Christmas 2018 in Belize
San Pedro, Belize
Wedding planning has fully taken over 2019 so that’s why it’s March and I’m just getting around to our holiday trip…even though it was a few months back it feels like only yesterday!
When you think of Christmas, do palm trees come to mind? For us, they did! We spent Christmas 2018 in Belize and it was pure magic! If you haven’t traveled to San Pedro before, I highly suggest it!
We stayed on Ambergis Caye, a small island just off the mainland - about a 15 minute plane ride over the water from the Belize airport. After we landed in our tiny plane, we hopped in our golf cart and headed to our first stop - the local store for fresh, homemade flour tortillas! Guys, I could live off these things…buttery, warm and wrapped in a pack of 4 - they were deadly delicious!
The view from our 6 seater plane - I mean, just look at that water!
Night one was spent drinking, dancing and dining at the Truck Stop - a local hang out with a live band and a bunch of shipping containers that have been converted to “food trucks”. This local hot spot is great for all ages and has a variety of eateries with delicious food truck style cuisine - FYI: the coconut ice-cream was to die for. On the lagoon side, there are lots of games if you’re in the mood - ping pong, corn hole, giant connect four and even water access! Let’s just say, we all made a lot of memories we hardly remember on night one and we still talk about this night to this day!
Live music, great food and yummy drinks!
For the majority of the trip we stayed at Captain Morgan’s Retreat - I was in palm tree heaven! Thatched roofs, beach front bungalows, three pools and a well appointed bar made this an ideal place to spend Christmas day! We had three adjoining apartments/condos that made staying with our large group ideal. We spent the day lounging around the pool as a family, playing pool games and enjoying the gorgeous view!
THE VIEW… * HEART EYES *
The view from our balcony - I mean, perfection or?
The grounds of Captain Morgan’s - palm tree heaven!
Beach all to ourselves on Christmas morning
Caye Caulker Day:
Another day, we took a short ferry ride to an island called Caye Caulker - This little island has palm tree lined streets made of sand, colorful bars, little trinket shops and a natural “swimming pool” bar built at the split. This island was the most visually pleasing of all! Every building was painted a bright, tropical color. The palm trees seemed to sway so effortlessly, like something out of a movie. We spent the day wandering the sandy streets hopping from bar to bar, shop to shop, stopping to take a picture every 2 seconds! You can stay on this island as well, but the time we spent there was just enough for us!
Caye Caulker
I died and went to palm tree heaven x 1000
The bar at the split, you can sit in the ocean and enjoy it all
Another picture perfect memory
Mainland Adventure Day:
One day we ventured to the mainland via ferry for a day full of cultural immersion! After about an hour and a half ferry ride we hopped in the car for a two hour ride with our guide Mr. Joe (the best!) through Belize City, various little towns and lush vegetation while he told us fun facts about each spot along the way. He even introduced us to his favorite song, Hello by Kes, which we all quickly adopted as our “song of the trip”! Once we arrived at the Mayan ruins, we spent about an hour hiking up, down and all around and learned about their highly advanced architecture, sporting events and marriage ceremonies. Fun fact: if you whisper off the top, people at the bottom can hear you just as if you are standing right next to them…crazy!
The ferry to the Mayan ruins
Mayan ruins - the sheer magnitude of these stunning buildings is surreal to say the least
What an incredible adventure! Hiking these ruins was life changing!
Next up was lunch from this little hole in the wall shop off the side of the road - traditional red beans and rice with chicken…1000% yum! Side bar: the food on this trip was to die for - how can something as simple as rice make your tastebuds go wild?? We ate in the car as we drove to the zip-lining and cave tubing spot, about an hour drive. Once we arrived, we all got fitted in our helmets and harnesses for a few high- flying zip-line runs. We hiked to the top of the tree platform and hopped right off! Gliding through the beautiful, lush jungle was so peaceful and truly made you feel at one with nature.
After 4 quick, adrenaline filled zips across the river we were ready to relax/float through the caves! We traded our zip-lining helmets for head-lamp helmets and floated in inner tubes through the natural underground caves with our guide, learning about the formations, the ancient geography and overall erosion rate of the caves. At times, it was completely pitch black in there which was oddly peaceful. It was a very slow drift from start to finish and if you’re not afraid of the dark or tight spaces, I highly recommend this adventure!
“Turn on your lights everyone”
Here we are! Heading into the caves for an hour long float!
This was probably the best day of the trip - we all had so much fun together and learned so much about Belizean culture, the history of the cities and picked up a new favorite song! It’s a lot of traveling in one day, but 100% worth every minute!
Swimming with Sharks!
