The land, the reef and the weather

The shape of the country

Belize sits on the Caribbean coast of Central America, with Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west and south. The National Meteorological Service describes the land simply: low and flat along the coast and in the north, rising in the centre and south to low mountains that top out at 3,685 feet. The south is by far the wettest part of the country.

The reef and the cayes

Offshore runs the Belize Barrier Reef, which UNESCO calls the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere and part of the second-largest reef system in the world. Seven protected areas along it were inscribed together as a World Heritage Site in 1996, the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System:

• Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve, at the north end of Ambergris Caye
• Blue Hole Natural Monument
• Half Moon Caye Natural Monument
• South Water Caye Marine Reserve
• Glover’s Reef Marine Reserve
• Laughing Bird Caye National Park
• Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve

The reef complex holds about 450 sand and mangrove cayes and three atolls: Turneffe, Lighthouse Reef and Glover’s Reef. More than 500 species of fish have been recorded, along with manatees, American crocodiles and three species of sea turtle. The site was put on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger in 2009, over threats that included unsustainable tourism development on the cayes and oil concessions at sea. It came off the list on 26 June 2018, after Belize introduced a moratorium on oil exploration across its entire maritime zone (December 2017) and strengthened its protection of mangroves.

Ambergris Caye is the largest of Belize’s offshore islands, about 25 miles long. The reef runs roughly three-quarters of a mile off its windward (eastern) beach, and at Rocky Point, in the north, it touches the shore. At the island’s northern tip, the narrow Boca Bacalar Chico channel separates it from Mexico’s Xcalac peninsula. About four miles south of San Pedro is Hol Chan Marine Reserve, established in July 1987 as Belize’s first marine protected area. It covers 102,400 acres around the Hol Chan channel, a natural cut in the reef, and has included Shark Ray Alley since 1999.

Two seasons

Belize has a rainy season and a dry season.

• Dry season, roughly November to May. It starts cool, from November to February, when cold fronts push down from the United States (the front season runs October to April, peaking in December and January, when one crosses Belize about every ten days), and ends warm, dry and breezy from March to May, with steady south-easterly winds. April is the driest month.
• Rainy season, June to November. The rains arrive in early May in Toledo, late May in the centre and early June in Corozal. Most of the year’s rain falls in these months, usually with a marked lull in August that is called the “mauga” season (except in Toledo, where it does not show).

Rain increases sharply from north to south: the Met Service puts the yearly average at about 60 inches in the north and 160 inches in the south.

For what the sky is doing right now, use our weather page, the 7-day forecast and the National Met Service page.

Hurricane season

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November. Tropical waves are most active in June and July; tropical storms and hurricanes peak in September and October. In the Met Service’s count of storms that affected the area, September stands out, with 17, far more than any other month.

Belize has been hit hard before. Hurricane Hattie in 1961 destroyed around three-quarters of the houses in Belize City and led the government to build a new capital inland at Belmopan (see History).

How to prepare

The National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) is the agency that runs disaster preparedness and shelters. Its guidance, in short:

• The water is the danger. Historically, NEMO says, 90% of hurricane deaths have come from drowning. Evacuate cayes, beaches and low-lying places early, before roads flood. On an island, that means deciding early.
• Rely on official bulletins from NEMO and the National Meteorological Service, on radio and television.
• Before the storm: fit shutters or board up windows; store drinking water (a gallon per person per day, in sealed containers) and long-life food; have a first aid kit, prescription medicines, a battery radio, flashlights and spare batteries; keep ID documents such as passports and residency cards together; bring garden furniture and tools inside and trim trees near the house.
• Plan for pets. Public shelters do not take animals.
• The eye is not the end. If the wind drops as the eye passes, stay put: it comes back, sometimes stronger, and the highest water often comes in the second half of the storm.
• Before you go to a shelter, turn off water, gas and electricity.

NEMO has a hurricane shelter locator on its website. Our storms page tracks every active Atlantic system and its distance from Belize, and a banner appears across Belize Pulse when one comes within 1,500 km. Belize Pulse is not an official warning service: for warnings, follow the Met Service and NEMO.