Belize Beaches
 

Where are the best for hanging out on the beach? Not necessarily for snorkeling/scuba.

I prefer the beaches further south on the Placencia peninsula where you'll be able to arrange beach and mainland trips.

Even with the sea grass, I prefer the beaches on Ambergris. Just because the water is bluer and the sand is whiter and finer. We tend not to do much mainland travel from the cayes anyway, so that isn't much of a factor for us. San Pedro also has so many fun little beach bars to hang out in.

That's a good point about the quality of the sand. The sand on the Placencia peninsula, especially at the south end in Placencia village, is quite coarse with rough quartz crystals, uncomfortable to walk on, and it's khaki colored, whereas much of the sand on Ambergris is finer and lighter colored. Plus you can see the reef just offshore on Ambergris, very pretty. I prefer San Pedro, too.

--Lan Sluder

Are there any beaches (with nice hotels/resorts) in Belize that have the white sand and turquoise water of Ambergris but without the seagrass? We want to be able to both look at it and swim in it, but the seagrass (and the jellyfish I saw someone mention in a post once) obviously would spoil that.

Many of the resorts on Ambergris Caye have docks that you can swim off of.

The beach in front of Ramon's is nice. I've waded in from there, although there is some grass the bottom is nice and sandy.

The beach in front of Blue Tang is niced as well, although I haven't swam there. Ditto Banyan Bay.

Are there any beaches in Belize nicer than those on Ambergris, or is that the best it gets?

I dearly love Belize and Ambergris Caye, but if you're looking for wonderful beaches, I'd head north to Tulum. Great little hotels on the beach, some very good restaurants, and an absolutely stunning beach.

A couple years ago our vacation consisted of hopping from Placencia to Ambergris, to Tulum and on to Playa del Carmen. It was fun, but now we find that our heart belongs in Belize.

Jean (or anyone else) any suggestion of a charming hotel in Tulum? My only concern with Tulum is that the little bit of research I've done left me with the impression that the hotels there are all eco-hotels. Which isn't explicitly a problem, but for our honeymoon my fiance was pretty clear that she doesn't really want to do the "no electricity" thing. Maybe another holiday. But not this one. Let me know what anyone thinks. I agree from what I've seen that Tulum's beaches look sensational.

The problem is I don't think there is any regular electric service to the 'hotel zone' south of the ruins in Tulum. Apparently the power was knocked out in a hurricane I don't know how many years ago and was never rebuilt. Most of the hotels have their own generators for their office and restaurants, but not 24 hour service in the rooms.

I'd take a long look at Azulik in Tulum, if only for a couple of nights. It just looks awesome. We didn't stay there, but close by. The beaches are wonderful. Jean