The Ultimate Vacation in Ambergris Caye, Belize!

Everyone wants a great vacation and Ambergris Caye of Belize has all that a person needs to relax and have a great vacation. From the scuba diving to the great food to the beautiful beaches, you will feel right at ease when you arrive. I am just going to share some of the experiences that I had on this beautiful island and hopefully you might decide to give it a chance as well! You won't regret it!

Imagine sandy white beaches, a cocktail in your hand, and looking out at the beautiful ocean from your own private cabana! This is what you will get if you go to the beautiful island resort named Captain Morgan's Retreat on Ambergris Caye! Your own little cabana will have a thatched-roof and A/C to keep it cool. The room is decorated with the beautiful red hibiscus flowers of the islands and you will feel like you are in paradise the moment you walk through your door. Scattered along the beach are hammocks for you and your partner to laze about in passing the day away.

If you get hungry, there are plenty of restaurants with delicious food scattered along the island. I would definitely recommend the buffet night at Buena Vista, the restaurant at Captain Morgan's. They will make sure you leave with a full belly! And while you are eating, they have live entertainment as local bands come in and help make the night even more special. If you are staying at one of the resorts located along the island, you may want to rent a golf cart or ride a bike down to San Pedro where lots of little restaurants are located. Elvi's is a great place to eat and quite unique as well! It actually has a Mahogany tree growing inside of the restaurant and becomes part of the roof! While I was waiting for my rice and beans with a fish fillet, I sipped on a delicious rum punch which is famous in the islands. Though $25 BZ seemed a bit pricey, it really wasn't considering the Belizean dollar is equal to $0.50 US and the food was very delicious. I definitely recommend eating the grouper at the local restaurants because you will not regret it. A lot of the restaurants I chose to eat at, I ate the fish because it was caught daily and was absolutely spectacular! It was the best fish that I have ever had in my life! All in all, the food is spectacular and you will love it! There are many choices on the island for food and you really can't go wrong!

For scuba diving and having fun in the water, you have many choices as well. There are a lot of local dive shops located along the island that will take you scuba diving or just snorkeling. Resorts also have boats and guides to take you out to fun spots. There is a place specifically for both snorkelers and scuba divers and that is Shark-Ray Alley. Shark-Ray Alley is known for the nurse sharks and sting rays that inhabit this area. If you go on this experience, a local guide will actually catch the sharks and rays in the water and allow you to touch them for a moment. It is most likely an experience that won't soon be forgotten! Another well known place to go is Hol Chan Marine Reserve. This is more for divers and you can go in the day or even at night! I went on the night dive and it was spectacular! I got to see the plants and life that only come out at night like a little octopus and the moray eels! It was definitely a different experience that I would like to repeat over again! Another place that makes for great adventure scuba diving is the Blue Hole! Though it's a bit pricier because you have to take a boat ride out to a different caye, it is definitely worth it! The Blue Hole is a cave in the middle of the reef that is 450 feet down and has beautiful stalagmites, stalactites, and columns. The maximum depth you can go is 150 ft. but that is far enough to be able to see the vast world that is down in this hole. When I was down there, there were about 15 - 20 blacktip reef sharks that greeted us down there. They got so close that it seemed like you could reach your hand out and touch them! But of course, I didn't! It was an amazing dive!

If you don't like water adventures, there are always other fun things to do on the island. Most of the resorts, like Captain Morgan's Retreat, will let you take out their bicycles for free for the day. I took one out and rode a couple miles down the road to San Pedro! But be warned! You want to bring a lot of water with you if you decide to pedal all the way to San Pedro! It gets really warm and you will get heat exhaustion if you don't bring a couple bottles of water with you! In San Pedro, there are lots of local shops with local arts and crafts there. I bought these beautiful paintings of island life that were made by the locals. They were inexpensive and were a great souvenir to bring back to help me remember my vacation! There is also a local shop that will take you out parasailing over and around the island which I didn't go on, but now I kind of wish that I did. Or you can take a cruise around on a catamaran around the island for an evening or an afternoon! Almost anything you could want to do is there!

For the adventurous or the lazy traveler, Ambergris Caye is a great island to spend your vacation on! If you like scuba diving and beauty of the ocean, it is the perfect place for you! If you like the island life of sitting around and lazing in a hammock and eating good food, you can do that! Ambergris Caye in Belize is a beautiful place to go and I would definitely recommend planning a vacation there! It was an amazing place and I hope to return there someday!