AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Banana Beach or Sunbreeze???

Thinking of staying at Banana Beach or Sunbreeze. Heard that Sunbreeze is building a new restaurant. Is it noisy or dirty with the construction? I want to stay at Sunbreeze b/c it's closer to town, but Banana Beach sounds a little more luxurious for about the same price.

Has anyone stayed at either???

What about Ramon's and The Palms??? The Palms' website doesn't have any pictures.

[This message has been edited by BeerBudget (edited 07-14-2000).]

I've stayed at both places.

Banana Beach is much newer, with larger rooms (they're one-bedroom suites, with bedroom and kitchen/living area, about 600 sq. ft.) SunBreeze has motel-like rooms, large but still rooms, not suites. In that respect, Banana Beach is more upscale. The rooms on the water also have nicer views than anything at SunBreeze -- you're literally just feet from the sea.

Having said that, I like the SunBreeze pool better, and I personally prefer to be closer to town, so the SunBreeze location is my preference. However, the beach at Banana Beach is better than at SunBreeze or nearby, and some people would prefer to be a little away from things. Both are well-run, with good on-site management.

I'd go back to either, but I'd probably give the edge to Banana Beach.

--Lan Sluder
Belize First Magazine http://www.turq.com/belizefirst/
Fun, Free & Easy Guide to Ambergris Caye http://www.turq.com/belizefirst/amcay/amberg.html

Thanks, Lan. I'm still undecided. Banana Beach is sounding better.

How's the beach down there? Do the waves come on shore on the sand or is there a seawall that just drops off into water?

Looking at the Sunbreeze website, looks like a seawall there.

So, Lan, you don't think the Banana Beach is too much like a box around a pool?

Can anyone tell me how difficult it is to get back and forth to town from Banana Beach area? I don't want to spend a lot on taxis, but I see you can go by bike.

How far is Banana Beach from town? Any other options?

Its about a 15-20 minute walk from downtown, a 8 minute or less bike ride, very accessible

We just got back from 9 nights at Banana Beach. I found the rooms to be very clean and nice. If you stay there, request an ocean front room. The hotel next door has a great beach bar you can use (I recommend the Mata Coladas).

We ended up walking to town a lot. Partially just for the exercise and also to get in tuned with the slower pace. It is about 1.5 miles. Taxis are $5 US to town. Sometimes the mosquitos got to be bad and we wished we were not walking (although the town sprays for mosquitos every so often and it got better after they did this).

If you want to spend a lot of time in town, you may feel too far away.

Banana Beach has a sea wall and Mata Rocks next door had a lot of sea grass. So I wasn't as impressed with the beach here since everyone on this board seemed to rave about the area. Ramon's had the best beach--and there's no reason why you can't take a swim there even if you are staying elsewhere. There are no waves in AC b/c of the barrier reef.

If you are traveling during the low season, consider just booking your first few nights ahead of time. We found that each place had lower "walk-in" rates. Wished we had known that ahead of time.--nat

Nat:

I am heading to a/c in 6 days. have to say I wish I had known about the walkin rates as well.

Next time I guess.

Don't know what the walk in rates were, b/c I had already paid. Just heard that from talking to some people that were going from place to place checking them out.

Yes, the air conditioning was too loud. I wore ear plugs, but it didn't bother my husband. No issue with the cleaning supplies.

Also, there is just one air conditioning unit in the bedroom, so it does not stay as cool in the kitchen/living area.-nat

I read that the bedrooms were the only rooms air-conditioned. Didn't they have ceiling fans in the other rooms? The rooms look nice and will want the ocean side. We are close to considering Banana Beach but still undecided.

Choochoo:

We plan on September, if nothing comes up. The youngest is in Bosnia and will return to his home in Colorado late Sept. Then he will go back to Germany again with his wife and the boys. So we won't be seeing them again for a very, very long time. Would you like our e-mail address?