Just bustin your chops SeeShell. I agree the walk is really nice (it just cuts into my drinking time). I'm envious of your trip coming up

Otter, since when did ANYTHING cut into your drinking time?

Thank you all so much for the great info. I'm leaning towards Banana Beach, but don't like that their pool is in the middle of the courtyard - that screams Shade.

What about the Royal Palms Villas condos that are two doors down from Banana Beach?

don't let the shade concern you.....it's possible to get more late afternoon sun there than on the beach.

We were at Banana Beach in FEb. I thought it was very nice. Its about 1.2 miles to town but the beach bars help break it up. The service was great. Food in the restaurant was great. That's handy when you don't feel walking to riding to town.

Don't know about the other one.

The shade is mostly over the pool and one side or the other will get sun by the chairs - dont let that put you off. I stayed at Royal Palms about 3 years ago and I did not like it. No service - zero - no restaurant - nothing - and no one but me was at the pool ever - makes for bad people watching - not to mention the chairs had no pads and they were uncomfortable. Sorry but it was not my favorite.

Yea - I love to eat esp. the great food in SanPedro - so all that walking lets me eat more! (and drink more belkin!)

AIJ - your pics are great. I must tell you i went to Costa Rica in Nov 2007 and it was very nice - we were at Playa Hermosa - almost as good as Belize and AC - almost.

Was at BB for 11 nights in Feb. Monkey Business is a first class operation and the breakfast package is great. Only issue I had was the noise from some of the air conditioning units outside. We had a courtyard room and the outside windows faced the El Divino building. I don't like A/C and prefer to sleep with the windows open. Other than that, everything was great. I also like to walk and spent a lot of time walking the shore line fishing from BB north to the cut. Caught fish, too.

We really like BB and are going to stay there again this year! The breakfast is great. I would also recommend eating at El Divino's for additional meals. Great food, great prices. By the by, we stay in a balcony room, which also has a fridge and is a little cheaper. The smaller pool is fantastic. No one uses it, and it provides nice cool shade in the hot afternoons. Have fun!