A 16 mile long dirt and aggregate road threads southward through the ribbon of mangrove and barrier beach that separates the coastal lagoon from the Caribbean Sea. The coastal town of Riverside anchors the northernmost end of the peninsula as it meanders through the towns of Maya Beach and Seine Bight and opens eventually into Placencia Village proper as its southernmost point. The peninsula is referred to in the tourist industry as the “Jewel of Belize” for its superior beaches, the unspoiled natural beauty of its sea, lagoon and mountainscapes and unbelievably tranquil lifestyle. Placencia Village is the heart of the peninsula.

Unlike their more fractious Bucanneer ancestors of the mid 1650s, today’s Villagers are predominantly warm and welcoming English speaking descendants of Creole fishermen who permanently settled this area in the early 19th century. Placencia had been the site of a Mayan fishing village in ancient times. Beginning in 1862 with the formal accession of this area as the crown colony of British Honduras, Belize experienced a century of British colonization. It took until 1981 for it to achieve complete sovereignty and its present name, Belize. Over the years many Villagers have left to live and work in the United States and elsewhere while others remain to work locally in tourist related occupations. They continue to live in large extended family groups in traditional homes built generations ago on family land on the peninsula and in the Village proper.

Today’s Village is a charming and colorful mix of low-rise modern concrete and traditional painted clapboard with corrugated metal or thatched roof construction. Accommodations and restaurants are abundant and suited to every budget and taste. The Village is the local hub for the greatest concentration of personal and business services and supplies on the peninsula. It is home to the Placencia Pirates soccer club, Scotia and Atlantic Banks, Gelateria Tutti Frutti home-made ice cream, Belize Telephone regional office, The Tipsy Tuna sports bar, Placencia Office Supplies, De Tatch restaurant and bar, Hokey Pokey ferry to Independence, M&M Hardware, Nite Wind adventure guides, Z-Touch massage and beauty salon, The Moorings charter boat rentals, the Beach Bazaar gift shop, Julia’s rooms and laundry, the Boson’s Chair internet café, and Wallen’s Drugstore, to name some of the wonderful mix of family and outsider operated shops, suppliers and services. It is the eventual destination for everyone on the peninsula.

It is also a staging area for guided and solo diving and snorkeling the Barrier Reef, sailing, kayaking, sports and fly fishing, day trips to Laughing Bird and other nearby cayes and waterborne and overland trekking adventures up the Monkey River or into the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary or Maya Center Village. The Village hosts an annual “Sidewalk Arts Festival” in mid-February and “Lobsterfest” in June.

Everything in the lower Village is so easily accessible from its single paved street and 3 ft wide, mile long concrete “sidewalk” that locals call Placencia Village “barefoot perfect!”

For an "insider's view", click here to visit Belize First Online Magazine and Blog.

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Copyright Joseph R. Garipoli Revocable Trust, 2007