To get a feel for a country, you have to step away from the glitz and glamour of the tourist areas (isn't that true for all tourist destinations though). In some places this can be life threatening but in others it can be very rewarding. Belize seems to be a lot like Costa Rica in this regard. Just about anywhere you go the people are nice and helpful from what I have seen.

This is part 2 of my Belize photography journey. If you missed part 1, read about my minimalist camera gear setup and travel philosophy first.

Exploring Rural Belize: The Journey to Nim Li Punit

Rural southern Belize landscape showing traditional thatch roof homes and local transportation — Rural southern Belize - traditional homes and local life on the way to Nim Li Punit ruins

We saddled up and headed first to the Mayan ruins (it is an active archaeological site) and we got a wonderful "tour" of the rural part of southern Belize on the way over including things like the main modes of transportation being motorcycles and buses as well as seeing many traditional homes made with thatch roof construction. Many of these homes had no electricity or water service to them that I could see while others did. It is always interesting to learn how other parts of the world live.

Why photographing rural areas matters: The journey to the ruins showed me more about Belizean life than any resort could. This is where real documentary photography happens—not in the polished tourist zones, but in the authentic spaces between destinations. Motorcycles and buses dominate the roads. Thatch-roof homes mix with more modern construction. It's this contrast that makes travel photography compelling.

Belizean countryside with motorcycles and buses as primary transportation — Motorcycles and buses dominate rural Belize transportation - a different world from the tourist zones

Nim Li Punit Mayan Ruins: A Photographer's Hidden Gem

We arrived at the ***Nim Li Punit*** site and get a class on decoding some of the Mayan glyphs that were carved into several stela that were found on the site. We learned how they counted and their numbering systems and how they marked their calendars as well. It was really awesome to see how all this worked on an actual artifact that you can touch.

This site is a smaller site that is easier to access with less crowds and therefore more freedom to navigate yourself without the pressures of large tour groups moving through. There were some tour groups but they were much smaller and didn't choke off the entire area while there.

Why Nim Li Punit beats the famous ruins for photography: Unlike Tikal or Chichen Itza, Nim Li Punit is uncrowded. You can take your time composing shots without tourists walking through your frame. You can touch the actual stelae. Small tour groups mean you can shoot freely without feeling rushed. For travel photographers who want authentic archaeological site photos without the crowds, this is a secret weapon.

I am not sure if the remains that were intact were original or if they were reconstructed for tourism, but it was really interesting to see it nonetheless. I know some was reconstructed as there was mortar in places holding a couple of stones together but the bulk looked original so I let my mind play that game.

Nim Li Punit Mayan archaeological site with ancient stone structures and carved stelae — Nim Li Punit - an uncrowded Mayan ruins site perfect for photographers who want freedom to shoot

Photography tip for ruins: Look for the details. The carved glyphs on the stelae tell stories. The weathered stone textures. The jungle encroaching on ancient structures. These details make compelling photographs that wide shots of the whole site can't capture.

The Spice Farm: Unexpected Photography Opportunities

On the return trip we stopped for lunch at a spice farm and toured the farm. It was incredibly interesting to see how many different spices they had at one place. Another thing that was interesting was seeing the spices in their natural form in nature. Things like black pepper vines and vanilla as well as other spices I had never heard of before. It was really informative as well as entertaining. After that it was a fairly long drive back to the accommodations for supper and a nap. Haha.

Belizean spice farm showing black pepper vines vanilla and other tropical spices growing naturally — Spice farm tour - seeing vanilla, black pepper, and other spices in their natural form

Pseudo macro photography without a macro lens: The spice farm was perfect for close-up photography, and I only had my 17mm and 35mm primes. The lesson? You don't need specialized gear for every situation. Getting close and using creative framing can produce compelling images even with "normal" lenses.

Moving to San Pedro: A Different Side of Belize

After our stay in Placencia we traveled to another small community called San Pedro on an island. You can get there by plane or ferry.

Tropic Air small passenger plane on tarmac for inter-island flight in Belize — Flying Tropic Air between Belizean destinations - 10-12 passenger planes flying at low altitude

We flew Tropic Air which uses this fleet of 10 or 12 passenger planes as seen in the photo above. Every plane they have is this particular make and model as well as their competitor, Mayan Air. It is kinda neat to do low altitude flights from town to town. You can see a lot of things normally not within your view. I also pack my camera gear in my pack for travel and stow all of it except my action camera in my pack for safe keeping. This way I don't leave something behind when changing locations. Another side effect though is that I get no high quality photos when the gear is in this condition so it isn't a perfect system by no means… Once on the ground in San Pedro, I will recover it for the evening. I have high hopes that San Pedro will have more photography opportunities than where we stayed in Placencia. Actually, there was a ton of things I wanted to photograph but didn't have time due to the schedule being so full. Lol.

