jancol

My wife and I are planning an 8 night trip to Belize this summer, looking at splitting time between beach relaxation and adventure (jungle). Specific to the beach, we have looked at both Placencia and Ambergris Caye, and were looking for opinions/recommendations as to the better place to stay. It is our 10th anniversary, so are looking for luxurious beach front place to stay but also are definitely foodies, and would still be looking for an excursion or two during our stay at the coast. We have read a great deal of the input on this (and other) blogs, however are still not sure specific to our two potential choices.

Katie_Valk

Ambergris is our most visited destination with the larger selection of hotels, restaurants, bars and people and is less than a mile from the reef. Placencia is more laid back, less developed, has better beaches and is 19 miles from the reef and if you are visiting during the summer and choose Placencia, keep in mind 45 docile whale sharks congregaate off the coast around the full moon and are incredible to see while snorkeling or diving.

qwovadis

Xanadu at Ambergris for luxury upscale best restaurants

although

www.robertsgrove.com

in Placencia is quite

good more to do diving jungle ruins caves private island

but food selection more limited.

JeanH

I personally prefer Ambergris to Placencia, the sand is softer and whiter, and the water seems clearer.

San Pedro, the town on Ambergris, can be busy and a bit noisy. For whatever reaon, I enjoy the chaos and the great people watching, before retreating to my quiet condo a mile south of town.

If you want easy access to the many restaurants in/around town stay south of the bridge. I'd pick Victoria House. It's just a lovely spot. A couple miles south of town, but the road is paved into town, so golf carts are easy and cabs are relatively cheap and plentiful.

North of the bridge there are beautiful resorts. Also, some very nice restaurants. Getting betweeen them will probably require a water taxi, costs add up quickly, and I don't care to be on someone else's schedule.

If you don't mind being right in town, also look at the Phoenix. It's not downtown, I doubt it's loud, and it sure is easy to walk to many restaurants.

For Placencia, I'd look at Turtle Inn. I've only walked by it once, but it's beautiful.

sharie

I second Xanadu. Its gorgeous! Management is awesome and they run specials. We stayed right on the beach... step off the patio and your feet are in the sand. Wish I could live there.

hopefulist

Maybe this current thread on the Thorntree Forum will help you. I chose Caye Caulker.

hopefulist

Oops! I forgot to paste the link:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...61498&tstart=0

rjbriskin

We just got back from Belize yesterday and stayed at Turtle Inn. While our Sea Front Villa was beautiful, I must say the sevice at the the resort was lacking. Placencia is a charming town and has a few cool restaurants to try as well.

volcanogirl

Bookmarking.

Fra_Diavolo

v-girl -- just FYI, you can now bookmark a Fodor's thread just as you would any other webpage, by clicking "Add Bookmark" or whatever the equivalent command is on your browser. You can set up your own Belize folder, and there's no need to search through your posts to find what you're looking for. Enjoy.

JoniC

I have stayed at Victoria House on Ambergris and Turtle Inn in Placencia. Turtle Inn was just incredible and I highly recommend it. I am not sure what the weather is like in the summer though. I believe Placencia is a lot more hot and humid than Ambergris. We were lucky when we were there. There was a "cold front" going through so it was only about 85 degrees the entire time we were there.

Ambergris has a lot more restaurants, bars and other things to do. Placencia is more laid back for sure.

Either way, you will love it!

JoniC