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Heading east from San Ignacio you pass the tiny Belizean capital of Belmopan before joining the Hummingbird Highway that reaches south to the coast.

The road is the most beautiful in the country, meandering through lush subtropical forests and huge plantations of citrus and banana.

Along the way

It is possible to break your journey at the surprisingly impressive Belize Zoo or the Blue Hole National Park, where you can cool off in a beautiful natural swimming hole.

Along the coast you find the quaint fishing villages of Hopkins and Dangriga and a further 48 kilometers south, Placencia.

The beaches down here are not of the white sand variety but there are some lovely places to stay where you can simply relax by the pool, with the spectacular outer coral reefs, and their superb snorkeling and scuba-diving, just a boat trip away.

Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary

This is also the jumping-off point for visiting Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, which offers fantastic walking among pristine jungle, beautiful waterfalls, rivers and streams.

The elusive jaguar is rarely seen but if you visit early in the day you have the prospect of seeing a multitude of bird species, deer, tapirs, coatis, and if you are lucky, pumas and ocelots.

Placencia Lagoon

If it’s manatees you seek, take a boat trip out to Placencia Lagoon where in the shallow waters you can spot these unique creatures coming to the surface to breathe.

Close to Placencia, Gladden Spit is one of the few places in the world that snorkelers and divers can encounter the magnificent whale sharks, which commonly visit during the full moon periods of April and May.