Ambergris Caye, Belize
At some point, maybe I'll need to visit Belize again.
Our ten day stay on the island of
Ambergris Caye can be described as, well, good. It was fun. The days were generally spent walking along the white sand paths (while holding our noses as you'll see below), biking around, taking a snorkeling trip, hanging out in the town of San Pedro and trying to find local experiences.
But I don't think I would visit the island again.
First, the amount of sargassum (free floating brown algae that forms on top of the water and piles up along the shore) was the worst I've seen anywhere. As a result, there were no beaches and almost the entire coastline was completely covered in this brown stuff. This caused most of the island to smell really bad as well. Usually, sargassum attacks the Caribbean coastlines from May to October but this year it showed up early and in absurd amounts. It's not their fault of course but it certainly makes travel far less pleasant. (Here's a good
breakdown of the sargassum situation in Mexico, which also applies to Belize and much of the Caribbean).
Second, there isn't a ton to do on or near this island. We did go snorkeling at Hol Chan Marine Reserve but it was not nearly as impressive as expected. It was certainly nice and there were some fish, nurse sharks and turtles, but I got the feeling that enough isn't being done to protect nature, in this case the reef. All of the snorkel boats were in the same small area, with group after group being led around the water and way too many people overall. Apart from snorkeling, and spending the afternoon on the nearby tiny island of Caye Caulker, interesting activities were limited. If scuba diving is your thing though, this is supposed to be an excellent destination for that.
Third, the value. It wasn't great. I did the calculations. It would have cost the same amount to visit the Seychelles for 10 days than it did to visit Ambergris Caye for 10 days. That's crazy. On Ambergris Caye, okay food at a simple eatery cost $30+ USD per person, golf cart rentals (the main way to get around the island) cost $100 USD per day, snorkeling trips were $100+ USD per person and accommodation prices were higher than they should be for what you got, and so on.
When
I visited the Seychelles, which is known to be a very expensive destination, the cost of accommodation, food, transportation and activities were all less or the same as on Ambergris Caye.
And the Seychelles is as perfect of a tropical paradise as it gets...with a location that is far more remote out there in the Indian Ocean.
Like I said, we did enjoy our stay on Ambergris Caye for sure. It just wasn't what we expected at all.
Once my hip is fully healed and I'm able to bounce around more, I'll need to revisit Belize. There are plenty of places on the mainland to visit and I'm sure those will offer a much different experience.
-----
Roatan, Honduras
From Ambergris Caye, we took a 1.5 hour ferry to Belize City, a 20 minute taxi to the airport and then a 1 hour flight on Tropic Air straight to the island of
Roatan, Honduras.
The flight was wild. The tiny propeller plane only had room for 10 passengers and we sat on cushioned benches, not airplane seats. I could have reached out and touched the control panels. My attention, however, was focused on the shimmering turquoise sea, tiny islands and the massive reef that were below us the entire time, making it one of the most scenic flights I've ever been on.
Then we arrived in Roatan, hopping along the runway for a minute before all 6 of us passengers were escorted into a nearly deserted airport.
About 45 minutes later we reached our destination, and it's quite a difference.
Staying in West Bay, the white sand beach here is often found on lists of the
best beaches in Central America. The beach is spectacular, with a long stretch of beautiful, clean sand and such clear water full of colorful fish right off the shore. The vibe in this area is upbeat at all hours of the day and night, we're having conversations with locals all the time, the food is excellent, there are a lot of opportunities for cultural and nature-based activities and the overall costs are a small fraction of what they were on Ambergris Caye.
This is a gorgeous, interesting and excellent value travel destination. I'm excited to spend another 7 days here!
-----
Up Next
After my time here on Roatan, I'll fly back to the US for 11 days before heading back overseas. Casablanca and Istanbul are up next, followed by a little free time in early June which I have yet to figure out a plan for. Any ideas?
