Placencia, Belize - Wander the Planet .net

PLACENCIA, BELIZE

Let me start by saying that I ABSOLUTELY LOVED PLACENCIA!!!!! The beach was gorgeous and the residents and business owners were extremely nice, hospitable, and told great stories. The atmosphere was very RELAXING.

About 100 miles south of Belize City, the Placencia Peninsula is 16 miles long and has 3 communities: Maya Beach, Seine Bight, and Placencia Village. The Peninsula has Belize's only true beaches. That means that Placencia has 'natural' beaches. Yes there are beaches in San Pedro but those are man-made (usually by the hotels behind them). The road to Placencia parallels the lagoon and ends at the tip of the peninsula - however a one- mile concrete sidewalk serves as the main street for Placencia Village.

We took the Novelos Executive bus at 7:30am from San Ignacio to Belmopan ($6 BZ each; 30 minutes). The Executive was supposed to leave at 7:00am so we were going to take a regular bus but somehow we ended up on the Executive. Shoot! I so wanted my mother to experience 'chicken buses' but it wasn't to be on this trip.....

We arrived in Belmopan and walked across the street into the market area to catch our next bus. Mom found out that we needed to get on the Punta Gorda bus that stops in Dangriga (there isn't a Dangriga bus) - so we found it and bought our tickets. He assigned us seats in the BOUNCY back (if you can, always get seats near the front - especially when driving on bumpy roads). We took the 8:30am Punta Gorda bus from Belmopan to Dangriga. The ride took 3 hours because our bus broke down on the highway. Luckily we broke down in front of an old bus junkyard - so our driver was able to pull a part from an old bus and we were on our way.

We arrived in Dangriga at 11:30am and took a taxi to the Dangriga Airstrip. The next flight to Placencia was full so we waited at the Dangriga airstrip and took the 12:50 Tropic Air flight to Placencia. The plane was small - ooooh - but the view of Belize's coastline was gorgeous (try to get a seat on the right side - opposite side the pilot sits on).

We arrived at the Placencia airstrip and there was the taxi waiting. He took us down the only dirt road into Placencia Village (about 1 mile long) and dropped us off around the Sea Spray Hotel. The budget hotels are in Placencia Village - while the more expensive hotels/resorts are north of the airport. We didn't have any reservations but figured we would try the Sea Spray and work our way down beach if they didn't have a room for us. Luckily they did have room so we stayed at the Sea Spray Hotel and loved it!

Our room wasn't quite cleaned yet so we went to their restaurant and had lunch. Mom had a ham sandwich and I had a hamburger. Both were good. We were still marveling at the view of the gorgeous coastline - when it was time for us to check in. In our room, the porch was a nice touch and I spent every evening in the hammock reading. Sea Spray Hotel in Placencia

The bathroom was very clean and I got hot water every time I tried - though I took many more cold showers since it was so hot. The owners of the Sea Spray Hotel, Norman & Jodie Leslie, are wonderful people that would anything for you - though I never saw their infamous, active twins. Their restaurant De Thatch Cafe was good also and had a computer for checking email.

In Placencia, we spent a few days lying on the beach and reading. The Sea Spray has a lending library - as does a number of other hotels. I got about 5 shades darker but Mom had a little trouble getting a tan. Days start pretty early in Placencia - I was actually up a few mornings to watch the sunrise (5:40am). I don't think I have seen the sun rise for years! We also enjoyed eating at Omar's Cafe and hearing his stories while watching action-adventure movies. I had delicious chicken-fried-steak (for those of you that don't know, it's a favorite 'soul food' dish here in Bay Area) at a restaurant just before Omar's. Mom said her fried chicken was really good too (and she should know because she got fried chicken in every town in Belize!). Gosh I can't remember the name of it but it was attached to a hotel and was an outside restaurant. Just walk south on the sidewalk and you will see a sign pointing towards the water (it's not on the sidewalk like Omar's is).

That's pretty much all we did - read, bake in the sun, eat, drink, and laugh. It was sooooo relaxing that I did not want to leave (and we did stay an extra day and almost cut out Caye Caulker entirely). You can arrange a tour to Monkey River from Placencia - which I HIGHLY recommend.

When we left Placencia, boo hoo, we headed towards Caye Caulker - our next and last destination in Belize. We took 7:25 am flight to Belize City Municipal (plane stopped in Dangriga and Belize City International - then we arrived at Belize City Municipal). We took a taxi to the Placencia Airstrip - Norma called and set up the taxi pick-up the night before (you will not see taxis driving around to hail - nor anything else driving around). He was right on time and took us to the airstrip.

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