Belize: English-speaking Caribbean With a Tiny Price Tag
From its Caribbean shores to its jungle interior, Belize has great natural beauty—blue water, deserted beaches, and inland retreats where you can explore Mayan ruins, tall waterfalls, rainforests, and rivers.
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View Belize in a larger map Fast Facts
View Belize in a larger map
Population: 314,522
Capital City: Belmopan
Climate: Tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to November); dry season (February to May)
Time Zone: GMT-6
Language: English, Spanish, Creole, Mayan dialects
Country Code: 501
Coastline: 386 km
Belize Articles
In a place where your dollar goes further… where today’s economic crisis is creating new opportunities… instead of taking them away.
Where costs of living, healthcare, and property are still affordable – like they once were in the US. And you can still live luxuriously… even hire a maid… on nothing more than your social security check.
Discover our top retirement destinations for 2012 at International Living’s Seventh Annual Ultimate Event.
In 2004—the day after returning from a sailing adventure in Placencia, Belize—Lucky made a routine trip to the doctor’s office. “His blood pressure was normal. The doctor was shocked,” says Erin. Belize was the reason. That helped focus the couple on a permanent move. They sat down and made out a five-year plan, developed a strict budget, and began downsizing.
Grab your bathing suit and flip flops (that’s all you’ll need) and head for Belize—the only country in Central America where English is the official language. Expats here report that the monthly cost of living in Belize, on average, is about $1,800 (about $60/day). In Belize you don’t need much…
Fresh air makes you hungry, of course. Just an hour south of Belmopan we stop for lunch. Beneath a giant open-air palapa we’re served more food than we can possibly eat…grilled shrimp and heaping mounds of the coconut rice and beans Belize is famous for. All this for $5 each—and washed down with deliciously cold Belikin beer.
It might be a palapa bar on a white-sand beach, deep-sea fishing tours, a restaurant, a surf shop, importing t-bone steaks, teaching English, making cheese, exporting art work…Whatever your idea, there’s a place overseas where you can make it a profitable reality. But readers ask us all the time: Where is best? That’s why we’ve put together International Living’s first-ever Business Index.
Here’s a round-up of events, trips and excursions to some of the most exotic parts of the world – which you can book a place on.
“I was a California business owner and completely stressed out by all the laws, regulations, and the failing economy. Plus, I had a dream of living in a different country that was culturally stimulating. Overall, I just didn’t feel in control of my destiny in the States, and I felt there must be a better way.” There was a better way, and Sharon found it in Belize.
Belize is the Caribbean’s last secret. The country should be heaving with North American tourists and residents. But the rich and famous seem to have the place mostly to themselves. When you realize how low the prices are here, you can see that almost anyone can afford a Caribbean beach house.
To evaluate our seven countries for our Business Index 2011 we consulted seasoned entrepreneurs who’ve made the move and learned the ropes, as well as worked through in-country attorneys. We asked them about visa requirements, financing, and how easy it was to set up a bank account. They told us about local taxes, business expenses, infrastructure and the local culture for doing business, Here is what they had to say…
For International Living’s first ever Business Index we asked our in-country correspondents and a host of expat entrepreneurs what opportunities they see around them in their new homes. These gaps in the market include everything from small guesthouses to dog grooming services… read on to spot your opportunity.
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Your own cottage on a quiet beach… a grand apartment in a city vibrant with concerts and cafes… a mountain villa where the air is crisp… a vineyard amid gently rolling hills… maybe a full-time maid… plenty of time and funds to travel…This fall, we’ll show you where you can make that dream your reality… for as little as $649 a month.
Ambergris Caye is by far the biggest tourist draw in Belize, with white sandy beaches, clear Caribbean waters, and a magnificent living reef just offshore that makes the island a fishing, snorkeling, and diving paradise.
Once you stroll Belize’s unspoiled beaches and explore the flora and fauna of its rainforests, you may become afflicted with what’s known as the “Belize Factor.” Simply put: you find that once you return home, you have an uncontrollable compulsion to return. Time and again …Perhaps even to stay.
