Placencia Peninsula Travel Guide
Travel to Placencia Peninsula - Belize’s Inland Desert Island
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Sixteen miles long, the Placencia Peninsula is home to 3 communities: Maya Beach, Seine Bight, and at the southern tip, Placencia Village, with a claim to the best beaches on the mainland.
Placencia Village is the best-known of the three communities and is well known for its very laid-back, no-shoes ambience where locals go out of their way to make sure you enjoy your visit. A one-mile concrete sidewalk serves as the main street for Placencia Village, around which wooden houses built on stilts rest underneath palms. Constructed over 30 years ago as a means of wheel-barrowing fish around without fighting the sand, Placencia's walkway now has the distinction of being the narrowest street in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. A number of village accommodations, restaurants/bars, and gift shops are located along the walkway.
25 kilometres of natural sandy beach, a virgin mangrove-fringed lagoon, a wonderland of coral-studded cayes, nearby jungle rivers and pristine rainforest, Garifuna, Creole and Mayan cultures and ancient Mayan ruins make Placencia the ideal location for the adventure traveller!
Locals boast Placencia Village to be one of the oldest continually-inhabited communities in Belize. Reportedly, it was founded by English buccaneers in the early 1600's. Before tourism arrived, Placencia was primarily a fishing village. Today many of the fishermen have given up their lines and spear guns for binoculars and dive gear, using their local knowledge to guide tourists.
The road into Placencia Village parallels the lagoon and terminates at the end of the Peninsula. Nearby is where the boat dock, dive shops and a number of tour guide services can be found. Close by are the service station, bus stop, post office, and grocery stores.
Seine Bight, a traditional Garifuna village a few miles north of Placencia, provides a chance to sample Garifuna cooking and music.
Attractions in Placencia Peninsula
From Placencia there are many natural attractions that include exploring the nearby Monkey River, travelling inland to the Cockscomb Basin, or visiting Maya Ruins. You can kayak nearby Mangroves or paddle out to one of the many nearby Cayes.
Placencia is world-renowned for offshore fishing and of course a trip to Placencia would not be complete without a boat ride out to Laughing Bird or Silk Caye for some diving or snorkelling off Belize's pristine and uncrowded Barrier Reef.... or just stretch out and relax in a hammock on a white sandy beach.
Activities in Placencia Peninsula
Scuba - Experience the walls and canyons found in 60-80 feet of water. Instruction and resort courses offered.
Snorkel - Laughing Bird or Silk Caye & Reef or rent a kayak and snorkel nearby Placencia Caye on your own.
Sport Fishing - Inside or outside the reef, Placencia is well known for its salt water fly fishing.
Sailing - Catamarans with or without crews and private sailboats for day sailing or overnights.
Kayak - Placencia Lagoon or nearby Placencia Caye and beyond.
Biking - Experience the peninsula and nearby communities between Maya Beach and Placencia.
Bird-watching - On the peninsula, where over 54 species have been recorded.
Relaxing
Swinging in a hammock on the beach sipping a ‘Panty Ripper’, Belize’s national drink of coconut rum and pineapple juice!
Getting Around
You can arrive in Placencia by air or by road. If you have the time, no matter which direction you travel from, driving is interesting and scenic. There are two buses a day to and from Belize City.
There is a landing strip to the north of the peninsula with light aircraft flying daily to Belize City, Dangriga and Punta Gorda. (When the author took this flight, he was sharing the 9-seater aircraft with Belize’s Prime Minister!)
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