Last night, I dreamt of San Pedro and I’m not just singing Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita” song. After staying at the Victoria House Resort and Spa in San Pedro, Belize, I can see why this is an island worth singing about and why it ultimately got the nickname of “La Isla Bonita” from her song.
San Pedro, Belize is Belize’s largest island and is located about 15 minutes on a hopper flight and 1.5 hours on a ferry from Belize City. To my surprise, Denver International Airport has a direct flight to Belize City, but this direct flight is only on certain days. In my case, the direct flight (a little over four hours) was an option on United Airlines and Southwest Airlines — on Saturdays. This gave me a week in Belize and a much easier, roundtrip commute. I opted for the hopper flight from Belize City to San Pedro as a way to maximize my time and also because I had never been on a flight for 14 passengers like this.
The hopper options are Tropic Air and Mayan Air. On the way there, I was seated right behind the pilot. I could watch his every movement and although I walked on feeling pretty afraid of this flight, it wasn’t turbulent and the landing was smooth. I spent the whole time 15 minutes taking photos of the views from my window, and we were on the ground.
San Pedro itself is only 25 miles long. This makes for a quick ride from the airport by taxi or golf cart. Keep in mind that there is no rideshare service here such as Uber or Lyft, and so the drivers give you their WhatsApp numbers if you’d like a return ride from where the taxi drops you off at.
One resort option is the Victoria House Resort and Spa, located in Ambergris Caye — two miles south of San Pedro Town. It was one of the country’s first resorts and is award-winning. Most recently, it received a Conde Nast Johansens Reader’s Award in 2023. After my first night here, I quickly discovered why this resort is unlike many. The first indication was that it felt like its own community. I could imagine it being a backdrop for a movie set or a TV location. I kept thinking about how the next season of “The White Lotus” could be filmed here because it’s so picture-perfect.
Photo Courtesy of Victoria House Resort and Spa
The Belizean culture exudes kindness, and the staff here is incredibly welcoming and friendly. I felt right at home as a guest. I started to notice some of the same fellow tourists walking around and sitting next to me at the pools, laying in the hammocks and eating at the resort’s restaurants — Poolside Patio, Admiral Nelson’s Beach Bar and Palmilla Restaurant.
When opportunity struck, I chatted with other guests to hear their stories. There was a honeymoon couple from Montana, who came here for the first time after researching tropical honeymoon destinations and resorts. And there was a family of four from Texas, who wasn’t there for the first time. In fact, the mother hugged the staff as if they were family and said they travel here every year. But the honeymooners and the family did have one vacation to-do in common. They all came here for the snorkeling and scuba diving opportunities.
Belize is home to the second largest barrier reef. In addition to boats that can take you fishing, there are two main snorkel and scuba diving routes that this resort arranges. One is the Hol-Chan Marine Reserve and the other is called Mexico Rocks. Based on the excitement of my fellow tourists at the resort, I went on both.
The Hol-Chan Marine Reserve is Belize’s oldest marine reserve. The name is Mayan for “little channel”. It covers approximately three square miles in four zones — the Reef, Seagrass Beds, Mangroves and Shark Ray Alley. As part of this snorkel tour, we swam in the reef area with all sorts of schools of fish including Gray Snappers and Princess Parrotfish before we were taken to Shark Ray Alley, where you swim with nurse sharks. Swimming with sharks wasn’t something I had ever done before and I was surprised that this was part of a safe, snorkel tour. But as the guide assured us, the nurse sharks are fed by these boat tours out of tradition and haven’t hurt any tourists swimming by them. As long as you don’t touch them, they swim by without any harm. It’s still pretty alarming to see big nurse sharks swim alongside and if they get close to you, you can feel the sliminess. After conquering my fear, it was a relief to get back on the boat. In the moment, it seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The other route is Mexico Rocks (about 25 minutes away versus the 10-15 minutes for Hol-Chan Marine Reserve). This snorkel tour was done by the Bradley Brothers, locals who have been taking tourists out in the water for their entire lives. As Jacinto Bradley told me, it’s an honor to show us what’s beneath the reef. And for almost two hours underwater, it felt like being in an aquarium. The amounts of colorful fish, stingrays, and even lobsters you swim by make for an unparalleled experience. The coral was colorful, alive and beautiful. At a time of increased sargassum across the Caribbean Sea, it was refreshing to see that this water was turquoise and pristine, which made all of its natural wonders seem even more vibrant.
