RECOMMENDED HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

Belize has about 3,400 guest rooms in some 300 hotels, ranging from tiny guest houses to modern hotels. The following list of recommended hotels is NOT by any means complete, but these are some that have been found to be visitor-friendly and offer good value in the price category. Hotels of special note, due to excellent value, friendly owners, attractive style or special Belizean charm are highlighted with a #. If your favorite hotel is missing, write to us and complain! Price range: A (over US$100 double); B (US$50 to $100 double); C (under US$50 double). Rates are for typical rooms without meals (though breakfast may be included), may vary by season or with specials, and are subject to change.

BELIZE CITY (800 hotel rooms): #Belize Biltmore Plaza/Best Western, A; Ramada Royal Reef, A; #Radisson Ft. George, A; Chateau Caribbean, B; #Four Fort Street Guesthouse, B; Bellevue Hotel, B; #Colton House, C; Glenthorne Manor, C; Hotel Mopan, C.

CAYO DISTRICT (600 hotel rooms): #Chaa Creek Cottages, A; #Hidden Valley Inn, A; #duPlooy's, A; #Blancaneaux Lodge, A; #Banana Bank Ranch, B; #Maya Mountain Lodge, B; #Mountain Equestrian Trails (M.E.T.), B; #Windy Hill Cottages, B; #Hotel San Ignacio, B; #Ek'Tun, B; Bull Frog Inn, B; #Nabitunich, B; #Parrot's Nest, C; Las Casitas, C; #Venus Hotel, C.

AMBERGRIS CAYE (900 hotel rooms): #Victoria House, A; #Belize Yacht Club, A; #Captain Morgan's Retreat, A; Journey's End, A; Ramon's Village, A; Paradise Resort, A; #Paradise Villas, A; Sun Breeze, A; Rock's Inn, A; #Caribbean Villas, B; Spindrift Hotel, B; Barrier Reef, B; #Ruby's, C.

CAYE CAULKER (300 hotel rooms): #Tropical Paradise, B/C; Rainbow Hotel, C; #Vega's Far Inn, C; Shirley's Guest House, C; #Jimenez's Caba–as, C; #Sea Beezzz Guest House.

OTHER CAYES: #St. George's Lodge, St. George Caye, A; #Blackbird Caye Resort, Turneffe Islands, A; Turneffe Island Lodge, Caye Bokel, A; #Lighthouse Reef Resort, Lighthouse Reef, A; #Spanish Bay Resort, Spanish Lookout Caye, A; #Manta Reef Resort, Southwest Caye, A; Blue Marlin Lodge, South Water Caye, A; Reef's End, Tobacco Caye, B; Cottage Colony, St. George's Caye, B; Reef's End, Tobacco Caye, B; #Glover's Atoll Resort, Long Caye, C.

PLACENCIA: (140 hotel rooms): #Rum Point Inn, A; #Kitty's Place, B; #Turtle Inn, B; Singing Sands, B; Ran's, C; #Nautical Inn, B

COCKSCOMB NATURE RESERVE: #Dormitory Cabins, C.

PUNTA GORDA: #Fallen Stones Butterfly Ranch, A; #Nature's Way Guest House, C.

NORTH OF BELIZE CITY: #Maruba Resort, near Altun Ha, A; #Chan Chich Lodge, Chan Chich, A; #Chau Hiix Lodge, Crooked Tree, A; Crooked Tree Resort, Crooked Tree, B; #Lamanai Outpost, Lamanai, B; Adventure Inn, Consejo Shores, B; Hotel Los Cocos, Chetumal, B; Blue Heron Cove, Sarteneja, C.

Restaurants

One doesn't come to Belize for gourmet dining, and prices are higher for meals here than most other places in Central America, as Belize imports much of its food. The following restaurants offer good food and in many cases in attractive settings. Only those generally open to the public, and not just to lodge or resort guests, are included. Note that a good cook can move on without notice, so double-check locally.

Belize City: Four Fort Street Guest House: Chateau Caribbean; Radisson Fort George; Mom's; Macy's.

Ambergris Caye: Elvi's Kitchen; Estelle's; Mary Ellen's; Pizza Place; Lily's; Jade Garden; Celi's; Ambergris Delight; Barrier Reef Hotel.

Caye Caulker: Tropical Paradise; Sand Box; Fisherman's Wharf; Marin's Restaurant; Martinez Caribbean Inn; I & I

Placencia: Tentacles; Kitty's; Jene's; Rum Point Inn

Punta Gorda: Traveller's Inn.

CARIBBEAN COAST BOOKS, MAPS AND OTHER INFORMATION

How to Travel, Live or Retire in Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico & elsewhere on the Caribbean Coast

-BEST MAPS WE'VE SEEN

TRAVELLER'S REFERENCE MAPS published by ITMP in Vancouver, Canada, are the best maps we've found to the region.

