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On your way to Placencia, Belize for vacation? Here are some gorgeous images from around the village!

Remax Vip Belize : On your way to Placencia, Belize for vacation
Get more excited for your vacation (or take a break from looking at snow) by checking out some of our images below, these are mostly taken from the pier walking on Main Street…
Thank you Breeanna!! https://www.breeannakayphotography.com

The pier…the most southern tip of the peninsula…some really cute shops and great people watching!
Remax Vip Belize: The pier...the most southern tip of the peninsula
 On the right is Above Grounds coffee house, a great second floor balcony to people watch. You’ll feel like you are in a treehouse.
Remax Vip Belize: Coffee house, a great second floor balcony
 Mojo, another great second floor people-watching fun time…..Fridays they have a great Happy Hour 5-6:30…often there is live music on the balcony
Remax Vip Belize: Mojo, another great second floor people-watching fun time.
 One of the farmer’s markets in town, the produce is sold at these stands – not the grocery stores
Remax Vip Belize: Farmer's markets in town
 A Placencia favorite…the second floor balcony at Rumfish
Remax Vip Belize: A Placencia favorite...the second floor balcony at Rumfish
 Another farmer stand
Remax Vip Belize: Farmer stand
 Omar’s – great place for local food, or they will cook your fish for you!
Remax Vip Belize: Omar's - great place for local food
 There are several great spa/massage places you’ll see all through town!
Remax Vip Belize: Tree of Life
It is always fun to see the random vehicles that you don’t see in the US or Canada – driving around town in a golf cart, Indian/Chinese trucks, and Scooby Doo looking vans!
Remax Vip Belize: Indian/Chinese trucks, and Scooby Doo
 Tutti Frutti….everyone’s favorite stop
Remax Vip Belize: Tutti Frutti
 Main Street will give you a feel for a Central American village, whereas the sidewalk makes you feel like you are on the perfect Caribbean vacation…
Remax Vip Belize: Central American village
More to come! 🙂
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Remaxvipbelize : Beach Nature
Over the years, we have learned a ton from our own travel, and the questions and problems guests have had in getting here. Here are the top 10 tips we’ve learned on how to navigate the Belize airport and regional jet system like a pro!1.) Tropic and Maya Island Air –
The most popular method of travel around Belize, is to take one of Belize’s regional planes (“puddle jumpers”) from the Belize International Airport (BZE) to the village airports (in our case, Placencia). You can pre-book this flight by going to www.tropicair.com, or www.mayaislandair.com. The flights are scheduled throughout the day to most larger villages. The flight is only 40 minutes long to Placencia, and once you’re away from the mainland, the water turns beautiful shades of blue and turquoise. It is like an excursion in itself!

Remaxvipbelize - Our own travel
tropicair.com

2.) Make it fun! Ask the pilot if you can sit in the co-pilot seat – they will let you if you ask. The right side of the plane shows you the Maya Mountains, the lagoon, and across the mainland. The left side shows you spectacular views of the Caribbean Sea – get your camera out!

Remaxvipbelize -Co-pilot seat
tropicair.com

3.) Money saving tip!!!! Laurie, “Taco Girl”- a great blogger from San Pedro, provides (for free) the most up to date code for 10% off your Tropic Air flight. You can enter your email here – you’ll get the code immediately – and no spam email. https://tacogirl.com/flights-to-belize/.

4.) How much time should I leave between flights? What is the airport like?
We recommend leaving at least 75-90 minutes between your incoming flight and your puddle jumper flight. Please note that the airlines still recommend 2-3 hours in between. As there is always a chance of delays, please schedule what makes you comfortable. If you breeze through customs and immigration, they will put you on an earlier flight. How to ensure you get through immigrations/customs as quickly as possible? Read on!

5.) Expert Tip!!!! International flights deplane from front AND back at BZE – you really want to try to be one of the first off, as this will get you in the front of the line for immigration – this makes a big difference! (and don’t dawdle…walk fast – don’t run people down, but move stealthily through the crowd.) We recommend you book in the last few rows or as close to the front as you can, but avoid the middle of the plane. When you get off the plane (all planes deplane right on the runway, total old-school, exotic fun!) you’ll go through Immigration and Customs, and then after collecting your bags (see notes on immigration and customs below), you will proceed to the Tropic Air/Maya Island Air counter, to check in for your flight to Placencia (or wherever.) If you breeze through Immigration and Customs, you may be bumped up to an earlier Tropic or Maya Air flight. No worries, this happens often, ask the desk to call your hotel or ride (CBC is 622-4142) and let them/us know you got on an earlier flight, so they/we can be there to pick you up.