San Pedro Reality Check: Tourist Trap or Photography Paradise?

San Pedro Belize beachfront with resorts and tourism infrastructure — San Pedro's tourist-focused atmosphere - beautiful but heavily commercialized

Well, I really dont care for San Pedro to be perfectly honest about it. The whole atmosphere is geared towards liberating money from tourist's wallets… this is not enjoyable at all to me. I dont mind paying a fair price for things that cost money but if you are not very careful, you will overpay significantly for the same activities offered just a few hundred meters away. I just want to be left alone to enjoy my time in peace. I really don't know how I feel about this yet to be honest… one thing is I am here in their country kind of in the way and on the other hand the infrastructure is literally being built to support that attendance… tough call to be honest.

Honest travel photography truth: Not every destination lives up to expectations. San Pedro is heavily commercialized, which can be frustrating if you're looking for authentic experiences. But this tension—between tourism infrastructure and local life—is itself worth documenting. The photography opportunities exist, but you have to work harder to find them.

Finding Authentic San Pedro: Early Morning Photography Walk

The first day we went into town for coffee as our villa doesn't have any means to make coffee in it…(not cool)… but it did afford us an opportunity to see some stuff in the early morning that we would not normally see. Like the "Central Park" of San Pedro which is where they put up all the big Christmas and New Year's decorations. It also has the giant sign at this park as well. It is common in Central American culture to have this kind of sign in each city for some reason. I kinda like it though as it is a cool photo opportunity.

Large San Pedro Belize sign in Central Park with Christmas decorations and palm trees — San Pedro's Central Park - the classic Central American city sign photo opportunity

Best time for travel photography: Early morning. Before the tourist crowds. Before the heat. When locals are going about their daily routines. This is when you'll find the authentic moments worth photographing.

The sheer number of golf carts on this island is staggering to say the least. Golf carts are the primary means of transportation here and really are convenient to be honest about it. We have a golf cart too so l can't complain but wow, there are a lot of them. There are enough that they become a focal point of some photos.

San Pedro's Central Park - the classic Central American city sign photo opportunity — Golf cart culture in San Pedro - they're everywhere and they're the main way to get around

Street Photography in San Pedro: Capturing Local Life

It was fairly interesting to me to see the Belizean people in their day to day lives more than to see all the tourists two streets over. I found them to be wonderful subjects for simple street photography and I saw several more that would have been great photos if I had been able to spend more time out with my camera.

Candid street photography of local Belizean people in San Pedro going about daily life — Street life in San Pedro - shot at f/11 with zone focusing for fast, decisive moments

My street photography approach in San Pedro: I shot at f/11 with zone focusing. This means I pre-focused the lens at a certain distance, stopped down for depth of field, and simply composed and shot. Fast. Decisive. No chimping. This technique is perfect for street photography when you want to capture fleeting moments without missing the shot while fiddling with autofocus.

Above are some photos from our 3 mile photowalk that I was able to capture. The locals are so much more interesting to me than the tourists for some reason. Almost the whole photowalk was shot at f11 and range focus so I simply composed the photo and pressed the shutter. This makes for fast photos if you are attempting to capture a fleeting moment.

Another thing you will notice is how a lot of them are looking at me. This is the reason I don't do more street photography in Chattanooga, I stick out like a sore thumb due to my physical stature. Here though, I play the tourist card and get away with it. I just photograph all the things and sort it out later since my time here is limited.

Why manual focus beats autofocus for street photography: With zone focusing at f/11, everything from about 5 feet to infinity is sharp. No focus hunting. No missed moments. Just composition and timing. This is how street photographers worked for decades before autofocus existed, and it still works brilliantly today. For more on my street photography philosophy, check out my post on solo street photography with the Leica CL.

Night Photography in San Pedro: Central Park After Dark

hristmas decorations illuminated at night in San Pedro Central Park Belize — Central Park at night - the decorations stayed up longer than they would in the US

This was taken in Central Park at night…obviously, but it was neat to find these displays still setup and under power a week later. Lots of municipalities in the USA would already be taking all this down.

Below is a photo I captured while waiting on supper to come out of the kitchen at a beachside restaurant. I simply sat the camera on a rock wall and leveled it with my iPhone under one corner since it is a 20 second exposure. My goal here was to get ocean smoothed out some for a cool foreground element. I also had to level the image a little and also set it to 16:9 crop as there was a lot of black sky above the buildings. Would it be better at blue hour? Only if you wanted some color in the sky. I like what I got and I was there at this time too so it worked out well for me.

