Belize

How many people speak English: 82%

What it's like for an English speaker: Central America can seem like one solidly Spanish-speaking isthmus, but don't look past this Gulf gem a mere three-hour flight from Dallas. That's right, amigos, they didn't used to call it British Honduras for nothing. The national language of the dreamy Caribbean snorkeling mecca in the northeastern corner of the subcontinent is actually English, and most everybody there speaks it. That includes a sundry amalgam of Spaniards, Mayans, Garifunas, and even Mennonites. And while many of them also speak an English-based Creole, that's pretty comprehensible, too. It's like English, with a few dropped consonants and a sugary hum that's easy on the ear: "Gud Maanin!"

What Belize has to offer: Belize is only about the size of Massachusetts, but its attractions are incredibly abundant and wildly diverse. With Australia's Great Barrier Reef hanging on to life by a thread, Belize's reef system off Ambergris Caye is now part of the world's largest, with all the toothy sharks, kitchen table-sized manta rays, and coiling octopuses that come with it. Inland, you can't toss a tamale without hitting a Mayan temple, and the southeast coast down in Hopkins is ideal for kicking back with a rum punch and taking drum lessons from a Garifuna man (whose ancestors' slave ship sank near St. Vincent in 1635). Oh, and fresh conch and lobster! And cave tubing! And swimming with whale sharks! Just go. 

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