Mention the vacation destination Belize and some people look at you curiously. They know they’ve heard of it, but where is it exactly? That’s what a few of our friends asked us when we spontaneously booked our vacation just two weeks in advance. In case you don’t know, Belize is a small country, approximately the size of Massachusetts, just south of the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America. It’s hard to believe that it’s just three hours from the States when you arrive—it truly is destination paradise.
Upon arriving in Belize City and waiting to catch a smaller plane to Ambergris Caye, my friend and I relaxed at Jet’s, the most unique airport bar we’d ever encountered. Small, but decorated with government enforcement agency patches from all over the world, it was the perfect place to grab a hotdog and cold drink before the crystal blue waters of Belize welcomed us.
A small plane brought us over to Ambergris Caye, an island off Belize. It was just a quick half-hour plane-ride. We considered visiting Caye Caulker, its neighboring smaller island, but decided to stay put. We’d read that Ambergris Caye offered a more bustling environment than Caye Caulker’s quaint island; we were hardly a romantic couple looking for some cuddle time.
We stayed at a wonderful hotel, the Sunbreeze Hotel. It had everything we could ask for; spacious, clean and air-conditioned rooms, comfortable beds, and a sparkling clean fresh-water pool all at an affordable price. The hotel was perfectly located on the beach of San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye’s busy section. San Pedro is a wonderful gem of a beach town with tons of restaurants, art stores, grocery stores, dive shops and more. We found the locals to be extremely friendly and helpful with restaurant recommendations, advice on travel, directions, etc. The hotel also had a top-notch restaurant/bar, the Blue Water Grill, open all hours that we needed: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We discovered multiple excursion companies that offered trips out to Hol Chan, Shark Ray Alley, Mexico Rocks and the other spots along the reef. Snorkeling and diving are wonderful in Belize; the reef is fiercely protected which illustrates Belize’s commitment to eco-friendly travel. After all, it’s the largest reef in the western hemisphere and the second largest in the world—it needs protection. The great thing about the shallow reefs here is that snorkelers and divers alike get to experience swimming alongside stingrays, nurse sharks, grouper, parrotfish and hundreds of other stunning sea life. My friend decided to just snorkel and I chose to dive, and we virtually saw the same environment. For advanced divers, the Blue Hole is supposed to be fantastic. It requires a day trip out to the deep seas where they take you 130ft down. I booked my dive through Ambergris Divers and found them to be extremely professional and welcoming.
For our day trip to the mainland, we booked with Tanisha Tours through our hotel. Owned by Belizean Daniel Nunez, who also hosts many of the tours, Tanisha Tours provided us an educational tour experience of the Lamanai ruins on Belize’s mainland. Nunez’s narration of the tour was both fascinating and passionate. The tour started by boat, then van, then boat. Once we arrived at our landing spot at the tip of Lamanai, we toured the ruins by foot and it was truly. Some of the people in our crew that day talked about their visit to see the ruins of Tikal, Guatemala before arriving in Belize. The Lamanai ruins are small comparison to what you can see in Tikal, in terms of size and the amount of ruins that the public can view. But they are wonderful nevertheless. Note to self: visit Central America again someday.
You can’t go hungry on Ambergris Caye. We found endless choices for Mayan, Jerk and Mexican style foods all exploding with tastes I’ve never experienced back home in California. Food is relatively inexpensive on Ambergris Caye; we paid about $20 a person with two soft drinks, an appetizer, two entrées and sometimes even a dessert to share. We particularly liked Elvi’s and the Blue Water Grill. And off the beaten path in San Pedro we found DandE’s Frozen Custard & Sorbet. They serve up traditional flavors along with inventive ones like Red Apple. Think ice cream but a tad softer and sweeter—truly to die for! We didn’t try the sorbets but assume they were just as delicious. For those on a tighter budget, San Pedro has many grocery stores and food stands that sell good-quality produce and food at American prices unlike other tourist spots that raise prices.
