By LAN SLUDER
Belize is a small country, but it offers an wide variety of environments in which to live. Here's a brief run-down on the main areas of potential interest for those thinking about living in Belize:
Here, in thumbnail sketches, are your
main choices for living, retiring and investing in Belize. In the chapters that
follow, we’ll explore in more detail the options in each of these areas,
including a closer look at what each area offers, the cost of living, price
and availability of real estate, examples of property for sale and rent and
other practical matters.
Northern Cayes
The two largest of the Northern Cayes are Ambergris (pronounced Am-BUR-griss
Key) and Caye Caulker, sometimes known as Caye Corker.
Ambergris Caye
Ambergris Caye is the most popular place for retirees and other expats to live
in Belize. It offers the beauty of the Caribbean in a fairly compact, accessible
package. You can dive, snorkel, swim and fish to your heart’s content.
San Pedro, Ambergris Caye’s only town, has Belize’s biggest selection
of restaurants and nightlife.
Island life, however, presents its own special set of pleasures and problems.
On Ambergris Caye, residents say island fever strikes from time to time. Most
residents go into Belize City regularly to conduct business, shop for items
not available on the island or to get dental care. Many expats take vacations
in the U.S., or long weekends in Cayo district or elsewhere in Belize.
While beachfront house and lot prices are no longer the bargain they once were,
they are cheap by U.S. coastal standards. You can buy a buildable beach lot
for US$40,000 and up, or build a small but pleasant seaside home for US$100,000.
Most of the island’s economy is focused on tourism. If you aren’t
busy selling real estate or running a hotel, the island offers some volunteer
opportunities. Some expats help out at the local library, or do church work
(the island has one Catholic church and several Protestant denominations). The
San Pedro chapter of the Lions Club is the island’s most active civic
organization. Its weekly barbecue on Saturday nights is delicious, cheap and
a fund-raiser for the group’s good works.
Caye Caulker
Ambergris Caye’s sister island is smaller and, if anything, even friendlier.
Residents here have managed to maintain close ownership of land on the island.
Lots and homes for public sale are only occasionally available. A few apartments
are for rent, starting at around US$300 a month.
Corozal in Northern Belize
Most visitors to Belize either never get to Corozal or pass through quickly
en route somewhere else. But Corozal Town and nearby Consejo village offer a
lot for those staying awhile: low prices, friendly people, a generally low-crime
environment, the beautiful blue water of Corozal Bay and the extra plus of having
Mexico next door for shopping. There’s even a new Wal Mart in Chetumal,
just across the border.
Corozal is one of the undiscovered jewels of Belize. There’s not a lot
to do, but it’s a great place to do it. The Sugar Coast – sugarcane
is a main agricultural crop here as it is in Orange Walk district – is
a place to slow down, relax and enjoy life. The climate is appealing, with less
rain than almost anywhere else in Belize, and fishing is excellent. The sunny
disposition of residents – Mestizos, Creoles, Maya, Chinese, East Indians
and even North Americans – is infectious.
Real estate costs in Corozal are among the lowest in Belize. Modern North American-style
homes with three or four bedrooms in Corozal Town or Consejo Shores go for US$75,000
to around US$200,000, but Belizean-style homes start at less than US$25,000.
Waterfront lots are available for US$50,000 or less, and big lots with water
views are US$10,000-$25,000. Rentals are relatively inexpensive – US$100-$300
for a nice Belizean-style house or US$300-$800 for a modern American-style house.
Rural Orange Walk District in Northern Belize
Orange Walk Town — the name came from the orange groves in the area —
could be any number of towns in Mexico. There’s a formal plaza, and the
town hall is called the Palacio Municipal. The businesses and houses along the
main drag — Queen Victoria Avenue or the Belize-Corozal Road — have
barred windows, and some of the hotels and bars are in fact brothels. In this
setting, conservative Mennonites from Shipyard who come to town to sell produce
look strangely out of place.
However, Orange Walk Town is a gateway to a magical area of Belize — the
wide sky, fertile land and unpeopled forests of Belize’s northwest shoulder,
pressed against the Guatemala border.
