Thinking of Portofino..has anyone stayed here and what is it like?
Any other suggestions would be welcome?
Peace,
Sue

Hi Travel
We just got back from AC yesterday and stayed at Captain Morgan's. We rented a golf cart at the Caye Mart and drove up the beach to Portofino. It looked pretty sweet. If you're looking to get away from everybody and everything, that's definitely the place. On the way up there we passed through Mata Chica and were completely blown away. If you're going up to that end I would suggest Mata Chica first and Portofino second.

Places to stay. We always stay at Lilies but
it is in town. We like to be near everything.
If I was going to stay out a ways I would stay at the Royal Palms. It is south but you
can walk to town. It is beautiful. Check it out. db

Madapple - I'm staying at Captain Morgan's for my wedding/moon there in August. Is it a good choice? My other choice was Portofino, the only reason we went with Captain Morgan's is because we had a friend stay there about 4 years ago and he said it was good. I know a lot has changed in 4yrs. so I'm hoping his recommendation is right. What do you recommend to do around CM, we are both divers. Is there a dive shop there or should we research. Did you use their excursions or book your own elsewhere. WE did not do a package because we didn't want to feel rushed and like we had to do certain things on certain days. Any suggestions would be great.

Madapple thanks for the informaton...I did try your suggestion but was able to book anything so we are staying at Portofino.
Do you have suggestions on what to do and what not to do? We are a couple wanting to explore the island, have fun and relax.
Thanks for any feedback!

Hi Madapple,

We are staying next door to Mata Chica at Casa Azul. Was the golf cart you rented from Caye Mart able to go to town? I was just wondering if there is another way into town besides a water taxi. What was the rental rate for the golf cart? Where is Caye Mart located? We depart in 2 1/2 weeks..... Any information will be helpful....

Thanks

lilwings - I am sure you will enjoy all the places on the the Northern Coast of the Ambergris Caye. It's all away from the town with easy access by boat or golf cart.
Captain Morgan's doesn't have a dive shop, but there divemaster is from the island and has been diving for over 20yrs. The dive shop is Patojo's Scuba Center and had been with the company for a while. Its easy to so tours from the resort since they have an activity center that wouls arrange any and all tours for you.
It's always good to search on the island's site since all the places are so different in many ways... They are all beautiful

I hope you enjoy Ambegris Caye...

Peace.

Hey lilwings/beachbound & travel- Sorry it took so long to get back to you. CM's was very nice. If I were to break down the hotels in the area into three catagories it would be in the middle behind Mata Chica but miles ahead of Journeys End. As far as what to do around CM's there really isn't a whole lot. That's not a bad thing, I went down there to do nothing. They have kayaks that you can take out to some buoys and do some snorkeling near the reef. You can arrange trips through the front office. They do not have a dive shop, but they can hook you up with one. I would definitely suggest getting a golf cart. The Palapa Bar, Sweet Basil's and the hand ferry to town aren't too far but they are too far to walk. When we were there the flies were unbelievable. Breakfast was a real work out. Eating with one hand and swatting flies with the other. We stopped doing breakfast on the second day and started driving to town to some kick ass bakery near the hand-ferry. There is a sea side park just below the ferry where we sat and had breakfast every morning (this would not have been possible without the cart). We did use CM's Activities Desk for a snorkel trip to Hol Chan. It was cool, maybe a little over priced but nothing to complain about. Again, my goal was to do nothing, meaning I didn't want a full itinerary where every minute was planned out, so we just went where ever the day took us. It's definitely a great honeymoon spot, I just would recomend the food there. Capricorn & Rendezvous(sp?) were excellent. Mambo at Mata Chica was great but to drive back to Morgan's at night would be pretty damn challenging and the boat ride was truly romantic.
Travel- Take a boat ride to CM's and walk over the Caye Mart and rent a cart. It's the best way to explore the island. It's a super bumpy ride, but it's nice. You're way up away from everything so more than likely your happy hours will be spent at Mata Chica unless you're boating somewhere. There was actually another bar we passed (The Pelican Bar?) but I couldn't tell if it was actually in business. There wasn't a soul around for miles.
Beach Bound- Yes the golf cart made it down to the farthest point south of town and then all the way to Portofino, back to CM's to the Rendezvous and back before having to get it recharged. Of course we felt like Kramer by the time we turned the cart in for charging (How far past the Red Line can you travel before it stops?)

AC is like college, it's what you make it. I went down to totally destress and it worked like a charm. My wife on the other hand had a very nervous look on her face by the second evening when her television addiction went into full withdrawl, but by day three she was over it and as relaxed as one human can be. Sorry for being so long winded. Enjoy-

Mad Apple

in my humble opinion, i felt pretty islolated up north, but it could have been due to the mosquito fluke we landed in. water taxi was only option, as the skeeters couln't catch us. bikes & carts were out of the question.

i took the water taxi, tho it didn't bother me much then, in hindsight, it was a big pain in the rear. after all, i was on vacation and i was wet & my hair looked like hell from the 20 min. ride.

now that i've stayed at caribe, it is a breezy, fun cart ride into town. we never even ventured past fido's. didn't get around to it. we started to, but always just got sidetracked in & around town.

i did think the beaches up north are the prettiest. it truely depends just what you want from your vacation. north is certainly peace & quiet, which is what i wanted then. this time was social, and it worked out well down south. some quick caribe island pics:
http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.j...photo=13414375403&collid=65034375403

Mad Apple,
Let's see... between Capt Morgan's and Mata Chica you should have passed Journey's End beach bar, and SunDiver's beach bar. SunDiver's is just a couple of stools and tables under a palapa, but refreshing, and on the beach, nonetheless.

(You also passed our house, and had I been there I would have invited you in for a cool drink, or perhaps a dip in the pool) Take a look, and see if you remember passing it - //www.ambergriscaye.com/villadelsol

Kathy

oh, it only took about 10-15 minutes to get north to town from caribe, with scenery on the way. you get to pass satan, too

yet isolated enuff to be so quiet at dawn & night.

as butch said, "best of both worlds".

kathy, every time i see your AC home, i gasp. it is just so pretty. i never did make it up to see it. best regards.

We are staying at CM the week of July 4th. The booking company recommended Hustler Tours for the diving. Any experience out there with that dive operation?

Kathy- We absolutely loved your house. There were a couple of them up there that had the most spectacular landscape and views (yours being one of them. The other favorite is farther south-the red house across the path from Sweet Basil's). I was very tempted to check out the water temp of your pool as we motored by. The Sundiver Bar sounds like the bar that I was talking about. It almost looked like it was set up in somebody's yard.
I really liked that area. If it weren't for the Mrs. chowing down on flies for breakfast, we would've been neighbors in the near future. Take care.

Many thanks to SJ And MadApple. It is really too bad that you guys hit AC when the great fly hatch of 2002 happened. I've never experienced the bad flies, as other frequent visitors to AC have also stated on the message board. It's not like that all the time... honest!

MadApple, when we were there the end of May, the pool was almost too warm! It was more like getting in a bathtub... but then how do you cool down a pool? Ice cubes? The sea water temp was also very warm... too warm for snorkeling right off the pier. It was weird.

Kathy