Belize

Belize squeezes two bucket-list ecosystems into one small, English-speaking, endlessly easy-going country. Offshore lies the western hemisphere's largest barrier reef, studded with islands called cayes where golf carts outnumber cars and the diving is legendary, from technicolour coral gardens to the Great Blue Hole, the vast marine sinkhole every diver recognises from above. Inland, the jungle takes over. Mayan cities rise out of the canopy, and at Caracol or Xunantunich you may share the temples with more howler monkeys than humans. Cave systems hide ceremonial chambers where calcified artefacts sit exactly where priests left them a thousand years ago. Jungle lodges pair river swims with rum cocktails. Small country, huge experiences, and you can do reef and rainforest in the same week without rushing either.