Make Your Next Trip Extraordinary

Our family of four (two parents, two college-aged daughters) had a second fantastic trip to Belize courtesy of Wendy Perrin’s WOW planner, Patricia. We first traveled to Belize in December of 2022, and decided we definitely needed to return again to this beautiful country with the friendliest people. So, the four of us visited the peninsula of Placencia during the second week of May, 2025.

Patricia was again very easy to work with. She understood what we wanted and crafted a trip for the four of us that mixed adventure and relaxation. We stayed at the beachside resort of Naia in a three-bedroom villa. It was beautiful and large, and we especially loved the private and secluded feeling on the beach and the outdoor showers in our villa. We split our down-time between lying on the chairs on our own private beach, playing beach games (ladderball and cornhole) and sunning by the resort pool.

Our older daughter had recently gotten SCUBA certified, so we planned two days for her and my husband to dive while my younger daughter and I snorkeled. Patricia booked both of those excursions. We also booked spa treatments, which I highly recommend, as Naia has a gorgeous spa.

We had several “highlights” to the trip. First, we did a walking food tour of Placencia. The food was amazing and we stopped at several hole-in-the-walls and local establishments that we never would have noticed on our own, and that we returned to on our remaining days. Our guide Peter was great at sharing his love of food as well as the history of the area and insights into the local culture. We also did a full day private catamaran sail to Moho Caye. That was AMAZING. Due to it being off-season, we had almost the whole caye to ourselves for swimming and snorkeling. Several rays and nurse sharks literally swam up within 2-3 feet of the shore. The catamaran and the crew were both fantastic, as was the lunch and the best rum punch we had while in Belize. Finally, we cashed in a “Wendy Perrin WOW Moment” that was absolutely fantastic. The head chef of Naia came to our villa to prepare a private dinner just for us, and while he was preparing dinner, a local cultural drumming group came and did an interactive performance, and let us try our hands at drumming as well. It was a truly memorable evening.

On both visits we’ve found so much to love about Belize. It’s relatively inexpensive, in terms of food and excursions. The people are amazingly friendly and we’ve always felt very safe. Outside of Belize City, there is very little crime, and a noticeable absence of the poverty and homelessness you see in many Carribean nations. And despite its small size, it has such varied landscapes and experiences, from rainforests and jungles to islands and beaches. We’re already thinking about going back to visit one of the wild cat reserves where we might see jaguars and other large cats.

The Naia resort was a fairly lengthy drive from the village of Placencia, but luckily the hotel offers a shuttle service. It is complimentary if you travel at set times offered by the hotel, or you can pay extra (about $20 each way, per family) to travel any other times. We rented a golf cart for one day, but determined it was just too long of a drive to the village for a golf cart, and we’d rather just take a shuttle. All to say, if you are planning to spend a lot of time going into the village, for bars, live music, or food, you’d likely be better off either renting a car or taking the hotel shuttle rather than renting a golf cart. The resort shuttle is also available to take you to the nearby grocery store, so we were able to stock up on some necessities like drinks and snacks.

All in all, I would recommend Patricia and her company! They plan great trips and are very good at communication, both before and during the trip. They checked in with us several times during our trip to make sure things were going as expected. And I’d also recommend trying Belize if you’ve never been there. I think it’s still a bit under the radar, but we’ve enjoyed it every bit as much as Costa Rica, the Virgin Islands, Mexico, etc.

Gail Severn cooking with locals in Belize.

Archaeological ruins and “warm encounters” with a local family were highlights of Belize.

When we encountered difficulties in trying to find special accommodations and convenient air connections for a spur of the moment trip for two to the Caribbean, we once again turned to Wendy Perrin for recommendations. Patricia and Rachael’s team were recommended and Belize was the suggested destination. Belize had not been on our radar, but after a brief call the prospects of warm Caribbean water coupled with Mayan archaeological sites won us over in a hurry. Patricia quickly came through with three recommended sites for our 12-day trip, and presented a choice of three possible accommodations at each site. After questions that further defined our tastes, they booked us and the trip was set.

After an easy connecting flight from Dallas to Belize City, we boarded an internal flight to Placencia. Upon arrival we were met by a representative from Francis Ford Coppola’s “Turtle Inn Resort” and whisked away to our seaside cabin under the palms. Our stop was well-planned to incorporate a private sailing charter with snorkeling on the barrier reef. Alas, high winds curtailed the open water sailing and snorkeling but Patricia and team pivoted us quickly to a sunset sail and manatee encounter. In addition, they arranged a three-hour “cultural experience” with a local indigenous Garifuna family. We cooked, laughed and even played some drums. The food, service and cabin at Turtle Inn were top notch.

