Last week, Mitchell and I were wheels up and down to Belize where the water was crystal clear, the palms were swaying, and the rum punches were strong. We enjoyed a week full of relaxation, fresh seafood, adventures, and tons of birthday celebrations.
We decided not to stay on the mainland of Belize, instead we took a tiny jet over to San Pedro island. We approached the smallest plane I have ever been on, with a total of 6 people on the plane. I don’t know who’s idea it was to make me co-pilot, but I helped get us to the island safely. The views from the short 15 minute flight were incredible – the colors and shades of blue were unlike some I have ever seen.
After we landed on the island, we arrived to our hotel, Mahogany Bay Village. This property is gorgeous. It was newly constructed, and offers a tons of different amenities including a pool, restaurants, spa, yoga, chocolate making, coffee shop, and a private beach club. This hotel was way nicer than the places I normally stay on vacation, but Mitchell wanted to splurge a little since we were celebrating my birthday.
The rooms were little island cottages, and gave off all of the island feels. With teak wood, outdoor shower, and beachy decor, it was a great place to stay.
Mitch and I only went to the private beach club one afternoon. We took a 15 minute boat ride through the mangroves that opened up to a private beach with a beach bar, chairs, paddle boards, and over the water beds. It was quite lovely to have your own beach chair, and a small beach. Mitch and I enjoyed the paddle boards (he was way better than I was), and relaxed in the bath water temperature ocean. Our only disappointment was that the prices on the beach club were very high. We paid $9 for a Belizean beer, when in town you could pay $3.50. The other days we ventured out to Secret Beach, which I will be writing a whole separate post about soon!
One of the coolest things about San Pedro island, was that everyone drove around in golf carts. The island is only around 24 miles long, so a golf cart was the perfect transportation. Mitch and I rented a golf cart for our whole entire stay. We had a blast cruising around town. Just a fair warning, there are massive speed bumps that come out of no where, so hold on!
We did 2 snorkeling trips during our time on San Pedro. Our first one was to Ho Chin Marine Reserve and Shark Alley. Ho Chin is the second largest barrier reef in the world next to The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We saw lots of colorful fish, sting rays, and coral. It was very crowded, and if you didn’t stay close to your guide you could easily lose your group. We were in a group with 8 people. It did not seem very intimate since there were so many people. Shark Alley is where we swam with about 7 nerf sharks and multiple stingrays. Mitch and I both really enjoyed playing with the stingrays. The sharks were a cool experience, and it was a little nerve-racking being a couple feet away from a 6 foot shark.
Our second snorkeling trip was by far our favorite of the week. We went to Mexico Rocks, which was only 18 miles away from the Mexico border. We were again in a group with around 8 people, but we were one of 2 other boats in the area. We snorkeled for 2 hours straight and saw so many things. We swam 2 feet away from a 4 foot barracuda, saw a moray eel who did not seem very friendly, played with more stingrays, saw a massive puffer fish (my personal favorite fish), and dove down to see almost a 2 foot lobster. Our guide, Candy Man, was so informative of the coral, fish, and other marine life. He really took his time to show us all the coral and ocean had to offer, and it was a real highlight of our trip.
Another highlight of our trip was Thursday night at the chicken drop. All of the locals know about the chicken drop, so we wanted to fit in and participate. The chicken drop is almost like a betting bingo. There is a big square on the sand with a bunch of little squares with numbers on the inside. When it is time, they put a chicken into the square, and everyone cheers for the chicken to poop. Whichever number the chicken poops on is the winner of $50USD. This seemed right up Mitch’s and mine alley. So we purchases 5 squares for each game, there were 7 games. When it was time we all crowded around. There was “chicken security” who was in charge of shaking the chicken up and down to prepare it, and then blowing in its butthole for good luck. Then the chicken was dropped and the excitement began! Unfortunately, neither one of us walked away as winners, but it was an experience we would never forget.
I mentioned earlier that Mitch and I ate very well at our time in San Pedro. I will be doing a whole separate post about what to eat in San Pedro, but here are the highlights of our favorites:
Belize was a great vacation. A trip well needed after the craziness of the meet. It was also Mitch’s and mine first international trip together, and I’d say it was a success and he too got bit by the travel bug. I can’t wait where we will explore next in our world!
Leave a Reply