Decided to book Blue Tang Inn over the other resorts suggested by a travel agent we contacted. For a few reasons. We wanted to stay somewhere that was more local and not resort style; we wanted to be close to the town center as we had a long list of local restaurants we wanted to try; we wanted to be close to good diving operators and we needed affordable accommodation as our South African Rand is worth much less than the US Dollar.

Blue Tang Inn impressed us from the moment we booked. A warm welcoming email offering assistance with a bunch of things - including our flight bookings from Belize City to San Pedro and hotel transfers. Which was all handled with extreme efficiency. (So was all my questions about luggage and weight and so more).

An even warmer welcome by all of the staff on arrival. We booked a budget room (number 2) which is on the ground level with a small balcony in the street going to the sea - so we did have a stunning spot from where we took some great cocktail photos! The room is large with nice seating area and kitchenette (which we never used in the end as the food at the local restaurants was amazing). The aircon was a life saver (coming from Africa we thought we could do heat!).

The pool area is small but fab - we only swam twice as we were in Belize for the scuba diving. There is a stunning roof top veranda (which we only discovered on the last day but def a spot for some great photos too). The breakfast area became the spot where we met some wonderful new people - all sharing about their adventures on Belize. Lots of fresh fruit and something small to get you going for the day.

There is a few shops just a block away and we even got some fresh pineapples and made juice with the smoothie maker in the room. Room was cleaned every day and all was absolutely spotless.

We booked two tours through the hotel - the sailing/snorkeling tour at Hol Chan. Loved the sailing boat but did not like all the people at Hol Chan (however you need to do it just to experience this beautiful park). The cave tubing tour was an absolute highlight. We took the water taxi to Belize City where we were met by Belize Blue Morpho Tours - who arranged this tour especially for the two of us. Our tour guide was excellent with so much knowledge. The tubing was an experience like non other. We were there early and had the caves all to ourselves.

We found Amigos Del Mar just a few minutes from Blue Tang Inn. A large family run operator with whom we did the Blue Hole diving and all our other diving too. The offered us some excellent deals.

As for restaurants - Warangumas was def the highlight - a few minutes walk from Blue Tang. Best lobster burrito in town.

We would like to thank all the wonderful staff at Blue Tang Inn for treating us so special and making us feel so at home - just like family!

And after walking down the beach and looking at some of the other resorts and hotels - we have come to the conclusion that Blue Tang Inn was the best option by far!

When we can face the 38 hours of travelling again, we hope to be back!

PS: None of the hotels on this strip has a beach - San Pedro is situated on the second largest barrier reef in the world. The outer edge of the reef is only a few hundred meters away. If you want to sit on a beach - perhaps go to the Maldives - if you want a local, vibey island experience with great adventure and beautiful nature, then this is the place.