The day we snorkeled / dove the Hol Chan Marine Reserve was truly magical. The sea life was abundant due to the protected nature of the preserve and the coral seemed to be growing happily as well, which was great to see! This was a 1/2 day adventure out to a few dive spots where we were greeted by many schools of fish, spotted rays and even sharks! I’m the only “non-scuba” person in the group (I know, I know, with my water filled background how can I not be scuba certified???) so I snorkeled both spots and it was amazing! If you’re weary of the “swimming with sharks” part, don’t be! The sharks that frequent Shark Ray Alley are nurse sharks, docile and friendly to humans! This was a once in a life time experience that I highly recommend for ocean friendly swimmers!
Where’s Nemo?
Last night in paradise
After we dropped everyone off at the airport, we headed back across the bridge for a quick bite to eat and some refreshing drinks at Dive Bar before checking into our final hotel of the trip. We enjoyed some sunny views, fruity cocktails and a few pushes on the water swing while we strategized our next trip back to the island.
The swing at Dive Bar - too cute
Dreaming of these drinks rn
No caption needed…
On our last night we stayed PUR Boutique Cabanas, the most adorable hotel I’ve ever seen - did I mention it’s adults only (18+) * praise PUR *… From the minute we walked up the front steps we were greeted by the friendliest staff and, of course, a rum punch welcome drink! We sat by the pool enjoying our fruity beverage while they put the finishing touches on our room, which by the way, was absolute perfection. They have put such care and thought into the well appointed studio style rooms, they’re perfection.
PUR Boutique Cabanas
The view from the walkway that connects the rooms to the main building
We were welcomed with rum punches and some of the best hospitality of the trip!
Can I live here?
Once we settled in, we followed the little path that connects the hotel to the beach boardwalk where we enjoyed some see breezes and stunning views…not your typical “beach” setting - more of a path with docks and homesteads which made it seem even more secluded and special. I don’t think we saw one other person down there which was wonderful!
The walkway to the beach
All the heart eyes for this place
PUR is located in the Tres Cocos neighborhood, close to everything and just a short golf cart ride away from all our favorite spots on the island. We headed to Crocs, a three story sports bar, for one last sunset and happy hour. Had to squeeze in as many mango margaritas as I could before heading home! The atmosphere at Crocs is lively and fun filled, there was not an empty table in the place! We enjoyed our drinks while reliving our amazing trip as the sun went down over the marshy horizon and Derris was able to see his first “pink” sunset with the Enchroma glasses I got him for Christmas!
All that sunset watching and trip reminiscing worked up an appetite which we quickly remedied with a trip back to the PUR taco bar…guys, the food on this trip was unreal. I know, I know, tacos are tacos…but they are NOT just ordinary tacos, plus there is so much more than tacos to choose from. The menu comes in the form of a paper sheet that you fill out with one of those mini golf pencils that you have no use for in real life but secretly love. There are so many fresh options, even vegan and vegetarian friendly choices! I’m so bummed we only ate here once…I could have ordered about 10 things because everything looked amazing. If you’re looking for the yummiest, most casual yet elevated eatery - PUR has it!
With full tummies and happy hearts, we fell asleep listening to the sound of the wind breezing by our little cabana. With alarms set early for our last day in Belize, we both dreamed of staying at PUR forever!
the Final day
We woke up super early to maximize our last few hours in San Pedro and first up was Secret Beach! About a 25-30 min bumpy golf cart ride through marshy, muddy roads is a gorgeous little spot that is 100% worth seeing! We arrived around 9:00am, and we were the only people there - I don’t think the restaurants or bars open till a bit later but since we were on the expedited day plan, we opted for the earlier arrival. It was as if we had a private beach all to ourselves! The water is so clear and warm, it looked like a painting. We enjoyed our last round of homemade tortillas dockside while reminiscing about all the wonderful moments of the trip. I think when we look back on it, this moment might be our favorite! Derris and I really don’t like crowds so I think this experience would have been completely different if there were a ton of people there. I’m so glad we got to make this special memory together!
Secret Beach
Loved being the only people here…so peaceful and calm
During peak hours, I bet this place is filled with fun!
two words… THE WATER
Our timing couldn’t have been better…we saved just enough time for one last dip + dine at the PUR swim up bar! Our last few hours in Belize were spent splashing around, sipping margaritas and soaking up the sunshine.
Swim up bar at PUR
We will have a pool like this one day in our backyard!
Fun Fact: this is the day we decided to start saving for a pool - as were were sitting on the shallow steps, we thought to ourselves… “we could TOTALLY have a pool just like this in our backyard at home…” and just like that, the dream backyard fund was started!
Bye Bye Belize!
Christmas 2018 in Belize was a trip we will never forget! From the gorgeous beaches to the fantastic food and incredible memories…it was the holiday of a lifetime!
The Bungalow Bandwagon
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