getmeoddahere

We are looking to escape to a beach that fits the following description: Beautiful calm water, a long, long beach for walking, a laid back hotel, an area where the nightlife consists of a variety of local restaurants, the opportunity to walk around a town that is not too touristy, the ability to get a beer on the beach. Something authentic. Quiet, not family or kid oriented. The opposite of an AI, although I've never been, I imagine them to be very sterile and American. Last year we stayed at the Shangrila Caribe at Playa Del Carmen. We loved it, although the town was overly developed. I would love to snorkel and hike and be active, althoug that was our plan last year and we spent the entire time reading on the beach. We will probably be there for a week max, maybe only 5 nights, depending on schedules.
I came up with Belize and Roatan as possibilities, but Jamaica? somewhere else. Would love your thoughts.

Angler973

Check out Turtle Inn in Belize. Seems like it has everything you are looking for.

TC

Having been to both, I would recommend Roatan over Belize, but it depends on where you go in Belize. I'm sure Lan will reply here with good suggestions.

We stayed on Ambergris in Belize and found it to be a bit touristy. The water wasn't nice from the beach either.

We took a private home in Roatan on West End Beach -- amazingly beautiful to walk on. The snorkeling and diving right from that beach was amazing. From WEB we would take a local fishing boat into town for dinner at night. Good food.

ewesthoff

I can only say that you probably wouldn't like Ambergris Caye if you were looking for a long white sand beach to snorkel from with a quaint town, because the town is a little touristy and the beach has alot of seaweed/grass and is not nice to swim in. The island however is alot of fun and day snorkel trips are some of the best anywhere around. The beaches away from town are beautiful, but not good for swimming. Hope this helps.

LanSluder

Turtle Inn is in Placencia, not Ambergris Caye, and it could be a good choice, though it's not cheap. Placencia village is not a town, just a village, but it's less touristy than San Pedro.

I'd also suggest Maya Beach Hotel up the peninsula a few miles -- charming little place, excellent value, and one of the best restaurants in Belize.

Roatan has some real pluses, such as beach snorkeling and closer access to hiking, but also minuses, such as sandflies (often worse than Belize), and of course also the issues associated with being a part of the second-poorest country in the hemisphere.

--Lan Sluder