CAYE CAULKER, Belize -- What's to like about Belize? Hmm, let's see. Remarkable beauty, plenty of fresh lobster, dirt-cheap prices, some of the friendliest people on God's earth, perfect weather, spectacular day trips, Caribbean islands, diving and snorkeling on one of the world's best coral reefs, jungles, beaches and Mayan ruins. Oh yeah, unlike the rest of the countries in Central America, it's English speaking, too.

What's not to like? Well, when the normal on-shore winds stop because of an Alberta Clipper that blasts out of Canada, swooping through the U.S. and into the Caribbean, the sand flies on this tiny spit of land just off the barrier reef can and will drive you nuts.

So, take a chance. With any luck the winds will blow, the flies will hide and you'll have non-stop paradise for less than you'd possibly imagine. And a variety of running terrains that, should you come for a week or two in winter, will help you get ready for the racing season back in Michigan. You can spend a fortune and go to Cancun or Cozumel, or you can take a plane just a bit further south from those Mexican tourist destinations and cut your vacation costs by 80 percent or more.

Belize is a small country, with cheap and reliable transportation. Good buses head everywhere from everywhere just about every half-hour or hour. Or local airlines with small prop planes can get you from the mountains to the islands in 30 or 40 minutes for $50 or so.

Some tips on places to go and what to do when you get there:

SAN IGNACIO -- U.S. airlines connect from Detroit to Belize City via Houston or Miami. Belize City is a noisy, messy, dangerous-at-night place you really want to get in and out of quickly. So catch an early plane out of Michigan that gets you to Belize by early afternoon, then tell the cabbie at the airport that you want to catch a bus to San Ignacio.

Buses leave every hour from downtown Belize City to San Ignacio, a wonderful place to spend your first few days in the country. The town is in the jungle foothills, a few miles from Guatemala, and is a tourist Mecca. Everyone traveling through Central America, it seems, passes through here, many on their way to see the giant and wonderful Mayan ruins of Tikal, about three hours by bus across the Guatemala border.

San Ignacio is populated by Hispanics, Indians and Caribes, descendants of slaves who escaped to freedom and established villages on the Belize coast. The locals pride themselves on their racial harmony, and tourists are welcomed.

It's the perfect place for day-trip adventures. The town is on the Macal River, which flows to the sea from its mountain headwaters nearby. You can arrange day-long canoe trips down the river, which is slow,

meandering and tranquil. The water is clear and warm, with beaches to stop and picnic at, limestone cliffs to climb and jump into the water from, and lots of wild and colorful birds flying overhead. You can spot iguanas in the trees overhead and might see a spider monkey or two.

Other day trips, easily arranged with licensed guides around town, include jungle safaris, visits to several of the Mayan ruins nearby, horseback rides, and canoeing or tubing through a mile-and-a-half of the narrow, towering Barton Creek caves. Spotlights reveal bats eight or nine stories overhead, stalagmites and stalactites, and even real human skulls embedded in rock as reminders of Mayan blood rituals. Most trips are about $25 American and include lunch.

The Central Hotel is clean and safe and a bargain at $10 a day. No cable TV, though. The town is filled with good restaurants, including Sri Lankan and Chinese. Best place for a beer or tourist tip? Eva's, downstairs from the Central. Best coffee or breakfast? Cafe Sol.

Best guide? A Rastafarian named David Simpson, who has an office for David's Adventure Tours near the bus stop and is known by all. He owns 50 acres of jungle up river, including an entire Mayan ruin that was once a military outpost, and will put people up in bamboo huts he's built atop the highest hill for miles around.

Best snack? Peeled chunks of mango or papaya. Street vendors plastic baggies stuffed full of these morsels for 50 cents.

Running terrain? Fabulous, and tough. Easiest route is a four-miler out and back from town on dirt along the Macal to where it joins the Mopan to become the Belize River. An eight-miler will take you a rolling tour through beautiful farmlands to the town of Bullet Tree Falls and back. Or head out the other way along the Macal for four miles to the village of Cristo Rey. It's one arduous uphill and downhill after another, with the hard-packed dirt road alternating jungle views with views of rolling farmland hacked out of the wilds.

HOPKINS AND PLACENCIA -- A scenic two-hour bus ride through the jungle takes you to the city of Dangrigia on the Caribbean, where another hour-bus ride brings you to the Garifuna beach village of Hopkins, which only recently got electricity.

Hopkins has a handful of places to stay, ranging from the very-upscale Hamanasi Dive and Adventure Resort, to the unadorned huts of Shady Beach, run by a women's cooperative, to Ransom's Cabanas, set in a wonderful garden of potted plants of every size, shape and color. Accommodations range from $100 or more at Hamanasi to $17.50 for a spot on the beach at Shady Beach.

Garifunas, descendants or African slaves, are remarkably friendly. Little kids holler out "Hi" as runners approach and "Bye" as they depart. Everyone has a nod, a wave or a greeting as those funny, sweating gringos jog by.

Placencia, farther south along the coast, is more of a traditional tourist destination, with accommodations to fit every budget, plenty of cheap but good restaurants, a wonderful beach and rather limited running. It is situated at the end of a peninsula, so there's only one way to run -- north on the dirt road back toward the mainland.

CAYE CAULKER -- A more idyllic-looking place you could hardly imagine. No cars, a few dirt roads, lots of little restaurants and guest houses. A long beach lined with palm trees. The barrier reef breaking visibly and noisily less than a mile offshore.

Lobster season ends Feb. 15, so come before then, and if you like lobster, you can have it cheap -- in omelets for breakfast, in burritos for lunch and steamed or broiled for dinner.

Ambergris Caye to the north draws most of the tourists, who spend mucho dinero for accommodations. Here, you can have your own private wooden hut on stilts, complete with fan and hot-water shower, at Ignacio's Cabanas, for $16.50 a day for two, right on the beach, 10 yards from the ocean.

The snorkeling and diving are some of the world's best. Lots of Jacques Cousteau's adventures were filmed at one or another nearby location. Three-hour snorkel trips, which include three stops on the reef, are as cheap as $12.50, and include gear and a guide to show you all the cool stuff you'd otherwise miss, such as rays hidden in the sand, or moray eels hidden in a hole.

The town is a little more than half a mile long, a quarter-mile wide. It sits at the north end of the island, with a former nature reserve and jungle swamp at the other. From one end of town to the far tip of the jungle is about 2.5 miles, so getting in a 20-miler can be a bit boring, but there are eagle nests along the way, and you're liable to run past parrots and macaws through the path that cuts through the jungle.

Boats run all day long from Belize City, $12 one way for the 40-minute ride, or you can fly there in 15 minutes for about $30. No need to make reservations. Just walk around town and look for something that catches your eye. If you need air conditioning and cable, you can get it for about $80 a day. If you just need a fan and a view and a beach, no need to spend more than $20 or $25.

If you've got just a week, do three days in San Ignacio and four on Caye Caulker. If you can spare more time, hit Hopkins and Placencia, too, before winding things up on the island.

For more information, go to http://www.belizex.co/san_ignacionf.htm. Or, http://www.gocayecaulker.com.