WOW!
I have been collecting my thoughts about my 6 night stay in Belize. I had the most amazing experience and can’t wait to go back soon. The people were all so kind, in fact there are signs all over San Pedro that say to be kind. The country of Belize was so welcoming and being a solo female traveler, that was so reassuring! So let’s dive in!
Upon arrival at Belize airport if you are connecting to an island (most of our clients are headed to Ambergris Caye, town of San Pedro, such as I was), you will head to the domestic terminal for a flight. There are two airlines, Maya Air and Tropic Air. I ended up flying both during my stay and they were both great! I arrived to my domestic flight early, and they simply bumped me to an earlier flight so that I didn’t have to wait. The 18 minute flight offers some gorgeous views. Before I departed on my flight, one of the airline workers asked where I was staying in San Pedro. They call ahead to the resort to let them know you are on your way and to send a taxi. This one just one of the little things that really made my stay special.
Upon arrival in San Pedro, my resort Alaia, had a taxi driver waiting to take me over to the resort. The Alaia is a beautiful new, modern resort that offers many amenities. They offer a breakfast plan, an optional all inclusive plan, gym, on site spa, on site dive shop, several restaurants, pools, including a rooftop pool/bar/restaurant that is adult only, and on site golf cart rental. They offer regular rooms up to 3 bedroom villas. I had a quick lunch and got settled into my room. I opted for a dinner of lobster on site, before settling down for an early night, I was headed for an adventure in the morning!
Day 2-I pre-arranged a tour with Belize Fun Tours to go to the ATM Cave on the mainland. I took the first flight back over to Belize City arriving at 7:15 am. I was picked up by a driver and headed an hour down into the interior to get to my first stop. I then switched vehicles to go with one of the 28 licensed tour guides allowed in ATM Cave. We went on a bumpy road past beautiful views, while he gave a history of the cave, and surrounding areas. Then the real adventure started! We had a two-mile hike in that involved two river crossings! The cave itself is a wet cave. It involves a lot of swimming, climbing, and navigating to get to the dry chamber. In the dry chamber, we got to view Mayan pots, bones, and a full skeleton. The history of the cave was so interesting! I will not fill you in, as this is something you need to experience in person. After the tour, our guide provided us with a home cooked meal (cooked by his wife), and then we headed back to the airport. I arrived back on resort at 6 pm.
My taxi driver dropped me off and returned a couple of hours later to take me to Moxie for dinner. I had a great meal, this was the most expensive meal I ate while in Belize! I was starving, so I had lobster conch, fish tacos, and wine. I texted my driver when I paid my check and he pulled up right outside to take me home. I slept like a baby, full of food and exhausted by my adventure.
Day 3-I decided to head out on a run. When I got back, I had the buffet breakfast and worked from the beautiful patio while I leisurely enjoyed my coffee. I decided to have a pool day. I spend my day reading, having a sandwich by the pool. In the late afternoon, I decided to have a massage at the spa. FYI, there is also a local massage place just down the beach. They offer outdoor massages for $55 for an hour. For dinner, I went to the beach bar and had an amazing truffle pizza.
Day 4-I enjoyed a similar morning! I decided to take the ferry over to Caye Caulker for the day. It is a $39 roundtrip ferry ticket and takes about 30 minutes. While in my taxi over in the morning, I mentioned I heard you could go over Turtle Island Resort and said I would love to do that if I could get a day pass. My taxi driver told me that before he picked me up later that day, he would contact the resort manager and get it all set up for the next day. Caye Caulker is a laid-back tiny island! I had been told to head over to Iguana Reef Hotel to see the stingrays, so I looked up directions and walked over. What an amazing experience! The sting rays come right up to the shore, and you can reach down to touch their silky backs. I then headed over to the Split. The Split is an area where a hurricane split the island in half. It has several beach bars, and restaurants. I decided to have lunch at the Sip N’ Dip. The fish tacos, salsa and cold margarita hit the spot! I spent the rest of my day shopping and stopping for a drink at a local bar.
My taxi driver picked me up and had already arranged my boat transportation for tomorrow over to Turtle Island Resort (all complimentary if you order food/drinks while there). I was having such a wonderful day, so I asked him to suggest a fun spot for my evening. He suggested Salty Toes, which is a local beach bar. I headed over and had more great food. But even better I met a local woman there with her employees having a quick drink after work. She owned a local dive company, and they were wonderful company while I had my dinner.
Day 5-I took a 5 minute boat ride over to Turtle Island Resort. Currently, this is a small resort that offers beautiful bungalows. They will be expanding to a much larger resort in the next few years. As a guest on the island you may use their pool and facilities. While I did enjoy the pool and light lunch. The best part is meeting Lucy! Lucy is a rescue sea turtle who lives on the resort lagoon. She will come up and eat sardines out of tongs. The resort is hoping to rescue more turtles in the future, and you can tell they all love Lucy.
Day 6-I had an early start heading out to Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Alley. The tour left from the resort, so that made the early start a little easier. I am not much into snorkeling, but I knew it was a must see! The fish and reef were so vibrant, and the water was warm. It was one of my top snorkeling trips. It is hard to describe the colors, and how fun it was to see sharks and stingrays. After we were done snorkeling, we headed over to shark alley. This is a cool experience of swimming with the sharks!
I spent the rest of my day napping and hanging out with some ladies I met at the resort. I ended up having an early dinner and falling asleep around 8:30 pm!
Day 7-Time to head back to Oklahoma
All in all, this was such an amazing trip!
Quick costs:
Meals-meals ran $20-$80, it is just like home where you can dine at a higher end option or go a little more local to save money
ATM Cave-This tour with air runs around $385/person
Ferry to Caye Caulker-$39 roundtrip
Snorkeling-$50
Golf Cart rentals-The daily rates are $40-60 depending on where you rent. I heard of getting weekly rates as low as $150 for the week.