Long exposure beach photograph with smoothed ocean water at San Pedro beachside restaurant — 20-second exposure improvised with rock wall as tripod - sometimes you make do with what you have

Long exposure without a tripod: Sometimes you make do with what you have. A rock wall, an iPhone as a shim for leveling, and a 20-second exposure. This is the kind of creative problem-solving that travel photography demands when you're traveling light without a tripod.

Construction and Culture: Documenting Belizean Building Methods

On our last day we just rode around and looked at the island in general and I found many things that were really interesting to me. The first photo below was interesting to me since I am American and in the USA you would never see this on an official construction site. These poles are locally cut sapling trees and they are holding up the concrete forms for the second floor of this building that is under construction. It was crazy, just how many poles were inside this building like this.

Construction site in Belize using locally cut sapling trees as concrete form supports — Belizean construction methods - using local saplings as supports, something you'd never see in US construction

Documentary photography gold: This construction site shows how different building methods can be from country to country. In the US, this would never pass inspection. In Belize, it's standard practice. These cultural differences are exactly what makes travel photography compelling—you're documenting not just places, but different ways of living and working.

Final Thoughts: Real Talk About Belize Travel Photography

Thanks for tagging along here and I hope to share something new with you soon. Until then, get your camera out and take a picture with it.

Was Belize worth it for photography? Absolutely. But it's important to set realistic expectations. Placencia offered more authentic experiences than San Pedro. The ruins at Nim Li Punit were a highlight precisely because they were uncrowded. The street photography opportunities existed, but required effort to find them away from the tourist strips.

The gear worked perfectly. My minimalist Leica CL setup with just two prime lenses covered everything I needed. The 17mm for landscapes and architecture, the 35mm for street photography and portraits. Zone focusing at f/11 made street photography fast and reliable. Traveling with only a backpack eliminated stress and gave me freedom to move quickly.

Would I go back? Yes, but I'd skip San Pedro and spend more time in the rural areas and smaller sites like Nim Li Punit. The best photography in Belize happens away from the tourist infrastructure.

For more details on the camera gear I used on this trip, check out my minimalist Belize packing guide or see my current gear on my gear page

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are the best places to photograph in Belize?

The best Belize photography locations are Nim Li Punit Mayan ruins (uncrowded, accessible), rural areas between major destinations (authentic local life), early morning in San Pedro's Central Park (before tourist crowds), and Placencia (more laid-back than San Pedro). Skip the heavily touristy areas of San Pedro unless you're documenting commercialized travel culture.

What camera settings work best for street photography in Belize?

For Belize street photography, I used f/11 with zone focusing on my Leica CL and 35mm lens. This technique gives you 5 feet to infinity in sharp focus, eliminating autofocus lag. Pre-focus, compose quickly, and shoot. It's faster than autofocus for candid street moments and works in variable lighting without constant adjustment.

Is San Pedro Belize worth visiting for photographers?

San Pedro is heavily commercialized and tourist-focused, which can be frustrating if you want authentic experiences. The best photography happens early morning before crowds arrive, or by seeking out local neighborhoods away from the main tourist strips. Placencia offers better opportunities for authentic Belizean culture photography. If you do visit San Pedro, lower your expectations and focus on the contrast between tourism and local life.

How do you photograph Mayan ruins without crowds?

Visit lesser-known sites like Nim Li Punit instead of famous ruins like Tikal. Arrive early morning or late afternoon when tour groups are fewer. Nim Li Punit allows you to touch the actual stelae and photograph without constant interruptions. The trade-off is less dramatic architecture, but for photographers, the freedom and access more than compensate.

What's the best lens for travel photography in Central America?

For Belize and Central America, I recommend two focal lengths: a wide lens (17-24mm equivalent) for architecture, landscapes and environmental portraits, and a normal lens (35-50mm equivalent) for street photography and people. My Leica CL with 17mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/0.95 covered 95% of situations. Skip the zoom lenses—prime lenses are lighter, sharper, and force you to think more carefully about composition.

Can you do street photography in Belize safely?

Yes, Belize is generally safe for street photography. The locals in Placencia and San Pedro are accustomed to tourists with cameras. I photographed openly and never had issues. The "tourist card" works here—people expect tourists to take photos. That said, use common sense: avoid photographing in sketchy areas, ask permission when possible, and be respectful. Early morning photography sessions feel safer than late night.