jojoblais

Coco Beach looks gorgeous, really good special being offered, but it's far from town.

Mayan Princess also nice, near town - but the beach isn't as private or beautiful.

Opinions? We are 2 women in our 40's, want beautiful, swimmable beach, comfortable accommodations, also a little nightlife.

Suggestions welcomed!

JeanH

The only truly swimmable beaches on Ambergris are at Ramon's and Banyan Bay. You can also swim at Tranquility Bay, but it's way far north and isolated, not for those who want to eat at different restaurants and have some nightlife.

Otherwise, most swimming is done off the docks.

Next door to Ramon's is the Palms, very nice condos, decent rates. A bit further north is Belizean Reef, also nice condos,but no pool.

Going south of town, look at Coral Bay Villas (only have one bedroom units), Caribbean Villas, nice stretch of beach, small pool, cute little beach bar. Nice artificial reef for snorkeling off the end of their dock. A bit further south is Xanadu. Sea wall there, but nice pool.

jojoblais

Jean: the beaches aren't swimmable? I thought that was the reason people went to Belize, because the water is beautiful! When you say not swimmable -- are they dirty? Rough? Polluted???

volcanogirl

A lot of them have sea grass growing right off the beach. They are beautiful though.

JeanH

On Ambergris, the waves break on the reef, which is half a mile or so from shore. So, no wave action to make for sandy beaches. The beaches are pretty narrow. The sand is soft and white, the water is clear and blue.

But, because of lack of waves, there is sea grass growing everywhere. It washes up on shore every night. The resorts clean it up every day. In many places, the water is very shallow a long ways out.

If you don't mind walking in sea grass, you can certainly swim anywhere along the coast.

A few resorts, Ramon's and Banyan Bay have nice swimmable beaches. Many resorts have roped off areas off the ends of their docks for swimming, along with steps into the water.

People do go to Belize for the water, but not to lie on picutre perfect, beautiful wide beaches.

There are better looking, and more swimmable, beaches in Placencia. But, the water isn't as clear, the sand is darker and coarser. It's a trade off.