Remaxvipbelize - San Pedro
dickieville.com

6.) Immigration – After getting off the plane have your passport and Arrival Form (they give it to you on the plane) available to go through Immigration. As noted above, try to sit at the front or back of the plane, not the middle, to get off the plane first. Immigration is pretty straightforward, and you just need to get your passport stamped. You then pick up your bags…BUT FIRST…

6.) **MONEY SAVING TIP! Before you leave the baggage claim area to head to customs (the baggage claim duty free store is the only place you can buy duty free at arrival in BZE, to take with you for your vacation – the others are in the main waiting area, and for taking back OUT of the country when you are leaving). After you are in the baggage claim area look around and you’ll see a store called “Arrival Duty Free”. This is not your typical duty free store where you buy wine or perfume, etc, when you leave; this store is for buying when you arrive in Belize – they have the very best prices. If want to enjoy any of the name brand liquors like Bombay Gin, Johnny Walker Scotch, Stoli Vodka or any of the others, make sure you buy those liquors here at this store. Because of the high import tax, these same liquors will cost twice as much in Belize (local rum, beer, vodka are relatively inexpensive.)**If you buy duty free, as you head towards customs, you will have to get in the line for “Declaring” items. On to Customs….

Remaxvipbelize passport and Arrival Form
sanpedroscoop.com

7.) Customs – When you are on your way in, on the airplane, you’ll get a Customs form, along with the Immigration form, to fill out. They basically want to know if you are bringing in things to sell, or anything that will be left in the country (for example, we have to declare items we bring in to use at the resort, like a lighting fixture or household item.) You are allowed to have your personal items and these do not have to be declared. Unless you go to the duty free shop at the airport, and you just have normal tourist things in your suitcase, don’t declare anything. There is a line for those who are declaring and those who are not. They don’t look in your bags in the latter group; once in a while they will spot check, but for common items, even expensive ones like cameras that are for personal use – this is a very common item and shouldn’t raise any red flags. You can get through quickly if you are not declaring anything. The officer may direct you to the line to get your bags checked, but again this is pretty low stress. Your personal items are allowed duty free in Belize. There is an import allowance of 200 cigarettes, or 1/2 pound of tobacco goods, 20 ounces of alcohol and one bottle of personal perfume. For other questions regarding customs, please check: https://www.customs.gov.bz/

Remaxvipbelize - BZE waiting area
BZE waiting area – totally exotic! ambergriscaye.com

8.) Please note our time difference. We occasionally have had a guest get mixed up about the time change. Belize is on Central Standard time but they do not have Daylight Savings Time. One of the common ways people get screwed up is if they use Google calendar, which will record your flight times in your local time, unless you change your settings. When you are booking your puddle jumper, this will be on Belize time, so keep those times straight!

9.) If you get stuck at the airport, please keep note of hotels around the area that are to your taste. For example, the airlines like to put people up at Global Village hotel. Nothing against them, but note that you may want to check out all your options and make your own choices – everyone has a different tolerance for location/aesthetics etc. It doesn’t hurt to have a back up plan! Also note – there are better food options than ever before at BZE – they changed the carb-happy old cafe, to a 1st rate grab and go sandwich place, with salads and sandwiches – and there is a stand with Chinese food (they also have salads and Belize food) – but if you are a picky eater, this is not a first world waiting area – you might be stuck eating cashews and bottled water. Oh, there is also a bar with just hot dogs :))

10.) One of the best back up plans we’ve come up with, if you come in to BZE too late to make a puddle jumper, or you miss your flight and have to stay, but want an adventure…. The Belize Zoo is about 45 min away from the airport. Here is the website: https://www.belizezoo.org/accommodation/accommodations.html

Remaxvipbelize - Chaacreek
chaacreek.com

The Zoo is well known as one of the most unique experiences you can have here; it is not a regular zoo. You only need about an hour or two to get through it. You can spend the night at or near the zoo- even go to the zoo in the morning, then drive down/take a shuttle/taxi back to the airport and puddle jumper, down to us….I highly recommend it! The zoo accommodations are quite rustic but might be a good story. 🙂 San Pedro Scoop is a very popular blogger and wrote a funny post about staying at the zoo to give you an idea what to expect:
https://www.sanpedroscoop.com/2014/11/night-tour-belize-zoo-overnight-lodging.html
There is also a guesthouse nearby and you can see that link lower on the Zoo page. Alternatively, you could drive to many hotels in Belize City, and just come down to us, but I highly recommend the zoo for a memorable experience. Hotels in Belize City – I would recommend NOT staying right by the airport, driving just a bit, as you can have a night of an experience/memorable adventure at some really unique places. Here are some rather close to BZE:

Remaxvipbelize - Cool Caribbean house
https://www.greathousebelize.com/ – cool Caribbean house
Remaxvipbelize - Casino in the heart of Belize City
https://princessbelize.com/ – Casino in the heart of Belize City
Overall, I have been seriously impressed by my experiences with BZE and the puddle jumpers. They are friendly, safe, efficient, and pretty consistent. The experience is just exotic enough that you will really feel like you are doing something before you even start your vacation 🙂
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Driving directions from San Ignacio to Placencia, Belize – specifically to Caribbean Beach Cabanas!

Remax Vip Belize: Yoga
I always like to start with this LINK to what it’s like to drive in Belize!San Ignacio is a little trickier than smaller villages in Belize – but follow the signs to the Western Highway. You can go on either bridge, as you can see on the right of this map. You can see the road marked Western on the far right. (Thanks Cahel Pech for map!)

