There is a selection of restaurants which serve international, Chinese, Creole and Latin American food. Service and quality vary but the food is generally cheap.
National specialities:
• Tacos, corn or flour tortillas, with shredded chicken, onions, cabbage and cilantro.
• Hot meat pies.
• Travellers will find it hard to spend a holiday in Belize without eating rice-and-beans. It is the national staple and some people eat it every single day. For a change of pace, switch to beans-and-rice. It is important to be clear when ordering in a restaurant because beans-and-rice is where the beans are cooked separately and spooned with their own gravy over white rice.
• Another favourite is split peas and pigtail over rice.
• A lot of items are stewed: stewed fish, oxtail, beef, chicken or pork. There is even stewed lobster, when the season is open.
• Game meats are popular too, with Belizeans enjoying deer, hicatee, iguana or gibnut.
• Fried to a sweet golden brown, plantains make a tasty side addition to any meal.
National drinks:
• Bars are plentiful and local drinks include coconut rum mixed with pineapple juice.
• The local Belikin beer is worth sampling.
• Travellers will also be able to order fresh orange, lime, watermelon or cantaloupe juice.
Tipping: Few places add service charges, and 15 per cent is normal.

There is live dancing late in the evenings at Bellevue Hotel and quiet music at Fort George Bar overlooking the harbour. In addition, there are popular nightclubs throughout Belize that feature local bands at weekends.

Handicrafts, woodcarvings and straw items are on sale. Jewellery in pink and black coral, and tortoiseshell (not to be imported to the USA) used to be good buys, but now there are severe restrictions on the export of these and some other goods in the interests of wildlife conservation. ‘In-Bond’ stores carry watches, perfumes and other duty free purchases, but Belize is not comparable in size to other free ports in the Caribbean. Shopping hours: Mon-Sat 0800-1200, 1300-1630 and 1900-2100.