This report is from the perspective of a family of four, parents in mid-forties, children 13 and 16 yrs.
We had nothing short of a fabulous time on Ambergris.
Day 1 - Arrived at Belizean Shores at 5:30 PM, we loved the place and the people there. Ate dinner at Capt Morgans, dinner is spendy and just fair, but atmosphere was good, with kind service.
Day 2- Went diving with Happy and Grumpy. The kids were getting there open water Cert. my husband and I dove on our own while they did there course. Dive site Hol Chan, two dive, a shallow dive but allot of marine life to see, (also allot of people). Came back to BS relaxed by the great pool and meet a couple of board members who were of course great.
Day 3 - Relaxed at pool, biked to town, had fun with the ferry people, went to the bakery and got addicted to the cinnamen and banana bread. Walked around town, ate at Fido's, where food and drinks were OK, service from a gal was great, she's a stitch. Biked back with flashlights at 7:00PM saw hundreds of fireflies on the path.
Day 3- Easter - Biked into town for Mass, stocked up at bakery, shopped, went alittle south of town to explore along beach. Went to BC's BBQ, ate mass quantities of great food, and Belikins, talked with a couple board members, was fun. We then worked our way back up north and stopped at the Palapa for there band jam, and had allot of laughs, what a beautiful location. Biked back to BS to sit by the great pool.

Day 4 - Dove with Happy and Grumpy, outside the reef, saw sharks, rays, and turtles. Kids completed there PADI course. We highly recommend Happy and Grumpy, friendly, fun, thorough, they do private lessons with minimum of two people, have good equipment and a great boat. All things we learnt to look for with the dive shops down there, they are not all good. Went to Sweet BAsils for a early dinner, loved it. The waiters are allot of fun too, and got hooked on the carmel apple sundae and hot fudge sundae.
Day 5 - Went fishing, snorkeling, picnic with Roberto Castillo. What a riot. Fished the south end of the island, caught fish just about every cast. Only kept the ones we would eat. Watched the rays and sharks while we fished. Went to a deserted beach and had a great fish taco meal, with Roberto's secret ingrediant, boy my kids had something to talk about at school, can't give away the secret ingrediant. Then we went snorkeling and Shark Ray Alley, had a blast petting the Sharks and Rays, also say marine life by the reef.
Day 7 - Took a break and relaxed at pool the Then took a taxi to town to Fido's and the category 7. They were great!! Both my husband and I as well as the teens enjoyed them, we all could relate to the songs and rocked with them. Before Category 7 we went to Holiday BBQ, very good. Tables on the beach ran into people we've met on the trip, was great fun. Taxi ride home under the falling stars was beautiful.
Day 8- Went diving outside the reef. Will not say with who because we do not recommend them. I don't want to be negitive, so I am putting on this report only positive comments. Saw allot of marine life, but had allot of trouble with the equipment, and the dive masters, were not very friendly. Went into town got food at Master Lees, good CHEAP food. You can get it to go and eat by the beach to people watch. Feed the whole family well for $10 US. Went to the bakery of course to stock up for breakfast. Shopped of course too. We loved the Belizean Arts store where Orlando is featured, we really wanted to buy a piece but reality set in when we added up the cost. He does fun, whimsical, colorful art. Bought allot of jewelry from the shop by the restaurant, (Barefoot Skinney's wife's shop I believe). Biked back up north.

Day 9 - Dove again two dives, one outside the cut, saw interesting marine life, second dive was at Mexico Rocks. Not really a dive site very shallow but we had a number of dives we bought so dove for 1Hr 15 minutes, saw allot of new marine life. Fed the fish, was fun. Came back played at the pool again, and went to Sweet Basils for early dinner.

Day 10 - Husband and son did one last dive, they wanted to go deep (130ft.) by daughter and I stayed at BS and snorkeled off the dock. Had fun playing with the hugh crabs and hermits in conch shells. Also feed the baracuda,and snappers. Hiked around went up to Sundivers had a drink on the beach, hiked back and played at BS pool. Took a water taxi to town, again had great food, some from vendors, bakery, shopped bought lots of souveniers, went to Fido's to see Barefoot Skinney, solo. He is great. We were also entertained by Pisano, this man has more character, and Barefoot was very kind and tolerant of him. Water taxi'd back under the shooting stars.

Day 11- Took advantage of the sun for last full day, hiked around,snorkeled off BS dock, fished of Essence dock for the third time, only caught small fish so we just released them to catch next year. Visited Sweet Basils for a desert lunch and say good bye to our waiter friends we made. Then went to Palapa for the band jam. Talked with Barefoot for awhile, (super nice guy). My daughter spent lots of time with Gabriella, a pet bird of a nice young man we ran into allot over the week, and she played with bird the whole time we were there. The waitress here is also very friendly. Actually everyone on the island is friendly. We biked back and got ready for dinner at Capricorns for our last night. Great dinner, great service, owners very cordial, and chatted with us allot. Beautiful location. Walked back to BS allong beach under the stars. Turned off our flashlights and just looked. None of us could get to sleep that night, it was our last night and we didn't want to leaave.
Day 12 - time to go. Ate in town one last time a the restaurant accross the street from the airport, was great, wish we had discovered it sooner had a great meal, fresh squeezed OJ, for about $3 US. Hopped on Tropic Air (which is a great beautiful experience), and headed back to MN.

Highly recommend Ambergris. We enjoyed staying north was the best of both worlds, quiet, beautiful, very nice. Was easy to bike to town or to resaurants, the ferry at the cut was allot of fun. The people everywhere was fabulous. Belizean Shores was beautiful, accomodations very nice the people friendly, fun, and helpful. The best pool. They have a poolbar, and restaurant opening in May. The Essence right down from us just opened CayeMart, a small grocery store with great subs we had for lunch. Also had great ice cream and grocery's for breakfast and lunches.
A perfect vacation for family of teens, lots to do, very safe, the north was best for us, the kids especially my daughter said they wouldn't want to stay in town, she didn't like the cat calls to her and neither liked being approached to buy drugs, however all you had to do is say no, they don't hassle you. Not a big deal, just foreign to us.
We'll be back, we will probably go to Blackbird Caye a few days to do dives down there then come back to Ambergris and stay at BS.
Kathie

One more happy family vacation on Ambergris.
Great family time. It was the best for my family over the holidays.
Don't you just wish you could walk to that bakery this morning?

Nice report.
Thanks for sharing.

yep. ditto.

KJ - I am the mother of an 18-year old son who is headed to Belize the end of May with a friend. I would like to correspond with you via emial, if you would agree. I have a couple of mother-to-mother questions.

My email address is [email protected]

Thanks!!!

MoMom
I'm having trouble with your e-mail, it keeps bouncing back. Is it a space between mnu and marquette?
KJ

Thanks for sharing the great report. I remember last year while eating on the roof of Jambel Jerks, I saw a show of falling stars - very beautiful. Also I love Sweet Basils. Cannot wait for May 2nd!

It is an underscore. [email protected]

I'm anxious to ask you a few questions! Thanks for responding.

KJ, thanks for the great report, we to are bringing our teenage son. We've traveled alot together but he's now at the age where, he rather hang with his friends. So, I hope to keep busy (snorkeling etc.)on our stay in AC. Do you recommend Happy and Grumpy for diving and snorkeling?

Thanks
J-Out

LaurieMar, as you'll soon see for yourself, sadly, Fitz put a roof over the upstairs patio. Now you can eat there when it rains too but you don't have the canopy of stars anymore.