The Phoenix - San Pedro

[Gaz]

Hmmmmm Peter very strange you are you reffering to the BELIZE Barrier Reef as the Meso American Barrier reef which is the name the Mexicans came up with a few years ago to counter the fact that the reef has been called the Belize Barrier Reef for as long as anyone can remember and they want to change it and Belize is totally against it.

First time I have heard someone living in Belize refer to the reef as the Meso American reef

Gaz

 

[peterbj7]

Not something I want to argue about. AFAIK the proper name for the reef is what I have given. It does after all extend south and (especially) north of Belize, albeit the largest part is in Belize. IIRC my Belize Tour Guide course book describes it as Meso-American.

 

[jlevine]

So are you basically walking into the shop every morning and simply asking where they are going? Or did you book a few dives here and a few dives there when you first walked into the shop?

What I am suggesting is that you go to the shop that you are interested in. Get a feel for the shop. Ask them any questions you have about their operation. If you are comfortable with the shop, ask them if they have space for you when you want to go. With Ecologic, you give them a credit card imprint up front and they run a tab. So after each day's dives are over, I go to the front desk and ask them if they have space for me the next day or whatever day I want to go. Thus far I have been booking only a day at a time. They won't know which sites they are going to until the time of the dive.

The great thing about San Pedro is the flat topography. The whole town is walkable and there are several dive shops up and down the beach. While I anticipate doing all my diving on this trip with Ecologic, the great thing about Ambergris is I can pick another shop if mine is full on a given day.

 

[jlevine]

Going back to the original poster's choice of The Phoenix, I just over to take a look to see whether I might want to stay there. It is *nice*...*very nice.* The floors and other finishes are really good. The bedding is higher end. Everything looks well done.

There is only one thing that I would have to consider if you are traveling with an older person. The buildings are three floors and there is no elevator. The stairwells look really nice but I didn't see handrails to hold on to. The "outer side" of the stairwell is slanted to match the angle of the stairs but there is no true railing. There is also a sign at the stairwell that says something like "Slippery when wet."

 

[Downing]

Definitely something to think about and it doesn't necessarily apply only to the elderly.

As I mentioned in my Turneffe Island trip report, one of the guests there, probably in his early 40's, slipped at the top of the outdoor stairs that go up to the second floor of the Lodge. He tumbled all the way down, about 10 or 12 steps in all. It had been raining, and these stairs were definitely slippery when wet. I didn't see it happen, but I was told he was carrying something in both hands so he didn't have a hand free to grip the railing.

Big, big mistake.

This was early in the week, and we didn't see him again until the week was almost up. The general consensus was that he had probably broken a rib in addition to full body bumps and bruises. Had it been much worse, I'm sure the management would have taken him back to the mainland for medical attention. As it was, per his wife he went straight to bed and could hardly move the first few days so she would take him his meals. The poor guy still wasn't much better when the week was up, although he finally made it to the pool the night before we left.

That was one dive vacation that went down the toilet in a flash.

 

[CarlosCabanas]

Unless I misunderstood, I was under the impression that ALL the resorts in San Pedro lack a beach and have a seawall instead. I was told there is nothing but seagrass in the waters right of the coast, which is why snorkeling off the resorts is not that great.

There are a couple of nice beaches in town (Ramon's and Banyan Bay) but no real snorkeling off the beach. Arguably the nicest beach on the island is at Tranquility Bay Resort and it is the only place you can snorkel from shore to the reef safely, on Ambergris Caye.

Regardless as a diver the Phoenix is a beautiful resort and there are a couple of great dive shops close by as mentioned. Enjoy your stay in San Pedro!!

Cheers,
Carlos

 

[jlevine]

As a follow up to my earlier post, I received an e-mail from someone at the Phoenix saying that they are installing handrails on the stairwells. It wasn't clear from the photo they sent whether both sides of the stairwell would have them, but having them even on one side would be a big advantage. They said they are also going to be experimenting with antislip materials and tape in the future as well. Kudos to the management for a response!