Placencia
Sixteen mile long 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. 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.
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. 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 spearguns for binoculars and dive gear, using their local knowledge to guide tourists. Placencia is well known for it’s 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, acording to the “Guinness Book of World Records.” A number of village accommodations, restaurants/bars, and gift shops are located along the walkway. From Placencia many Nature Attractions include exploring the Monkey River, traveling 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 wouldn’t be complete without a boat ride out to the Cayes for some Diving or Snorkeling off Belize’s pristine and uncrowded Barrier Reef…. or just stretch out and relax in a hammock on a white sandy beach. The hardest thing to do might be to choose your next activity.
