Just returned from two wonderful weeks in Belize. We stayed on Ambergris Caye about one half mile south of San Pedro. The people were great, the friendliest people we have found in the Caribbean. No place can be more than three stories tall, and all the hotels and restaurants seemed to be locally owned and operated. A few condo, but no chains.
The food was great. Not as good as St Martin, but not as expensive either. Our favorite restaurant was George's Kitchen. Mostly they sell local local sea food dishes and the staple of rice and beans. But other food is available. We mostly ate sea food, but had barbeque chicken on trips.
The beaches were okay, but you could not walk out into the water anywhere or snorkel from the beach like St John. We swan off the dock at our hotel. The second longest barrier reef is only one mile off shore.
We walked almost everywhere, but other people got around on golf carts or bikes. Very few cars or trucks. We took bikes to the north part of the island. We had to stop at "Temptation Island." You have to cross a small river just north of town via a rope drawn ferry that costs $1 US round trip. The ferry holds up to two golf carts plus bikes and walkers. No cars. Most of the way we went along the beach.
It was the end of the rainy season, so we did get a lot of clouds and a few rainy days. Of course everyone in the Northeast was freezing so we did not get any sympathy from our friends.
The beach was nice for walking on, but to go diving or snorkeling you have to take a boat out to the reef. We took trips to Hol Chan Marine Preserve, Caye Caulker, bird watching, Manatee watching and to the Mayan ruins at Lamanai. They were all worth it. The hardest part was the long speed boat rides to get to some of the farther away places. Although the the hour long bus ride on the way to Lamanai reminded us of the roads in Cambodia.
English is the official language, but many of the locals speak Creole when they talk to each other. The official currency is the Belize dollar which is set a $2 Belize to $1 US. So there is no problem with US dollars. Many places charge a fee to use a credit card, so we used cash everywhere. There is now one bank at the north end of San Pedro that has an ATM that takes VISA or MC up to $500 Belize per day. When I got home, I notice my bank charged me $254 for the withdrawal. But that is better than the 5% charge the hotel was going to charge me to pay my balance.
Our trip went from Baltimore to Miami to Belize City via American then a 17 minute single engine plane ride to San Pedro on Tropic Air.
We were not hassled by anyone, but there were a few vendors on the beach. But no pressure, not even from the local pot salesman who said "pot, pot" to us as he walk by almost every night as we walked the beach to dinner. We just waved him off.
This has to be the safest island we have visited in the Caribbean. The only advice we were given was not to leave any valuables un attended and they might get stolen, but that is good advice anywhere. The hotel had a safe in the room, so all we ever took was enough cash to meet our needs for the day.
If you are looking for an island that still has some of the old time Caribbean feeling, this island is for you, especially if you are into diving. We only snorkeled, but had a great time. We plan to go back.
