1 destination · 10 things to do

Belize

Belize packs a barrier reef and a jungle interior into a country the size of a small state. Ambergris Caye and its town, San Pedro, sit beside the second-largest barrier reef in the world, where a short boat ride reaches the coral gardens of Hol Chan Marine Reserve, the nurse sharks and stingrays of Shark Ray Alley and, on a long day trip, the ink-blue circle of the Great Blue Hole. Inland, the Cayo hills hold the Maya hilltop city of Xunantunich, the flooded ceremonial cave of Actun Tunichil Muknal and the lazy cave-tubing rivers, while Belize City and the north add Lamanai's jungle temples and a tuk tuk tour of the old capital. This guide books those headline experiences properly, adds a sunset sail and a San Pedro food tour for the evenings, and matches them to five hotels, from a beachfront splurge and palm-thatched dive cabanas to a budget town hotel and two Cayo lodges, because in Belize where you sleep decides whether the reef or the rainforest is a short trip or a long one.