17 Sun-Soaked Things to Do in San Pedro, Belize

For my 26th birthday, I took myself to Belize for a short 4-day trip after finding a $300 return ticket on a whim. 

Since I didn’t have much time in Belize, I decided to stay in one place and make the most of it.

After some Googling, the most idyllic place to spend a weekend quickly emerged: San Pedro on Ambergris Caye.

Planning your trip to Belize at the last minute?

Here are my quick picks on what to do & where to stay!

🤿 Top San Pedro Experiences:
1. Sailboat Snorkeling Tour (stops at Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley)
2. Jet Ski Rental at Secret Beach (most-loved beach in San Pedro)
3. Zipline and Cave Tubing Tour (full-day tour with boat transfer)

🏨 Best San Pedro Hotels:
1. Victoria House (boutique hotel with casitas and suites)
2. Sandbar (dorm and private rooms with great amenities)
3. Ocean Tide Beach Resort (mid-range with pool)

Want to get around the island? Make like the locals and rent a golf cart.
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a red house built out on the dock with the beach and a boat

I decided to spend my time in the small town of San Pedro, located on Ambergris Caye — the largest island in Belize, a short distance from mainland Mexico.

Nestled along the Caribbean sea, San Pedro boasts brilliant blue waters and incredible marine life (particularly along the Meso-American Barrier Reef, the second-largest reef system in the world).

As a result, there are plenty of cool things to do in San Pedro both in and out of the water.

Since my first visit to San Pedro, I’ve been back two more times and also visited more of Belize, like Caye Caulker and San Ignacio. I just can’t seem to stay away from Belize!

This list of the best things to do in San Pedro is the work of hours of research planning for three trips to Belize — so I hope you enjoy!

How to Get To San Pedro

green mangrove islands seen from above the water in a plane heading to san pedro belize

I’ve traveled to and from San Pedro three times, so I’ve done it all!

I’ve traveled overland to San Pedro from Mexico (and vice versa) and I’ve also come straight to Belize City from the United Sates.

On my first trip, I flew into Belize City International Airport and took a taxi into the city followed by the boat, which all together ended up being about $65 USD since I was traveling solo. 

On the way back, I was a bit crunched for time to make my return transfer, so I decided to take the plane back to Belize City for about $85.

I was so glad that I did – the views are absolutely stunning! 

So if you’re planning on heading straight to San Pedro from the Belize City airport, you need to factor in some extra costs for either airfare to San Pedro or for a taxi to the ferry plus the water taxi rate.

Honestly, unless you really need to budget down to the last dollar, I’d just take the plane – it saves you hours and gives you amazing views to boot! 

Tickets on Maya Island Air are about $85 per person each way if you book in advance, vs. around $35 using the water taxi, plus the $30 airport taxi.

17 Best Things to Do in San Pedro Belize

Snorkel with​​​​ sharks and rays in Shark Ray Alley

Sharks in the water at Shark Ray Alley

There’s plenty of adventurous things to do in Belize — but snorkeling in Shark Ray Alley probably takes the cake!

You do have to take a day tour, because in Belize, you can’t just swim out to a reef.

The water in San Pedro is very shallow for a long, long way out. You do have to go out in a boat a fair amount to get to the snorkeling destinations. 

Shark Ray Alley is basically a place where all the snorkeling companies in Ambergris Caye have decided to feed sharks and rays off the side of the boat so tourists can snorkel alongside them. 

The practice of chumming waters to attract marine life is not one with an easy answer. 

nurse shark at the surface of the water when the boat comes near it looking for food

Mar Alliance believes it can be key to building bridges where humans understand that animals like sharks and rays are not to be feared, and that it builds more compassion and conservation.

Others believe chumming can be dangerous if it makes sharks dependent on humans for food.

The sharks in Shark Ray Alley are nurse sharks, which are very docile creatures — very few nurse shark bites have ever been recorded, and never fatally.

In my opinion, the most dangerous thing about this is how addicting swimming with sharks can become!

I’ve done this tour every time I’ve been in Belize, and I’ve since gone on to dive with bull sharks in Fiji at 100 feet down… trust me, there’s nothing to worry about with the nurse sharks in Belize.

