Belize Day 1 - Arrival

This year we spent Thanksgiving week in Belize. We decided to visit Belize for two reasons. First, there is a beautiful Hilton hotel there that we booked with points. A free hotel room is a plus. Second, there is world class scuba diving. We love a good scuba diving trip. The diving in Belize is top notch. They have the Belize Barrier Reef, which is the second largest barrier reef in the world. Both of these factors made Belize an appealing destination for us. We are also excited to escape the freezing cold Utah weather and soak in some sun. 

We didn’t put as much time and effort into planning this trip, as we have previous trips this year. This one is more straight forward since we are visiting one country and staying in one hotel. We did get Covid tested a few days before the trip. The week before we left was crazy. We made a big unexpected decision that took most of our time and focus. We mostly threw stuff into bags and decided we would figure everything out once we got to Belize. We forget sunscreen, sunglasses, and bug spray. Fortunately we can get all of those items in Belize. We were a bit of a mess getting out to door. 

We took the red eye to Atlanta on Friday night. Red eyes are not our favorite, but it was our best option to maximize time. 

One nice thing about traveling internationally is the lounge access. We hung out in the SLC Skyclub until our flight to Atlanta was boarding. 

Flying to Belize isn’t that long or hard. The only downside with the shorter flights is that it doesn’t give us much time to sleep. We both slept for the entire 3 hour flight to Atlanta, but it wasn’t long enough. We then had a 4+ hour layover in Atlanta. We found another lounge to wait for our flight. Then we had a 2.5 hour flight to Belize City. Alison slept on this flight, but I had been up too long at this point to fall back asleep so I watched a movie and listened to an audio book. 

Our first view of Ambergris Caye

We landed in Belize around noon. Alison likes to say you can tell a lot about a country by its immigration and customs process. Belize was smooth and painless. We were impressed. 

Once we were through customs we headed straight into another line to get tickets for the final leg of our journey. We had a flight booked on Maya air from Belize City to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. Maya airlines is a small airline that flies small planes around Belize. We booked a flight at 2:40pm because that gave us a good buffer in case our international flight in was delayed or customs took longer than expected. We had plenty of time so they bumped us up to the 1:40pm flight. We were grateful. Even though Maya is a tiny airline they had fantastic customer support.

Our plane to San Pedro

At 1:40pm they walked us out to our plane. It fit about 10 people. They asked if Alison wanted to be the copilot. She responded with an emphatic yes. She sat up front by the pilot and had great views during our 15 minute flight to San Pedro. 

After landing we came right to our hotel - the Mahogany Bay Resort and Beach Club. It is a really unique hotel. The rooms are a series of little cottages. We are excited to spend the  next week here. We met with the concierge and reviewed our plans for the week. We have a good mix of activities and relaxing. It should be a great week. 

Our cottage for the week

We were hungry so we wandered over to the restaurant. They had good food. Alison had a local dish with chicken, rice, and beans and I had a giant quesadilla loaded with veggies and chicken. I think we will eat here a decent amount on this trip - it is a convenient option. 

After dinner we sat by the pool and watched the sun set. While we were hanging out we watched a crocodile swim across the fresh water inlet near the hotel. That was cool - we will be staying away from the fresh water. This hotel is in a beautiful coastal location. 

Do you see the crocodile swimming across the inlet?

Before bed we needed to get our golf cart. Golf carts are the main mode of transportation on San Pedro. They are everywhere. We rented one for the entire week. The company we used dropped ours at the hotel. I picked it up at the front and they gave me a quick tutorial on the features - lights, the lock, and the operation.  

I drove our golf cart back to our room and we called it a night. We were feeling exhausted after our long travel day. Alison fell asleep about 7pm and I was out around 8pm.