Thanks to all the fabulous advice on this board, my wife and I had a fabulous trip to AC 9/15-9/20. Way too short, but a great start to what we hope will be many more trips.
I won't bore you all with a day-by-day, but here are some highlights. See pics at
http://community.webshots.com/user/otteralum We stayed at Belizean Shores. I see now the pros and cons of being away from town, but it worked well for us. The water taxi fare was worth being away from it all and relaxing in a fabulous pool. I strongly recommend Belizean Shores for those wanting equal parts party and rest. Simon's service (
www.lagniappe-belize.com) is a must have to save money, time, and sanity. No substitute for having your kitchen fully stocked upon arrival and cracking open our first Belikin 5 minutes after arrival.
Met some great couples traveling from California, Canada, the UK and New York. The first night in we got invited to a beach BBQ where the New Yorkers were cooking their daily catch along with some other great food. A great introduction to our much needed R&R.
For food, we did Elvi's Caramba's, BCs for Sunday BBQ and Captain Morgan's. All were good, but we were especially pleased with Elvi's and BCs - I can see why they were highly rated. A shame Capricon is temporarily closed, but that's just incentive for our next trip. The place we stopped in San Ignacio for lunch on our tour was also good.
Our excursion was cave tubing coupled with Xanantunich. It was great. Our first choice was Lamani, but the timing didn't work out (again incentive for trip #2). The trip inland is a must as it was quite awe inspiring. Great to see the towns along the way, chat with locals inland and learn more about the country from our guide. We flew into Municipal for our tour (why do they have a nicer terminal than at International?). We wanted to kayak out to the reef and/or take a snorkel trip, but lazy times around the pool bar seemed more enticing at the time.
In San Pedro, we enjoyed hitting Fido's and BCs. Great to meet Lacy and Simon. Mary (my wife) got a personal cart shopping tour from Lacy - good to get a local's perspective on the best shops. I kept their seats warm at BCs, listed to music, ate more BBQ and chatted with Simon. The advice about taking the time to simply talk to locals was right on -- not only the expats, but the lifetime locals as well. We bought several items from street merchants, including a child no older than my 8-year old son who had great sales skills. I've done Mexico and Jamaica and I have to say the demeanor of the merchants was far better. They asked for our business but didn't push and politely said "have a nice day" when we indicated we weren't interested in something - how refreshing! There was a local gathering in the main park and we took the time to listen in, mingle a little and take in the fun!
Gotta say, this was one of the most relaxing, stress-free and fun vacations we've had in a while. We will be back!!!
AmbergrisCaye.com 
