Ambergris Caye, Belize

Boat cruise, Ambergris Caye, Belize

Belize is one of the smallest countries in Central America with a population less than that of Wichita, Kansas. Even so, tourism is big business here, with over one million foreign visitors every year.
Lots of those tourists come for the beautiful Caribbean beaches and eco-adventures. 

Southwest Airlines flies direct from Houston to Belize City, and if you do a little looking, you can get really cheap fares. One caveat, there's only one nonstop flight per day leaving from Houston. Make sure your connection isn't tight because the flight often leaves early. This happened to us. Our connection from Austin was a few minutes late and even though we checked with the flight attendant on our flight asking her to make sure they held the flight for us, and trusting her assurances that they would, when we arrived at the gate one minute late, the flight had departed ten minutes early.

To add insult to injury, the supervisor at the gate was extraordinarily rude, even calling us names (I'm not kidding) when we complained about the flight leaving early. So, they put us up in a crappy Houston airport hotel and we cooled our heels for 24 hours, waiting for the next day's flight and losing a whole day of vacation.

Eight seat airplane takes you from Belize City to San Pedro, Belize

Most of the locals take the ferry back and forth from the mainland to Ambergris Caye, tourists take a plane. We took a little single-prop eight-seater to the tiny one landing strip airport in San Pedro. If you're lucky the pilot might make a unexpected pit stop at one of the smaller islands where you'll land on a dirt runway. Quite exciting!
 
Grabbing our bags, the debacle in Houston is long forgotten as we quickly acclimate to island living. Warm breezes, dusty streets and friendly people, the only thing you have to be careful of is the golf carts. They're everywhere, and if you forget to look, you might get clipped.

Rush hour in San Pedro. Note the golf carts

What do you do on Ambergris Caye? Well, if you're a diver, head out to the famous blue hole. Tons of chartered boats and tours will take you there. Or, if you're into fishing, there's plenty of people to hire for that, too.

Many of the alleys leading to the beach are decorated with beautiful flowers

For us, it was all about relaxing. Our hotel was right on the beach, so I just grabbed one of their beach chairs and read my book until it was time for lunch. Or we wandered around the small town. It's only three streets wide since the island is so long and skinny, so you're unlikely to get lost.

And in the evening, there are lots of little bars to grab a tropical cocktail and listen to some music, whether it's some guy with his guitar covering Creedence Clearwater Revival songs or a local reggae band. Jerry Jeff Walker even has a house on the island and once a year he holds Camp Belize, where he plays for his fans in San Pedro. Looks like fun!

Lola's in San Pedro. I had to travel all the way to Belize to find a Chicago sports bar.

The thing that I liked best about San Pedro and Ambergris Caye is the laid back lifestyle. I haven't been on many tropical vacations, preferring historical or foodie destinations to flopping on a beach. But, this place was a fantastic change of pace. I remember years ago going on a corporate retreat to Puerto Rico. I was excited to go until we got there and I saw that we were basically held captive at the resort. Not literally, but everything was behind the gates of this place. The restaurants, the beaches, the hotel, the clubs, everything was there. No need to leave the grounds and interact with the locals. In fact, you were discouraged from doing so. I lasted about a day before I had to get out and fled to see the real Puerto Rico.

Kids, just out of school, waiting in line to buy a treat

Anyway, San Pedro is nothing like that. Sure, there are resorts on the island where you can do the all-inclusive thing. But, we really enjoyed our tiny apartment and kitchen, going to the local grocery store and making a few meals for ourselves.

Oh, and on the way back we had some questions about our flight on Tropic Air. Guess what? They will reply to you directly by text, are super-friendly and accommodating. Southwest could learn a thing or two.
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