Arrival Day
I am starting our blog with one of our favorite places to go for vacation. It seemed like the perfect time to start a blog about San Pedro, Belize since we just arrived yesterday for our 29th wedding anniversary.
If you have never even heard of Belize, I will start with some brief information about the country. It is on the eastern coast of Central America situated between Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the south. They are independent and English speaking. The best part is that the Caribbean Sea is to the east. Ambergris Caye is the largest island of Belize and the town of San Pedro is on that island. The main attraction is the Belize Barrier Reef as it is the second largest barrier reef in the world and visible from the island.
On our first visit in 2013 on a church mission trip to the mainland, we spent a few extra days in San Pedro and fell in love with the island. (I will post more about that trip later as it included a cave-tubing expedition and some other attractions on the mainland.) Since then we have been on the island 8 times and wanted to share some of our favorite things to do, places to go and things to eat.
We left Birmingham International Airport on Tuesday, November 8th early in the morning. One of the things that we love about Belize is that we can leave early and be at the island for lunch. We have to fly through Houston or Miami to get here but a lot of you can get here on a non-stop. You will fly to Belize City. Once you land there, you have the choice of flying on a smaller airplane to the island or taking a water taxi. We flew this time. Your choices to fly are Tropic Air or Maya Island Air. When you land you have to go through customs and if you are flying to the island, you get your bags and go through the area to turn in your customs form and then through the double doors to the other side of the airport. There you go to the counter to get your tickets for the island hopper plane and then through a short security line and into the gate area. Here they have shops and snacks. They have quite a few flights to the islands so you normally do not have to wait here too long. Then you board a little plane (about 13 seats) and you are scrunched in with any carry on bags that you have. It is a quick 15-20 minute flight and it is beautiful.
When we land in the San Pedro airport, we have them hold our bags for a little while and walk across the street. You can either go through the little alleyway and walk along the beach to the restaurant or go through The Sunbreeze Hotel and around their pool to Blue Water Grill. They have lots of great food choices but we love the shrimp quesadillas and fries for our first lunch in San Pedro.
Then we walk back across to get our bags and most places that you stay will arrange pickup for you or you can catch a taxi. The people at the airport are very helpful as is almost everyone on the island. This is an English-speaking country with great hospitality. (Additional reason that we love this place.)
There are many great places to stay on the island. We have stayed at The Palms and Ramon’s and they are close to the center of San Pedro. (I will describe these in a later post.) We have also stayed at the Coco Beach Resort much farther north on the island. (I will describe this one later as well.)
This time we are staying at Athens Gate again. We have stayed here many times. It is a couple of miles south on the island and part of the road to the resort is dirt. In the rainy season it can be a very bumpy ride. We normally rent a golf cart for the time we are here. There are cars on the island but not many and almost everyone uses a golf cart or bike and if you stay at this end of the island and want to go into town you will need one. Athens Gate has 12 condo units (all 2 or 3 bedroom) and they are beautiful, modern and very spacious. The staff is very friendly and extremely helpful. They have a pool, lighthouse, bar, and fantastic view! Check out more about them at: https://www.athensgatebelize.com/accommodations.html
After the staff takes our bags up we relax for the afternoon. You can swim in the pool or ocean, take walks, or just lay around on your balcony or in the hammocks or beach chairs.
At dinner time we drove our golf cart back into town and ate at Elvi’s Kitchen. . It is in the middle of downtown and gives you a chance to see San Pedro by golf cart. This is one of the most popular restaurants on the island and specializes in Belizian and Mayan dishes. The floors are sand and the food is excellent! See more at:
On the way back to the condo we stopped at a local supermarket and got some water and snack foods. The condos have full kitchens so you could get groceries for some of your meals while you are here. Also, if you take a fishing trip you will be sure to have some fresh fish fillets to cook. (More about that later.)
That was the end of our arrival day. More to follow….