Hello. My brother-in-law and his wife recently returned from a great week in SP. They were so excited to share the details of their first trip with us, and I thought others may enjoy hearing them as well!
They came over on the water taxi. It was drizzling rain, and the trip took over 2 hours! They decided to only take the water taxi again in nice weather. They were excited to get to the island and very happy when the golf cart company was waiting at the dock for them! Since Front Street was closed to traffic because of the cobblestone project, and the cart was parked a few blocks away, Island Adventures had arranged extra assistance with their luggage. They could not speak highly enough of Island Adventures! They provided excellent service and even let them access the Internet for free at their office! They ended up having to return their cart mid-week because of difficulties in starting it, but they thought the staff at Island Adventures was very understanding and professional and fairly estimated their gas usage.
So, they drove to our condo at Miramar, unpacked, took a quick tour of the property and then drove back into town to pick up a few things. Their first stop was a grocery store to get some milk and orange juice. They said they were in the store for 2 minutes tops, and when they returned, their golf cart was gone! As first-timers, they had neglected to lock it up (call it lesson learned). However, since they were only in the store for a minute, they figured the thief couldn’t get far, so they started running down the street! They ended up catching up to their cart less than a block away. It was being driven by some young males who appeared to be intoxicated tourists. When confronted, they apologized and vacated the cart without incident. My brother-in-law and his wife continued to the distributor for their beverage purchases and headed back.
For activities, they didn’t plan to do much besides relax by the pool and take long walks on the beach. They ended up seeing some of the skydiving as they walked along the beach in town one afternoon and watched the Chicken Drop one evening. They also visited the religious revival in Central Park and went to church, where they met our friends David (Scuba Do) and Jo. They talked to Daniel at the Orange gift shop and watched some kids still feeding the crocodiles for tourists south of town on their way home one afternoon. They talked to Tim and walked around the Banana Beach grounds. They also visited BC’s on Sunday, Feb 18th, and listened to Dennis Wolfe, where they mentioned some gals were having a really good (drunken) time. Okay, fess up - who was that???
They had a good time sampling as many restaurants as they could. They said all of the food was fantastic, except at Caliente’s (which I had a hard time believing myself), where they rated their dishes (conch fritters and curry shrimp) as okay. They had lobster fettuccine and rice with snapper and shrimp, plus a few fruity drinks at Ramon’s. They commented that the food was excellent, but the price seemed a little high in comparison to the other restaurants they visited, but still wasn’t too outrageously priced. They ate at Blue Water Grill one evening and had shrimp pasta and grouper dinner with drinks, all excellent. They really liked the location of the restaurant overlooking the beach. They ate breakfast at Estel’s twice and had the standard eggs and bacon the first time. They had the delicious banana pancakes the next. If they were hungrier, they would have ordered the breakfast burrito, which they said was huge and looked fabulous! They ate at Caramba’s twice, too. They enjoyed the drinks (the fruity, blended kind) and air conditioning, plus the great food. (I’m running out of adjectives here because they described everything as “fabulous!”) They had breakfast one day at George’s Kitchen, which they said was inexpensive and yummy! They ate their last dinner at the Reef Restaurant and wished they would have stopped by earlier in the week! They said the food and service were both excellent! They had fresh fish and drinks with some of our neighbors, who the employees knew by name! They ate barbeque chicken from street vendors near Central Park twice. My brother-in-law says it was the best chicken he’s ever had! It came with a huge plate of rice, some sort of kidney bean salad and tortillas (which he pronounces, tor-til-a, but that may be the alcohol talking...); all for $4US each! They stopped at Elvi’s for dessert on two different nights, but they were out of whatever it was they were craving, so they went to Mannelly’s instead! At Mannelly’s, they bought a couple of quarts of coconut ice cream and some waffle cones and had ice cream every day by the pool and pier at our complex! They thought the ice cream was heavenly! They had a good meal at Rico’s, as well, but I forget exactly what they had. Fish, I would imagine. They said the setting and beach were beautiful in the Banyan Bay area. They had fish dinners and listened to some music at Fido’s before strolling around town one night. At Fido’s Sandbar, they had what my brother-in-law called, “pigador,” which I am assuming to be pibil, the pig roasted in the ground over hot coals. He said he was a little tipsy, but thought the food was excellent, so he kept asking for more “pigador,” which they brought (and more drinks, too, obviously). They had the rotisserie chicken for lunch at Ali Baba’s. They said the food was tasty, but the atmosphere needed a little work. They thought it would be great food for take-out or a picnic.
Now, they can’t wait to come back! They plan on bringing their 2 kids next time and doing some snorkeling, fishing and maybe a ruin tour! They could not speak highly enough of everyone they met (well, except the golf cart thieves). Next time, they will be sure to bring their camera, though, as it was inadvertently left on the dresser at home. Sorry, no pictures! I hope everyone enjoys hearing their first-timer story, as I think they are hooked and will return regularly! --Jenny
AmbergrisCaye.com 