Go diving or snorkeling in Hol Chan Marine Reserve

I found an eagle ray while snorkeling

Booking snorkeling tours in Belize can get expensive, but it’s definitely worth it — especially if you do one that combines multiple sites, like Shark Ray Alley and Hol Chan.

Hol Chan Marine Reserve is probably one of the best places to snorkel in all of the Americas, and it’s certainly the best place in Central America. 

The reef is teeming with brilliant color, and its coral reef restoration projects have been wildly successful. 

I saw everything from electric blue chromis to sea turtles to spotted eagle rays while snorkeling in Belize.

On a snorkeling tour in Belize

Honestly, I’ve been to the Great Barrier Reef back in 2012 and I found Hol Chan to be just as exciting and colorful in terms of marine diversity!

Its shallow reefs have certainly seen less bleaching, making it a really healthy reef to visit.

This full day sailing tour covers both Shark Ray Alley and Hol Chan Marine Reserve, so it makes it easy to hit two of San Pedro’s top attractions in a single day trip.

Book your sailing and snorkeling trip online here!

Rent a golf cart and zip around town.

A golf cart on the sand on a beach in Belize on San Pedro

One of the most fun things to do in San Pedro is rent a golf cart like the locals do!

Golf carts are a big part of the San Pedro culture, and it’s how locals get around the island.

You’ll want to rent a golf cart if you are visiting places like Secret Beach, the Truck Stop, and checking out the beaches in the southern part of the island!

Tip: It’s cheaper to pre-book a golf cart rental online than to book once you arrive — I suggest these golf carts which you can book via Viator.

Take a food tour.

belize rice and beans with salbutes, a popular belize snack of masa tortilla puffs with beans, lettuce, tomato.

On my last trip to Belize, I did a food tour where we got to sample our way around some of the island’s most famous eats!

It includes seven stops and 11 tastings — I was stuffed by the end of it!

But even better, I had a much better understanding of the delicious mix of cultures that created Belizean food by the end of the tour!

Spend the day on Secret Beach.

sunset on secret beach on san pedro's less developed west side
Photo Credit: Stephanie Craig — check her great guide to Secret Beach!

The lively, not-so-secret Secret Beach is a great place to spend a day in Belize. 

Beach bars, delicious Belizean food restaurants, picnic tables in the clear water: what else could you need to pass the time on a beachy vacation?

Secret Beach is a little out of the way of the main San Pedro town, but it’s about a 30-minute drive by golf cart on an unpaved road.

It is totally worth it, though!

While it’s popular and touristy, it’s also one of the best places to visit in San Pedro, so don’t let the hype scare you off. 

For more fun at Secret Beach, go for a jet ski ride while you’re there!

Reserve your Secret Beach jet ski rentals here!

Sample chocolates at the Belize Chocolate Company.

Who doesn’t love chocolate? No one I know, at least.

The Belize Chocolate Company creates delicious artisan chocolate, from bean to bar.

They take delicious cacao grown in Belize and see it through every step of the transformation into delicious organic chocolate.

You can grab some chocolates there or even take a chocolate-making class!

Go scuba diving.

view of a trumpetfish in cozumel

If you’re PADI certified, go even deeper under the water with a dive led by a divemaster!

Despite being to San Pedro three times, I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never dove in Belize!

The first time I went, I wasn’t scuba-certified, and the next two times I went, I was only with non-divers and we did snorkeling activities instead.

That said, I’ve since gone on to dive in other places along the Meso-American Barrier Reef, like Cozumel, Roatan, and Utila.

If those three places are any indication, Belize’s diving must be equally epic!

Book your two-tank dive here!

Have a beer on the water.

The palapa bar on a cloudy day in belize with a bar out on the pier

If snorkeling or diving isn’t your jam, and you’d rather just take in a beer and enjoy the scenery, Palapa Bar & Grill is a great place to enjoy a beer over the water and relax.

You can imagine you’re in your own private overwater bungalow for a fraction of the cost!

They also have a bunch of floating inner tubes at the back of the bar, where you can float with a beer and enjoy the sunshine.

Belikin beers – the local beer of Belize – are about $2 USD a pop and go down a little too easily! Perhaps that’s why they’re often sold in a bucket?

