Thanks to all who responded to my previous post.
Here's more specifics on what I was told by the Banana Beach resort. "Banana Beach is located on the beach area known as Mar De Tumbo. There is a natural cut in the reef in front of Mar De Tumbo. This allows actual waves to enter inside the reef & wash up on the beach. The wave action does not allow seagrass to grow like it does in the still areas. The water is also deeper & this area is a very popular swimming area."
Although, I am coming to AC for snorkeling, which I found awesome, it would be nice to have a beach as described above.
Please advise if any of you have seen or are aware of this beach. If it exists, it would be a real plus!!
Thanks again for your help.

Ok... it's just me again, the blonde tourist from bbrrrland. I was getting really concerned about the seaweed issue, which I'm sure most of you who live there or visit often are tired of hearing of, BUT....this is an important issue for me, seeing as how what I need/want most is a floatie in the water just off the beach. You know, I want to do the movie star thing.... hard body (lol) long hair blowing in the wind, walking slowly off the beach into the water...trip LOL..(ok, so I"m blonde and clutzie!!!lol)... ok, so I can dream ... But seriously, I do want a nice beach and to be able to swim in that beach right off shore. I searched this site and found an old post. So, this might answer yours and my questions Chris.....I'm bummed, cuz as much as I have fallen in love with the people and pix of the island, this is what I was really needing and searching for. I read somewhere on here about Playa Del ?? and how beautiful their beaches/water is, but I don't want the total touristy thing. I know AC is all about diving, etc, but... like I said, I also need the water!!! This blonde tourist wanna be isn't asking to bother anyone with this question, but just posting what I found. But again, any input is appreciated!!! thanx AGAIN!!! .....diann
//ambergriscaye.com/message/Forum4/HTML/002326.html

[This message has been edited by diann (edited 03-27-2001).]

[This message has been edited by diann (edited 03-27-2001).]

Chrisk,

I've stayed at Banana Beach resort at least 4 times over the last 3 years. What the resort told you is quite true. I've had the pleasure of swimming in that area many times, and because of the wave action due to the cut in the reef, the seagrass or turtle grass is much less as said. You will not find a beach with absolutely no seagrass but Mar de Tumbo has much less than most of the others.

The resort is telling it like it is.

**Jim
sandcrab@bigfoot.com


[This message has been edited by Sandcrab (edited 03-27-2001).]

I have to admit even so Playa del Carmen has become too touristy but you can't beat the Beaches and clear turqoise water along the Riviera Maya. It is like swimming in a glass of Gin! This is why we have been to the area 9 times and always find a almost lonly Beach with our VW Bug. But we fell for Belize last September because of other reasons. So this year we will be on AC in June and get our Beach fix along the Riviera Maya in September. We might come over to AC for 3 nights so and make it a combo trip. AC would be still a great place to live with the Riviera Maya Beaches so close for little Getways!!! Perfect!

Since this post seems to be centered on the banana beach condos, I'd like to ask a few questions of my own.

I've organized a group of 4 couples in their late 20's - early 30's from philadelphia that will be staying at BB from May 10th to the 20th. There are two certified divers, 4 wannabe's who would like to try it at least once, and two who say "no f****ing way".

Question 1 : Are there blenders in the condo units?
Question 2 : Are there stereo systems in the units?
Question 3 : Once and for all, is the beach clear of seagrass?
Question 4 : I have read in this board that it's better to bring your own coffee to Belize.. is that true?


Another question I have is not really BB related, but I'll throw it in anyway:

What would be a suggestion for one of the couples who wants to spend a night in the jungle away from the rest of the group? we would like to see some ruins, maybe do the mayan cave tubing, see the inland blue hole... any suggestions?

Look out belize, here comes trouble

Hi PhillyTodd!

I hate to renavigate the topic of the original post but I saw your post and felt I had to reply!

I'm no Belize expert but I just returned from 9 days in AC just last weekend:-(
I am also in my mid twenties and from the Philly area (MainLine).

I had the most amazing time of my life while I was in Belize. I can't say enough about the beauty and unique characteristics of Ambergris Caye. I didn't do the cave tubing you were referring to but you can find lots of resources on this site about tubing on the mainland. I did do a mainland ruin tour that involved much drinking and a really fun tour guide!

I could go on forever about how much fun I had and the cool people I met. The least of your worries should be the seagrass! I was a bit concerned that it might impose, but there are plenty of piers for swimming off of if you are in town. I was at the beach at Banana Beach one day and it was very nice, but I also thought that many of the piers in town were suitable for swimming too. Once you actually see it, you will notice that the grass is very short and not really a big deal.

