San Pedro and Ambergris Caye are the heart of tourism in Belize. It is where the vast majority of tourists choose to spend their time in Belize. Many come to Ambergris for a week or ten days and barely even leave to see any of the other sights Belize has to offer. It is a resort town that is doing its best to compete with the likes of Cancun for the hot spring destination. It has cheap hotels, chic resorts and one giant strip of bars and dance clubs. If you are looking for the type of Caribbean where you either spend your nights drinking and your days sunbathing or if you are of the type who likes to hole yourself up in a resort, then Ambergris is your place. However, if you are a budget traveler, or someone who enjoys experiencing local culture, then stay as far away from Ambergris as possible.
We had not originally considered staying on Ambergris, instead we had planned on spending our time on the cayes on Caye Caulker, Ambergris’ little brother, but we decided that we should give Ambergris a shot, for at least a night. At first sight, the town of San Pedro didn’t seem to be too bad. We managed to find a cheap and clean place to stay right on the beach, Edith’s and the town seemed rather quaint. We found a great place for dinner, the Jam Bel Jerk Pit, which serves up a host of Jamaican dishes, all of them spectacular. The best part is that they will make it as hot as you want if you tell them to make it extra spicy, the will make it extra spicy…I’m salivating just remembering their jerk pork.
San Pedro during the day is fine place. It is your typical Caribbean tourist town. It has cheap T-shirt stores, hundreds of places offering snorkel tours, and plenty of beach bars. At night is when San Pedro gets into full Spring Break mode. The discos all start blaring their music and every club has the guy standing outside yelling at you to come inside. As the night goes on the streets fill with drunken tourists and things get a bit crazier. If that is your scene, then San Pedro is a great place, but if you are expecting a quieter vacation, then I’d recommend staying away. It was OK for one night, but after that I had to head out.
Probably my biggest gripe about San Pedro and Ambergris is that the friendliness that Belizeans are so famous for has been slowly whittled away by tourism. It seems people are much more out for money than to help you have a great time. For me, I came to Belize to experience the life and culture of the people in Belize and share in their beautiful country, and that is not what I found in Ambergris.