You can really blow a lot of money on any vacation by taking excursions every day, going to expensive dinners every night-but realistically, most of us need to find at least SOME fun and cheap Placencia activities to do on the “off days.” Some people are OK with lounging by the pool or beach for days, but others want to do adventures, so here are some ideas you can use! I recommend taking at least a couple excursions, but you can have a very fulfilling and meaningful vacation doing these too! (note, I used some googled stock photos so credit for some of these pics goes to the internet )
1.) Rent a bike! You can rent them at Captain Jak’s (northern village on the main street). We offer bike usage to guests for free as well. So what do you do when you bike around? Some ideas:
-bike down to the pier and watch the fishing boats
-have a picnic on the MANY beaches-stop at street food stands and farmer’s markets, where you can eat very cheaply
-bike up to Mariposa and have a drink during happy hour-they have a pool and good specials!
-for the adventurous-bike all the way to Maya Beach–bring your own snorkel gear, or rent it from the gas station down by the pier–you can snorkel off of Maya Breeze, or further south, at Los Porticos. You can see a bunch of coral and fish!
-You can also bike to Maya Breeze and rent a kayak for cheap, and kayak to False Caye–a 30 minute paddle and you can see amazing underwater life!
-Bike to Belize Ocean Club, where you can hang out at their pool, paddleboard or kayak off their beach for free-just buy a couple drinks at their awesome bar 🙂
-Bike to Seine Bight and visit the Goss chocolate factory-right by Blue Crab Beach
2.) Fishing- if you bring your own pole, you can fish anywhere you choose, and if you take your fish to JD’s, they will cook it for you. If you stay with us, we have a beach barbecue you can use for free! You can also talk to the fishermen at the pier and get fish from them too 🙂
3.) Visit Sunset Point behind the soccer field…you can walk out on the dock and get an amazing view of the sunset….see here!
4.) If you can stomach taking the bus-take the bus to the Inland Blue Hole-this is a turquoise hole where you can swim, you can hike, this is a really great cheap thrill!
5.) Happy hours at Tipsy Tuna and Barefoot Bar–the scenery can’t be beat….beachfront comfortable chairs where you can chill out and people watch….always something entertaining to see!
6.) Yoli’s on Friday night….there is music and great specials, this is a highlight for most people!
7.) Lunch delivery–I mention this a lot….get lunch delivered to your door, HUGE portion….for $5 US! You can try all the local food and not really leave your chair.
8.) At Caribbean Beach Cabanas, we have snorkel equipment, floats, palapas, beach chairs, etc that come with your room. I would recommend staying at a place that offers this kind of amenity because it allows you to have a couple very fun and free days. A SUPER FUN thing we do frequently is to snorkel out and collect shells and coral, which are also great souvenirs 🙂
9:) Speaking of souvenirs–do yourself a favor–visit any grocery store and buy a bunch of small bottles of hot sauce for people back home–less than a dollar and it is very local and fun present 🙂 Other ideas–small jars of guava/mango/habanero/banana/coconut jellies, which are a couple bucks.
10.) Go on a dolphin watch–ask around when you are here–there are times of year where you can almost swim with them right off shore!
So, what do you think of our Fun and Cheap Placencia activities?
In other news, we are finally on Trip Advisor, and thanks to some internet magic, we are rated #14 of 24 specialty places in Placencia! The more good reviews we get the higher our rating so come on down! 🙂
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g291977-d6954263-Reviews-Caribbean_Beach_Cabanas_of_Placencia-Placencia_Stann_Creek.html
We are also now on VRBO-
https://www.vrbo.com/613065