M-1 Belize Map, 1:350,000 scale $6.95
M-2 Costa Rica Map, 1:500,000 scale $6.95
M-3 Guatemala/Salvador Map, 1:500,000 scale $8.95
M-4 Yucatan Peninsula Map, 1:1,000,000 scale $6.95
M-5 Central America Map, 1:1,800,000 scale $7.95

Other Maps

M-6 Ambergris Caye, OS, 1:50,000 scale, $10.95
M-7 Honduras & Centro America, Texaco, 1:600,000, $7.95
M-8 Playas Caribe (Beaches) Cancun area, 1:150,000, $6.95
M-9 Driver's Guide to Belize, by Emory King, mile-by- mile guide, with maps, to all the main roads in Belize. New. A MUST for do-it-your-self trips in Belize. 60 pp., $12

GREAT GUIDEBOOKS

Of the scores of guides available, these are our No. 1 picks.

G-1 New Key to Costa Rica, by Beatrice Blake and Anne Becher, Ulysses Press, 1994, 189 pp. Lots of local perspective, improved and refined over many editions, superb! $14.95

G-2 Central America by Chicken Bus, by Vivien Lougheed, Prince George, 1993, 500 pp. Covers budget travel in all of Central America. Published in Canada, not widely available in U.S. $15.95

G-3 Belize Guide, by Paul Glassman, Open Road Publishing, 1994, 318 pp. Completely revamped and revised new edition. Take this baby with you! Good maps, excellent research. $13.95

G-4 Belize Handbook, by Chicki Mallan, Moon Publications, 1993, 264 pp. Like all of the Moon Handbooks, this one is of high quality,dependable, with good maps and information. $13.95

G-5 Belize, A Natural Destination, by Richard Mahler and Steele Wotkyns, John Muir Publications, 1993, 310 pp. The best ecoguide to Belize. $16.95

G-6 The Rough Guide to Guatemala & Belize, by Mark Whatmore and Peter Eltringham, Rough Guides, 1993, 485 pp. The favorite of guidebook authors! $14.95

G-7 Honduras Guide, by Paul Glassman, J.-P. Panet & Leah Hart. Open Road Publishing, 1994. The best guide to Honduras and the Bay Islands. $13.95

G-8 The People's Guide to Mexico, by Carl Franz, John Muir Publications, 1992, 588 pp. More than a guide book -- it's a classic. Fun to read, invaluable in helping you understand and enjoy Mexico. $18.95

G-9 Guatemala, Belize & the Yucat‡n La Ruta Maya, by Tom Brosnahan, Lonely Planet, 2nd ed., 1994, 568 pp. A must for anyone with an interest in Maya sites. $16.95

G-10 Adventure Guide to Belize, by Harry Pariser, Hunter, new 3rd edition. Superb, up-to-date. $14.95

G-11 Costa Rica Handbook, by Christopher Baker, Moon Publications, 1994, 576 pp. The most-comprehensive and up- to-date guide to the country. $17.95

RETIREMENT GUIDES

R-1 Choose Costa Rica by John Howells, Gateway Books, new edition 1994, 252 pp. What you need to know to retire or live in wonderful Costa Rica. Also covers Guatemala. $13.95

R-2 Choose Mexico by John Howells, Gateway Books, 1994, 252 pp. How to live well on $800 a month -- more than 160,000 copies sold. $11.95

R-3 Belize Retirement Guide by Bill and Claire Gray, Preview Publishing, 1994, 170 pp. New edition of this guide to Ňliving in a tropical paradise for $350 a month. - Color and B&W photos. $19.95 (Note: Publication of this new edition has been delayed several times and is now expected out in early 1995.)

R-4 Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica by Christopher Howard and Lambert James, C.R. Books, 1994, 168 pp. Much-improved new edition with helpful local information. $13.95

BACK ISSUES OF BELIZE FIRST

B-1 Back issue of Belize First magazine, Vol. I, No. 2. Features on Ambergris Caye, the Cayo District, real estate listings & more. Collector's item. 64 pp. $8

B-2 Back issue of Belize First magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1. Features on Mayan ruins of Caracol, Lamanai, Xunantunich and Altun Ha, vignette of old British Honduras, real estate listings, Quik Guide to Belize & more. 64 pp. $7

B-3 Back issue of Belize First magazine, Vol. 2, No. 2. Can you retire to Belize on $800 a month? Packed with information on living in Belize. 64 pp. $7

B-4 One-year subscription to Belize First (5 issues), plus free color road map of Belize. $29 in the U.S., Canada, Belize and Mexico, $39 elsewhere.

NOTE: These hard-to-get maps, books and other publications are available from several sources, including Equator Travel Publications' mail order division. For more information, please contact Lan Sluder at BZEFIRST@aol.com on the Internet.

