Travel Guide to The Hummingbird Highway - Including The Best Stops you don’t want to miss

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From rainforest lodges, caves, waterfalls, and chocolate farms, this stretch in Belize is an experience all on its own. Whether you have a full day visiting from San Ignacio or decide to stay overnight, something I highly recommend you do, this guide will show you exactly how to make the most of your Hummingbird Highway adventure.

What is the Hummingbird Highway?

The Hummingbird Highway runs about 55 miles (90 km) from Belmopan north in Belize to Dangriga south in Belize. You will drive through stunning scenes of jungle and mountain and quickly understand why I think it’s one of the prettiest drives in Central America, if not the prettiest.

How to get around the Hummingbird Highway

The only real way to explore this area is by renting a car. Yes, its possible to take the bus. But it doesn’t run very often and the times seemed very unpredictable. I would only use the bus if you’re just stopping by the Hummingbird Highway to stay at one of the lodges and don’t plan on exploring anything else. Even though the stretch isn’t long the different things worth seeing are spread across the whole stretch.

You’ll want the freedom to stop at waterfalls, lodges, and caves along the way. So if you do the Hummingbird Highway, I advise you to rent a car. If you do it as part of a broader trip in Belize like I did, you can rent a car in San Ignacio and deliver it where you end up for an extra prize. We drove to Placencia and someone came and picked it up there. We used a company called Flame Auto Rental in San Ignacio and I highly recommend them. I would definitely use them again when I go back to Belize.

Where to stay on the Hummingbird Highway

If you want to turn your Hummingbird Highway trip into an overnight jungle escape (highly recommended!), here are my top three places to stay. If you want a full guide on the best places to stay from Jungle Lodges to Luxury resorts check out my post about the best jungle lodges and resorts along the Hummingbird Highway here.

Sleeping Giant Rainforest Resort

If you want to feel like you’ve stepped into a jungle movie set, this is the place. Even if you don’t stay overnight, stop here for lunch or dinner. The food is fantastic, and the views are next level.

Sattva Land

For a true nature escape, this eco-lodge is deep in the jungle. There’s a gorgeous natural pool, a beautiful open-air yoga shala, and peaceful vibes for days. This is were we ended up staying and it truly felt like a jungle sanctuary.

The Banks Resort

This is the sister property to the main Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge and it offers modern riverside villas just a short stroll (or golf cart ride) from the main lodge, but with a more private, residential feel With stylish and spacious villas.

The best things to do on the Hummingbird Highway

This highway may be short, but there’s so much to see. With all the national parks in the area you could easily spend much more time if you want to do more hikes or explore even further and look for birds and animals. This list is made up of what I chose to do for the days I was there and what I think was the best use of my time!

St. Herman’s Cave

This is located inside the same national park as the inland Blue Hole and therefore covered by one ticket, so make sure to do these at the same day. I made the mistake of coming to the cave for some cavetubing at the end of the day without already being at the Blue Hole so I had to pay again the next day.

It’s a short hike that leads you to a cave entrance where you can explore on your own. You can’t walk all the way into the cave. As soon as you go inside the cave you will see the water and it will be pitch black, so if you don’t want to go cave tubing here you probably wont need much time.

Cave tubing

For a full cave experience at the St.Herman’s Cave, you should absolutely try the cave tubing, especially if you haven’t done so anywhere else in Belize. It’s a super peaceful float through total darkness. I honestly though it would be a bit more adventurous, but I loved how calm and relaxing it all was. You have to do this with a guide and if you’re driving here yourself you can find one on the spot.

It’s $50 USD per person and takes 1–2 hours. They will provide you with a headlamp.

Inland Blue Hole

Even though the inland Blue Hole is in the same national park as the St. Herman’s Cave they do have two different parking lots and entrances. You can do a hike between the two sights within the park, but it will take you about an hour one way, and from what I’ve heard there’s not really that much to see between them. So we opted to drive to both locations.

