The Macal River flows out of the Maya Mountains and joins the Mopan just north of San Ignacio to form the Belize River. Where it passes the town it is wide, slow, and brown — perfect for canoeing, tubing, and gentle paddling, and the easiest way to experience the Cayo forest is to drift down it.
Several outfitters in town rent canoes and kayaks for self-guided runs; the standard trip puts in at Chaa Creek or duPlooy's south of town and takes three to four hours to drift back to the Hawkesworth Bridge, with a stop at the Belize Botanic Gardens en route. Birdlife is the draw — kingfishers, herons, the occasional toucan — and the iguanas in the riverbank trees show themselves in the morning. Wet bag your phone.