Whole Food Plant-Based Cooking & Adventure Retreat in Placencia, Belize

A typical day starts with breakfast and a whole food plant-based cooking workshop in the upstairs kitchen. You learn to make the kind of food you will actually cook at home — coconut milk from scratch, oil-free sauces, plant-based versions of dishes people usually buy. Lunch follows, then the afternoon is open for an activity from the list: sailing the Caribbean, snorkelling local islands and reefs, jungle hiking to waterfalls, river tubing through the rainforest, cave-tubing, zip-lining, a spice farm tasting tour, a Mayan chocolate farm tour where you make your own chocolate, or a walk into Placencia Village for souvenirs. Evenings might be a food tour, a Garifuna drumming lesson and dance party, a fire circle or a sound bath.

What separates this from other vegan retreats is that the cooking is the programme, not a side activity. It is described as the only whole food plant-based, no-oil daily cooking experience of its kind. You are in the kitchen every day with Naomi Green, who has worked with more than 300 clients on health and weight loss over 11 years. The kitchen is purpose-built for groups, with an open-concept layout and a cafe area, and it opens onto the veranda where yoga, meditation and sound baths can happen.

The building itself is eco-friendly and quirky rather than polished resort. Four private rooms each have their own bathroom, air-conditioning and entrance. Two rooms have an adjoining door, which suits families with kids. Two rooms open onto the ground-floor veranda on a first-come, first-served basis. Outside there is an outdoor sunshower for rinsing off after the beach. The sea is a two-minute walk — 202 steps from the door to the sand.

Placencia is a village on a narrow peninsula in southern Belize, with a mix of sandy lanes, beach bars and local restaurants. The retreat centre is five minutes from Placencia Airport, so transfers are short. You fly into Philip S. Goldson International Airport in Belize City first, then take a round-trip puddle jumper with Maya Air or Tropic Air to Placencia — they run many times a day. Naomi's team picks you up at Placencia Airport and drops you back at the end.

If you do not want a group trip, cooking instruction or a set itinerary, there is a separate bed and breakfast package: six nights and seven days for a flat nightly fee, with a private room and ensuite bathroom, breakfast each morning, an outdoor tropical massage, one dinner cooking party of your choice, beach chairs and beach access, and airport pick-up and drop-off. Lunches, dinners, extra cooking sessions, coaching, yoga, pickleball and activities are add-ons. You can also book the whole place for a group of up to eight — best friends, birthday groups, yoga teacher trainings, team-building, masterminds — and Naomi facilitates the bookings, payment plans, forms, itinerary, meals, cooking, activities and transport.

What's included

- All accommodation - All whole food plant-based no-oil meals and snacks - All cooking workshops - All group activities - Group transportation to and from activities - Transportation to and from Placencia Airport - Daily whole food plant-based cooking workshops with Vegan Coach Naomi Green - Use of the outdoor yoga and relaxation veranda - Beach chairs and beach access 202 steps away

What's not included

- Airfare - International flights to Belize City - Round-trip puddle jumper flights from Belize City to Placencia - Travel insurance - Personal expenses - Optional spa treatments - Optional add-ons such as extra cooking sessions, coaching, yoga, pickleball and additional activities