If you are motivated to head up north one day, the pool at Captain Morgan's is open to the public. I didn't care for the beaches up north but this pool was great and a bar right on deck! I realize you don't go to Belize to swim in pools but my point is, there are many lovely locations for getting wet. Just roam up the beach!

As for your advanced warning that trouble is coming to town....there is lots of night life on the island. The bikini mud wrestling contest at Barefoot Iguana was pretty wild and the nightclub is a lot like many you will find in Philly (minus the Philly attitude factor:-)

Okay....you can sense my enthusiasm, right?
Let me know if you need a local perspective and we can email or meet for a beer or something.



[This message has been edited by AC Beach Bum (edited 04-10-2001).]

PhillyTodd,

One more thing...one of the day trips we took included a trip to the Maruba Day Spa in the jungle. It was so awesome!!! I know they have rooms there and the atmosphere is very romantic and pure indulgence (full body mud baths--ahhhh!) Watch out for the viper rum shots though- woo! I thought that this would be a good place for a quick one night trip away from AC because it is easily accessible and does not take that long to get to, many of the tour operations are making trips there daily as part of a mainland ruin tour-- I highly reccommend going with Searious Tours, the guides are funny and knowledgable.

And I grew pretty fond of the coffee at Ruby's Hotel in town and Cafe Ole is a nice cappuccino bar near the airstrip. Just my one time visitor opinion. Anyone else agree with these choices?

*seriously*

I can't believe all this commotion about seagrass. it is such a non issue, except if your one of the guys that has to rake it up in the morning.

the only thing remotely interesting about it is sticking you hand down on it at night and seeing the bio-luminesance (sp?)

AC Beachbum:

Thanks for your info. I'm not too worried about seagrass, but some of the girls in our group voiced a concern...they'll survive either way, i'm sure. Tim, the manager from Banana Beach, saw my posting and responded to the questions... he says he has blenders... but does he realize the abuse they are about to take One of the couples coming along was the first client in their catering companies history to run out of liquor at their reception ( 2 hours before the reception ended).... lock up your cats and daughters, here we come.

Ps.. don't tell the girls about the bikini mud wrestling... they would just want to join in and ruin our fun The fun part about bikini mud wrestling is seeing women you DON"T know ripping each other's clothes off in the mud.

I appreciate the info you gave me.. specifically about the spa.. that sounds like something to investigate further.

As for the meeting up locally, it doesn't look good. I"m a project manager for IBM/Lotus and travel nationwide Monday through Friday so I'm never around, although I'll drink a beer tonight at happy hour and pretend we're talking

thanks again.

Better Belize IT

Todd,

Glad to help. I never thought I'd be a message board freak, especially AFTER coming back from vacation, but there is just something about this place and the people.....

As for the mud wrestling, I was nearly suited up when this one girl's friend changes her mind and decided to be on her tag team. How unfortunate for this girl that she wound up getting her whole suit ripped off!! THe crowd went crazy and she was a really good sport about it. You'll love it!

I'm a little too social and always looking to meet new people, but I guess any pictures I have are just as good as any you can see online here, with the exception of 4 girls topless sunbathing....better BELIZE IT is right! Have a really good time!

How much did the day trip to maruba cost and what was included? thanks

Also another little tidbit of info that you will need... no where on Ambergris do they sell cheesesteaks and they do not have kids in the street yelling: "yo ready, fresh pretzels!" lol

uh-oh!! a philly thread. hi todd. i am in my (ahem) 30's, in bucks county, formerly of montgomery co. where r u?

i agree, the sea grass is a non issue. i understand in many condos, if you request certain items like blenders, they can be supplied. ask tim, is my advice.

aint it cold and sh*tty out today??

No way Jane... it's 85 and sunny here... oh wait... you're talking about back home in the cold and freezing weather...

f.u.!!!

it was beautiful here on monday. sunny, 75, shorts, gardening. the daffodils bloomed. then a huge thunderstorm rolled in. rainy & 50 today. brrr. i hear colorado got snow?

hi all.. don't worry, i'm not starting a philly thread... i rarely post to any message boards, but i've been following these boards since I booked the trip for myself and my 7 friends back in Feb.

ps.. not all philly people say "yo" and eat those nasty pretzels from the street.

