This is our top 6 excursions in Placencia based on our guest requests:
Diving the great Belize Barrier Reef
Placencia is the springboard to some of the best diving in Belize, if not the world! Beneath the turquoise waters of Placencia, Belize is an underwater world that exceeds every other Caribbean dive destination in diversity, size and scope. Extending over 185 miles north to south, the Belize Barrier Reef system is the greatest stretch of coral in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest barrier reef in the world.
Snorkeling the great Belize Barrier Reef
You probably have been to an aquarium and have seen all those bright beautiful tropical fish. Well it is time to snorkel the Belize Barrier Reef and join them in their world! Enter the glorious waters of the Caribbean Sea. View the coral gardens and witness the myriad of rainbow colors found on the reef. Gently swim along with the trumpet fish, angelfish, damselfish, rays and beautiful parrotfish. Watch them dart in and out of the abundant and colorful coral reefs.
Visiting the ATM Cave ( Actun Tunichil Muknal)
Actun Tunichil Muknal or (Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre) was a sacred place to the prehistoric Maya of Belize, who first began to conduct their ceremonies during the later terminal classic period (700-900AD). The cave was named after the sacrificial chamber within the cave where the most famous of the human remains, known as “The Crystal Maiden” was found. This is a skeleton of a teenage girl, probably a sacrifice victim, whose bones have been completely covered by the natural processes of the cave, leaving them with a sparkling appearance.
Exploring Nim Li Punit Maya Ruins
Nim Li Punit was built in the Late Classic Period and is one of the smaller Maya sites –located half a mile off the Southern Highway.The name Nim Li Punit is derived from a carving on one of the site’s twenty six stelae, which depicts a figure wearing a large headdress. In the Maya Kekchi language, Nim li Punit means “the big hat.” The monument on which this carving appears is the longest stela in Belize (Stela 14), originally located in an area called Plaza of the Stelae.
Touring Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
The Jaguar Preserve, established in 1990, is world renowned for being the first jaguar reserve and situated within the shadows of the Maya mountains. This “one of a kind” reserve was established as a result of jaguar studies conducted in the area by Alan Rabinowitz in 1984 to 1986. The Cockscomb Basin encompasses some 100,000 acres of tropical forest, rising from 300 to 3,675 ft. at the summit of Mt. Victoria.
The sleepy Creole village of Monkey River Town is located 12 miles south west of Placencia Village. The Monkey River drains both the Bladen and Swasey watersheds, now under protective status. Wide sandy beaches stretch out along the entrance of the river. Monkey River is not just a village or town, but also home to the Black Howler Monkey, alouatta pigra, which are also known in Belize as the “baboon”. They are also the largest monkey in the country and one of the largest in the Americas.