The drive between them is just 5-10 minutes. When you park at the Blue Hole it’s just a 5-minute walk from the parking lot. There you’ll find the most stunning blue swimming hole that really feels like a private jungle oasis. When we got there a couple of people were leaving so we had the place all to ourselves, and it was amazing! I’ve heard that it’s often empty.

My only tip is to try to go there on a sunny day for the most spectacular water color. It was still nice to swim under the shade, but when the sun came out it had the most stunning colors!

Lamanai Chocolate Company

This was probably one of the most fun stops we had. You can choose to come here just to taste or buy some chocolate, but I do recommend trying a chocolate workshop if you haven’t done so already. This is a small family owned business and they make their own chocolate using old Mayan traditions right outside their house. We made different chocolate drinks and chocolate bars and it turned out delicious!

We payed 30USD per person in 2025.

Country Barn Ice Cream

This might sound like a strange stop, but you should absolutely stop here for some ice cream. This local dairy farm makes all their own products, including creamy, delicious ice cream in all kinds of flavors! It’s probably one of the best ice creams I’ve ever had!

You can also buy cheese or yogurt if you’re planning to stay along the Hummingbird Highway for a while.

Jungle Waterfall Hike (Billy Barquedier National Park)

There are lots of national parks to hike both long and shorter trails around the Hummingbird Highway, so you could easily spend weeks here if you wanted to. However, if you’re just staying for a couple of days and want a quick jungle hike with a stunning reward at the end you should head to Billy Barquedier National Park.

I chose the shorter hike to the waterfall and it was super nice! The hike took us about 30 minutes one way and we were rewarded with a stunning waterfall at the end. The day we went it had rained intensely the day before so the water was a lot muddier than usual so we skipped swimming in it, but I would have loved to swim there another day.

The parking here is not very well marked, so pay close attention to your Google maps when you’re approaching, otherwise you’ll most likely drive past it like we did. If you want to swim here you should definitely bring some water shoes and bug spray if you’re staying for the evening.

Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge

Yes, this is a Hotel, but they also have some amazing hikes starting from here. Even if you don’t dont want to do another hike I highly recommend coming here for lunch or dinner or even just drinks one day. The area is absolutely stunning and I wish we’d had more time to spend here. We did a hike to the lookout point to see the sleeping giant and it took us about one hour back and forth after lunch. We were also told by the staff that they have lots of different trails and even caves with old Mayan artifacts that you can explore. So I would absolutely spend more time here if I came back.

The lookout point is beautiful, but it’s not the highlight along the Hummingbird Highway. So if you’re pressed for time I wouldn’t prioritize that hike, but maybe choose another one they have or just enjoy the area.

Best places to eat along the Hummingbird Highway

While there aren’t tons of restaurants, here are a few that are definitely worth stopping for:

• Sleeping Giant Restaurant – Upscale, delicious, and with amazing jungle views
• Lamanai Chocolate – Coffee and chocolate tasting
• Country Barn – You already know you have to get ice cream here!
• Ms. Bertha’s Tamales - If you love tamales, you need to make a stop here!
• Toucan Cafe - Delicious food served along the road. This restaurant is connected to The T.R.E.E Lodge. We had dinner here one evening and thought it was delicious
• Green Hills Restaurant - I didn’t try this one myself, but it comes highly recommended by others

What to know before you go

To avoid any surprises, keep these tips in mind before hitting the road:

• Fuel up before you go, there are no gas stations on the highway
• Bring food and water, there are no grocery stores along the route
• Carry cash, some spots don’t take cards
• Limited signal so might be clever to download offline maps
• Paved road all the way, so no need for a 4x4
• Book your hotel in advance — places are small and can fill up, especially in high season (Dec–Apr)

Final Thoughts: Best things to do along the Hummingbird Highway

The Hummingbird Highway is more than just a pretty drive, it’s a full-blown Belizean adventure. Whether you’re hiking to waterfalls, eating your weight in ice cream, or floating through a pitch-black cave, there’s something here for every kind of traveler. This is one of those rare places where the journey is just as incredible as the destination. I absolutely think that a drive along the Hummingbird Highway deserves a spot on every itinerary to Belize.

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