What is Hopkins Village?
Hopkins Village is a vibrant village of around 3000 passionate souls who love their homes, their village and their lifestyles. Hopkins Village is a Garifuna Village, full of culture, colours and activity.
Garifuna, or called Garinagu (plural), is a group of people who arrived in Belize, from Africa via the Caribbean countries of St. Vincent, Surinam, Guyana, and Venezuela, then Honduras. The cultural history is passed orally from generation to generation with a very strong sense of pride in who they are as a group.
In the village of Hopkins, you will find the traditional Garifuna dress is worn for most occasions, from births to deaths and everything in between, including wedding apparel. Much of the cultural clothing is made by local seamstresses, custom to your size.
The traditional Garifuna food includes cassava, hudut, bananas, plantain, coconut, fish, pork, and are combined into different variations. It is said that the preparation of the foods is very labour intensive and in many cases is still done over an open fire.
One of the major activities for the Garifuna people is drumming. With homemade drums you will hear the young men, the bands, playing at several restaurants, up and down the streets, or practicing for the next “gig”. Music is such a big part of the culture, with a mix of reggae, drumming, and contemporary music as well and it’s not uncommon to hear music from several blocks away.
Where is Hopkins Village?
Hopkins is in the “south” of the country in close proximity to many available tourist attractions and excursions. Located 3 short miles from the Southern Highway you will find yourself on the shores of the Caribbean Sea. Unlike other destinations in the country, getting anywhere from Hopkins Village is easy. Just go back out to the Southern Highway and turn north or south.
Why Hopkins Village?
First off, why not? Nearby you will find Bocawina National Park where you can hike or do ziplining, swimming in waterfall pools. Or in the other direction will be Cockscomb Jaguar Preserve where you can enjoy hiking and if really adventurous you will hire a guide to take you on the 3 day journey to the top of Victoria’s Peak. You can also enjoy a tour of a local chocolate producer, Che’il and learn how chocolate is grown and produced. About 45 minutes north is the Billy Barquedier National Park for hiking and waterfall/tubing activities.
Offshore activities include snorkelling, scuba diving, fishing, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, and of course, swimming. Hire a fishing captain to take you out or plan to do most of these activities just from the shoreline. And don’t forget night time activities such as a bioluminescence tour, one of the few places in the world where you will see this.
Thirty minutes away are the domestic airlines which will bring you down to this area from the international airport. Here you can rent a vehicle to come to Hopkins or hire a shuttle to pick you up and bring you here.
There are award winning chefs who call Hopkins their home. We have many world class restaurants from pizza and burgers to 7-course gourmet meals prepared by one of the award winning chefs, Chef Rob, at his private chefs table.
With some much around this area, it’s easy to see why Hopkins is so appealing.