Our Visit To Belize and San Ignacio
Visiting San Ignacio wasn’t on my radar a few years ago when I planned to take my daughter Julia on a scuba diving adventure to Belize.
Belize is known for its fantastic scuba diving, beach towns, the second largest barrier reef in the world and only mins from shore on a dive boat, and of course, the wonderful sea life, But it has other gems that sometimes take a back seat. They have some of the best, lush countrysides, rivers, and caves I have ever seen, with history and ancient ruins of long-lost civilizations that give you cause to pause and wonder.
It took us 3 years before we could actually make the trip thanks to a work schedule delay and then, of course, Covid 19 and airline scheduling cancellations, and country lockdowns.
However, in November 2021 my daughter and I made it to Belize. We went straight from the Belize airport, Philip S.W. Goldson International directly to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, making almost daily boat dive trips out to the reef with Neptunes Cove Dive Shop. We had a fantastic time and over 11 days on both Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker Julia and I logged 15 dives. Julia had never done any tropical diving and the experience for her was amazing. Clear, warm water teeming with sea life that we never got tired of seeing. It was everything I, and we hoped for and worth the wait.
Now if that was all we did it would have been a great trip and we would have been satisfied for sure. But after spending time with Jeff and his wife Chelsea, the owners of Neptunes Cove dive shop, we learn about San Ignacio and the Cayo district. Julia had asked Chelsea about where the Mayan Ruins were in relation to where we were and also had asked if there was any place to go horseback riding, something that she and I have done on numerous occasions on other vacations. Chelsea had a wealth of knowledge and told Julia that we could do a horseback trip to the Mayan Ruins in San Ignacio, in the Cayo District 2 hours northwest of Belize City.
That was all the information Julia needed to start planning our second adventure in Belize. I was reluctant, worried about time and distance, but my daughter can be very persuasive, and I am glad she was. We had finished all the scuba diving we had planned to do, (actually we did more than we planned) and we had a few days before our return to Canada, Julia went on Airbnb to look for accommodations and found Ev’s Place in San Ignacio. A day later we were on a fast boat to Belize Harbour, and then a 2-hour mini-bus to get to Ev’s Place.
San Ignacio is a small city near the Guatemala border, in a near paradise-like setting. The staff at Ev’s place took great care of us, made us feel welcome, and went out of their way to make sure we had a great experience, including a personal tour of downtown.
While in San Ignacio we did the horseback tour to the Xunantunich Mayan Ruins, which was mesmerizing, a must-see if you visit Belize, We visited the Iguana Sanctuary, which was so cool, We went tubing through 2kms of river and cave system, zipped lined in the Jungle and visited the weekend market in town. Our side trip to San Ignacio turned a really good trip to Belize into a fantastic vacation with memories to last a father and a daughter a lifetime.
Ev’s Place was super comfortable, modern, spacious, and affordable. The people of San Ignacio, Ambergris Caye, and Caye Caulker were wonderful and warm welcoming people.
If you are thinking of a trip to Belize, just do it. But make sure you include a trip to San Ignacio, I know Ev’s Place would love to host you.
