Belize City as Basecamp

Everything Reachable From Your Suite — Because the Canal Outside Your Window Runs Straight to the Sea

Most travelers treat Belize City as a stopover.

They land, collect their bags, spend a night if they have to, and start planning how quickly they can get somewhere else.

We think that misses the point.

Belize City puts you in a position that few other destinations in the country can: the Caribbean is in one direction, Maya sites and jungle experiences are in another, and the culture and history of Belize's largest city are right outside your door.

For travelers looking for a hotel in Belize City that can serve as a base for exploring both the coast and mainland Belize, Waterways was designed around exactly that kind of trip.

Waterways was designed to make use of that.

The property sits directly along a canal with access to the sea. In practical terms, that means a day on the water doesn't always have to begin with getting everyone dressed, loading into a vehicle, crossing the city, unloading again and waiting at a marina.

For private boating experiences arranged from the property, the boat can come to you.

You step outside Waterways, get on the boat and start the day.

When it's over, the boat brings you back.

That direct canal access makes Waterways especially convenient for families, groups and travelers planning private boating experiences from Belize City.

That's a small logistical detail until you're traveling with six people.

Then it becomes one of the best parts of the trip.

Go to the Reef. Come Back Home.

Belize is a country where some of the experiences people travel the farthest to have are sitting just offshore.

The Belize Barrier Reef, snorkeling, diving, fishing, island hopping and days spent on the Caribbean are all part of the reason people come here in the first place.

Staying at Waterways doesn't mean choosing Belize City instead of those experiences.

It means using Belize City to reach them.

Guests staying at Waterways can use Belize City as a base for exploring the Belize Barrier Reef, Caye Caulker and other Caribbean experiences without changing hotels.

A private boat can pick you up from the property for a day on the water, whether the plan is snorkeling along the reef, spending the day around Caye Caulker or heading farther offshore for a diving experience.

And at the end of it, you don't have another transfer waiting for you.

You come back to Waterways.

That changes the rhythm of a vacation.

You can spend the morning underwater, the afternoon crossing the Caribbean and the evening back at the hotel with everyone spread across the suite, deciding what tomorrow should look like.

No repacking.

No changing hotels.

No moving six suitcases every time the itinerary changes.

And Belize Doesn't End at the Coast

The same principle works inland.

One of the advantages of using Belize City as a base is that your trip doesn't have to move in only one direction.

Head west and the landscape starts changing.

A day might take you to Altun Ha, one of Belize's best-known Maya sites. Another could mean cave tubing, a jungle excursion or a visit to the Community Baboon Sanctuary, where the residents you're actually going to see are Belize's black howler monkeys.

For travelers searching for things to do from Belize City, Waterways offers a convenient starting point for both coastal and inland excursions.

These experiences can be arranged through the Waterways concierge with transportation coordinated from the property.

That matters because planning a Belize vacation can become surprisingly complicated when every activity involves another operator, another pickup point and another transfer.

We wanted to remove as much of that as possible.

Tell us what you want to experience.

We'll help with the logistics.

You leave from Waterways, spend the day seeing Belize, and come back to the same suite at the end of it.

Don't Skip the City You're Staying In

Then there are the days when you don't have to go very far at all.

Belize City is often treated as the beginning or end of an itinerary, but there is history here that you don't find on the islands.

Spend time around the Fort George area. Visit the Museum of Belize. Explore the city's historic side. Stop somewhere for a Belizean lunch. See a little of the place that has shaped so much of the country's commercial, cultural and political story.

Staying in Belize City also gives travelers the opportunity to explore the city's history, food and culture rather than experiencing it only as an airport stop.

You don't need to turn it into an excursion.

That's part of the advantage.

You're already here.

And after several days of early tour departures, boats and full-day adventures, there is something nice about having a morning when nobody needs to be anywhere at a particular time.

Sleep in.

Make breakfast in the suite.

Spend a few hours beside the pool.

Explore Belize City in the afternoon.

Come back when you're ready.

A basecamp should make the ambitious days possible, but it should make the unambitious ones feel good too.

What Can You Do From Waterways?

A Belize itinerary based at Waterways could move in completely different directions from one day to the next.

By water: Spend the day snorkeling along the Belize Barrier Reef, visit Caye Caulker, arrange a fishing trip or head offshore for a diving experience.

Inland: Explore Altun Ha, go cave tubing, spend the day in the jungle or visit the Community Baboon Sanctuary.

In Belize City: Discover the Fort George area, visit the Museum of Belize, explore local food and culture, or simply see more of the city beyond the road between the airport and your next destination.

At Waterways: Do nothing at all.

That combination makes Waterways a Belize City accommodation option for travelers who want access to island day trips, reef experiences, Maya sites and Belize City itself from one home base.

And that last option matters more than people think.

Not every day of a Belize vacation needs to begin at sunrise and end after a two-hour drive home.

Sometimes the plan should be breakfast in the suite, a few hours by the pool and absolutely nowhere else to be.

One Suite. A Lot of Belize.

That's really what we mean when we call Belize City a basecamp.

We're not suggesting you come all the way to Belize and stay in one place.

Quite the opposite.

We're saying you shouldn't have to keep changing where you sleep in order to see more of the country.

From Waterways, one morning can begin on the canal and lead out to the Caribbean. Another can take you inland toward a Maya site. Another can stay entirely within Belize City.

And at the end of each one, you're coming back to the same place.

Your groceries are still in the kitchen.

Your suitcase is still unpacked.

Everyone still has their own bedroom.

Tomorrow can take you somewhere completely different without requiring you to move at all.

For families, groups and longer-stay travelers looking for a Belize City hotel that makes it easier to explore more of Belize, that is exactly what Waterways was built to do.

Belize City doesn't have to be the place you pass through on the way to Belize.

From Waterways, it can be the place you experience Belize from.