POPULATION:
240,000+ (including refugees from Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala) -- note that the population of the entire country is about the same as a small city in the U.S.

LARGEST CITY:
Belize City, population 60,000+

LAND AREA:
8,866 square miles, about the size of the state of New Hampshire

NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL VISITORS:
225,000 annually, of which about 110,000 are from the U.S., Canada and Europe, most of the rest being border crossings from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras

MAIN VISITOR DESTINATIONS:
More than one-half of international visitors go to the cayes (pronounced keys), primarily Ambergris. The other typical visitor destination is the Cayo District, with its jungle lodges and Mayan ruins. Tour operators often refer to these two destinations as "Surf and Turf." Other areas which get significant numbers of international visitors are Placencia and Belize City. Less-touristed areas of Belize include the Toledo District around Punta Gorda, north around Corozol and some of the 200 little known islands off the Belize coast.

TOP THINGS TO SEE:
The Mayan ruins at Caracol, Lamanai, Altun Ha, Xunantunich, Cahal Pech and elsewhere. Among nature preserves and parks, Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Preserve, Community Baboon Sanctuary, Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize Zoo, Shipstern Nature Preserve, Rio Bravo Conservation area, Mountain Pine Ridge, Blue Hole National Park, Hol Chan Marine Preserve and the barrier reef and atolls in the Caribbean Sea are exceptional.

Belize will NOT appeal much to those who are interested in shopping, golf, gourmet cuisine, sophisticated nightlife, or the social whirl.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE:
English, but with increasing legal and illegal immigration from other Central America countries, Spanish is becoming a first language in several areas. Some Belizeans use a Creole patois which is not easy for outsiders to understand. Mayan dialects and Garifuna also are spoken.

TIME:
Same as US Central Standard Time (Greenwich Mean Time minus 6). Daylight Savings Time is not observed.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:
Valid passport required for everyone. Birth certificates will NOT suffice. Visitors from the U.S., Canada and most other countries do NOT need visas. Entry is normally for 30 days, with extensions up to a total of six months possible.

TELEPHONE:
The Belize telephone system is one of the best in the region. International calls are expensive -- about US$1.60 per minute for direct dialed calls to North America. To call Belize from the U.S. or Canada, dial 011- 501 and the local number. You should drop the first 0 in the local number.

ELECTRICITY:
Same as in the U.S. and Canada, 110 volts AC. You can plug in your U.S.-made appliances in most areas with no problem. Some hotels not on a power grid generate their own power, which is DC.

CURRENCY:
Belizean dollar, fixed at 2 Belize dollars to 1 U.S. dollar. Belizean dollars are usually abbreviated BZE$ or BZ$. You can exchange money at banks, and a bank currency exchange office is located the international airport in Belize City. The U.S. dollar is widely accepted, and many U.S. travelers do not exchange money.

WEATHER:
Belize has a mostly sub-tropical climate, somewhat similar in temperature to that of Central and South Florida. Temperatures nationwide are typically in the high 60s to mid-90s F, cooler in the mountains.

There is a "wet season" and a "dry season," the exact periods of which vary depending on the part of the country. In the north, the most rain is from September to November. In the extreme south, it is wet much of the year, from April to December or January, and 150 inches of rain a year is not uncommon. In most cases, rain storms are intense but brief, and you can enjoy outdoors Belize even in the rainy season. Hurricanes are a potential threat from July to November. Severe hurricanes have hit Belize about once every two decades. Late spring through mid summer are the times when the water has the highest visibility for diving and snorkeling

MEDIA:
Until a few years ago, Belize was one of the few countries on earth without local TV. Now there are two Belize TV stations, with mostly U.S. rebroadcast. U.S. and Mexican TV is available via cable or satellite. Belize operates two government-sponsored radio stations, Radio One on FM, AM and shortwave, and Friends FM at 88.9 FM. KREM is a privately owned station. Some programs are in English, some in Spanish.

Newspapers in Belize are lively but don't always follow the journalistic approaches you may be familiar with. The Reporter is the best-looking paper, moderate, independent and generally informative. Visitors to Ambergris will enjoy the San Pedro Sun. The People's Pulse is the official organ of the United Democratic Party, and the Belize Times is the official paper of the People's United Party. Advocacy in these papers is not limited to just the editorial page. Amandala has something of a left- wing/pro-Creole slant and claims to have the highest circulation of any Belize paper. All of these are weeklies, as Belize does not have a daily newspaper.

In addition to Belize First, several other magazines are published about Belize, most directed to a foreign audience, and mostly struggling to survive, including Belize Magazine, with lots of pretty pictures. The Miami Herald and a few other foreign publications are available in Belize City and San Pedro at high prices. (Note: When coming to Belize, don't throw away the papers and magazines you were reading on the plane -- these will be appreciated at your hotel, since foreign publications are expensive and hard to get.)

INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES SERVING BELIZE:
American, Continental and TACA and all fly to Belize from the U.S., with gateways including Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Washington, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Lowest fares range from around $300 to $700 round-trip, depending on gateway and time of year. Aviateca, Aerovias, Taesa and AreoBelize provide service to and from Guatemala and Mexico. Charters fly from Toronto and several large U.S. cities, especially in the winter. Several small airlines including Island Air, Tropic Air and Maya Airways provide internal service.

FORM OF GOVERNMENT:
Belize, until 1973 known as British Honduras, is a parliamentary democracy and, like Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth. The country has a tradition of democracy and free elections. The most-recent national election, in June 1993, saw the United Democratic Party's Manuel Esquivel regain the post of prime minister that he lost in 1989 to People's United Party veteran leader George Price. Both parties are fairly moderate, with the UDP being considered somewhat more conservative and pro-U.S.

HEALTH:
The water is safe to drink in most areas, and the standard of health care and hygiene is among the highest in the region, though not up to U.S. standards. Malaria, dengue fever, cholera and other diseases are present in some parts of Belize, as they are in most of the tropical and sub-tropical world. AIDS is not yet as widespread in Belize as it is in the United States and in some other countries, but it could become so, through IV drug use and unprotected sex.

No inoculations are required for entry to Belize. Anti- malarial treatment is advised if you are spending time in the jungle, especially in the south. Mefloquine (trade name Larium) is often prescribed. Hepatitis A and B inoculations are also sometimes advised for long-term stays. Tetanus, diphtheria, typhoid, and polio immunizations may also be advisable. Ask your health professional.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES:
100% foreign ownership of Belize companies is permitted, although the government encourages Belizean participation. Tax abatements and holidays are available. Investment is especially sought in agriculture. Products must be exportable, as the home market is small. There are also opportunities in tourism.

The International Business Company (IBC) Act of 1990 and the Trust Act of 1992 were passed, in part, to increase foreign investment in Belize. These laws are supposed to protect investments in Belize from either appropriation or taxation. IBCs do not pay income taxes and do not file income or dividend statements with Belize or other governments. Shareholders are not identified. The track record of companies established under these new laws is not yet established.

The legal system of Belize, like that of the U.S, derives from English common law, where innocence is presumed.

PURCHASING PROPERTY:
Non-Belizeans CAN buy property in Belize. Purchases of 10 acres or less outside cities or one-half acre or less within cities requires no special approval. There is a land transfer tax of 8% for non- Belizeans and 5% for Belizeans, typically paid by the purchaser. Attorneys fees and other closing costs runs to several percent of the sales prices. Property taxes are 1 to 1.5% of value annually, higher in cities. There are NO capital gains taxes in Belize. Income is taxed only if derived in Belize. You should work with a knowledgeable attorney or other adviser in Belize to assure that title and other papers are sound.

REQUIREMENTS FOR RESIDENCY:
Belize "welcomes immigrants who are in a position to come here and establish themselves without government assistance for ... agricultural purposes, either on a small holding or a plantation basis, industrial development or sponsored employment by established commercial organizations" says the Belize Immigration and Nationality Service. Immigrants must have a medical exam, provide evidence of good character through police reports for all places of residence since age 16, and show evidence that funds are available to finance the proposed undertaking. Foreign nationals wanting only to open a shop, store or restaurant are not likely to be approved. Some ex-pats avoid red tape by living in Belize as tourists for up to six months, then leaving briefly and returning for another six months.

COST OF LIVING:
Belize can be surprisingly expensive, especially if you try to live in a U.S. or European style. Because so much is imported, the Belizean market is small and inefficient, and import taxes are high, many items purchased in Belize, such as appliances, cars and supermarket items, cost twice what they would in the U.S. There are no Wal-Marts or McDonalds in Belize! Labor is cheap (a day's wages for a housekeeper might be US$7) but many of the most-skilled workers have left Belize for higher-paying jobs in the U.S. or Britain. Still, if you live closer to the Belizean style, the country can be affordable, especially outside of Ambergris Caye and Belize City.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
For tourism information, contact the Belize Tourist Board at 421 Seventh Ave. S.W. 701, New York, NY 10001, tel. 212-563-6011 or 800-624-0686 , fax 212-563-6033. Or, in Belize City at 83 North Front Street, P.O. Box 325, Belize City, Belize, Central America, tel. 501-2-77213, fax 501-2-77490. For information on residency and investment, contact the Belize Embassy, 2535 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, tel. 202-332- 9636, fax 202-332-6741. Subscribers to BELIZE FIRST may contact the magazine for expert advice.

Belize First Home Page