Part of that is because they’re the thickest bottles I’ve ever drank out of. Seriously, they’re practically weaponized.

Each presumptive “bottle” is probably actually half glass, half beer. Still, when in Belize, you gotta at least try a Belikin!

Take a spin on a bike.

bicycle on a dive shop pier with red and yellow paint in belize

If the weather’s nice and you fancy a spin on a bike, you can rent a bike from Joe’s for the day for about $15, which is a fun way to see more of San Pedro! 

The town of San Pedro is small and pretty walkable, and you really get to see just how small it is on a bike! 

I enjoyed biking towards the northern area of San Pedro, and seeing a more wild and less developed side of the island as well.

Relax on the beach.

Allison Green sitting on a hammock in Belize while at Victoria House resort
Enjoying our private beach at Victoria House

Of course, the best thing you can do in San Pedro on a budget is relax in the sand and take in the views! 

San Pedro’s beaches aren’t your typical ocean beach. There aren’t really any waves to speak of, and the water is very shallow.

There are some sandy beaches, but they are few and far between, scattered around the island. 

Mar de Tumbo is the beach near San Pedro town, with lots of sandy shore line to stroll on and beautiful palm trees. 

Another pretty beach is Boca del Rio, which is right at the mouth of where the river passes between San Pedro town and Northern Ambergris Caye.

The water here is electric blue and super beautiful!

Take a helicopter tour over the Great Blue Hole.

The blue hole in belize, as seen from above, a sinkhole surrounded by a reef

One of Belize’s most impressive sites is the Great Blue Hole, a natural sinkhole that spreads over 1,000 feet in diameter. 

It’s a brilliant, well… deep blue hole in the middle of a bright turquoise sea, ringed by a coral reef in the shape of a question mark.

You can dive in it, but you should be at an advanced level to do so. However, people I know who did dive the Blue Hole said it wasn’t as impressive as they hoped it would be.

Plus, approaching it by boat, it was impossible to see the deep blue phenomenon.

Better yet is to take a helicopter if you really want to experience the beauty of the Great Blue Hole! 

You can look up some Great Blue Hole helicopter options here.

Catch a beautiful sunset.

A sunset on Caye Caulker
Pro Tip: Caye Caulker has better sunsets than San Pedro, so try to visit it for at least one sunset!

Most of the developed side of San Pedro is on the east side of the island, not the west, so sunsets aren’t as big of a thing in San Pedro (they’re better on Caye Caulker, to be honest, if you want to take the boat ride over!).

Find a place on the lagoon (west) side of the island if you want to see a spectacular sunset, with mangroves and calm water. 

The Truck Stop is a good place, with a boardwalk around the back where you can walk out and watch the sunset.

Another good spot to see the sunset is the area by the docks, near where the water ferry to Chetumal departs from.

Type in Chetumal Express Water Taxi into Google Maps and head over to that general area for a sunset view!

You could also go for a sunset sail on a 40-foot sailboat for a more romantic and unique way to catch the sunset!

… but better yet, wake up for sunrise.

Allison Green in a dress sitting in front of the sunrise in Belize
Sunrise in San Pedro is always worth it!

Listen, I love a good morning sleep-in just as much as the next person, if not more. 

But due to the geographic positioning of San Pedro, with most of its hotels and attractions on the east side of the island (since this is the side that faces the reef), sunrise is actually way better on San Pedro than sunset!

Every time I’ve been to San Pedro (three times now!), I make sure I wake up for sunrise at least one morning of the trip. It’s always been worth it.

Take a day trip to the ATM Cave.

People walking through a cave system in Belize with flashlights and blue water
Photo Credit: Maya Walk (cameras not allowed in the caves)

The ATM Cave is located on mainland Belize, but it’s absolutely possible to visit the ATM Cave as part of a day trip from San Pedro.

If you are visiting other places in Belize, such as Belize City or San Ignacio, as part of a longer Belize itinerary, then there is no reason to make this day trip.

It is wayyyy out of the way from San Pedro, and you will be much closer at another point in your trip.

