What's on in Belize City, Belize through the year

Busy — Cruise season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb), Cruise season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Cruise season

• Season

  Dry season

  1 Feb – 15 May · usually

  The rains ease off, the dirt roads out to the Cayo caves firm up and the boats to the atolls run most mornings. It is also the stretch when the city itself is at its hottest and stickiest.

Still on: Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb), Cruise season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Cruise season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Dry season (1 Feb – 15 May (usually)), Cruise season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Cruise season

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Dry season (1 Feb – 15 May (usually)), Cruise season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Dry season (1 Feb – 15 May (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Hazard

  Hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 Nov

  Hattie flattened the city in 1961 and the government moved the capital inland to Belmopan because of it. The old town sits barely above the sea either side of Haulover Creek; risk peaks from August. Source ↗

• Opening

  Lobster season opens

  15 Jun – 14 FebForaging season

  The spiny lobster fishery opens on 15 June and shuts again on 15 February. Outside those dates anything on a menu is frozen or it should not be there; the opening fortnight is when it is cheapest and everywhere. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)

Busy — September Celebrations, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  September Celebrations

  1–21 SepNational holidayCrowdedClosures

  Belize City runs its two national days three weeks apart: the Citizens Parade on the tenth for the Battle of St George's Caye, the Uniform Parade on the twenty-first for independence, with carnival and jump-up filling the gap. Source ↗

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)

Peak crowds — Cruise season, Garifuna Settlement Day

• Season

  Cruise season

  1 Nov – 30 Apr · usuallyCrowded

  Ships anchor offshore and tender passengers into the Fort Street terminal, which empties again by four. Most go straight out to the ruins or the cayes, so the crush is on the tour boats rather than in town.

• Holiday

  Garifuna Settlement Day

  19 NovNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  A national public holiday marking the 1832 landfall, with drumming and a reenactment on the shore. Belize City observes it and half the country goes south to Dangriga, where the day belongs. Source ↗

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb)

Busy — Cruise season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Lobster season opens (15 Jun – 14 Feb), Cruise season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))