The heat in Belize can feel unbearable at times. I have lived here my whole life, and sometimes I feel like the heat is driving me crazy. I can just imagine how much worse it must feel for tourists and visitors who are used to cooler temperatures and less humid climates. During the Covid pandemic, most of my time was spent at home due to the country being on lockdown. My house does not have an AC unit. This made me have to face the rising temperatures with only a fan, which just circulated the exact same heat that I was trying to get rid of. Out of pure desperation from trying to remain cool, I came across some effective strategies that helped me quite a lot. I would love to share these with you.
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1. Drink A LOT of Cool Water
This strategy might seem like a no-brainer, but most people do not drink water regularly throughout the day. I am actually one of those people. However, when the temperatures rises to over 100°F, I ensure that I always have cold water near me and I drink a lot of it constantly throughout the day. As the water enters your body, it helps to cool your body down from the inside. This is very important, because it helps the cooling effect to last longer than it would if you only focused on the outside of your body. After drinking a glass of cold water, I immediately feel my body cool down a little more.
When you are cold, you drink hot tea, hot coffee, or hot chocolate. You always find some type of hot drink to help your body stay warm. It is the exact same strategy for when you are feeling hot. A cold beverage is guaranteed to cool you down. I suggested water because it is the healthiest option for you to drink constantly throughout the day. However, any cool beverage would work just as well.
2. Consume Frozen Treats/Foods
Over the past few months, I have been ordering MANY paletas/popsicles, and smoothies from Blended Deli in San Ignacio, Belize. Paletas is the Spanish word for popsicle. They are usually made with fresh, local fruit and are very tasty and cooling. Due to it being a frozen treat, the cooling effects it has on your body lasts longer. Similarly to the effects drinking a smoothie, milkshake, or frappe would hold. Blended Deli sells all of these delicacies and much more for reasonable prices. I highly urge you to visit them if you are ever in San Ignacio, and facing the heat in Belize.
3. Wear Less Clothes
The hot weather in Belize allows you to wear your shorts and tank tops. I love this because I don’t like wearing a lot of clothes. I like my body to feel the wind, enjoy the fresh air, and collect Vitamin D from the sun😁. It is very common to walk around in your bikinis or shirtless if you visit the islands (San Pedro and Caye Caulker) or Placencia. It isn’t as common to do this in San Ignacio, because there is no beach nearby. However, I have still seen some tourists do it.
Go ahead with whatever you feel the most comfortable doing. Just make sure you pack those shorts, tank tops and light, flowy sun dresses to help beat the heat in Belize.
4. Go on a Tour that Involves Water
ATM Cave Tour:
There are many tours to do in Belize that will have you in a river or the Caribbean sea. The ATM Cave tour is the most popular option for most visitors. This tour has you swimming, hiking, crossing rivers, climbing a rock boulder and ladder, and even seeing real human body remains! This was one of the best experiences of my life.
Cave Tubing Tour:
Another popular option is the Cave Tubing tour, where you will tube on a river and pass through the Nohoch Che’en Cave. This is a very relaxing tour because it doesn’t involve much movement. You are simply laying in your tubes and enjoying the beauty of the nature surrounding you. Do note, however, that there is a 45 minute hike (on flat ground), to reach the water entrance where you will begin your tubing adventure.
Barton Creek Tour:
A less popular, but equally relaxing, experience is the Barton Creek Cave Canoeing. I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. There is no hiking involved in this adventure. You simply sit in a canoe and go through a BEAUTIFUL cave system for about 1.5 hours with your guide.
If you would like to schedule any of these adventures to help you handle the heat in Belize, you can contact the most popular tour operator in the San Ignacio District, Mayawalk Tours. I have a discount code TLTMAYA5 that you can use to receive a 5% discount on the activities that they offer. Take advantage of this opportunity, you won’t regret it. You can also contact me if you have additional questions or if you would like me to contact them for you.
There are other water activities that you can do on the islands, and in Placencia as well, for example, snorkeling and diving. These tours can also be done from a Catamaran.
5. Take Frequent Showers (A cold shower gives best results)
I know many people, including myself, love taking showers with warm water. That is great, but when you are desperately trying to cool down, the best shower to take is a cold one. This helps to quickly cool your body from the outside. What I like to do to get the best results, is drink a glass of cold water, jump in a cold shower, then drink another glass of cold water after my shower. This allows both the inside and outside of my body to remain cool for longer periods of time.
There is no set amount of showers to take for the day, nor set number of glasses of water to drink for the day. I simply try to read my body, and when I feel like the heat is getting the best of me, I drink cold water, and jump in the shower. I also consume one too many paletas during the coarse of the day, as well, to help me beat the heat in Belize.
Belize Weather Facts
I went to a weather and climate website to find some helpful facts that should help you to choose the best time to visit Belize, based on the type of weather that you prefer.
- Belize only has two seasons, a rainy season and a dry season.
- The rainy season starts on June 1st and ends on November 30th. (The weather still remains warm during this time, for the most part)
- The hottest month is usually May (Temperatures go higher than 100°F on many days in this month). Please note however, on average, the temperatures in Belize are always high.
- The coldest month is usually January ( Temperatures sometimes reach the 50s during this time).
- It usually rains the most during September.
- March is usually the sunniest month.
If you have any questions about the weather in Belize and how it might affect the tours that you do, feel free to send me a message. Don’t hesitate to also contact me if you need additional advice.
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THE BEST ADVICE IS LOCAL ADVICE
