Last Night I Dreamt of San Pedro

Sunrise Over San Pedro

Few experiences are as lovely as waking up to the sun’s rays shining on your face. It’s especially enjoyable when it happens over the balcony of your accommodations (The Phoenix Resort) in view of palm trees and the crystal clear waters of San Pedro, Belize. San Pedro, a hip town on the southern part of the island of Ambergris Caye, has a range of activities and restaurants that will keep even the most seasoned travelers awed.
Sunrise © Gennaro Salamone

Swimming With Sharks

No trip to San Pedro would be complete without a visit to Hol Chan Marine Reserves and Shark Ray Alley. Depending on the location of your hotel, a simple walk along the white sand beaches of the town will lead you to a plethora of companies who specialize in diving and snorkeling trips. Xtreme Adventures was responsible for ensuring that five travel bloggers and writers (see below) including myself experienced the vast underwater wildlife of the area. This included seeing sea turtles, barracudas, sharks, and stingrays over the course of a forty-minute swim. For those who are interested in getting close to the wildlife, the leaders of the expedition will hold onto sharks and stingrays for participants to pet.
Swimming With Sharks © Gennaro Salamone

Streets of San Pedro

After filling much of the morning with swimming and sunning, it’s a smart move to navigate the shop-filled streets of San Pedro looking for lunch. Be sure to keep your wits about you during your walk as golf carts, which can be rented on the island, are often whizzing bye.

Our landing spot for the afternoon was Elvi’s Kitchen. The restaurant gives off the feeling of home both in its presentation and cuisine. Started by Elvi Staines and her family, the spot has become the most famous restaurant on the island. Patrons can select from a wide-range of fresh seafood, which is prepared with a local touch. On this day, the ceviche, conch, and coconut curry shrimp were particularly memorable.
Elvi’s Kitchen © Gennaro Salamone

Parasailing

If you’re looking for some excitement after lunch, parasailing in the early evening will provide for a unique experience. Either in pairs or solo, Extreme Adventures will launch willing participants off their boats and over the waters of Belize connected to their parasailing gear. There is a slight adrenaline rush after lift off, but a relative calm sets in while looking over the blue waters and island formations off the coast of the Central American nation. The activity is also considered to be safe and people of various ages and abilities will be able to participate. One of the leaders of the adventure company even talked of a man who was wheel-chair bound going up earlier in the morning.

Melanie and Kara Parasailing © Gennaro Salamone

I was joined on the trip by travel writers: Melanie Waldman of Travels With Two, Christine Gilbert of Almost Fearless, Kara Williams of The Vacation Gals, and Kerrin Rousset of MyKugelhopf.

This trip to Belize was courtesy of the Belize Tourism Board. The content and opinions in the article are those of the author.

 
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Gennaro Salamone is the founder and editor of Enduring Wanderlust. Feel free to contact him with questions, comments, or inquiries with reference to contributing a travel article or photograph for publication.

 

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Scuba Diving Certification in Affordable Paradise

The Bay Islands of Honduras offer an unmatched opportunity to receive an open water certification for scuba diving. The crystal clear waters are a dwelling place to a multitude of wildlife including whale sharks, sea horses, and dolphins. The certification courses on Utila are the most inexpensive in the Caribbean running from $220-280 for several days of instruction, low-end hotel room, and two free dives (in most cases). Courses are also available for a bit more at the higher-end island called Roatan.
Scuba Diving in Roatan, Bay Islands © Marc AuMarc

Two of the popular dive centers on the islands are the Utila Dive Center which is connected with the Mango Inn and Deep Blue Utila which runs their own hotel.

Utila’s atmosphere is laid-back with lots of world travelers who arrived for serious diving or who are looking to match a little diving with a lot of nightlife. Roatan is more expensive and has a community of travelers who are keen on taking in the some rays between scuba diving sessions.

Read about San Marcos (an inexpensive Guatemalan lake town) or the top snowboarding locations in the world.

 
___________________________________________________________________________________
Gennaro Salamone is the founder and editor of Enduring Wanderlust. Feel free to contact him with questions, comments, or inquiries with reference to contributing a travel article or photograph for publication.

 

Receive our free content by e-mail directly to your inbox or through an RSS reader.

Green Adventures in Belize

National Geographic recently named Belize one of its eco-successes. Belize is a lovely Central American location where English and Spanish are widely-spoken. Whether you want adventurous spelunking or fun in the sun it’s on the menu in Belize.

Regardless of your interests, it would be wise to consider The Mesoamerican Reef which was described by National Geographic as an underwater Serengeti . To learn more about the steps that are being taking to keep Belize a green destination review the Friends of Nature website.
Placencia, Belize © Gennaro Salamone

 
___________________________________________________________________________________
Gennaro Salamone is the founder and editor of Enduring Wanderlust. Feel free to contact him with questions, comments, or inquiries with reference to contributing a travel article or photograph for publication.

 

Receive our free content by e-mail directly to your inbox or through an RSS reader.