I have to first thank everyone on this message board for all their helpful advise in planning my trip to Ambergris Caye. We arrived in AC on 1/13 and just returned home this past Sat., 1/20.
I checked weather.com everyday before leaving and saw the forecast for rain, rain, rain. Well, NOT so! It was beautiful everyday in AC. In the low 80s and very sunny - take plenty of sunblock. The nights cooled off, but I never wore more that a cotton cardigan with my shorts and tank tops. I do strongly suggest bringing a windbreaker for the boat trips to Lamanai or even while diving - if the sun goes behind a cloud and your moving along quickly in the boat it can get a little chilly, but other than that prepare for beautiful tropical weather.
We stayed at Banyan Bay because my boyfriend and I traveled with another friend and we wanted separate bedrooms, so their 2 bdr/2 ba condo's were perfect. The pool is the best on the island and the dive shop located right on their dock can arrange every trip you could possibly want to go on. It is a little more pricey than a lot of places on AC, but if you want nice accomodations and good service this is the place for you...
Now for the food - all I can say is we never had a bad meal and the prices are VERY reasonable - whether you want stew chicken, rice and beans or pizza and burgers - you can find it all on AC. We especially enjoyed Celi's in town right next to the Holiday Hotel. For a light lunch, their salads are terrific. My boyfriend loved their fried conch appetizers and conch chowder. After a long day trip to Lamanai - which included a chicken, rice & beans lunch, we went to Caruso's @ the Sunbreeze Hotel for a filling Italian meal and got great service and great food - their pizza's are delicious!
Diving - The Blue Hole is well worth the price as it includes breakfast, lunch, snacks, drinks and 3 dives. I had logged just over 90 dives and had only seen one shark until we went to Blue Hole - on that one dive we saw between 8 - 10 sharks - both Bull and Carribbean Reef sharks. It was incredible! I strongly recommend diving w/ Amgios Del Mar - our dive guides, Edgar and Tony, were very knowledgeable and a lot of fun! Make sure you have Tony mix up some panty-rippers for you on the trip back to AC, AFTER you've finished diving - he makes
a helluva good drink!
I will recommend AC to any of my friends looking for a new place to go, then again, I may keep it to myself! This island is beautiful and full of the most friendly people I've ever met while traveling. Can't wait to visit again!