Maya Beach

Dusty in dry weather and a muddy slop after rains, the largely dirt road that runs 25 mi (41 km) from the Southern Highway to Placencia Village is the only artery down the peninsula. Beginning at Riversdale—about 8½ mi (14 km) from the Southern Highway, at the elbow where the peninsula joins the mainland—you'll get a quick glimpse through mangroves of the startlingly blue Caribbean. As you go south, the Placencia Lagoon is on your right, and behind it in the distance rise the low Maya Mountains. On your left, a few hundred feet away, beyond the remaining mangroves and a narrow band of beach, is the sea.

The northern peninsula from Riversdale south to Maya Beach, which is about 7 mi (12 km) south of Riversdale, once had just a few small seaside houses, and Maya Beach was a sleepy beach community. Now, "For Sale" signs dot the roadside, supersized beach mansions are going up, and several new condominium communities and resorts are open or are being planned. These new resorts and condo developments join a small group of laid-back seaside hotels and cabins.

Traveling from Riversdale to Maya Beach to Seine Bight and Placencia, you'll find no clear delineation between one area and another. Even local residents may not be entirely sure exactly where one community ends and another begins.

If you stay at the northern end of the peninsula, you may want a rental car because public transportation is limited to an on-again, off-again shuttle and a few buses bound to or from Dangriga. Taxis are expensive (about BZ$50 to Placencia village from Riversdale, and BZ$40 from Maya Beach).