yummy, crispy pupusas! It was so cheap and delicious that I ate from there each night 🤣 On an expensive island, who can complain about $2.50 pupusas! 

Ice & Beans
Ice & Beans

WHAT TO DO:

There are so many things to do on Caye Caulker 

  • Do a snorkeling tour! You’ll see (hopefully) manatees, sharks, turtles and more! They often stop at a few different spots to get a chance to see all the beautiful marine life 
  • Go scuba diving! So many dive spots, including a long expensive day to get to the Blue Hole. I opted out (I can always come back) but did dives at Turneffe North and Caye Chapel. Overall pretty lovely dives. We saw turtles, manatees, nurse sharks, drum fish, and lots of eels.
  • Feed the tarpons
  • Head to Iguana Reef to hang with the sting rays at sunset! 
  • Drink and swim at the Lazy Lizard (where Caye Caulker was split into to islands in 1961’s Hurricane Hattie) 
  • Enjoy a smoothie 
  • Get a massage 

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I really liked it here and actually planned to spend one more day here (as I was really busy diving and snorkeling each day and could’ve used a chill day here) but I heard some friends I met in El Salvador were going to be in San Ignacio the next day so I change plans to overlap with them! 

My favorite thing to do was just hang in the water with the sting rays. I fell in love with the creatures- just so sweet!

CITY: SAN IGNACIO

HOW LONG: 2 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

I booked where my friends had booked, which was Yellow Belly Hostel. The hostel itself was fabulous, except for the fact that it was a 15 min walk in extreme heat into town. Meant we were a bit isolated, but there were a few restaurants with free delivery so we utilized that! AC was available from 5:30pm-9am and WiFi worked well. Lots of bathrooms and all were clean. Free breakfast was a huge spread and included eggs 🙌🏻 8/10 would stay again. 

WHERE TO EAT:

I only had a smoothie at Wild Roots, which was great! Otherwise I ate at the hostel 😀

WHAT TO DO:

The main thing to do is go to the ATM caves, which were fabulous! It’s a cave system where the Mayans used to performs human sacrifices to the water gods. It was a mixture of adventure and history, which was a cool combination. It was pretty steep ($130) but would HIGHLY recommend. Everyone who has gone has raved about it! I just booked through my hostel but there are plenty of vendors in town that will happily sell you a tour.

There are a few other parks you can check out in the area, but most backpackers come for 2 nights just to do the caves in between backpacking Guatemala and Belize 

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

While San Ignacio itself isn’t super sparkly itself, the ATM caves make this place a must visit, but no need to spend a long time here. 

BUDGET FOR 7 DAYS IN BELIZE:

If you are looking for a cheap holiday destination, Belize is not it haha. This is typically the most expensive stop along the Central America backpacker route. Once again, if you aren’t a diver, you’ll be able to do this much cheaper than me though.

  • Accommodation: $385 ($55 per night) – spent 4 nights in a private room in Caye Caulker since there weren’t any great hostel options and I wanted good sleep before all the early scuba diving I was doing.
  • Food: $100
  • Activities: $610 (5 dives + 2 excursions + 1 massage)
  • Local Transportation: $80
  • Miscellaneous: $5

Total: $1180 (Daily average: $170) 

Transportation to next destination: $40 (Shuttle to Flores, Guatemala)

Honduras (Bay Islands)

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CITIES (but really islands) VISITED:

  • Utila
  • Roatan

PRO TIPS:

  • Bring crisp, “perfect” USD to exchange or use as most places will accept it and then you will get change in Lempira. This helps avoid ATM fees. 
  • Utila has a pretty cash centric economy but some places accept credit cards with a 4% processing fee (so I avoided that at all costs)
  • Roatan is more built up so I found that I could use my credit card at most places (with no processing fee!)
  • English is widely spoken on both islands!
  • Both islands are filled with tourists, with an emphasis on first time divers as the Bay Islands are known as the cheapest place in the world to get certified. These are well trodden spots 🙂
  • If you don’t mind a dorm sleeping situation a lot of dive shops offer free or discounted accommodation.

CITY: UTILA

HOW LONG: 4 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

I stayed at the Mango Inn as it was free through the UDC dive shop. There were 4 bed dorm rooms, which was nice as they were pretty quiet. Room was clean & bathrooms were always available with hot showers (although I preferred a cold shower as it was HOT in Utila). The only downside was that it was a 15 min walk to the dive shop, which for early morning dives wasn’t ideal.

