Unbelizeable! Hopkins Bay, Belize | Motherhood Unplugged

The Hopkins Bay hotel is ideally situated on the edge of Belize in a village called Garifuna, in real Belize. If you are open to experiencing the island while living amongst the locals and being immersed in the culture then welcome home. My travel buddy and I traveled to Belize in September of 2018. I booked the trip via bookit.com, one of my go to travel sites. This was our first time in Belize and traveling to Central America. The island is magically beautiful in its raw state. I loved being surrounded by all of the greenery, mountains and most of all the beautiful ocean. I have traveled to other 'third world' countries but this experience was unlike any other as Hopkins is very much in its original and native state. There is lots of vegetation, geckos and iguanas galore. The jaguars still roam the jungles and the crabs walk along the sidewalk with you.

I traveled to Belize for my 1st momcation and I must say I fell in love with Belize + my free time alone. Our weekend excursion was packed filled with lots of fun. Upon arrival at the Belize International airport we learned that the taxi to the hotel was a 2.5 hour drive. We had planned to book a shuttle via bookit but thought we could find one less expensive upon arrival. The taxi to the hotel from the airport was $225 per trip! When the driver told us the price we almost fell off the bench. Say what! He explained that the cost of gas there is $11.20/gallon and the drive is almost 3 hours so they charge $225 USD. I'm always a skeptic when haggling with taxi's because I feel they always inflate the price and I was exactly right, I negotiated him down to $200 or $100 per person. On the way home we paid $75 per person instead. The drive to the hotel in a private cab was quite fun after we got over the jitters of having no wifi and seeing all the signs warning against children sex trafficking. We were taken on the scenic route and were able to see the beautiful mountain ranges, farm lands with cows, horses and sheep freely roaming about as well as the locals living their lives. The taxi driver also took us to the grocery store so we could buy some snacks. He acted like a father figure guiding us on the lingo and the currency exchange rate, which is about 50%, 1 Belize dollar is .50 USD. I had never shopped in a local village market while traveling to other countries before so this was a unique experience. The driver gave us a history lesson and answered all of my questions including one about all of those child sex trafficking signs we saw at the airport. He claimed to not know of that being an issue but I'd beg to differ. He told us that the age of consent there is 16 years old and a story of his friend who is in 70's with a 17 year old girlfriend! I'm sure its true love though (side eye).

We arrived to the hotel and checked into the reception house. I viewed the hotel previously online but was taken aback that we were really in the local village. Most hotels I've been to in DR and Mexico were also close to the town but they were located in a hotel zone so you didn't get the real feeling of being amongst the locals. This was a different experience for both of us but one I totally embraced. I learned that Belize was so affordable and in it's native state from watching The Bucketlist Family's trip there. On our first day, we took advantage of the free bicycles they have available and rode around the town. This was so much fun. Firstly, I haven't been on a bike since I was a teen so it took a few minutes to regain my balance lol The feeling of riding a bike, in Belize, was so liberating and exhilarating. There were local dogs wandering all about but they never chased us or barked either. We rode past the locals who all were very friendly and waved hello. Later that evening, we went back to our room after eating at one of the resorts restaurants. We made a plans for the following day to go snorkeling, one of the reasons I wanted to go in the first place.

Day 2 was the most fun of all. We set out early that morning to go on our tour with Belize Dive. The trip started off with a taxi ride to the dive shop. We were fitted for our dive gear and then set off to the dock to await the speedboat. The view on the dock was amazing. There were only 7 passengers plus the boat crew which was nice, I like intimate affairs when it comes to trips and excursions. The ride on the speedboat felt like a roller coaster. I joked with my friend stating that I need a sports bra on because my boobs were bounding up and down like we were doing a high impact sport! I've been on a speedboat in St. Lucia and had a similar experience, the smaller boats always have more turbulence and you tend to feel every single bump or wave. It was a good time though and the crew were full of jokes! The first stop was to drop off one of the passengers who was taking a day trip to the private island of Coco Plum. When we pulled up I couldn't believe how beautiful and secluded it was just floating in the middle of the ocean surrounded by turquoise water. Amazing!

The next stop was to drop off the snorkelers. We were taken to the Belize Barrier Reef where we explored for about 45 minutes with Hansel, our guide. He was very knowledgeable of all things Belizean as a native and could even free dive holding his breath for 20 minutes at a time. I was so impressed. The first location didn't have as many fish and sea creatures as the second so I was kind of bummed but after going to the second location where we saw a sea turtle, barracuda, sting ray, scorpion fish and lots of others I was in heaven. In total, our open water time was about 90 minutes and we also were taken to another private island, which was under construction for lunch. The lunch was fresh fruit from Hansel's farm plus the most delicious banana bread. This fruit was FRESH not that stuff you get from grocery store at home. I could eat like that every single day. The divers were dropped off twice as well, both in locations I could not have found as they seemed to just plunge into the middle of the ocean lol The cost of the trip was $110 USD pp and worth every single penny. I tipped the crew upon arriving back at the dive shop and we were taken back to our hotel. This was definitely the highlight of the weekend and I was even inspired to get my dive license after going snorkeling in Belize. There is a shop near my home that offers an intro class for only $25 to see if you like the experience of diving. I'm definitely going to that class very soon and will tell you guys all about it.

The remainder of the trip was all about eating. Later that evening, we ventured into town to eat at a local restaurant called Ella's Cool Spot. We were told by some of the other divers that her food was bomb so we had to try it. We took a taxi to the spot and sat outside on their benches while people watching. There was even a basketball court across the street full of teens and young adults hanging out and it reminded me of being back in the South Bronx. I'm a vegetarian/pescatarian but I wanted to try this famous chicken served here. I ordered 4 wings and although it was good my stomach disagreed with the meat so I gave the other 3 to my friend Crystal. I ordered lobster, plantain chips with a small salad. The lobster was great! I prefer fried soft plantains but the chips hit the spot. Afterwards, we walked next door to the grocery store to get snacks for the airport trip the following day. We also went to a local giftshop where I picked up a magnet, one of my traditions, as well as two braided bracelets for my kids. I bought my husband a 'straight outta belize' tshirt from the airport.

Overall, my trip to Belize was amazing. I wouldn't have changed anything besides knowing beforehand the cost of the airport transfer but that was something I could have controlled, everything else was super! The alternative to the $225 USD taxi would have been to take a short flight from Belize International to the other airport, Dangriga, which would have run another $120 USD per flight plus a taxi to the hotel from there. Our taxi from Belize International ended up the less expensive option but perhaps next time I'll do the puddle jumper to Dangriga to have the experience of flying in one of those private jets. Belize is also in close proximity to Mexico + Guatemala so you can easily and affordably take a day trip to either location while on vacay in Belize.

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I am the founder of, Moms Travel Tribe, an inclusive tribe of traveling mamas. Join us on our first momcation. The moms surveyed all voted for either Belize or Bali. We are in the planning stages now so follow us on Insta so you don't miss the opportunity to fly with us!

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