Remax Vip Belize: Driving directions from San Ignacio to Placencia
A couple gratuitous pics of San Ignacio, or what you’ll be driving in, in the heart of the village.
Remax Vip Belize: A couple gratuitous pics of San Ignacio
awaywego.com
Remax Vip Belize: Heart of the village
lonelyplanet.com
Follow the Western highway headed east, towards Belmopan. You will turn right onto Hummingbird highway. Hummingbird Highway is by far the prettiest part of the drive. You will wind through hills and towns, up and over bluffs, and through the Mayan mountains.

Remax Vip Belize: Mayan mountains
You will see a lot of this, keep your camera out! calltoactionmedia.com

As you approach Dangriga, you will see a Shell Gas station on your right. The turn off of the Hummingbird Highway and onto the “Southern Highway” is just ahead. Turn Right onto the Southern Highway. You should see signs for “Punta Gorda” and/or “Placencia”.

Follow the Southern Highway for about 35 minutes, and then you’ll approach a round-a-bout. Here, follow the signs to Placencia. It’s the “left turn” in the round-a-bout. You are now on the road to the Peninsula.

Remax Vip Belize: Southern Highway
A lot of this view on the Southern…belizeexpertise.wordpress.com

There are no turns off of this road, just lots and lots of speed “humps.” The only “turn” that appears is a turn off to Riversdale. Don’t make that left, but rather stay on the road to Placencia. After you drive through Maya Beach and the somewhat rough looking (but relatively safe) village of Seine Bight, you will be closer to the tip of the peninsula, where the village is.

After you pass Turtle Inn on the left, and Chabil Mar, you will soon see an orange grocery store called Top Value. Just seconds after you pass Top Value, you will see signs on the left that say Caribbean Beach Cabanas as well as Casa Palma and Heaven’s Gate. Turn left there.

As you pull toward the beach, you will see our sign and a welcome gate-pull up right in front and enter our welcome gate!!

Two points:

—The total drive can take from 2 ½ hours to 3 ½ hours. The speed humps, traffic and familiarity with turns and roads can greatly affect your drive. If you are able to feel patient and enjoy the drive – it’s very pretty.

—If you put the drive into Google Maps – it may take you through unpaved roads. These can be treacherous. It can be done, but because it’s a dirt road, it will unlikely save you time, but definitely cause you headaches.

As always, give us a call at 622 4142 if you have any problems on the way!

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Post renovation and ready for high season at CBC!!

Remax Vip Belize : Post renovation and ready for high season at CBC
We are thrilled to have reopened, including our brand new Villas! If you are headed here, enjoy these images of the renovations to our units, the new pool and tiki area, and grounds!!
Renovations on Cabanas: new doors, new roofs, all new paint inside and put, new tile floors, upgraded cushions, new hammock, new art and kitchenware, renovated kitchen and upgrades to all decor, brand new spa baths! Note guests enjoy luxury robes, resort beach towels, and welcome basket with lots of complimentary gifts 🙂

Remax Vip Belize: Our brand new Villas!
Remax Vip Belize: Renovate to bedroom
Remax Vip Belize: new Kitchen
Remax Vip Belize: renovate Kitchen sink
Remax Vip Belize: new curtain
Remax Vip Belize: new hammcok
Remax Vip Belize: New Kitchen Utensils
Remax Vip Belize: New Table
Remax Vip Belize: New Loan
Remax Vip Belize: new chair and cushion
Remax Vip Belize: new roof
Remax Vip Belize: New Bedsheet
New Villas! Villa Playa and Villa Mar are exceptional….Mexican-style Villas with wraparound lower veranda overlooking pool, with hammock and adirondack chairs, modern, sleek beach furnishings, and rooftop decks with cushioned loungers, and bar table with palapa umbrella!
Remax Vip Belize: Mexican-style Villas with wraparound lower veranda
Remax Vip Belize: resort beach towels
Remax Vip Belize: Paint in walls
Remax Vip Belize: New Chair and Cushion
Remax Vip Belize: Villa Playa
Remax Vip Belize: Villa Playa
Remax Vip Belize: Renovations on Cabanas
Remax Vip Belize: New Cabanas Coffee area
Remax Vip Belize: Villa mar
Remax Vip Belize: New Chair And Hammcok
Remax Vip Belize: Beach outside area

New look as you walk through CBC…

Remax Vip Belize: you walk through CBC
ALL NEW tropical pool and tiki area….under that pool palapa, sits a bar table with a gas grill and kitchen area – open to guests & stools in and out of the pool – even a swing!
Remax Vip Belize: tropical pool and tiki area
Remax Vip Belize: tropical pool and tiki area
Remax Vip Belize: tiki area under that pool palapa
Remax Vip Belize: tiki area

New areas around CBC…..check in area, tubes, new coconut area to get your complimentary coconut drinks fresh off the tree, and there is so much more!!

Remax Vip Belize: New areas around CBC check in area
Remax Vip Belize: tubes
Remax Vip Belize: Coconut Station
Remax Vip Belize: Drinks fresh off the tree
Remax Vip Belize: Palm Tree
This…..
Remax Vip Belize: Villa Playa outside view
Used to look like THIS!!!!
Remax Vip Belize: Villa Playa park nature