WHERE TO EAT:

  • Josie’s is the cutest little cafe right at the pier. It’s only open until 2pm but I went three days in a row after diving for breakfast/lunch (I don’t like eating before morning dives). Each day I had an everything bagel with eggs, bacon, avocado & caramelized onions – YUM
  • The Local & the Gringa is another popular eatery. I had breakfast there my last day on the island.
  • Baleadas Mama Rosa – I had my first baleada here which is a local Honduran dish made of a big flour tortilla filled with a refried bean paste and fillings of your choosing. I liked the egg & avocado one!
  • Che Pancho made a great smoothie.
  • Gaga’s Grab & Go Restaurant is tucked away from the main road and has fabulous food with large portions. They also do free delivery so it’s a great option on a rainy day.

WHAT TO DO:

The main thing to do here is diving! Either for fun dives or to get certified. The Bay Islands are known as one of the cheapest places in the world to get certified so prospective divers flock here! I chose to do my fun dives with Utila Dive Center (UDC). Overall I had a positive experience but it also wasn’t the most amazing experience. It was probably the biggest dive shop I’ve ever dove with and it was run efficiently & professionally. However, it was a little impersonal. That being said, they have a morning boat dedicated to fun divers so you aren’t stuck with newbies 🙂 I appreciated this. There’s nothing worse than having to end a dive early because someone new is sucking through their air super quickly. Additionally, it was great that my accommodation was included in my dive package. I paid $255 for 6 dives in May 2025.

Beyond diving, I made time to walk around with my camera, especially at sunset. There’s a great spot at Underwater Vision Dive Center to catch the sunset. I also had a massage with Nora, who I just found because she has signs up on the street. It was a pretty basic setup in her house but the massage was awesome! It was $50 for an hour.

Lastly, randomly there was a fishing competition while I was on the island so I joined some new friends to go to part of the final weigh in, which was silly and different.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I would say I enjoyed Utila but it wasn’t my favorite stop. The diving definitely didn’t blow me away. We didn’t really see anything particularly spectacular. There haven’t been whale shark sightings in over a year. I didn’t see any dolphins between dives. It was a cute island, but I much preferred the Corn Islands for diving and for vibes.

CITY: ROATAN

HOW LONG: 3 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

I stayed at Hotel Chillies in West End. I snagged a private room for $34 per night and I literally booked it the day before arriving as I last minute decided to leave Utila to spend my last 3 nights in Honduras in Roatan. The hotel is very basic (more like a homestay) but the room and shared bathroom was very clean & comfortable. There’s a tiny shared kitchen and wifi worked. No hot shower in the part of the hotel I stayed in, but I craved cold showers at all times of the day since it was so hot so that didn’t bother me at all. The location is perfect as it’s in the center of town and is across the street from the beach. I would definitely stay here again. There’s also a dive shop as part of the hotel so that was incredibly convenient!

WHERE TO EAT:

  • The Shack makes fabulous burgers but they are really known for their onion rings. Def worth a visit!
  • Crisp is a cute little cafe with YUMMY smoothies and smoothie bowls. Obviously I went a few times 🙂
  • Sandy Buns was sadly closed while I was here (owners were on vacation in Italy at the time), but this is a famous bakery in town. DON’T SKIP coming here.
  • Sundowners is a beach bar that was packed every night. They seemed to have live music every night and I also attended a Trivia Night.
  • Yahongreh? – Very conveniently located on the hotel property. Yummy breakfast & smoothie options.

WHAT TO DO:

Once again, diving is a big driver of tourism in Roatan. Snorkeling, lying on the beach and drinking yourself silly are also popular pastimes 🙂 Once again, I honestly wasn’t overly impressed with the diving so I opted to skip more diving after I did one dive.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I think I liked Roatan more than Utila but I still am not feeling like I will return to the Bay Islands anytime soon. There are other islands in the world I have enjoyed more 🙂

BUDGET FOR 7 DAYS IN HONDURAS:

If you aren’t a diver, then a visit to the Bay Islands will be quite affordable. But if you are going to the Bay Islands, you are probably a diver, or learning to become one 🙂

  • Accommodation: $102 ($14.5 per night) – spent 3 nights in a private room in Roatan ($32 per night), but my accommodation in Utila was free because it was included in my dive package!
  • Food: $140
  • Activities: $350 (7 dives + 1 massage)
  • Local Transportation: $90 (2 ferry rides + a few taxis)
  • Miscellaneous: $45

Total: $727 (Daily average: $104) 

Transportation to next destination: $230 (Flight to Belize City)