After four nights we were picked up by Darryl, our driver and guide for the next four days, and driven to the Hidden Valley Wilderness Lodge for a completely different experience in the highlands of Belize. While there Darryl guided us through the Caracol ruins, explored a cave, and joined a Mayan family for another round of cooking and fellowship. The Hidden Valley staff went out of their way to treat us to special culinary experiences. The ruins and the warm encounter with the local family were highlights of our trip.

After another four nights we boarded and internal flight to the northern part of the coast and a stay at the Matachica Resort on Ambergris Caye. It was here that we got to enjoy snorkeling on the reef in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and immersed ourselves in lazy days. And once again the accommodations were a beachfront casita that perfectly matched our desires.

This was our second trip with a Wendy Perrin WOW List planner, the first being for a trip to Croatia and Slovenia in 2023. And we are about to book a trip to Japan with a third advisor. It goes without saying that the ease of using these carefully vetted travel experts has been a rewarding experience and we do not hesitate to recommend using them.

Nine days in Belize was magnificent and left our family of four wanting to explore Belize more.

We sought a trip with some scheduled activities, but mostly just relaxation. Having read reviews of sailing vacations in Belize on Wendy’s site, we were intrigued, having never done anything like that before. Wendy put us in touch with Rachel and Patricia, and they quickly organized a fantastic week for us.

We spent two nights at the gorgeous Sleeping Giant Lodge, near the middle of the country, as a base to explore the ATM caves. We spent one day in the caves with our excellent guide Darryl, and the next day, on the way to our sailboat, we spent a few hours inner tubing with Darryl through two other caves.

Our first night at Sleeping Giant, Wendy and her crew arranged for a WOW Moment, a cliff dining experience at sunset overlooking nearby valleys and mountains. I probably would not have scheduled something like that for us, which may have made it even more special. It was perfect. A beautiful night, a huge moon, delicious food, an extraordinary setting.

The ATM caves were all they are cracked up to be. Geologically, they are huge and stunning. It was a great adventure swimming and hiking through the underground network, but the ATM caves have the added bonus of being anthropologically important. They were a sacred Mayan site, and have relics left behind from ceremonies hundreds of years ago. Many of the bones and ceramics from that era are now calcified and have become part of the caves. A unique experience with a great guide.

The tubing trip the next day was also a blast. We had to hike a half hour or so up to the put-in site for the tubes. Along the way, Darryl pointed out a number of plants and animals, and also encouraged us to try eating a few termites. What flavor! Even our 12 and 14 year olds thrilled to the snack. A woody-minty-cardomomy-aromatic explosion of flavor. Once at the put-in, Darryl suggested walking about fifteen minutes farther so we could float through two caves instead of just one. Great idea. We had the first cave, maybe 30 minutes of calm drifting, all to ourselves. We spotted cave spiders and a few species of bats. If you go, do both caves.

Looking back on this part of the trip, if I did it again, I would have tried to spend another night or two at Sleeping Giant Lodge. It’s a beautiful property with all sorts of activities nearby. The food is great. The landscaping is stunning. A great hotel.

After tubing in the morning, we headed to the pier to meet our crew and boat. Patricia had a deal where if you booked a boat for four people, two others could come along free, so we had two friends whom we hadn’t seen in ages join us for the boat portion of the trip. Big surprise for our kids.

Our captain was Shane, who is from Placencia Belize and has 20+ yrs in the tourist industry. Our first mate was Hannah who has been working in Belize for 5+ yrs. We couldn’t have asked for a better crew. The perfect balance of service, hospitality, and making sure we were safe on board. Great people with whom it was fun to explore the reefs and islands of Belize. The boat was the Nowhere, a 50ft catamaran. It was clean and comfortable, with a number of places on deck to spread out and relax. Shane and Hannah looked out for our every desire and need. Hannah’s cooking and cocktails were out of this world, and she was kind enough to share a number of recipes. Every meal and each afternoon snack were truly delicious, and we even got to eat a number of fresh fish that Shane hauled in.

The star of the show is that corner of the Caribbean. I have never seen such clear ocean water in my life. We could see the bottom at 30ft deep and more. The visibility was spectacular. Shane knew where great reefs were for snorkeling, but also which part of every reef as best. With his guidance we visited numerous little islands, inhabited and uninhabited, each with a story to tell.

We ate conch, snapper, lion fish, hogfish, and more. We saw massive rays, innumerable reef fish, and dolphins. We even got to hand feed stingrays.

A great trip. We would all love to go back and see more of Belize. More Mayan ruins in the hills and more islands in the Belizean Caribbean.

Chris Kloes at a hot sauce tasting in Belize.

“We tried over 20 different products, ranging from mild to the Red Hornet, a seriously spicy sauce!”

