Time of Year: Early August
Day One: Land in Belize City, taxi to water taxi, water taxi over to San Pedro. Check into hotel. Happy hour. Dinner.
I went with a large group (10 of us), and two of us added on late. Therefore, there was no room left at the original hotel, Pur Boutique, so my friend, Terri, and I stayed at the Watermark. It was okay. It’s a new hotel and wasn’t yet complete when we stayed there. Our biggest complaint was the impractical design of the room. There was no couch or sitting area but plenty of space for it. There was no dresser – just shelves. And the bathroom was set up for a man; there was way too much space under the sink without shelving and no hair dryer, a pretty standard hotel appliance. The room was obviously designed for a couple, which we were not, but even with that it left a lot to be desired. If you’re going for a very modern feel with little concern for practicality, this is your place. But, it served it’s purpose just fine, and we weren’t there very often. Our friends stayed up the road at Pur Boutique, which is where we spent the rest of the first day. This place was fantastic! It’s a small hotel with eight cabana-style rooms. The rooms seemed fine, but the real draw of this place was the swimming pool, albeit small, with a swim-up bar/taco bar and absolutely fabulous food!
Day Two: Relax, explore, bars.
Our friends picked us up on our rented golf carts today, and we headed to Palapa Bar. Palapa Bar was FUN! They have inner tubes tied up in the water for drinkin’/chillaxin’, and there’s even a pulley system so they can send a bucket of beer to you in the water. Genius! After Palapa Bar, we went to the Dog House for happy hour. Great place, and the bartender, Kenny G (supposedly this nickname has no connection to the musician – he only recently learned of the famous Kenny G), was a hoot! The food was delicious as well. From there, we went to Rum Dog for dinner. After dinner, we hit up some of the other bars. My favorite was probably Sandy Toes.
Day Three: Secret Beach. Happy hour.
Unfortunately, I got sick this day, so I was tied up in the bathroom at Secret Beach and after. Terri went back to the Dog House for happy hour, and the whole gang, aside from me, went to Wayo’s for dinner. They said good things.
Day Four: Souvenir shop. Iguana Eco Sanctuary for lunch. Crab races at Nauti Crab.
We started off today back at Palapa Bar. Such a cool place. Terri and I went to the Iguana Sanctuary for lunch, but they had a very limited menu, and I don’t have a very adventurous palate. Plus, I hadn’t eaten anything in somewhere around 36 hours, and Terri is a vegetarian – there were no vegetarian options. I will say, though, if you’ll try anything, it would have a been a really cool place to try some super local food. Instead, we went to Caliente, and it was yummy! I actually liked it so much that I’m still sad we didn’t make it back there. We ordered a bunch of side items and made our own tacos, and it couldn’t have been more perfect. Then we did a little exploring – went to the Truck Stop and Croc’s before going to the crab races at Nauti Crab. After the crab races, we went back to Croc’s. Croc’s had a live band playing, which was cool, but it was way too loud for these old ladies! The Truck Stop was a neat place. It has a bar with a few stationary food trucks, a swimming pool with swim up bar (the swim up bar wasn’t open when we were there), and really just a lot of fun things to look at.
Day Five: Snorkel/Chill/Sunset Cruise with Island Dream Tours (YOLO). Dinner.
Great tour! Would totally do again. We stopped three times along the way, first for a snorkel tour, second to swim with sharks as they chummed them, and the third to simply enjoy the water after our delicious taco bar onboard. The first stop was at the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, started in 1987. Hol Chan is a Mayan name that means small hole or small channel. It is at the 2nd largest Great Barrier Reef in the world. The second stop was at Shark Ray Alley where we got to swim with nurse sharks. After the third stop, we hit a pretty good rainstorm on the way back, but that didn’t dampen our spirits or our fun. Three of us went out to explore some more bars after, but we ended up back at Nauti Crab.
Day Six: Explore. The Chicken Drop at Wahoo’s Lounge.
If you’ve never played Chicken Shit Bingo, it’s weirdly entertaining. You draw numbers, then put a chicken on a large bingo board and wait to see which number it shits on. Weird. Entertaining. It’s somehow very easy to get into it, and there’s usually a large crowd good for people watching and/or meeting new people as well as music playing. It’s really quite a good time. The Chicken Drop is the same as Chicken Shit Bingo, and it was the highlight of today, even though no one in our group won.
Day Seven: Lamanai Mayan Ruins with Seaduced by Belize. Dinner at Caramba Restaurant.
The Lamanai Ruins trip that we did was an all day affair, but totally worth it. See my blog on this adventure for more info! I probably wouldn’t go back to Caramba, but that’s only because I’m not a big seafood girl. If seafood is your thing, though, this place is a must. The good thing is that the other food was delicious as well, so if you have non-seafood lovers in your group, they are sure to find something tasty on the menu.
Day Eight: Drop bags at the water taxi. Finish souvenir shopping. Water taxi back to Belize City, fly home.
If I was going to do this trip again, I would allow more time for exploration. There are parts of the island that we never even got close to. I would also add in a day to go over to Caye Caulker. Two of our friends did go, but it was on the same day that we had the Mayan Ruins scheduled (no one else wanted to do this, lol). The other thing I would consider is making it a longer trip with less time on the islands as well as some time in mainland Belize. All in all, though, it was a great trip, and if you’re looking for a lot of relaxation and/or bar time, this is a good itinerary for you 🙂
