Tobacco Caye aerial in Belize barrier reef with a boat.
For all of Belize’s cultural diversity—the country’s melting pot
heritage is equal parts Mayan, Creole, Mestizo, Spanish, Lebanese,
Chinese, British, Indian, and Mennonite—its tourism scene is
surprisingly one-note.
Nearly three-quarters of its 1.4 million annual visitors arrive by
cruise ship, docking for just enough time to see the Altun Ha Mayan
ruins, ride some zip lines, or go tubing through its famed Crystal Cave.
And while a small clutch of luxury hotels exists—led by the pioneering,
culinary-focused Copal Tree Lodge and the Coppola family’s private
island retreat, Turtle Inn—Belize has suffered from a backpacker
reputation that undermines its true Caribbean charms.
That’s changing. “When I started coming here 15 years ago, it was
Birkenstocks and REI bags on the TropicAir flights,” says Beth Clifford,
founder of the three-month-old Mahogany Bay Resort & Beach Club,
referring to the 14-seat Cessna flights that are ubiquitous in Belize.
“I just got off a TropicAir plane today and counted no fewer than three
Louis Vuitton bags,” she adds. “The profile has changed entirely.”
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Mahogany Bay is the first in a long string of luxury openings coming
to Belize. It opened in December on the southeastern tip of Ambergris
Caye, with a 70-acre beach club and exploration center for fly-fishing,
spelunking, and scuba diving. Joining it soon are a farm-to-table
project with solar-powered beachfront cottages, a Dream Hotels Group
property adjacent to a jaguar preserve, and Leonardo DiCaprio’s
wellness-focused eco-resort, Blackadore Caye.
All that growth shows no signs of stopping. By the time Four Seasons
Caye Chapel opens in 2021 with 30 to 40 overwater bungalows on a private
island, the country will be competing with the world’s hottest
honeymoon destinations.
Four Seasons is leveraging an unheralded aspect of Belize’s
topography: Off the country’s coast are 450 atolls that form a low-lying
archipelago, similar to the Maldives or the South Pacific.
This
archipelago, however, is a five-hour flight from New York, a six-hour
flight from Los Angeles, and an hour and a half from Miami. For
Americans and South Americans, it’s a new destination next door.
“It really does remind me of the Maldives,” says Michael Crawford,
Four Seasons’ president of portfolio management and owner relations.
“It’s pretty rare to find places like this, where you can create an
entire destination unto itself on a private island, much less one that’s
proximate to the U.S.—and with good infrastructure,” he tells
Bloomberg.