Un-belize-able! My husband, myself, and our 13 year-old son had a wonderful Spring Break trip to Belize using a WOW List planner as our travel specialist. They helped us plan the trip from the get-go. We had an initial call with Rachel, who helped us think through the choice points in building an itinerary to maximize the 6 days we had available. We talked through wanting to have both a rainforest experience, and a beach experience. They suggested how we could divide our time and helped us think through the logistics of getting around in the country.

One quick insider tip—there is some ambiguity around what paperwork is required to enter Belize. Even though you can complete a paper entry form upon arrival, American Airlines would not allow us to board the plane from the US to Belize without proving that we had completed an online entry form. A very similar form is required upon departure. Our suggestion is it is best to complete the online form well in advance of going to the airport to depart from the US or return.

Upon arrival, we were picked up at the airport by our amazing guide, Josiah. He drove us to our first stop, near the Sleeping Giant rock formation. We stayed at a beautiful resort aptly named The Sleeping Giant Resort and Spa. This resort is beautiful and luxurious. It pulls off the feat of being small, with only 31 accommodations, but also being enormous, with over 400 acres of rainforest on property and many more acres adjacent. We loved the pool area, which was surrounded by bougainvillea and other gorgeous plants. We also loved our room (Creekside Villa), which was near the pool and the restaurants, but felt very private. It had high, vaulted ceilings and a local vibe. As promised, there was plenty of room for an additional bed in the room for our son. The food was very tasty, and the breakfasts were especially excellent. We had some excitement while we were there as a thunderstorm came through, even though it was the dry season. We sat out on our porch and watched the lightning over the rainforest. We did have an issue with the power going off from 4 a.m. until our departure time, due to an issue with the backup generator at the resort. The manager of the property was able to make some accommodations given the inconvenience, which we appreciated.

While at the Sleeping Giant, we went cave tubing. This experience was absolutely sensational—unlike any we’ve ever had. Josiah drove us to the national park where the cave is located, and turned us over to an excellent local guide named Anthony. We were very fortunate as we had the river and the cave completely to ourselves for 90% of our excursion. (When there are cruise ships that come to Belize, the caves can be very crowded.) We floated through magnificent caves in wide, comfy tubes, admiring the sparkling stalactites and stalagmites. The cave had lots of swallows and tiny bats, both of which were so fun to see. At the mid-point of our float, we were able to climb up the rocks and to look at some Mayan pottery and carvings left behind in the cave. There was also a cavern with a deep pool of beautiful water that we could jump into and have a private swim. It was truly magical!

Josiah picked us up the next morning for our next leg of the trip. In talking with him, he had heard that we love spicy food. So, he suggested a stop of the Marie Sharp hot sauce factory! We learned that Marie Sharp hot sauce is ubiquitous in Belize, available on almost every table. The factory was on the way to our next destination, and we had a great time. We tried over 20 different products, ranging from mild to the Red Hornet, a seriously spicy sauce! We also tried some local wines, made from different ingredients—blueberries, local vines, and even cashews. Finally, we had a tasty local lunch. We are so glad Josiah took us to visit Marie Sharp’s!

Our last destination was in Placencia, toward the Southern coast of Belize. Our travel planning team steered us to this destination over other beach locales, since we were looking for a local experience that was laid back and not looking for a party scene. We stayed at a Beach Villa at the Naia resort and couldn’t have been happier. The villa is a home, with 2 bedrooms, a full kitchen, a covered outdoor deck, a private pool, and immediate beach access. Service at the resort was terrific. We enjoyed our breakfasts each day. And, we were able to use the property’s bikes to cruise around and admire other houses on the property. The resort has a periodic shuttle to go into the town of Placencia, and we used one to go “into town” for dinner one evening at Wendy’s (which was excellent!), which worked out great.

While in Placencia, we had a ½ day of snorkeling on a private boat, which our team booked for us. It was a picture-perfect day and we loved how laid back the experience was. We boated for about 45 minutes and got to the Laughing Bird Caye National Park, a tiny island with amazing coral reefs. We snorkeled with our captain, who showed us all kinds of colorful fish and other sea creatures. The captain and his first mate grilled us some delicious chicken for lunch, with Marie Sharp hot sauce, of course!

We took a small commuter plane from Placencia back to Belize City for our trip home. This was an added insight from our team as we wouldn’t have thought that the short, 20-minute flight was possible. Our connection at the local Belize City airport was a cinch and the short plane ride made the day of our departure so much more enjoyable.

This is probably the 10th trip we’ve taken over the years using a travel specialist recommended by the Wendy Perrin team. We continue to be impressed with how a travel specialist can add value to an international trip. Our team did a great job and we would highly recommend them to others planning a Belize adventure.

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