However, if you’re only visiting San Pedro on your Belize trip, definitely save a day to visit the ATM Cave. It’s absolutely worth the journey — it was the most magical thing I did in Belize!

people swimming in the cave in the atm cave tour

Stalactites and stalagmites form an incredible cave system, and there are all sorts of Mayan artifacts such as pottery in there….

…. as well as the skeletal remains of several human sacrifices which were left in the cave hundreds and hundreds of years ago!

If I haven’t scared you off with that tidbit, it’s absolutely worth the trip. There’s nowhere else like it.

Book your day trip to ATM Cave here!

Eat some tasty food at the Truck Stop.

One of the coolest places to hang out in San Pedro is at The Truck Stop, which is located north of the bridge in Northern Ambergris Caye.

There are a few different places to eat here, ‘food truck style’ (though actually run out of shipping containers, painted in bright colors!).

Options include pizza, tacos, Asian food, and cocktails! I personally love the food at Rasa and Sol Fresca best.

They also host a movie night every Wednesday!

Try some tasty salbutes. 

Belize and Mexico are neighbors, and a lot of the tastiest food of the Yucatán peninsula can also be found in Belize!

I had these delicioussalbutes, which are a famous Mexican antojito that’s also popular in Belize, at Sandbar, but you can find them in other places in San Pedro Town as well.

I would compare it to shredded chicken tostadas (if the tostada was a little thicker), topped with tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, and lettuce. 

Go to the “Chicken Drop”.

One of the more… unique things to do in San Pedro, the Chicken Drop is a bizarre weekly gambling game that takes place at Wahoo’s Lounge and involves betting on where a chicken will sh*t on a board full of numbers.

That’s literally the game.

The Chicken Drop takes place at 7 PM every Thursday and involves a lot of drinking and raucous cheering and yelling to try to coax the chicken to crap on the number you bet on.

It’s a very strange, very uniquely San Pedro thing to do at night!

Have dinner at Elvi’s Kitchen.

I’ve eaten at more restaurants in San Pedro than I can count, but my favorite has to be Elvi’s Kitchen... I’ve been twice and would go back in a heartbeat!

My favorite dishes are the esquites (street-style roast corn) and the fish steamed in Mayan adobe in a banana leaf.

I could eat that over and over again and never get bored!

Eat some delicious pupusas.

The famous pupusa street food with cabbage and tomato sauce

In the main town, I took advantage of Belize’s proximity to El Salvador by indulging in one of my favorite Latin American foods of all time: the humble pupusa. 

Made of masa harina and stuffed with delicious bits like pork, beans, chicken, cheese, squash, you name it… pupusas can be vegetarian or meaty, depending on your tastes.

Once stuffed and griddle-cooked, pupusas are then topped with cabbage slaw, a mild tomato sauce, and as much Marie Sharp’s habanero hot sauce as you can stand! 

Where to Stay in San Pedro, Belize

casitas at victoria house with the pool villas behind them
The small casitas at Victoria House with the larger pool suite villas behind them

LUXURY | I had the wonderful privilege of staying at Victoria House on my second trip to Belize on a hosted stay. It was absolutely marvelous and I can’t express enough how magical it was. 

From the pool that looks out over the Caribbean Sea to the well-manicured grounds shaded with palm trees, Victoria House is an oasis of peace and quiet in San Pedro. 

a bright sunny day at victoria house looking over the palm trees, grass, and pols
The view from our gorgeous pool villa

The Victoria House offers a private beach of sorts, with hammocks and loungers spread between the palm trees overlooking the ocean.

While the water and marine life are stunning, the islands of Belize are not known for their sandy beaches.

That said, Victoria House has created something out of nothing, with a sandy ‘beach’ giving way to a seawall.

a fancy suite with a four poster bed, high ceilings and flat screen tv
The master suite!

We stayed in the Infinity Suite, a two-story apartment-style suite with a full kitchen, en-suite bath, outdoor shower, patio, upstairs balcony, and a massive master suite.

It was the definition of luxury and I miss it terribly.

But there are also more reasonably priced statehouses and casitas, so there is something for all along the budget spectrum.

