My Belize trip report 3/14/03 - 3/21/03by: mobunny
I have finally gotten my trip report done and our pictures on a website. So here we go.
Some general comments: My week in San Pedro was the best week of my life. I don't know how we could have had more fun. Our group consisted of two couples. We stayed at Ramon's beachfront Room #60. Ramon's was incredible and everything I expected and much, much more. The staff picked us up at Maya Island air in a pink golf cart. The grounds are beautiful and the staff extremely friendly and helpful. I loved being able to snorkel right off the end of the pier. Our friends stayed three places to the north at Belizean Reef. They loved their rooms. It was clean, nicely decorated and roomy with a third floor view. I would highly recommend both places. It just depends on what type of accommodations you are looking for. For us when we return to San Pedro we will stay at Ramon's. I loved the place and the people. We had such a great time we are going to try and return this August. Thanks to everyone on this board for all the great helpful information.
Restaurants and bars:
Estel's - loved it. Had breakfast there our first morning. Wonderful tortillas, fried potatos, fruit plate, fry jacks with jam, and it all comes with a uniquely San Pedro ambiance. Also, discovered Marie Sharps sauce! Lucky us.
Rubies Bakery - what's not to love about Rubie's - 2 coffees, 2 hunks of banana nut bread, and 2 glazed doughnuts the size of Firestone tires for $4.00 US. Also tried the fruit jam tarts and johnnycakes. All the baked goods are fresh and delicious. The local bustle there in the early morning is very entertaining. Great friendly staff.
Bluewater Grill - had a couple of really good dinners there. Wood oven pizzas, pasta, sushi, tempura veggies - all was delicious. My friend had a coconut shrimp appetizer that looked and tasted fabulous. Very busy restaurant. Beautiful location. It is nice that's it's open air for those hot nights. We really enjoyed our meals there. There is a nice bar to sit at while you wait for you table.
Jade Garden - we did take out from Jade's one night. Delicious egg rolls the size of a burrito. Wonderful fried rice. Fresh vegetables. Very very good.
Mambo - Wow. Very sexy lounge and restaurant. We went there for our one fancy dinner. They made a special vegetarian curry for me that was fabulous. Great food, incredible ambiance. It feels very European. It was a full moon the night we went so the water taxi ride was incredible. Well worth the trip and expense.
Hideaway Sports Bar - we stumbled onto the Hideaway by accident. As we stood at the door checking out the crowded scene the owner (whose name I don't remember) said "Hi, I am (what ever his name is). I own this place. Come on in and have a drink!" So we did. We sat down and ordered a couple of Belikins. Dennis Wolfe (we didn?t know who he was at the time) was playing keyboards and guitar. After we got our beers Dennis broke into Third World Paradise - we had never heard that song before. It was a perfect moment.
Blue Parrot - nice bar at Ramon's - didn't hang out there too much. The war was about to break out any day and CNN was on all the time (It's the one TV at the resort). We did however, hang out in the pool and beach and managed to run up a significant bar tab. We all agreed that Ramon's made the best Rum Punch and Panty Rippers.
Sweet Basil - we were grateful to come upon Sweet Basil on our golf cart excursion up on the north end. We were hot and sun burnt and it was a refreshing oasis. Had a really nice lunch. Good vegetarian selections. Very friendly service.
The Palapa Bar - when we were crossing the cut the guys working there kept saying check out Palapas. So we did. It was another classic vacation moment. We head out to the end of the pier to this beautiful palapa perched above the turquoise Caribbean sea and there are three locals sitting at the bar engrossed in watching the Beverly Hillbilly's movie on HBO -laughing and laughing. I sang the theme from the original TV show for them.
Cannibal's - so far my favorite bar in San Pedro. Just a slab of concrete with a big palapa covering it. Mike the bartender is great. The food is delicious (potato boats - YUM!!!) I am an 80's kinda girl at heart and Mike had all this 80's dance music that he would play at night when there wasn't a band. It was really fun.
Rasta Pasta - Caye Caulker - had a veggie burrito that was to die for!
BC's - Very nice bar. Good drinks, friendly service. Great location.
Fido's - went there our first night. Food was not very good and kind of pricey for what you got. Service wasn't great. This was really our only so so dinning experience.
Snorkeling, Day Trips, etc.:
We wound up booking all our snorkel and day trips with Searious Adventures. It was conveniently located and they did a great job. Our hats go off to Willie and Jeffrey.
Hol Chan/Shark Ray Alley - it was a little choppy the day we went. But I had practiced snorkeling at Ramon's pier so I was ready and did fine for my first real snorkel. Other people had a little trouble. Hol Chan was incredible. The first thing I see when I get off the boat was a big nurse shark! Too cool. We also saw a moray eel along with hundreds of other beautiful fish and coral. There were no sharks at Shark Ray Alley, but lot's of Manta Rays and those big blue fish. Jeffrey was our guide that day.
Mexico Rocks/Tres Cocos - we had such a good time the day before at Hol Chan that we woke up and immediately booked another snorkel. We went out to Mexico Rocks and then Tres Coco's. Another fabulous morning. The water was calm, the sky blue. It was just us and one other couple. Perfect, perfect perfect. This may have been my favorite thing I did the whole week. I got to see reef squid and a huge barracuda in addition to all the other sea life and reef formations. Jeffrey guided us at Mexico Rocks and then we did a free "drift" snorkel at Tres Cocos. Forgot to put sun screen on the back of my thighs -ouch!!! We loved this so much we decided to snorkel out here once more before we got on the plane and departed Friday morning.
Altun Ha/Maruba Spa - This was a really great day too (but what day isn't when you are in paradise!). Willie took us. He was a wonderful guide, good sense of humor. It seemed like he knew a little something about everything we saw. The ruins were beautiful. Willie got us to Maruba before the other tour buses and we had the place to ourselves (just the six of us) I had an incredible pedicure in this elegant jungle hut (hibiscus flowers everywhere, honey salt scrub - ahhh!) We all swam in the pool and drank and had lunch. It was a much enjoyed break after being in the 104 degree heat at Altun Ha.
Manatee/Goff's Caye with beach BBQ/Caye Caulker/Snorkel stop - more fun. Willie was our guide again. We saw at least 3 or 4 manatee and a couple of dolphin. Had a great beach lunch at Goff's Caye. Then we left and did an incredible snorkel by Caye Caulker. Many many manta rays and nurse sharks - it was truly amazing and tons of fun!! We didn't have much time at Caye Caulker, but did enjouy it there, I would like to go back and visit longer there next time. (On the way back to San Pedro is when I started to break out in this weird rash on my back and front of my torso. Very strange never did figure out what caused it. It cleared up when I got back to Albuquerque.)
Parasailing with Tony from Fido's. What a rush!!! Loved Tony. What a character he is.
Hobie cat rental - this was very fun and relaxing . We just kind of sailed up and the shoreline for a couple of hours. Very nice.
(Click here for the report from my next trip!)
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