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This is Paradise! Famous for its Scarlet Macaws (Guacamaya, Ara Macao) this beautiful little village is teeming with all kinds of tropical birds and both, Howler and Spider Monkeys. People are incredibly friendly, you can walk around wherever you want, and if you keep your eyes and ears open it’s almost impossible not to fill your SD card with some of your best shots ever.
There are two established campgrounds (Biohidroselva (here also referred to as ‘It’s the real retono at Magdalena’s’) and El Retoño (‘Las Guacamayas’ is probably part of it), both offering campsites overlooking the river, basic but clean facilities (and cabañas for rent) and go for a mere MEX$50 pppn. Wherever you stay: This is a first class birding and ‘monkeying’ destination and well in the top ten of our worldwide list of supreme wildlife photo spots.

This is a dirt road leading to the tiny village of Monkey River. Despite its name we didn’t see any monkeys there but plenty of tropical birds including different parrots, montezumas, and many others like the lesser known scissor tailed fly catcher. One of the best birding spots in Belize.

We arrived there a couple of minutes before 5 pm. They were about to close but the staff was still on duty. Without having said anything everybody knew what we were looking for. There was no need to tip or bribe anyone. We paid MEX$ 100 pp for camping including the entrance fee for the evening and the following day.

It’s an ecoparque catering mainly for day visitors but on the premises there is an established campground for tent camping. Vehicle camping is outside at the car park or close to the swimming pools about 100 m from the entrance (also outside of the fenced area) close to the highway. The park has seen better days but it’s still nice and features two natural pools where you can cool down and a river (which is not bad for birding) where you can rent kayaks for a nominal fee. Paid MEX$80 pp for camping including the entrance fee.

During the Dias de los Muertos, the village has a tradition of Mayan origin unique to the region. After having been buried for about three years the remains of the dead are exhumed and cleaned in order to pay tribute to them. Thereafter the bones are wrapped in tablecloths and stowed in a wooden box.

They offer different snorkeling tours. The full day Hol Chan tour is from 9 am. to 3 pm. (all other tour operators start later) and takes you to seven different places. You'll get to snorkel with sharks, rays, turtles, see pristine corals and a shipwreck and, if you are lucky, even manatees. The cost is US$ 65 for adults and 55 for kids under 12 and it includes lunch, water, fruit, fees, guides and free GoPro videos and photos. The only thing on the downside was that ‘lunch’ for most of the participants was just a burger (others got a filling lunch box; check that beforehand). Highly recommended!

Perfect place to spend the night before or after visiting the close by Cenotes. Friendly neighborhood, quiet night.

You cannot camp anymore at this place but it’s s not closed (tried to change the category from ‘Informal Campsite’ to ‘Tourist Attraction’). Opening hours are from 8 am. to 4 pm. daily. The entrance fee is MEX$ 80 pp for two cenotes (X-Batun and Dzonbakal).

There are hundreds of swallows living in this cenote flying all around and in and out in the morning and around dusk – an amazing spectacle!

What a magic place! One of our very favorites in this area!

It’s still open and it doesn’t look like being closed soon (maps.me takes you to a gate which is always closed). Nice enough to stay a night or two. Price still as quoted earlier (it’s per vehicle per night; check out time is 12:00 noon, if you are late they’ll charge you another night).
It’s a perfect place to park your vehicle while out on the islands. If you stay connected they charge the price for camping, if not it’s a mere BZ$ 5.something per night. A taxi to the seaport is BZ$ 20.

Celso and his wife will give you a warm welcome at their place in the charming little village of Red Bank. He is not only a knowledgeable guide for birding but he can tell you a lot about history of the place and nowadays living. She’s an excellent cook and sells beautiful handicrafts.
You can park your vehicle or pitch your tent in front of their house and use all their facilities. It’s free if you book a tour. In the early morning you’ll see Scarlet Macaws and many other tropical birds right from their terrace. Highly recommended!

It’s not luxury what this place is about but it’s about kinda Robinson Crusoe feeling, wind, waves and abundant marine life. You don’t even have to snorkel or to dive — you’re guaranteed to see large schools of bonefish, sting rays and even nurse sharks right from the shore. All that goes for a mere US$ 100 for a week including transport (camping your own tent).
The tiny little island is about 40 miles offshore and transport is in a small open boat — be prepared for a bumpy and wet ride. There’s drinking water for sale (US$ 2.50 per gallon) but other than that there’s no fresh water on the island. Washing is with brackish water from a well smelling like sulfur, facilities are very basic and hygienic standards are low. The catch of the day is sold for a reasonable price but you cannot be sure that there is any.
If you don’t care about such inconveniences this is your place! Highly recommended!

An office of the Insurance Corporation of Belize Ltd. (ICB) and Internet Café. Open daily from 7 am. to 9 pm.

Third party insurance is mandatory in Belize. This place closes at 5:30 pm. If you are late you’ll find another office about 2 km down the road (see entry there).

Entering Belize there are signs reading ‘Absolutely No!’, followed by a list of about anything you might bring, like any kind of drinks including sodas, cigarettes and fireworks ;) Nobody asked for any of these things though and inspection was just a quick look into our car without opening anything. At the final barrier we were asked for fruits and vegetables and as we admitted to have some we had to give anything away (including two of our eggs;).

