Expats are falling in love with Belize. Here is a 10 picture discovery of the most interesting, if not the most popular spots in this tiny, Central American nation.

1. Barrier Reef

Belize is home to the second longest continuous barrier reef in the world. Here you will find some of the best snorkeling and scuba-diving sites in the world. It is lined with hundreds and hundreds of small islands, or cayes. Many are uninhabited, but others are home to developed vacation destinations such as the islands of Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye.

Belize’s Barrier Reef is lined with hundreds and hundreds of small islands, or cayes.

2. The Atolls

Belize’s three mid-ocean atolls are arguably more spectacular than the barrier reef and its many cayes. Unique formations of small islands and reef surrounding a mid-ocean saltwater lagoon, atolls are an isolated and stunning phenomena. Belize has three of them: Turneffe Island, Lighthouse Reef, and Glover’s Reef. These atolls are very sparsely developed, and any visit here will be imbued with a sense of adventure, isolation, and romance.

Turneffe Island, Belize, one of three spectacular mid-ocean atolls.

3. Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary

Located in northern Belize, this preserve is a swampy lowland home to over 250 resident species of birds and serves as a resting spot for scores of migratory species, and the principal nesting site of the endangered jabiru stork, the largest bird in the Americas. The best way to explore Crooked Tree is by paddling around the network of lagoons in a dugout canoe.

Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary is home to the endangered jabiru stork.

4. Actun Tunichil Muknal

Actun Tunichil Muknal is a cave in the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve near San Ignacio. A sacred site for the Mayans, the cave contains many examples of pottery, ceramics, and stoneware, as well as several sets of human sacrificial remains, one of which (known as the “Crystal Maiden”) has been almost entirely covered in limestone crystals by the natural processes of the cave.

Inside this cave lies the remains of Mayan human sacrifices.

5. Ambergris Caye

The island is the top tourist destination in Belize, and is the largest of several hundred islands in the northernmost waters of Belize. Most people get around Ambergris Caye by simply walking. There are many quality hotels in town, and many resorts on the island are less than a mile from the town of San Pedro, the only urbanized area on the island.

Ambergris Caye is the top tourist destination in Belize.

6. Caracol

Sitting high on the Vaca Plateau, 1650 ft. above sea level, Caracol is the largest Maya site in Belize. It was once one of the largest ancient Maya cities and at its peak around 650 AD it had an estimated population of about 150,000, more than twice as many people as Belize City has today. The largest pyramid in Caracol is Canaa or Sky Place, still the tallest man-made structure in all of Belize at 143 ft.

View from atop Vaca Plateau, Caracol, the largest Maya site in Belize.

7. Blue Hole

The Great Blue Hole is the most popular diving spot in Belize. This massive sinkhole under the water is near the Lighthouse Reef and creates a perfect circle of deep blue water. The deeper one dives into the Great Blue Hole, the clearer the water and the more breathtaking the scenery, as the array of bizarre stalactites and limestone formations become more complex and intense.

Blue Hole, Belize’s most popular diving spot.

8. Caves Branch River Tubing

Geologists recently discovered a vast subterranean network of Maya ceremonial caves. At the Nohoch Che’en Caves Branch Archaeological Reserve, guides will lead you across jungle pools to the caverns filled with artifacts like sacrificial skeletons. The spiritual underwater history lesson is a must-do.

Belize caves plus tubing, equals a must-do.

9. Mennonites

In the 1950s some 3,000 Mennonites emigrated to Belize, where they established communities in the Orange Walk and Cayo districts. Today, there are an estimated 8,000 Mennonites in Belize. They are primarily located in farming areas and have no hotels or tourist facilities, but the unexpected sight, on dusty rural roads, of pale-skin folks in old-fashion dress—the women in long plaid dresses and the men with suspenders and straw hats—in horse-pulled buggies will remind you of how diverse Belizean culture really is.

Belizean Mennonites embrace a simpler lifestyle.

10. Fly Fishing for Tarpon

The waters surrounding Ambergris Caye, Belize abound with fish and the island boasts some of the best fishing guides in the country. Tarpon are the largest, strongest, and most acrobatic of the Belize species. Even juvenile fish will put your angling skills to the test and strain your tackle beyond belief.

Belize offers up some of the best fishing spots in the Caribbean.