We took a shuttle to Belize City from Tikal, Guatemala. I felt particularly successful as the contact we got from our beautiful Jungle Lodge Hotel in Tikal spoke only Spanish and I was able to make arrangements in another language (yea language school!). From there, they drove us to the border of Belize where we had to take our bags and walk across. Our second shuttle was waiting on the other side and took us to Belize City!
We spent three nights in Belize City, a cruise port where the ships anchor offshore so it’s either very busy and hectic or incredibly quiet (mostly quiet for us…). We did very little other than enjoy our hotel, the Harbour View Boutique Hotel & Wellness Retreat and especially the pool. The gorgeous sidewalk path by the ocean was perfect for walking (and running), and we walked all the way to see the casino. We went out to eat and particularly enjoyed the breakfast tacos at the lovely Treehouse Restaurant. Three days were plenty for us in Belize City, but I would like to return to check out some of the islands and diving in Belize!
From Belize City, we flew with Tropic Air in a small plane to Roatan, a Honduran island. We met a new friend, Meg, at the airport and enjoyed chatting over coffee while we all waited for the afternoon Dream Ferry to take us to Utila (an even smaller island)! Utila is known for scuba diving and we went to enjoy this with Kara and Kevin (our friends we met at Spanish school in Guatemala). Kara met us at the ferry and we walked to their apartment at the Sea Eye I Hotel. We enjoyed staying with them for a few days before their friend, Mike came to stay.
It was an adventure to rent our own apartment last minute (first time since college!) and we walked down Utila’s Main Street stopping at places with rental signs and visiting apartments. In the end, we enjoyed the Sea Eye I so much that we choose an apartment there too! In addition to being near our friends, the house kitties at the Sea Eye may have been a deciding factor, as was the view from the dock and nearby beach.
The restaurants of Utila were delicious, and we particularly enjoyed Gaga’s (pollo chuco), The Point (burgers), The Pelican (Thai), Josie’s (bagel sammies), The Local & The Gringa (baleadas), The Pink Flamingo (brunch), and beers at the Utila Brewing Company! Much of our time was spent scuba diving (Utila is known as a great place to learn to dive). We did some shore dives from Coral View Beach Resort and boat dives from Alton’s Dive Center. We (i.e. Kara) found a fishing tournament at the Utila Lodge Resort and Marina where we all enjoyed a beer and watching the measurements and trophies. One night, we partied at the Treetanic Bar (not regularly open) located inside the indescribable Jade Seahorse where you can stay at a cabin or tour the gardens!
The very best part of Utila were the amazing sunsets we enjoyed! Our biggest challenge were the no-see-ums leaving our legs with many (many) little red bites. Bug spray helps (important for mosquitos too) though near the end we were building up our resistance (many people eventually don’t react), but it’s a very itchy process.
From Utila, we headed back to Roatan using the Dream Ferry and stayed overnight at the beautiful Mr. Tucan Hotel to fly back to the USA the next day. We enjoyed a couple of restaurants in Roatan, but the most delightful was the delicious Sandy Buns, known for their amazing cinnamon buns (and big portions)!
Thanks for making it this far! Utila is such a fun place! We had the chill adult experience, but it’s also known for partying (or used to be, as I’ve heard it’s gotten a bit tame). But just a warning, if you come to Utila, you may never leave… (official song, music, and PARTY video here). Enjoy!