This marker does not map any specific place but gives some general information about the road from Sabaneta to Cidabenque (a shortcut between the two arms of the CA-13). It’s an all-weather dirt road through a rural area without heavy traffic. It’s bumpy in parts but all in all in a good condition and suitable for about any vehicle. It might be partly slippery when wet but it doesn’t look like mud is likely to become a major problem even during or after heavy rain. We covered the whole distance of about 70 km in less than two hours (including some short brakes).

Booking directly by WhatsApp was much cheaper than through booking.com (see their website for details: http://fincatatin.com/).

Great place! Enough space for 20+ overlander rigs (but best when you are alone;))

The ‘Paseo en cayuco’ takes you into a beautiful canyon just about five minutes upstream. There you can leave the boat, walk through the water and climb over some rocks to reach a place where you can relax and swim in the river. You can stay there as long as you want to – they will pick you up to bring you back later. Nice little trip. On the other side of the river at the Balneario Tio Polo starts a footpath that takes you up all the way to the Centro Turístico Cañón Seacacar (see there for further information).

Nice place in a beautiful natural setting. We paid only Q15 pp to enter the property where you can swim and hike along the river to a small cave (no extra fee) and further on all the way down to the valley (the footpath meets the main road opposite of the Balneario de Boqueron). To drive there 4X4 is recommended, high clearance essential. It took us about 20 minutes to cover the 4.5 km from the main road.

Large, nice and very well kept place with a pool filled with crystal clear water from a creek. There are lots of palapas, tables and benches, a couple of BBQs, a children’s playground and a small bar. Cold outdoor shower (no soap allowed). There is WiFi and electricity where you could plug in but we didn’t check that. Quiet at night (except the road noise) but very busy on a Sunday afternoon. Paid Q50 for two people in a camper right at the pool (see picture).

There is nothing special at the marked point anymore. Trying to give you some general information about that road.
We did it on a sunny and warm Saturday (till two days before it had been raining for a couple of days in a row) in a modified Toyota Land Cruiser Station Wagon (3.2 tons) driving from Lanquín to the 7E close to Lanzós. The first 30 km to the lively town of Santa Maria Cohabán are suitable for about any vehicle and even paved partly but nevertheless it took us about 1.5 hours due to road works. Further on the road gets more narrow but public transport is still done by standard buses. Beyond the tiny village of Truila the road gets steeper, it’s washed out and quite rough in some places, and in others mud makes it feel good to sit in a 4X4 (public transport is in 4X4 trucks there). The 50 km from Santa Maria Cohabán to the 7E took us about 3 hours.
We are not sure what the previous post tries to explain but there are two points where our navigation system sent us the wrong way: About 12 km passed Lanquín Google Maps was wrong and about half the way from Truila to the main road maps.me pointed out the wrong direction. Ask locals if in doubt.
All in all it’s a very nice road and if you made it down to Semuc Champey you won’t have any problems there. Enjoy!

Even if you are not interested in a cave tour it’s well worth to visit this place. There is a beautiful footpath along the river leading to the place where the underground river comes back up and a nice pool in the river where you can swim safely. Entrance fee is Q10 pp.

Starting at dusk and continuing for about an hour (!) there is a steady stream of thousands upon thousands of small bats leaving the cave. What probably makes it less attractive than other bat viewing spots is the fact that they don’t come all at the same time. It’s best seen from inside the cave.

Good place, especially when you arrive late and when it’s raining. There’s a large, well lit, covered rest area with power outlets. The gas station is open from 4 am. to 10 pm. but there’s an armed guard on duty all night long. In the women’s restrooms there’s even a hot shower, the best one we had in five weeks traveling in Guatemala. Q50/vehicle.

Lanquín to Semuc Champey: We drove that road in a modified Toyota Land Cruiser Station Wagon (3.2 tons) after it had been raining a couple of days in a row. Mud was no issue as the underground is rocky. Slippery in some parts but all in all not a big deal. Wouldn’t recommend without 4X4 and a low gear box though (even locals use 4WD vehicles only). After all it’s still a beautiful road.

Really nice and well kept place in a beautiful natural setting. Very interesting guided tour (now also in English!) through a small forest with hundreds of different orchids. Still Q50 pp for the tour and Q20 pppn for camping (Q40 pp if you don’t book the tour).

Good place to camp at the edge of a small forest on the premises of a midrange hotel. Some footpaths to walk around but, other than at the Hacienda Ecológica Río Escondido close by, there is no primary forest anymore, and so it’s not nearly as nice (and comfortable) as that (but it only costs a third). By the way: there are plenty of similar options to camp in the immediate surroundings.
We asked for a hot shower but they didn’t allow us to use one of the bungalows.

It’s a quite fancy place in a beautiful natural setting. There now is a nice swimming pool overlooking the river. The sanitary facilities are spotless clean but still there are cold showers only. With a small or midsize rig you can drive down to the river where you’ll find a nice place to camp with your private palapa, which comes complete with a table and chairs, a hammock, light and power outlets, a water tap and a BBQ. Still no Wi-Fi but Claro 3G 3 bars. It’s a steep Q75 pppn now.