Jane.. thanks for your post and i can definitely tell that you're in your (ahem) 30's ... tim from BB has already responded to me and given me the info that the seagrass is DEFINITELY a non issue and that BB has blenders available for you if you ask for them. Pss... i enjoyed your pics jane, do you have any of you participating in the mud wrestling bouts described above by AC Beachbum?

todd

jane... one of my fav flowers are daffodils..... lucky you!! yeppers..... we got snow allright!! i only had one door i could get out of this morning. the snow filled the whole area under my deck, so that when you opened the door to walk out, well, all you could see was a solid wall of snow!!! my deck on that side is 25 feet long, and so was the wall of snow!!! just ask over 40 pirate how happy i was.. i sent him pix and whining emails.. that is, until my laptop ran out of juice!! see, my power was off from 5.30 am to almost 6pm....at this point... who cares about seagrass and mosquito's!!!!! bring em on baby... cuz i'll take them anyday over this crap!!!! ok, i'll shut up ......

Oh Jane.... FU? I love it when you talk dirty! You'll be happy to know that it is pouring here right now... however, the rain should stop about 6AM and then hot and sunny rest of the day! Yippee!

Denny,
Where in TX. did you say you live?? We got that RAIN yesterday morn in Dallas..We've had plenty here lately but just wait ,We'll be begging for it in July & August..Beats the heck out of snow tho......Diann,is freezing her tanlines off in Colo. LOL.

I'm in Houston... well Bellaire which is a city inside the city of Houston. It's 9:30 AM and the rain has stopped and the sun is breaking thru the clouds. Gonna be a nice day.

You should see how pretty it is in Big "D"
today. But just get ready cause I heard a long range forecast " hotter than usual this summer" .Can't get much hotter than last year .......But I still will take the extreme heat over cold...Anytime!!!!
John S.

Hotter than last summer? Can't be possible! Just day after day of 100+ degree weather... gosh, all those poor women in town... dripping wet blouses... hot and sweaty.... YEAH BABY! Bring on the heat!! lol

We had a bag of fresh Belizean coffee in our house when we were in Belize, and it was wonderful. Definitely don't bring your own coffee!

We took the day trip to Maruba Spa and Altun Ha, and it was $60.00 per person. Maruba was awesome, and you can have a dip in their pool while you are there! (However, I had the absolutely worst marguerita I have ever had at Maruba -- had granular sugar in it. icky).

Kathy

Hey AC BeachBum:

You said you have pics from your belize trip?

I'd love to see some of them. I have a bunch of photos from trips i've taken all over, but I'm really getting anxious about my trip to belize.. i really need this one.

If you want to swap pics, just let me know. I'm always interested in seeing other peoples vacay pics. ( but there are just so many times you can look at the same ones on this website over and over again

todd

Todd,

I'd be happy to share my pictures. I have not shown them to too many people but I'm getting mixed results......some people are surprised it does not look more like a resort town- like Cancun or Aruba. In my opinion, I love it because it's everything Cancun and Aruba are not, but still has a fun nightlife!

I hope to scan some of them soon, so I'll let you know when I do. Some of them are probably inappropriate for this message board, but I think I did a decent job of capturing scenery. When looking at my pictures, I realize that it's nearly impossible to capture the true green/blue hues of that water, the unending clearness of that perfect sky or the calm sway of the magnificent palm trees.

I think you said you are going in May, right? I will scan a bunch in over the next few weeks. I was telling JaneInPa that it was SOOO nice to be on the beach at the Jersey shore this weekend refreshing my AC tanlines. I realize now what all the veteran boarders meant when they said it's difficult to put your shoes back on. I was at Lucy's the other night trying to explain to the bartender how to make pantyrippers.....oh how I miss those yummy drinks.

Hey, you said you had a bunch of pictures of places you have been. Have you been to other parts of Central America? I'd also really like to get to Indonesia by next year, or possibly the South Pacific-- do you see a pattern emerging here?? If you have been to any non commercialized tropical locations like that, I'd love to hear about it or see pictures. But there is a part of me that would very much like to just go back to AC again.

ACBB,

How could you stick your feet in that cesspool they call the "jersey shore" ( not even a beach) after being in Belize?

