Last week, Scott and I vacationed at the Naia Resort & Spa in Placencia Belize. If you remember, I helped with the pre-opening of Naia back in 2016, as I was planning on moving there. We were excited to see how it turned out and I wanted to see if Scott liked Belize since he has never been there.
Getting There
Our journey started at the Tri-Rail station in Fort Lauderdale, where we took the train to the Miami airport. This is an easy ride, costing only $5 one-way per person. From Miami, it was about a two hour flight to Belize City. The airport has expanded since I was there, but there still wasn’t much to the process. Once we landed, they whisked us through Customs & Immigrations and sent us to the departure desk for Maya Air. They put us on the 11am flight (though is was 11;20am already) and as we entered the departure terminal, they were calling our names over the loud speaker. Two minutes later, we were on our flight with one other passenger! The plane was a Cesna 2088 Caravan with one prop. If you know me, I hate to fly, especially on tiny planes that only hold 8 people!
The flight is about 30 minutes and it was very hot in that plane. Sometimes the plane will make multiple stops on its way to Placencia, but we lucked out and had a direct flight.
Once we landed, they took our luggage and moved it to baggage claim. There we waited for the resort’s shuttle to pick us up. They thought we were arriving at 2:30pm, so I did have to call and let them know we arrived early. One thing to note, is we bought the “all-inclusive” package at Naia, which included our Maya Air Roundtrip transfers. This saved us about $1500.
Naia Resort & Spa
Nestled along the serene beaches of the Placencia Peninsula, Naia Resort and Spa is a true gem. The resort’s luxurious accommodations are a perfect blend of comfort and elegance, with each beachside villa offering stunning ocean views. Waking up to the sound of waves gently lapping the shore was a daily reminder that I was in paradise.
Naia Resort and Spa offers a range of accommodations designed to suit every traveler’s needs. Whether you choose a beachfront studio or a spacious rental house, you’ll find yourself surrounded by comfort and luxury. The resort also caters to business travelers with well-equipped conference facilities that blend work and leisure seamlessly.
We reserved a beach front studio house (#14) and it was perfectly situated on the beach and in close proximity to the resort. Upon arrival, we were welcomed with a cold towel and a citrus cocktail. Our concierge gave us the “lay of the land” by foot and golf cart and then took us to our room. There she gave us a full tour and all of the instructions we needed during our stay.
One of the best features of the house was the outdoor shower! While it was extremely hot and humid, it was actually enjoyable to take a cool shower.
Dining Options at Naia Resort
The resort has two restaurants: the beach side cafe and 1981 upstairs, which is air conditioned. Both serve the exact same menu, but 1981 is a bit more formal. You can still wear shorts and resort attire, just nothing like bathing suits, etc. The one thing we will tell you, is the food was amazing! Every meal from breakfast to dinner was outstanding. The theme was Mayan, so most of the options were Mayan (think tropical fruits, spices, beans, tortillas, etc).
Naia offers a great selection of smoothies and hand-made cocktails too, all made with fresh juice.
Wrapping up Day 1
After lunch, Scott and I took a stroll around the property so I could give him a tour. Right outside the entrance of the hotel, they have bikes you can use around the resort, then towards the water they have the water sports facility. Here you can use their paddle boards and kayak. We walked down to Coco Plum condos, where I originally had rented my condo in 2016, so I could show Scott where I would have been living. It was blazing hot and so humid, as we got a bit lost trying to work our way back.
We finished our day with a quick dip in the pool (which by the way was about 105 degrees and the beach wasn’t any cooler).
We dined at 1981 and for the first few days, there was hardly anyone in the restaurant (or pool for that matter). The dinner was outstanding!
Each night they offered a “cocktail of the day” and I decided to try it. However, the chili pepper you see around the rim, is habanero chili pepper! No thanks! It was way too hot. Though we were on the “all-inclusive” package, it did not include any brand liquors or wine.
Day 2 – Off to Silk Caye
Part of our all-inclusive package included two excursions and we selected to go snorkeling for one of them. The shuttle left for Placencia Pier around 8:10am and dropped us off at Go Sea Belize Tours.
We had brought our own mask and snorkel, but they do provide everything for you. This was not your typical booze cruise catamaran. We were on a small dive boat with about nine other people.
As we left, a giant squall came over us and we all quickly huddled into the shelter of the cuddy cabin. Soon after, it was warm and sunny again. We traveled at about 28 knots, powered by twin Yamaha 250hp engines.
