Executive Summary:
Amigos Del Mar - (Dive Op) Recommended with some caveats, see below.
Blue Tang Inn - Recommended.
Barb's Belize - Recommended (Travel agent, for "surf 'n turf" trip).
My wife and I went to Belize Feb 25 - Mar 7 for a combined dive and "jungle tour" vacation, what the Moon Book calls "surf n' turf". Five days of diving in San Pedro AC, followed by 5 days of Mayan ruins and botanical gardens inland, centered on San Ignacio in the western Cayo district. This was our first trip to Belize. Since this is a dive forum I'll focus on that, just touch on the other.
I could have arranged just San Pedro without this, but we weren't sure what we wanted inland, so I enlisted Barb to plan that part in particular, and the rest as long as we were at it. Barb's Belize, Travel, Mayan, Ecotours, Ambergris Caye is a travel agency specializing in Belize. They are paid from a negotiated cut from the hotels etc. I don't think this actually cost us anything extra, and her guidance in suggesting where to go, and arranging all the transfer details, was helpful. She gets no cut of the US->BZE air, so we booked that ourselves (she offered to), but she did suggest the AA flights through Dallas that worked out for us.
There are plenty of reports about Belize dive sites here on Scubaboard and elsewhere, and I won't spend a lot of time duplicating those. My emphasis will be on what I'd have wanted to know before I made this dive trip, or what I'd want to remember before I do it again.
Hotel, Blue Tang Inn
We stayed at the Blue Tang Inn, on the beach a little north of downtown.
all inclusive Belize resort vacation Blue Tang Inn San Pedro
In spite of the link title, it's not an all-inclusive. Small 14-room hotel, an easy walk to downtown, restaurants, etc, and about 100 yards from the two largest supermarkets, but quiet enough. Full kitchens, AC and fans, decently equipped small suites. Everything worked to our satisfaction. The continental breakfast was adequate AFAIC. Coffee and some slightly sweet roll was enough for me, the fruit was a plus, and pretty good - we discovered that we've probably never actually had ripe pineapple before. Nice views from the rooftop sundeck. A pleasant little pool area with tables and umbrellas.
There's a watchman that sits all night in the courtyard from which all rooms are accessed. Three stories, no elevator. Wifi reportedly works near the office (I didn't bring a laptop) and there's a PC in the office you can buy time on (I didn't). Pay phone in the courtyard (purchased phone cards). No phone or TV in the room, although you can rent a TV, they say, and there was a coax outlet. Electrical outlets were US-standard 3-prong, no adapter needed.
A negative was no dedicated secure space for hanging wet dive gear, but we managed.
One bit of surrealism that just has to be reported: Blue Tang had a modern electronic set-your-own combination safe in the room. Comparable to those I've seen in good rooms in the states. Maybe 12" high, 15" deep, 18" wide. It's designed to be bolted to the wall from the inside; while the sides and front are quite solid, the back is sheet metal you could probably hack through with a BFK or a can opener. Ummmm.... OK - but it wasn't bolted to anything. You could pick it up and walk away with it under your arm. I tried it to be sure. With one hand. Maybe 35 lbs. I'll admit that it does provide more security than say, a locked suitcase, and we did use it, but really ...
I asked at the desk, and they said this makes it easier to move guests between rooms. And that they know other hotels in Belize do this the same way. My wife was guessing it lets them avoid a locksmith "house call" when some guest leaves it locked on checkout, or forgets their combination. Whatever. But really ...
In any case, the desk staff, Allan and Fanny, were quite competent and courteous, taking care of coordinating our transfer inland, syncing with Amigos Del Mar and Barb's Belize without much bother to me, and other details and help.
Amigos Del Mar - (Dive Op) Recommended with some caveats, see below.
Blue Tang Inn - Recommended.
Barb's Belize - Recommended (Travel agent, for "surf 'n turf" trip).
My wife and I went to Belize Feb 25 - Mar 7 for a combined dive and "jungle tour" vacation, what the Moon Book calls "surf n' turf". Five days of diving in San Pedro AC, followed by 5 days of Mayan ruins and botanical gardens inland, centered on San Ignacio in the western Cayo district. This was our first trip to Belize. Since this is a dive forum I'll focus on that, just touch on the other.
I could have arranged just San Pedro without this, but we weren't sure what we wanted inland, so I enlisted Barb to plan that part in particular, and the rest as long as we were at it. Barb's Belize, Travel, Mayan, Ecotours, Ambergris Caye is a travel agency specializing in Belize. They are paid from a negotiated cut from the hotels etc. I don't think this actually cost us anything extra, and her guidance in suggesting where to go, and arranging all the transfer details, was helpful. She gets no cut of the US->BZE air, so we booked that ourselves (she offered to), but she did suggest the AA flights through Dallas that worked out for us.
There are plenty of reports about Belize dive sites here on Scubaboard and elsewhere, and I won't spend a lot of time duplicating those. My emphasis will be on what I'd have wanted to know before I made this dive trip, or what I'd want to remember before I do it again.
Hotel, Blue Tang Inn
We stayed at the Blue Tang Inn, on the beach a little north of downtown.
all inclusive Belize resort vacation Blue Tang Inn San Pedro
In spite of the link title, it's not an all-inclusive. Small 14-room hotel, an easy walk to downtown, restaurants, etc, and about 100 yards from the two largest supermarkets, but quiet enough. Full kitchens, AC and fans, decently equipped small suites. Everything worked to our satisfaction. The continental breakfast was adequate AFAIC. Coffee and some slightly sweet roll was enough for me, the fruit was a plus, and pretty good - we discovered that we've probably never actually had ripe pineapple before. Nice views from the rooftop sundeck. A pleasant little pool area with tables and umbrellas.
There's a watchman that sits all night in the courtyard from which all rooms are accessed. Three stories, no elevator. Wifi reportedly works near the office (I didn't bring a laptop) and there's a PC in the office you can buy time on (I didn't). Pay phone in the courtyard (purchased phone cards). No phone or TV in the room, although you can rent a TV, they say, and there was a coax outlet. Electrical outlets were US-standard 3-prong, no adapter needed.
A negative was no dedicated secure space for hanging wet dive gear, but we managed.
One bit of surrealism that just has to be reported: Blue Tang had a modern electronic set-your-own combination safe in the room. Comparable to those I've seen in good rooms in the states. Maybe 12" high, 15" deep, 18" wide. It's designed to be bolted to the wall from the inside; while the sides and front are quite solid, the back is sheet metal you could probably hack through with a BFK or a can opener. Ummmm.... OK - but it wasn't bolted to anything. You could pick it up and walk away with it under your arm. I tried it to be sure. With one hand. Maybe 35 lbs. I'll admit that it does provide more security than say, a locked suitcase, and we did use it, but really ...
I asked at the desk, and they said this makes it easier to move guests between rooms. And that they know other hotels in Belize do this the same way. My wife was guessing it lets them avoid a locksmith "house call" when some guest leaves it locked on checkout, or forgets their combination. Whatever. But really ...
In any case, the desk staff, Allan and Fanny, were quite competent and courteous, taking care of coordinating our transfer inland, syncing with Amigos Del Mar and Barb's Belize without much bother to me, and other details and help.