I haven't been to NJ now for about 6 years. I've been going to Dewey Beach, Delaware or Lewes, DE. That's probably as close to paradise as you can get while living in philly. Very laid back town, great bars, and great people. ( no guidos from south philly, cheeseballs from the northeast, or suburbanites from the main line )

You were just at Lucy's ? on market St? I live in center city and have always wanted to go there, but since my girlfriend used to be in a long term relationship with the owner, we both decided it's not a good idea to hang out there ~

I haven't been anywhere in central america, with the exception of panama, and when i was there, I was wearing camouflage and carrying an M-16, needless to say, no hedonistic stories for me. However, I have been all over the pacific, europe, med, and mexico and have enjoyed many "deserted" beaches. The only problem with "deserted" beaches is that there are no women worth being with and no beer so why bother? unless you bring your own of both.

I'd love to see your pics, especially the inappropriate ones when you get them scanned, let me know and I'll send you my personal email address.

One recommendation I would make for a single girl to visit would be the greek islands... no place like it in the world.. here's a website for an island called IOS www.iospartyisland.com I spent two weeks there with 6 australians when I graduated college. We were only supposed to be there for two days and just couldn't leave the place.. bars are open until 10am so we would sleep on the beach during the day and miss the only ferry out of there.. finally, we went straight from the bars and slept at the ferry docks.. or we'd still be there today.

Yep! The Greek Islands are the best. Food, people, beaches and the nightlife. Have not been to Ios yet but Skiathos was great!!!

And the thing with the sea grass is: You don't know what you will step on or disturb.
I had a big crab hanging on to my foot when I first arrived and stepped into the ocean.
Ouch! It hurt,I was bleeding and the crab was pissed off at me! And than I sank into the mud up to my knees. That was in front of Captain Morgan's. Oh yeah, it tickels your tummy while you snorkel over it. This is why I am not a big fan of seagrass. I know it is very important for the environment. So, I will deal with it.

Todd,

I won't inquire too much about your experience in Panama with an M-16, as it sounds kind of top secret. A friend of mine is in Panama right now surfing, lucky guy!

I am very intrigued by your exotic world travles. I went to that website you pointed me to-- how wonderful your little island of hedonism seems! A must visit place before I get too old! Really, I have always been enchanted by the Greek Isles, but thought it a perfect place to go for a honeymoon or something. I would like to hear more about it-- the pictures are kind of hard to see on the website. I'm all about obscure unknown places in warm climates. You will not find AC to really be that but I did spend one day on a small island that was large enough for a party of about 12-- we had so much fun there! I went alone and met really cool people there. None of my friends or my boyfriend at the time would share in my enthusiasm, but I'm so glad I did it alone!

Lucy's is a fun place but very pretentious, like most places in Olde City-- it's a scene. I guess it's a fun place for people in thier 20's and early 30's but it's a meat market of pretty boys and shallow girls-- honestly. Nothing against your girlfriend's ex:-) Gee, sounds like I need a new place to hang out! I prefer something more layed back.

I am a ferry ride from Lewes at my beach house. I agree the Jersey shore is pretty obnoxious in many places, but in Cape May it's very pretty and there are no cheesy people! If I close my eyes and concentrate only on the warm sun, I can pretend I am on a pristine Caribbean beach somewhere-kinda, if I try real hard.

Do you have pictures from that enchanting little party place you hung out at with the Australians? You may have put me onto something here.

Megan

megan:

I have a bunch of pics scanned of my trip through europe.. lots of ones from ios too... in our group of 7 ( 6 aussies and me) there were 5 guys and 2 girls.. they were all super cool and I have become very close friends with one of them. I've even gotten him started in an IT career in australia. When his skills get to where they need to be, i'll get him a visa and hire him over here or refer him to someone. Those are the kinds of friendships you never forget.

you just reminded me of one day we were at the bar having breakfast (ouzo, amstel, and corn flakes) when we all noticed a beautiful blonde laying topless by the pool.. we all got up and walked over to look at her.. turns out, she was very cool and we took pictures of her and talked to her. (gotta love them swedes)...anyway, not to be outdone, we all decided that we would sunbathe nude. So, we started a little naked party that eventually took over the entire pool area and turned into quite a blast!!!

if you send me your email address I can send you a few pics ( of the decent variety of course)

todd

We stayed at BB for a week mid April. The water was not very clear. It was windy so that may account for it. Also the bottom is a bit mushy.. There is dredging going on so they said that was causing the cloudy water, too. We went to the Mayan ruins and Maruba Spa ($65 trip) and had an awesome day. Also took a day snorkle and picnic trip trip up to Mexico Rocks and other places. Super day. The water out by the reef is really clear, but to get to good snorlking you have to take a boat. Banana Beach is a wonderful place to stay. $10Bz to get to town by taxi. Have a great trip.