Today the time has come for us to leave the south of Belize and start our way back to the north, this time stopping in Placencia, the famous peninsula known for beaches, tourists & parties. The easiset way to get there from the south is to take a 2h bus to Mango Creek (a.k.a Independence). Once there, the walk to the ferry terminal is just 20min but chances are that if you hitchhike (like we did) someone will pick and drop you off in front of the Hokey Pokey terminal to Placencia. People here are so nice that surely you won’t even have to wait 5min for a ride, so forget wasting on a taxi from the bus station.
Horarios de ferry a Placencia
Terminal de ferry en Mango Creek
Once in Placencia, the ferry leaves us pretty much in the center of town and after a while of looking for accomodation we find the perfect nice & cheap place: Placencia Hostel. Private room (ending up being cheaper than dorm for us), great ambience, spot-on location and great owner always around for any of our needs. Time to leave the luggages down and we’re already on our way to explore the town. Placencia is a small and very laid-back town. It has a main road passing through all the peninsula, a small harbour on the tip where fishermen daily sell fresh fish and a tiny wooden path, parallel to the main road, where you can take a stroll through local shops (but touristy), travel agencies, restaurants, houses on the beach and much more.
Camino de madera que recorre las tiendas turísticas
Entrada del Barefoot Bar (uno de los más famosos de la peninsula)
El Barefoot Bar, lugar perfecto (pero caro) para tomar algo
Pescador vendiendo pescado fresco en el puerto
Puerto de Placencia
Unfortunately, this little townis very touristyand as a consequence its probably one of the most expensive places we’ve found in Belize. In fact, just off Placencia there is “Gringopolis”, an island where all the cruise ships land (because were not allowed to land in Placencia) and then bring the tourist to the peninsula. Do you fancy doing something very touristy? Then definitely make sure tasting the great ice cream at Tutti Frutti. The owner is italian and she takes care of the ice creams as if they were made in italy. Result? First-class quality ice creams known all throughout Belize to be the BEST (we can confirm that). In some places, you’ll also have the chance of renting a bike or go-kart to visit the island but in all honesty its not worth: visiting the island can be done easily on foot. Other activities to do on the island are paddle surf, boat trips to pretty much anywhere, snorkelling tours, diving tours on the reef…it all depends on your budget (everything is pretty much SUPER expensive though). For us, the best option is to relax on the beach, swim a bit and enjoy a couple of drinks on the beach listening to reggae. Still not a bad plan, uh!
Una de las muchas galerías de arte del pueblo
Los supermercados chinos es lo único que encontrarás para comprar comida!
In the end, Placencia end up being worse than our expectations cause in reality, there’s not much to do on the island itself. Beaches are nice but not as great as other people described them. And if you wanna go anywhere on a tour, well be ready for a pretty thick bill in the end! Touristy, expensive and with not much to do… if you really wanna see it yourself beaches, sun and sea are the way to go!
PLANNING A TRIP TO BELIZE? CHECK MORE POSTS BELOW!
[pt_view id=”f581ca102l”]