Townsend
Registered
I know some of you are not going to like this and flame on if you like. I'm not "ragging" I'm simply providing my experience.
Some more introduction about my perspective. I travel for business. I spend over 250 nights a year in a hotel (I don't know why I pay a mortgage :11: ). This means I eat 2 -3 meals per day in a restaurant and I've got an expense account so I don't skimp on accomodations or dining. I've been doing this for 10+ years now. My wife and I typically take 2 out-of-the-country trips per year.
My wife and I just got back from 9 days in Belize. We had a great time. BUT.
Pluses :thumbs_up
+ Belize is very easy to get to. 2:50 from Charlotte - Piece of cake.
+ The Victoria House is nice and the people are reasonable. This is NOT a LUXURY resort as it was sold to us or described by many.
+ The food at Victoria House is very good and not much more money than food in town (worth the $'s comparatively)
+ The Dive shop/pier is about 20 steps from the Victoria House pool
+ The Dive operator, the Berkley (Barkley?) Brothers - Rene and Jacinto are two of the most pleasant and skilled dive masters/instructor I've ever met. They receive my highest recommendation.
+ We felt safe and the people are generally very friendly
+ No accosting by timeshare/trinket vendors was a very nice change of pace
+ The reef is very healthy!
Minuses
- Belize is unbelievably expensive for a 3rd world country. It boarders on being a joke and I feel very sorry for the people who live there - it must be very difficult to make ends meet.
- There is not much to do in San Pedro without it costing a fortune.
- The food SUCKS and it's EXPENSIVE (I'm not going to list our dissapointments. Suffice it to say that after a few terrible meals we simply ate at the Victoria House as it was good and reliable)
-The Victoria House casitas are NOT air conditioned even though they are sold that they are (fortunatly for us, they had an available room with AC which they did move us to after 2 nights)
- It's very hot and the mosquitos are ferocious!
- Although the diving was great and we saw some interesting creatures (Spotted Eagle Rays) there was not the amount of life I would have expected on a reef so healthy.
Next time we go back (we'll go back to dive) we will stay at the Banyan Bay condos (we have a RCI timeshare so could easily trade). They are very nice 2 bedroom w/ kitchen.
Taken with a grain of salt/sand and the other reviews on this board and other I hope that your vacation, where ever it is, is fantastic!
-Townsend
Some more introduction about my perspective. I travel for business. I spend over 250 nights a year in a hotel (I don't know why I pay a mortgage :11: ). This means I eat 2 -3 meals per day in a restaurant and I've got an expense account so I don't skimp on accomodations or dining. I've been doing this for 10+ years now. My wife and I typically take 2 out-of-the-country trips per year.
My wife and I just got back from 9 days in Belize. We had a great time. BUT.
Pluses :thumbs_up
+ Belize is very easy to get to. 2:50 from Charlotte - Piece of cake.
+ The Victoria House is nice and the people are reasonable. This is NOT a LUXURY resort as it was sold to us or described by many.
+ The food at Victoria House is very good and not much more money than food in town (worth the $'s comparatively)
+ The Dive shop/pier is about 20 steps from the Victoria House pool
+ The Dive operator, the Berkley (Barkley?) Brothers - Rene and Jacinto are two of the most pleasant and skilled dive masters/instructor I've ever met. They receive my highest recommendation.
+ We felt safe and the people are generally very friendly
+ No accosting by timeshare/trinket vendors was a very nice change of pace
+ The reef is very healthy!
Minuses
- Belize is unbelievably expensive for a 3rd world country. It boarders on being a joke and I feel very sorry for the people who live there - it must be very difficult to make ends meet.
- There is not much to do in San Pedro without it costing a fortune.
- The food SUCKS and it's EXPENSIVE (I'm not going to list our dissapointments. Suffice it to say that after a few terrible meals we simply ate at the Victoria House as it was good and reliable)
-The Victoria House casitas are NOT air conditioned even though they are sold that they are (fortunatly for us, they had an available room with AC which they did move us to after 2 nights)
- It's very hot and the mosquitos are ferocious!
- Although the diving was great and we saw some interesting creatures (Spotted Eagle Rays) there was not the amount of life I would have expected on a reef so healthy.
Next time we go back (we'll go back to dive) we will stay at the Banyan Bay condos (we have a RCI timeshare so could easily trade). They are very nice 2 bedroom w/ kitchen.
Taken with a grain of salt/sand and the other reviews on this board and other I hope that your vacation, where ever it is, is fantastic!
-Townsend