Placencia

Placencia is lush, flat, and, culturally speaking, less Spanish and more Afro-Caribbean. The main city in the is Dangriga, which is about 99 miles southeast of Belmopan, the capital. However, Placencia draws more tourists, because it's a beautiful fishing village with beaches, white sand, and resorts. It's located in a perfect, sheltered bay with clear blue water and miles of white sand framed by palm trees. It was founded by pirates but today a wonderful mix of people live here. The cockscomb Range is just to the west, and primitive cayes are just offshore along the reef. The Mayan ruins of Lubantuun are nearby, and Placencia has some of the best sportfishing in the world.

The town is tiny tiny tiny, so small maybe it's not a town at all. There is no main street but just a path then ends in a field, and along the way cottages on stilts with flowers everywhere. There are small inns and cafes on this path, too. Hurricane Iris barrelled through in 2001, but you can hardly tell today.

Be sure to do some fly fishing on the flats if you're in town and you like fishing. There are tarpon, permit, bonefish and snook. Hotels will have information on charter guides for you. Diving from Placencia, not so good. The reef is further away from the coast down here, like 20 miles, and there are fewer cuts in the reef, so it takes longer to get out to the reef, and it's therefore more expensive. Also, there aren't the spectacular cliff walls in the reef as there are further north in Belize's reef. However, the larger resorts will arrange dive trips for you. Expect to pay more than in other parts of Belize.

Dangriga

Dangriga is the largest town in the area, with a population of 8.800. The Garifuna live here, a population of Black Caribs who are descended from a group of shipwrecked Nigerian slaves. The slaves intermingled with the Caribs, the indiginous population of St. Vincent's, the island where the slaves first landed. The following years of intermarriage resulted in a new culture, the Garifuna. They were scorned by the ruling British, and they took sides with the French against the British in conflicts in the area. They were deported from St. Vincent's by the British and landed in Belize, where they made homes in Dangriga. Their religion is a mix of ancestor worship and catholicism. They have their own language, complete with separate male and female dialects. They encourage their children to marry within the group. The United Nations has designated Garifuna as a World Heritage culture. There's really not much to see in Dangriga, but on November 19 there's Garifuna Settlement Day if you're in the area at that time.

Hopkins is a Garifuna village located 10 miles south of Dangriga on a dirt road. There are beautiful beaches and some new resorts.