I will be visiting Ambergris Caye in June and think we have decided on staying at Banana Beach--I have been very impressed with everything I have heard and read about it.

I do have a couple of questions and was wondering if someone might have some feedback on this---what is a seawall? does Banana Beach have one and if so, does this effect the beach/swimming area?

Also, does it matter that Banana Beach doesn't have a restaurant/bar on the premises?

I appreciate any comments greatly! THANKS!!

I think you will enjoy your stay at Banana Beach. There is a seawall which inhibits swimming there, but either way next door you can enter the Caribbean. We enjoyed using th
e steps from Tropica's dock to swim from.

There is absolutely NO problem with lack of food and bar service. There is a beach bar within a few steps to the south and restaurants (with bars) on either side -- Royal Palms and Tropica--our favorite breakfast place.
It is also fun to explore the other island eating places -- we especially enjoyed Woody's Wharf.

Beth..a seawall is a retaining wall built at the beach access. Some you can step over to get into the water, others are higher and if you stepped over them, you "step" into water a few feet deep. Most of the water close to the seawall is full of seagrass/seaweed, so it is not conducive to entering there for swimming. Most hotels, if they do have a seawall, have a pier which affords access to the ocean by ladder. As stated previously, if one hotel has a wall, chances are that one next door or a few doors down doesn't, so you can have easy beach access.

The seawall does not inhibit swimming. It's 18" high and only in front of the building. A twenty foot +/- walk left or right will get you around the "wall".

The weeds are sea grass, soft and not slimy. You can see it and walk around it since at BB it's in patches. past the dock it's deep enough to float and swim without feeling the grass. Watch out for boats.

banana beach is a great choice we stayed there from 2-14 to 4-1 and loved it. Tropica has a great resturaunt and bar also mata rocks has a great little bar as well. The pool is very nice but a little on the chilly side. Say hello to Henry,Horace,Abel,Jose,Julie,Sandra and everyone else a bananas for us!