Watching the golden sun dip below the horizon line on the Caribbean Sea, diners enjoy fresh-made sushi rolls beside a rooftop infinity pool that seems to melt into the ocean. A few levels below, a molecular mixology class begins. You wouldn’t know it, but this isn’t built-up Cancún or Punta Cana. It’s a speck of a Caribbean island off the coast of Belize; blink and you could miss it.
A destination once known only to intrepid divers drawn by the island’s world-class reefs, Ambergris Caye has slowly but surely become a tourism engine for Belize. Though still less well known than many other Caribbean destinations, the island’s popularity has soared even despite visitors needing to take a tiny prop plane from Belize City to get here. Or, perhaps, because of it.
Even with its growing visitor numbers, Ambergris Caye still embraces the off-the-radar feel that helped first draw travelers to the island. Locals and long-time visitors can’t help but wonder if the island’s laidback, casual cool will be lost amidst all the growth. However, the island’s commitment to its roots point to a different kind of future, one that feels exceedingly special.
Barrier-Breaking Belize
Belize is a destination that has long defied definition. A tiny stretch of Yucatán Peninsula a few hours’ drive south of tourist-filled Tulum, Mexico, Belize is firmly rooted in its Central American location, with a dense, diverse rainforest dotted with larger-than-life Mayan ruins. Meanwhile, along its coast, white sand beaches feel fit for any traveler in search of a Caribbean vacation.
In a country of this size, taking a day trip can mean trekking into the jungle to see ruins in the morning, only to make it back to your beach house for fresh seafood and sunset drinks before the day’s end.
Though it can be challenging from a tourism promotion standpoint to communicate the soul of a country with such immense diversity in such a tiny package, those who get it get it. The Belize Tourism Board reported a staggering 15.1% increase in overnight visitors last year, amounting to nearly 550,000 yearly visitors in a country with just 400,000 citizens. Count in cruise passengers, and Belizean locals were almost outnumbered two to one.
Ambergris Caye Arrives
Belize’s booming growth is thanks in large part to the popularity of Ambergris Caye; Belize’s most popular destination welcomed 160,000 visitors last year, a 20.9% increase over the previous year.
Even still, “just a decade ago the island looked quite different,” said Scott McArdle in an interview. McArdle is the Vice President of Hospitality at a collection of Belize-based properties, including Alaia Belize, Autograph Collection, a Marriott resort that debuted on Ambergris Caye in 2021.
“Many of the people who work [at Alaia Belize] are native to the island or have lived here for more than a decade now, and say that when they got here there wasn’t a single paved road,” he said. “Now [the island’s small town of San Pedro] has plenty of streets and lots more construction, even if most of the streets still end at a stretch of beach.”
The island’s appeal has always lied in its location; Ambergris Caye sticks out from the sea serendipitously, a stretch of fine white sand elevated above the Mesoamerican Reef, which is second only to the Great Barrier Reef in size. Blessed with colorful corals and immense underwater ecosystems just off its shore, it was for years a destination known solely to divers and sports fisherman.
These are the kind of travelers who, in their search for adventure, usually change the place they visit very little, contenting themselves with smaller, shabbier accommodations and dive bars after full days spent on the water.
For many years, these destination-driven, nature-minded travelers kept their cards close to their chest when it came sharing about the appeal of Ambergris Caye. But as the experiential travel trend grew and travel companions wanted to come along for the ride, Ambergris Caye, too, started to grow in response.
All-New on Ambergris Caye
Soon the island began to see bigger development projects fanning outward from San Pedro, with the luxe 155-room Alaia Belize becoming, in many ways, the first of its kind on the island. Stretching across over 1,000 feet of shoreline, it boasts a collection of buildings, some standing at five or six stories as some of the tallest structures on the island. It is, in all regards, an instantly impressive sight.
However, the property still mirrors the most inherently attractive aspects of Ambergris Caye. Many of its rooms, suites, and villas include kitchens offering a homey feel, and oversized terraces that feel purposely designed for gatherings, or coffee at sunrise. Connection, here, feels keys.
Alaia Belize has the size and scale of a property that could change an island, and in many ways it has. Even with an opening timed just as many people started traveling for the first time after the pandemic, Alaia Belize debuted as an instant hit, offering something that felt fresh and new on the island.
Sleek architecture and an array of amenities meant that for the first time, Ambergris Caye was able to offer something for a different style of traveler. The property includes three swimming pools and several dining destinations, including an adults-only rooftop space and infinity pool with 360-degree views. Its K’in Spa and Wellness Center is the premier spa on the island, offering massages, body scrubs and facials that incorporate traditional Mayan healing techniques, plus amenities like a steam room, yoga space and private pool.
In this way, Alaia Belize reframes Ambergris Caye as a vacation destination not dissimilar to other Caribbean islands. Even still, it manages to create a guest experience that is tailored to the island’s authentic feel, rather than removed from it, as resorts on so many neighboring Caribbean islands are.
Part of this is due to the property’s location: though it sits a long stretch of private coastline, Alaia is within easy walking distance from downtown San Pedro. Staff actively encourage visitors to get out and explore the island, recommending hidden beaches, fun excursions, and everything from hole-in-the-wall restaurants to newer fine dining establishments. Though Alaia offers an all-inclusive plan, it is not an all-inclusive destination; this encourages guests to view the property as a point of departure, rather than an enclave.
Escape to Ambergris Caye
Development on the island hasn’t stopped since Alaia Belize debuted almost five years ago. Elsewhere on the island, prestigious new resorts like a Six Senses and upscale villas are in the works, while nearby private islands are in development that will position Ambergris Caye as a gateway. Growth aside, what seems to be an unshakeable laidback feel sets the island apart from so many other Caribbean destinations.
Ambergris Caye’s rich sense of place seems to be the difference. At its core, the island has never been a destination where visitors come to escape from and disconnect from the world, but a destination they escape to.
There’s an authentic draw to the island beyond it’s growth and development: stunning reefs, world-class fishing spots and underwater landmarks like the iconic Great Blue Hole and the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Experiences and destinations like these have long draw visitors from around the world, and continue to. Only now, the less adventurous travel companions can enjoy the experience a little more, too.