Placencia Peninsula

Getting Here and Around

Both Tropic Air and Maya Island Air fly from Belize City (BZ$159 one-way from the municipal airport, BZ$189 from the international airport) to Placencia. The airstrip is about 2 mi (3 km) north of the center of Placencia Village. A new international airport is under construction, funded in part by the owners of Maya Island, about 2 mi (3 km) northwest of the Placencia peninsula. Details on when the airport will open or the flights it will have are, as of this writing, only speculative.

By road, from the Southern Highway at Mile 22.2, it's about 8¼ mi (14 km) to Riversdale, 15¼ mi (26 km) to Maya Beach, 19 mi (31 km) to Seine Bight, and 25 mi (41 km) to Placencia Village. The road is partly paved, with completion set for late 2010. Ritchie's Bus Line has buses from Dangriga to Placencia at 11 am and 4:30 pm, and from Placencia to Dangriga at 5:45 am and 12:45 pm. The main bus stop in Placencia is in the village near the Shell station.

Since there's no point-to-point bus service on the peninsula, and taxis are expensive (BZ$50 one-way between Placencia Village and the Placencia hotel area at the northern end of the peninsula), a rental car can be handy. If you haven't rented one in Belize City, you can rent one locally. Currently there are two car rental agencies on the peninsula, Barefoot Rentals and a branch of Belize City's Hertz agency. Expect to pay BZ$150 and up per day for a rental.

Contacts

Barefoot Services (Main St., Placencia. 629/9602. www.barefootservicesbelize.com. Closed Sat.)

Jagz Car Rentals (604/7471 or 604/7471. www.genietravelbelize.com.)