For many folks, the drive down California’s Highway One epitomizes the road trip. The views are glorious. But it’s hardly the only stretch of road that’ll make you stop and stare. That’s why we asked our International Living editors to tell us about their favorite road trips. Here’s the list below, in no particular order of preference.
These new expatse have made the big move—now they call Belize, Mexico and Nicaragua home.
Here’s a round-up of some of the weird and wonderful events taking place across the globe this September.
Yvette Dalton was already looking for a new direction in life when a visit to her aunt in Belize set her on a new course. She liked Belize so much that she took a second vacation there later that year. “I met many new friends, experienced much of the country and decided this was where I should spend some of my lifetime.” Now she lives part-time in the Cayo district of Belize.
Once upon a time, Placencia, Belize was accessible only by boat, and the village was organized around what The Guinness Book of World Records hailed as the narrowest main street in the world.
International Living editors Dan Prescher and Suzan Haskins recently found this little gem of a restaurant on Ambergris Caye in Belize. Ambergris Caye is Belize’s most popular island and the restaurant is located south of San Pedro Town.
International Living editors Dan Prescher and Suzan Haskins have just returned from a two-week, in-depth exploration of Belize. They covered every inch of this English-speaking Caribbean playground, from the mountains to the mainland to the islands. From popular cayes to beautiful, low-cost alternatives. In fact, they’ve been coming to Belize for almost 20 years.
My wife Suzan and I had a chance to see more of Belize than we ever had before during our assignment there recently. One of the places we were especially impressed with was the Cayo district.
The graceful beauty of stingrays, multi-colored tropical fish, swaying sea grass, dawdling giant sea turtles…and yes, even the sand-papery skin of nurse sharks…are all part of the dive experience of Belize.
In this video, you’ll see the beautiful views from up in the hills in the Cayo district. Dan and Suzan are about to go and look at a property there and the video shows the view you’d have if you lived there.
My husband Bob and I were looking for a change. We wanted a slower pace of life, a cheaper cost of living. And we wanted to meet new people who shared our same sense of adventure. We found it all in Belize.
John and Pamela Solomon almost opened a restaurant in upstate New York…until they found a place that called their hearts…Placencia, Belize. Now their restaurant, Rumfish, is one of the most popular on the peninsula.
I hesitate to reveal how wonderful the little village of Placencia in southern Belize really is. If the secret gets out, then that may spoil what makes it so unique—its small town atmosphere.
Development on the Belizean island of Ambergris Caye is spreading north.
Stunningly beautiful, cheap and English-speaking…it’s no wonder Belize is drawing Americans in ever increasing numbers.
Although we’ve been traveling to Belize off and on for more than two decades now, it’s surprising how much we’re learning. Here are some things you may not know about Belize.
Paul and Kelly German had great lives back in Canada. But they found that Belize offered them a great lifestyle with a year-round summer and they could build their nest egg much faster than they could back home.
Scott and Nancy Rifenbark and their kids had a dream… to someday live and work in a tropical paradise. They found the answer to that dream faster than they thought…in Belize.
Summer…180 attendees…and 23 of my trusted contacts…have all arrived in Toronto for the International Real Estate Investment Forum. The exhibit hall is buzzing. It’s great to see so many of those green badges that are reserved for members of our little group.
It’s been energizing and informative to share ideas and experiences with those of you who have been able to make it. It has also been exciting to see so many RETA members connecting. At member-only events in the past, friendships have been made that turned into business relationships. That’s what happens when you pack a room with smart people chasing the same thing: Undervalued real estate opportunities.
Being raised in Mexico City and writing extensively about the Caribbean, and Belize in particular, has given Don a unique insight into the benefits of living abroad.
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In a place where your dollar goes further... where today's economic crisis is creating new opportunities... instead of taking them away.
Where costs of living, healthcare, and property are still affordable – like they once were in the US. And you can still live luxuriously... even hire a maid... on nothing more than your social security check.
Discover our top retirement destinations for 2012 at International Living’s Seventh Annual Ultimate Event.
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