It was about an hour’s ride to go out about 21 miles to Gladden Spit & Silk Caye Marine Preserve. Along the way, we passed by houses that occupied tiny islands. It was crazy.
When we arrived to Silk Caye, the ranger gave us a quick run down of the island (which couldn’t have been bigger than about 50 yards long). Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve (GSSCMR) is a protected marine reserve in the central part of Belize’s Barrier Reef. It covers approximately 25,980 acres (10,510 ha) lying 36 kilometres (22 mi) off the coast of Placencia. Right after we arrived, we got our snorkeling gear and headed out.
Our guide led the way, counter clockwise around the island. I was immediately engulfed in small jelly fish about the size of a golf ball. He told us these were not harmful, but there were larger ones (Moon Jellyfish) that we needed to avoid. These jellyfish are about 8 to 12″ in diameter. Sure enough, I got chased the entire way by these larger jelly fish and it made the trip not that fun.
After our snorkel, they made us lunch which included barbecued chicken, rice/beans , fresh fruit and rum punch. They did do a second snorkel that was about 100 yards off of the island, but Scott and I decided to relax in the sand bar versus fighting with the jelly fish.
Around 1:30pm it was time to head back , but they stopped at a reef known for having turtles. It was so cool to see so many turtles!
The trip was a bit smoother heading home as we were not going against the wind. As we stepped off the boat, we realized how hot and humid it was. We were melting and ran up to the Big Titties Rum Bar to get a cold beer!
Once again, we finished the day by our pool and had another lovely dinner at 1981. The local beer is Lighthouse and it became one of Scott’s favorites.
Day 3, Time for a Spa
Naia Resort is known for its world-class spa and yoga center. Scott and I both booked 90 minute massages and were looking forward to a day of relaxation. The spa and yoga center has its own compound really. They have multiple treatment houses, a fitness center, yoga studio, a salt pool and a small cafe where there serve light lunches.
They provide lockers where they then provide a robe, slippers, towel and bath mat so you can shower afterwards.
The grounds are absolutely gorgeous showcasing beautiful hibiscus plants and of course, you’ll find an iguana or two.
Since I had been to Belize before, I wanted to revisit a couple of the restaurants I had experienced before. Plus we had spent the last two days in the same restaurant and it was time to explore a bit. Thursday night we headed north to Mangos and dined alfresco by the sea. We tried deep fried avocados for the first time and they were delicious! Scott was thrilled to get a pizza and I ordered a burger.
Exploring Placencia Village
Friday was my birthday and originally we had scheduled a Monkey River tour. This tour would take you on an hour long boat ride up the river, where you then walk 15 to 20 minutes into the jungle to see the howler monkeys. However, the front desk informed us that if were to rain, we should wear shoes, long pants with long shirts as it would be extremely buggy. At this point, Scott and I were already eaten alive by the bugs at the resort (yes it’s buggy). There were a combination of no see-ums and yellow flies and even Off Deep Woods didn’t do the trick. So we decided to cancel that excursion. We woke up Friday morning to a rainy day, so we decided to head to the Placencia Village for some local shopping. The shuttle dropped us off at the Pier again and then there’s a sidewalk that you walk along from there.
Scott stopped into the Tiburon Rum Distillery and tried a flight of rums – all of which were fantastic. The tasting fee was 25 Belizian dollars, which equates to $12.50 and it included a shot glass.
The shuttle runs on a schedule, leaving the resort at 10am and picking you up at 2:30pm. By 1pm, I was ready to head back, so we grabbed a taxi for $15 and headed back.
That evening, we went to another restaurant I had been to before to celebrate my birthday. Maya Hotel and Bistro has some amazing food, including the nut crusted baked fish (which Scott got). Unfortunately, I was under the weather and wasn’t that hungry.
Our Last Day
We spent the last day just relaxing by the pool. I wasn’t feeling very well and our plans for paddle boarding and riding bikes was foiled by that.
That evening, we once again dined at 1981 and Scott had an amazing cheesecake to finish the night.
The shuttle took us to the airport around 10:00am and we had over an hour to wait. This is the departure lounge at Placencia Airport!
This time on the airplane, they instructed me to sit up front behind the captain – great! All was going well, until he had to stop in Daringa to pick up more passengers. Even better!
We had about two hours at Belize City, where we grabbed a few cocktails and a quick bite to eat. This airport is much larger than the one in Barbados!
Overall, it was a nice relaxing trip. I was disappointed that I was under the weather the remaining few days, considering our trip was already short. But we would highly recommend Naia Resort and Spa if you are looking for a quiet getaway.
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Cheers, Scott and Ally
