unBelizeable!

For my birthday this year, I decided I wanted a passport stamp. A passport stamp from Belize, specifically. Last year for my big 4-0, I stayed home and partied 80s prom style with family and friends.

I loved being able to celebrate with all those I love, but this year, I felt the need for a trip.

Getting There

We flew into BZE (Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport) from PHX. We used airline miles and flew American there, and I don't think you can find a direct flight. We had a short layover in Dallas on the way there, and Houston on the way back (we paid money and took United on the way back). The flights didn't seem too long and the quick layovers helped break it up. 

Once we arrived in BZE, we took a 15 minute island hopper flight with Maya airlines to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye (the other airline that flies there is Tropic; just make sure you book to/from BZE and not the city airport). 

Our flight getting into BZE was delayed, and we technically missed our flight to Ambergris, but Maya was able to put us on a different flight right away. It seemed like they just flew planes back and forth as they filled up. Our flight was at capacity with 8 people, including the pilot.

You can also take a water taxi to reach San Pedro, but you'd have to get from the BZE airport to the water taxi which would be more of a pain, plus it takes longer.

Where We Stayed

Once we arrived at the airport on Ambergris, we were able to easily walk to our hotel. We stayed at SunBreeze Hotel, which I would recommend. If you stay further away from the airport, you can find a taxi, or if you're staying awhile on the island, you should probably rent a golf cart for your stay. A golf cart would make things easier and you could go to more places. While it's a little chaotic driving around, you can do it. There were a few cars on the island, but most people that drive had golf carts.

We didn't rent a golf cart (except for 1 day) so we walked everywhere. There were enough bars and restaurants and things for us within walking distance. 

I have a friend that visited Ambergris Caye shortly after us and stayed at Tres Cocos Resort. She really enjoyed her stay there as well.

Where We Ate and Drank

It seemed the 2 most popular bars are Palapa Bar & Grill and Wayo's.

 

Wayo's had more entertainment at night (always live music when we were there). 

See all the golfcarts behind the Wayos sign?

Blue Water Grill is a nicer restaurant located right at the hotel. They say make reservations, but we were able to get seating at the bar whenever we wanted.

The food and drinks were mighty tasty here! If you want a nice(r) dinner, I'd say this would be the place.

Walking around Ambergris Caye gives you the advantage of seeing more of the island. 

As we would walk to a meal or home for the night we would often pop into any interesting looking bar/restaurant.

It allowed us to experience more and meet some locals.

There were a lot of stray dogs, or maybe some belonged to people but wandered the island as they pleased. I named this one Jimmy. He walked us about a mile home one night and tried to come into our hotel room with us.

Our favorite breakfast restaurant was Estel’s Dine By The Sea.

Many bars had docks and even places to get into the water and sip on your drink.

 

Excursions

Our hotel booked us on a 1/2 day snorkeling trip, which I scheduled when I reserved the hotel. The company was Ambergris Divers and their dock was right at our hotel. A snorkeling tour to Hol Chan Marine Reserve is an absolute MUST DO! We don't dive, but there are plenty of companies that also do scuba diving tours. If you guys dive, I've heard Belize is an awesome place to do it. After all, it is home to The Great Blue Hole.

We took this excursion on my actual birthday and it was the best way to celebrate! The boat ride is about 10-15 minutes to the Reserve. The boat checks in upon arrival and then anchors in a seagrass bed where you jump in. 

We had a guide get in the water with us, which was very helpful. He easily spotted some sea life we would've never noticed without him.

The first larger animal we saw was this sea turtle.

 

But I think the most amazing thing was seeing this eagle ray. The way he glided through the water was mesmerizing.

After almost an hour in the water there, we got back in the boat and they took us to a 2nd location, the shark and ray alley. This was only another 3 minutes from the 1st stop. The sharks are used to boats feeding them, so every new boat that pulls in is swarmed by nurse sharks waiting for a meal. It was a little nerve wracking to be told to jump into the water with all the sharks right there!

But I jumped in!

It was really an amazing experience. Our guide, seen here petting the shark, actually held onto a shark and I was able to pet it! Their skin (scales?) up close is very pretty and a little rough, like small shiny pebbles. The shark and ray alley was a much shorter stop than the first. Chris ended up a little woozy from our first stop, so he didn't get into the water here. I was scared that I'd get seasick, but I was completely fine. After maybe 15 to 20 minutes, we loaded back onto the boat and made the 15 minute or so ride back to the dock at our hotel. If you go to Belize, this is definitely the one MUST DO of the trip!

Another fun experience that I'd recommend is going out to Secret Beach. We rented a golf cart from 10 am to 6 pm through Blue Hole Golf Cart Rental. All the golf cart companies have similar pricing. They brought the golf cart to our hotel and dropped it off after giving us a quick run through of the cart. When we were done, we just parked near the hotel and left the keys with the hotel front desk for the company to pick up later- super easy! 

We drove it out to Secret Beach which is about a 45 minute drive, but the drive is interesting. 

It's a bit (ok, a lot at times!) bumpy and you definitely want to head back before it gets dark. Secret Beach was cool. We liked the Blue Bayou bar the most.

You go directly out to the water after taking a picture of their food and drink menus. A waiter comes out to you and takes your order and walks all your food and drinks out to you.

If you go, get the ceviche, it is so good! 

I'd recommend taking your snorkeling stuff, but you'll also see some fish if you don't.

Apparently these small fish, which were in the thousands hiding out under the restaurant, are baby sardines.

You can also just hang out and relax the whole time. The fish are like beggar dogs. They hang out under your table waiting for scraps!

 

Tips

If you are planning a lot of water friendly travel, I would recommend a GoPro. These snorkeling pictures (and the video I have) were all taken on my GoPro 9. I like attaching it to the floating hand grip and use it for my water adventures. I've watched some YouTube videos on how to use it, and I'm still certainly not a pro at using the thing, but I manage. And I think it provides good quality pics and video. It's pretty easy to share them to your phone and social media as well.

The weather in February was mild. I was never cold, but the locals seemed to think a cold front had moved in. Not many people were in the water at the bars the few days we were there, and it got a tad windy sometimes. It did get warm though if you were sitting in the sun. It was also fairly humid. My curly wavy frizzy hair was in full force. But I was rarely uncomfortable from the weather. I recommend getting yourself a sunhat that has a toggle cord that you can tighten under your chin on windy days, or when you're out riding around on golf carts. The toggle strap also comes in handy to attach it to your purse to take with you on the plane.

Chris and I also like to travel with our own snorkel gear. We both use Cressi brand. However, the snorkeling tour also had the option to use their gear. I also use a defogger, though my mask would often still fog up. The tour guide said they actually burn new masks to prevent fogging. I'll have to look into that further before another snorkeling trip.

 

We spent 3 nights on Ambergris and could have easily spent more. There was definitely more to do and see than we were able to cover. While there are children that live on the island (there was a school right by our hotel) and we saw one or two families with young children, this seemed more like an adult-friendly vacation. I probably would plan somewhere else when traveling with the kids. 

We loved Ambergris Caye! Writing this post has me wanting to go back!