>> Check availability and prices on Booking.com | Hotels.com | Expedia

MID-RANGE | On one trip to San Pedro, I was traveling with family and we wanted a mid-range place to stay, and we ended up at White Sands Cove. It was an extremely beautiful location and the amenities were fantastic for the price. 

We stayed in a bungalow-style two-story house with a patio and small kitchen, and it was a really beautiful place. It’s not quite as luxe and fancy as Victoria House, but you do get a lot of space for the price.

The staff was really kind and wonderful and we loved the pool and restaurant (seriously, their food — especially their breakfast — was so good we found it hard to leave!).

The only downside is that it is a little bit far away from town, so it is a golf cart ride, taxi, or a long bike ride to town, which can add up over time!

>> Check availability and price on Booking.com | Hotels.com | Expedia

a colorful bar area with a mosaic tile counter and people sitting at the bar with the beach in the distance
The bar at Sandbar hostel

BUDGET | I stayed at the absolutely wonderful Sandbar Hostel on my first solo trip to Belize, and it was a great place to stay. I don’t think I’ve ever been more pleasantly surprised by a hostel experience. 

It had all the little details which make a good hostel great. I’m talking privacy screens, outlets and small shelves next to each bed, and personal luggage lockers beneath each bunk bed.

The cleaning staff seemed to come in almost hourly to sweep up any sand on the ground, always with a friendly smile.

The bathrooms and showers were clean, and — a real bonus in this part of the world — had excellent water pressure.

The hostel had its own bar and restaurant, which was a great way to socialize and meet other travelers. Luckily, it never got too rowdy to make it hard to sleep.

>> Check availability and prices on Booking.com | Hotels.com | Expedia

7 Things You Must Pack for Belize

I’ve written an entire Belize packing list but if you just want the essentials, here’s what I think you must pack!

Mosquito repellent & after-care: Belize has a tropical climate with mosquitos year-round, particularly in the rainy season. Bring a chemical or non-chemical repellent.

It’s also inevitable that you won’t leave without a few bites, so bring some after-bite relief too (this is hard to find in Belize).

Full-size travel towel: Ideally, you want a travel towel that’s big enough to use as a beach towel and thin enough to pack up super small for your luggage — plus, it dries super quickly in Belize’s humid climate.

A guidebook: I use travel blogs a lot when I’m on the road but I also love having an up-to-date guidebook like this Belize Lonely Planet, which has been updated recently.

Reef-safe sunscreen: If you are planning to do any water activities, such as diving or snorkeling or even swimming, please use a reef-safe sunscreen like this one. The Meso-American Barrier Reef is the second largest in the world and is under threat — do your part to help!

GoPro: If you go snorkeling or diving, you’re going to want a way to capture all of that action! I use the GoPro 11 and I love it — be sure to add dive housing if you plan to scuba dive with it.

6 Comments

  1. Hi, we went to Belize several years ago and really enjoyed our time. We should have gone to the mainland for an excursion, but spent most of our time in a cabin on the beach. Some highlights from the trip were diving in the Blue Hole (yes, scary) and the sharks, the beauty of the water and the Belize rice and beans (yum). You mentioned the Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley, which I where I’m pretty sure we did an incredible night dive. This trip was before we had TripSeeDo so a lot of our memories are lost and we only have photos, but I hope to try to recreate a Belize guide someday from the photos before all my memories are gone. Thanks for your blog post and I’m pea-green jelly of your lifestyle!

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed Belize so much! I wish I had gotten to se the Blue Hole but I don’t have my diving certification yet… but that hopefully will change next year. A night dive in Hol Chan sounds amazing!! I’ll have to come back to Belize one day as I sadly missed the mainland due to such limited time. But hey, there are worse things, right? 🙂

  2. HI Allison! We just returned from a week on ambergris caye. It was amazing!! We took the YOLO all day trip to snorkel the reef swim with the sharks & rays & generally cruise the Caribbean for 8 hours!! Great trip. WE found the people so friendly! WE stayed at the X’ Tan ha resort IT has the only real beach on the island. We kayaked & snorkeled right off the beach. CAnt wait to go back!! Thanks!

  3. Allison,
    Please remove your link to Reef Safe sunscreen. It is not safe for corals, as it contains the extremely toxic chemical, oxybenzone. Thanks!

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