Punta Gorda, Belize Summary

The Southern Highway comes to an end in PUNTA GORDA, the last town in Belize and the heart of the isolated Toledo District, an area that has always been hard to reach, though work on paving the highway north from Punta Gorda is well under way. The town is populated by a mixture of Creoles, Garífuna and Maya – who make up more than half the population of the district – and is the focal point for a large number of villages and farming settlements. The busiest day is Saturday, when people from the surrounding villages come into town to trade. Despite the recent minor building boom, Punta Gorda remains a small, unhurried and hassle-free town. Its position on low cliffs means that cooling sea breezes reduce the worst of the heat, though there’s no escaping the rain – this is the wettest part of Belize and the trees here are heavy with mosses and bromeliads.