The Bradley Brothers
After snorkeling, the rooms at Victoria House are a relaxing retreat. The resort has 42 guest rooms that range in style. I stayed in the Palmetto Room, which has a balcony overlooking the well-kept grounds (complete with bougainvillea and hibiscus flowers), the center pool and beach. Inside, the bed comes with a net to help keep the mosquitos away. While I normally get eaten alive in humid climates by mosquitos, I am very happy to report the net worked.
Photo Courtesy of Victoria House Resort and Spa
A room like this is listed for $355 a night on site, but prices may range from $210 to $1,000 plus 19% service per night depending on the room. For a better deal, the resort is known for offering promotions in the summer months. And coming up for fall 2023, there’s an “October Escape” promotion, which gives guests an additional night free if they are booking four nights in a two-bedroom Luxury Villa or Infinity Suite. The offer runs from October 20, 2023 — October 31, 2023.
No matter the time of year, the resort offers fresh and local seafood at its Palmilla Restaurant. Menu options include Coconut Shrimp, fresh catches of the day such as Grouper and grilled Snapper fish and Butter Poached Lobster. To complete the meal, a molten chocolate cake with organic Belizean chocolate, caramelized banana and vanilla gelato is my recommendation. Palmilla Restaurant also serves breakfast and lunch with lobster in its eggs benedict or lunch fritters. There are also plenty of lunch options from fish and chips to fish tacos to get a taste of how uniquely fresh this seafood is here.
Coconut Shrimp
Grouper
Butter Poached Lobster
Molten Chocolate Cake
There’s also a beach bar to check out at the resort. The Admiral Nelson’s Beach Bar serves up cocktails with local rum. Made from its sugar cane crop, the rum cocktails come in many forms including coconut, white and dark rum. Belizean rum and Belikin Beer are the most popular drinks of choice at the bar and poolside.
All it takes is one day of lounging around at this resort in order to feel a sense of tranquility, but it further creates this feeling for its guests at its spa. It’s the largest spa on the island, and there are many different treatments from a signature Swedish massage ($110 for 60 minutes) to Hot Stone and Energy Healing massages ($120 for 60 minutes).
Spa — photo courtesy of Victoria House Resort and Spa
In addition to relaxation, there’s adventure to be had. And there’s one interesting way to do it here. In San Pedro, the main form of transportation is a golf cart. Tourists and locals alike are cruising around on these to get around the town. At the resort, a golf cart rents for $15 an hour. Keep in mind that the drive time is slowed down by bumps in the roads, but I was able to drive through the town and also make it all the way to Secret Beach on one of these golf carts with one easy-to-follow road and signs to get there.
Secret Beach is not really a secret because it’s filled with tourists, but locals do go there as well. It’s one big party here with a row of bars and lounge chairs on the sand and tables and chairs in the water. There’s even a floating adventure waterpark for kids. It’s quite the scene and the water is clear and shallow.
You could say my experience in San Pedro was “unBelizeable”, which is also the phrase that gets sold on many items in the souvenir shops. But it is an unbelievable place.
I was amazed as to how the locals on this island seemed so happy and worry-free. For an island that relies on tourism, the Belizean minimum wage is $5 BZD an hour. This equals about $2.50 in US dollars. After the pandemic, the kind people of Belize deserve all the gratuities they can get.
San Pedro is an island escape, and the Victoria House Resort and Spa is a prime spot to experience it. After a week-long stay here, I understood Madonna’s lyrics all too well. “I prayed that the days would last. They went so fast,” she sings. Whether you’re here for a long weekend or a week, the days flew by as quickly as it took for the Tropic Air flight to bring me back to Belize City.