Cayo District in Western Belize
Cayo has a lot going for it: wide open spaces, cheap land, few bugs and friendly
people. This might be the place to buy a few acres and grow oranges. The major
towns are San Ignacio/Santa Elena, with a population of about 13,000, about
10 miles from the Guatemala border, and Belmopan, the sleepy capital of Belize,
with a population of around 8,000.
Agriculture, ranching and, increasingly, tourism are the major industries here.
About 20 years ago, the first small jungle lodges began operation around San
Ignacio. Now there is a flourishing mix of hotels, cottages and jungle lodges
near San Ignacio and in the Mountain Pine Ridge, along with a lot of natural
attractions and outdoor activities – canoeing, caving, hiking, horseback
riding, to name a few. The country’s most accessible Maya ruins are here,
as well as Caracol, in its heyday a larger city-state than Tikal.
Between Belize City and San Ignacio, Belmopan is the downsized capital of Belize,
but the attractions are in the surrounding countryside. The Belize Zoo is here,
as are several excellent jungle lodges. Along the scenic Hummingbird Highway
are barely explored caves, wild rivers and national park areas. Small farms
are available for US$20,000-$50,000.
Placencia on the Southern Coast
You’ll love Placencia if you’re looking for a little bit of the
South Pacific in Central America. Placencia has the best beaches on the mainland,
and it’s an appealing seaside alternative to the bustle of Ambergris Caye.
This peninsula in southern Belize has some 16 miles of beachfront along the
Caribbean, a backside lagoon where manatees are frequently seen, two small villages,
a few dozen hotels and restaurants and an increasing number of expatriates and
foreign-owned homes.
In recent years, the Placencia peninsula has been undergoing a boom, a boom
that was slowed only by Hurricane Iris in 2001. Building lots have been sold
by the score to foreigners who think they’d someday like to live by the
sea. Seafront real estate costs are higher in Placencia than anywhere else in
Belize, except Ambergris Caye. Beachfront lots cost US$1,500 to $2,000 per front
foot, making a seaside lot around US$80,000 or more. Lots on the lagoon or canal
are less expensive. There is little North American-style housing available for
sale or rent, and most expatriates are building their own homes, with building
costs ranging US$45-$85 or more per square foot, depending on type of construction.
Hopkins on the Southern Coast
On the southern coast of Belize in Stann Creek District between Dangriga and
Placencia, Hopkins today is what Placencia was like just a decade or so ago.
Expatriates are moving to Hopkins, a friendly Garifuna village that got telephones
only in the mid-1990s, and to real estate developments nearby. New small seaside
hotels are going up in Hopkins and Sittee Point. Although at times the sand
flies can eat you alive here, you can get in some excellent fishing and beach
time, with day trips to the nearby Cockscomb jaguar reserve and boat trips to
the reef. You’ll love Hopkins if Placencia is too developed for you.
Punta Gorda in Southern Belize
Rainy, beautiful and remote, Punta Gorda in far southern Belize is the jumping-off
point for unspoiled Maya villages and for onward travel to Guatemala and Honduras.
Over the next few years as paving of the Southern Highway to Punta Gorda is
completed and the road is extended into Guatemala, this area is expected to
take off, both in terms of tourism and as a place for expatriate living. “PG,”
as it’s known, is Toledo District’s only population center, with
about 4,500 people, mostly Garifuna, Maya and immigrants from Guatemala. Maya
villages, hardly changed for centuries, are located around PG. Cayes and the
south end of the barrier reef offer good snorkeling and fishing. Lumbering and
fishing are about the only industries.
Undeveloped land is inexpensive, with acreage beginning at a couple of hundred
dollars an acre. Few North American-style homes are for sale. Quality rentals
are expensive due to demand from missionaries and lack of supply.
Private Islands
The days of buying your own private island for a song are long gone, but if
you have money to burn and the willingness to rebuild after the next hurricane,
one of Belize’s remote islands could be yours, beginning at about US$75,000
and going up to several million. Developers also are selling lots, starting
at US$15,000, on Long Caye and a few other small cayes.
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