7 Fun Things to do in San Pedro, Belize

There are 7 Best things to do in San Pedro, Belize. San Pedro is one of the main towns in Ambergris Caye island. It is located on the southern part of the island. Here you will see all the roads lined with Golf carts.

Getting There

Flights to San Pedro

There are flights available from Belize City airport if you would like to get to San Pedro in just 15 mins and if you have the budget to allow it, so you can do the 7 best things in San Pedro, Belize.

A flight is a great introduction to Ambergris Caye and San Pedro before landing as you will have excellent aerial views of the island and the beautiful Caribbean water surrounding it before you land.

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Water taxis to San Pedro

We opted for the ferry, which was a fast ferry and came every hour to pick passengers and their luggage up. You will need to leave enough time to buy the ferry tickets waiting in line and also to drop off luggage with the ferry personnel.

We had quite some time to spare as we just missed the cut-off for the next ferry so we had our lunch and then dropped our bags off. Then we went back for some coffee.

When we got to the island, it was a long wait for luggage to be unloaded – maybe well over an hour. As we had two small kids, my husband offered to wait for the luggage, while I take the kids to the small beach by the port.

This was the kids first time with the beach since we started travelling on this trip, so they were immersed with sand play and mesmerised by the rhythmic waves rolling into the shore in between.

Grabbing a handful of sand and watching the little grains fall back to the ground seemed to keep them content and busy.

Moments like are these are my favourite, as I feel it is not often that we get to witness such a level of wonderment, amazement, peace and satisfaction, all at once on a face.

Once our bags arrived, we waited for our accommodation host to pick us up. This was offered as part of their package. An assistant arrived and she took us to our accommodation, along with our luggage. Our accommodation wasn’t ready for us so we were given a different room. In the meantime, we decided to freshen up and explore the neighbourhood by taking a stroll down the main street.

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The easiest and most economical ways to get around town is by walking or cycling. Some accommodations offer bike hire for free provided you leave a deposit. Otherwise you can hire a bike for a small fee.

Other ways are by taxi found around the terminal and water taxis should you want to travel to or from the northern part of Ambergris Caye.

Water taxis can be anywhere between US$5 – $30 and about US $125 for a weekly pass for unlimited travel for 7 days. Concessions are available where proof is shown.

Seven Best Things To Do In San Pedro, Belize

Below are 7 of the best things you can do in San Pedro, Belize:

Hire a Golf Cart

It was a bright sunny day on our second day at San Pedro and we hired a golf cart for 24 hours. We planned it so we could use the golf cart to get to the wharf the next day with our luggage ready for departure back to the mainland.

Furthermore, we figured we could travel a little further from the town to see other parts of the island and we could use it to get around town to different restaurants and shops.

Secret Beach

We used the golf cart to get to the not-so-secret Secret Beach. There is plenty of free parking available right next to some beach bars and there is also some parking available off the road from the beach.

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Paco’s Secret Beach

When we were looking for parking closer to the beach, a guy was handing a voucher out for $5 tabs at Paco’s Secret Beach. We thought we would check it out and then move on to other beach bars.

We ended up staying the rest of the day, having our lunches, beer, mocktails and cocktails because we loved it so much.

It had island feels and relaxed us to a great extent with the breeze blowing through our hair as we swung in their hammock seats hypnotised by the turquoise coloured sea.

Paco’s is a beach bar recently established, only in 2019. Their staff are friendly and are happy to help with a smile.

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Along the beach, there are plenty of inflatable rings, beach chairs and sun lounges available to use.

There are stools and tables set up with a beach umbrella out in the water, so you can cool off in the shade and water at the same time.

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Between 3-4 pm the clouds started forming and becoming grey. The wind also picked up. The bars started packing up lounges and inflatables. The weather turning so quickly like this must mean that a storm was coming in. Since closing time was 5 pm and not far off they closed up the bar as well eventually.

We hung around the beach and took in the sunset taking pictures. The kids were exploring little rock pools and getting their feet wet.

Truckstop

The light was disappearing fast, so we started heading back towards town. The drive back takes around 35-40 mins. Along the way, we stopped at Truckstop and it did not disappoint.

Truckstop is Belize’s first shipping container centre for food trucks & beer garden and has a selection of eats that you can get from food trucks. We ordered a pizza from Slice of Haven.

They had live music and the singers that night were doing cover songs and were really good.

Wooden benches, tables and chairs you could sit and eat at were laid around the area, so there is plenty of room. There was also an ice cream store, a bar and even a swimming pool.

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Back In Town

We got back to town and called it a night from that point as everything was shut or almost shut around 9 pm. It didn’t seem like there was much of a night scene when we were in San Pedro.

The only places open were some bars and convenience stores. We went by to buy some bottles of water. We usually buy two to three 1.5-2L bottles and this our water supply for the next day or two, depending on how hot the weather is.

The next day we returned the golf cart after handing in our luggage for loading on the boat, got some breakfast by the beach and went to the terminal to catch a fast ferry back to Belize City.

There was a stop at Caye Caulker for passenger pickup and this was the same on our way to Ambergris Caye too.

San Pedro is a gateway to a couple of great tourist destinations, Hol Chan Marine Reserve and The Great Blue Hole.

The Great Big Hole

The Great Big Hole is a huge sinkhole that is 300 meters across and 125 meters deep. It is part of the Belize Barrier Reef.

You can take a flight over The Great Blue Hole and there are also boats that go here. Snorkelers and divers can expect to spend a minimum of a day here on tours.

Only recently, small Stalactites (formed only from drips of water) were discovered 120 meters deep below the surface. From the surface down till 90 meters deep Turtles, Sharks and Giant Coral could be found. At 90 meters there is a layer of toxic hydrogen sulphide suffocating anything that passes it. It has been rare for divers to go this deep, as the oxygen is low if any, and the pressure is high.

There is a limestone cave that existed a long time ago when the Ice Ages started but once this period finished the ice melted, sea levels rose and flooded the cave completely.

Hol Chan Marine Reserve

Hol Chan Marine Reserve is Mayan for ‘little channel’ and consists of 18km² of coral, seagrass and mangroves. The ‘little channel’ referes to the Hol Chan cut, a natural break in the reef.

Hol Chan tours usually have Shark Ray Alley included in the tours but there are some options to exclude that option too. This is one of the most popular dive and snorkel spots in Belize with sharks, turtles and stingrays. They are used to the boats coming and wait for the food.

Shark Ray Alley

Shark Ray Alley is situated one mile south of Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Back in the days, this used to be a spot where fishermen cleaned their fishing nets, which attracted many marine creatures.

If you have ever had the desire to swim or snorkel with sharks, then this is the place to do it.

You will have plenty of opportunities to snap pictures while snorkelling with turtles, 4 foot and 6 foot sized nurse sharks and stingrays in shallow, crystal clear waters.

It costs $45 per person, including a reserve entry fee for an excursion to Shark Ray Alley, approximately 5-10 minutes from Hol Chan cut.

Once you get there you are free to swim around at your will only be able to arrive at this destination with an excursion. Most excursions last about 2.5 hours.

So there you have it, the 7 best things to do in San Pedro, Belize and they are sure to get you into vacation mode.