Seriously this is not a joke- I have been to Ambergris Caye and didn't see anything there to climb! So I thought there had to be at least an artificial wall at a hotel or a limestone cave. I can't believe no one has started the artificial/ indoor business there! Any entrepeneurs want to build one out of wood with me?. Well thank you so much for answering my question!
Hey Chris! I was a serious climber for about five years, and now I live in San Pedro. I've built a number of climbing walls, and unlike a lot of posters on this board, know what kind of popular attractions they can be. There are a couple key considerations you should keep in mind though:
1. You'll need to import all the holds, and given how heavy they are, that could expensive pretty quickly. You could hypothetically fill a couple of suitcases with them, but even then you'd be fighting the airline weight limitations, and you'll have to pay duty on them as well.
2. You'll have to bring down all the bolts. The more specific the piece of hardware, the less likely it is that you'll find it down here. I haven't looked for those specific pieces, but you'd be better off just bringing them.
3. Location is the primary consideration. You'd probably want your wall to be in town, so you're the most accessible, but it might be a struggle to find a place where they'd let you build one. A better idea might be aligning yourself with a resort that embraces adventure -- somewhere like Xanadu Island Resort. If they were on board, they might be able to help you import everything as well. I've thought about building a small wall that hangs over the water, but even then you need a spot that's deep enough, and most areas within the reef are not.
4. You'd need to do a cost-benefit analysis. I think an idea like this could do really well during the high season, but then I think it would drop off steeply to being unprofitable during the slow season. You'd want to weight your time and expenses against potential financial benefits.
All that said, when people go on vacation (especially to the Caribbean), I think they want the safe version of an adventure, and I think a rock wall is just that. In that regard, I think it's a perfectly worthwhile idea.
And, like a couple people have already mentioned, there are great climbing opportunities on the mainland. If you're a serious climber, you may want to think about setting up shop on the mainland instead, and using Belize's natural rock faces instead of a simulated wall (though you'd likely need to contract a tour guide to accompany you on any climbing expeditions you held).
Anyway, hope that was helpful. That's any given message board question thread for ya: 60% jokes about drinking, 30% people telling you not to move here, 10% helpful responses.