At our last dinner in Belize, we each picked one of our favorite memories from the trip – not necessarily a favorite activity or place, but a moment that stuck out to us. For me, it was the moment we stepped off the dock at Coco Beach and were given a tour of the property. I wish I could freeze that moment in time – the boys’ faces lit up like Christmas morning. Every thing he pointed out got a bigger reaction than the thing before. Just when I thought their faces couldn’t get any brighter, he would point something else out and they would look at each other, mouths open and completely awestruck. As a parent, it was so much fun to see their excitement and pure joy in reaction to the property.
Arrival by boat definitely made an impression and approaching the property from the beach was clearly meant to wow you. And it did. The grounds, buildings, and pools were beautiful.
There is a small beach area off the dock. Belize isn’t known for beautiful beaches. The beaches on Ambergris Caye are not expansive, white-sand beaches like you typically see in the Caribbean, and the waters aren’t turquoise blue. The presence of the reef offshore means that there are no waves. The lack of waves leads to the growth of sea grass, which makes swimming off the shore nearly impossible. The beach at Coco Beach was no exception to these conditions but they clearly make the most of it. It was small but extremely well taken care of.
Ambergris Caye (and many beaches in the Caribbean) periodically suffers from a sargassum problem. Sargassum is a large brown algae that drifts to shore in massive quantities. Depending upon ocean conditions, temperatures and tides, huge amounts of sargassum can wash ashore for weeks on end. Aside from being unsightly, it also smells terrible when it decomposes. Most of the nicer resorts on Ambergris Caye, including Coco Beach, work hard to keep their beach clean. They were constantly raking the algae off the sand and have a net set up to catch much of it beyond the pier and keep it from washing ashore.
But again, Belize is not a beach destination per se so the size and condition of the beach did not bother us. The main attraction in coastal Belize is the reef. Few other places in the world can rival underwater Belize. Tuff e Nuff Tours operates out of the small building at the end of the Coco Beach pier, making snorkeling, sailing, and diving tours extremely convenient. You can book their tours through the hotel concierge and have them charged back to your room.
While the main attraction in this area may be the reef, the main attraction at this resort is the pools. Coco Beach has three beautiful pools. The one closest to the beach is technically two pools. The lower level is a zero-depth entry pool with an in-water volleyball net. A level above is a hot tub and another pool with access to the swim up bar.
The pool behind the first set of buildings is even bigger and more exciting. It has a giant rock structure in the middle of the pool that houses a water slide and has several different levels to jump into the pool from. This was fantastic for the kids. The water slide was fast and fun, shooting you out like a cannon into the pool. The rock had several different levels from which to jump and it didn’t take long before the kids were at the very top, making the long plunge into the pool below.
The boys spent probably 90% of their time at the resort in the pools but there are plenty of other activities available on-site as well. Blair rented a bike and explored the area around the hotel. (You can also rent golf carts to explore even further.) The boys loved playing with the giant chessboard and the weather-proof ping pong table. There are also complimentary kayaks and SUP boards available on the beach.
There are three dining options at the resort – Cocoblanca Restaurant, Cocoblanca Pool Bar, and The Coco Cafe. The pool surrounds the Pool Bar restaurant; you have to walk over a little bridge to get there. The lazy river floats around the backside of the restaurant and the swim up bar is at the front side, with the pool and jacuzzi immediately behind the bar. We got to know the staff at the pool bar very well, as we ate all of our lunches and dinners there. The food was good and had enough variety that we didn’t mind eating there multiple time. If we had spent another night or two at the resort, we would have explored some restaurants off-site but with only 3 nights and a tired crew, we found it easier to just eat there. The Coco Cafe also had some really great breakfast and coffee options, although there is limited seating if you want to sit down and eat. We did not venture into the Cocoblanca Restaurant, as we were not interested in an upscale dining experience.
When researching resorts on Ambergris Caye, I was surprised to find there are very few regular hotels. Almost all resorts are condo properties. Coco Beach was no exception. They do have one building that offers standard hotel rooms, but the vast majority of the property is one and two bedroom condos. At first I focused on finding a regular hotel, as I knew we would not be cooking so having a full kitchen seemed like a waste. But ultimately we decided that since prices were reasonable, the space of the condo would be nice even if we didn’t use the kitchen.
We stayed in a two bedroom pool view villa. It had a full living room, kitchen, and dining area. (And TV. For better or worse, we had a TV again after 5 days without one.) The master had a king size bed and the second bedroom had a twin bed with a pull out trundle. The shared bathroom was a little small but not at all problematic, although hot water in the shower was hit or miss. We also had a private veranda that had a beautiful view of the pool. Overall it was a very nice condo – it was clean and spacious, if somewhat lacking in character.
The staff at the hotel was friendly and helpful. We were especially grateful to the gentleman cleaning the pool on our second morning. Our youngest son had lost his full-face snorkel mask from the side of the pool. We figured it had been knocked in and sunk to the bottom near the rock formation but we weren’t able to retrieve it. While he was cleaning, I told him it was missing and he said he thought he had felt something near the base of the rock but he couldn’t get it with his net. When he was done cleaning the pool, he changed into a bathing suit and dove down and got it for us! Talk about amazing service. We were so appreciative of him going the extra (wet) mile to help us.
We were very happy with our stay at Coco Beach. We experienced the perfect mix of activities (mostly for the kids) and relaxation (mostly for the adults) at the resort. There are so many fun things for the kids to do. The boys could have stayed there another week and not been bored. The location is considered “far” from San Pedro. It is about 3.5 miles north of town and can be reached by water taxi, golf cart, or bicycle. This was not an issue for us as we were tired from our jungle adventures and were there primarily to relax and enjoy the resort. Had we had more time, we would have loved to explore San Pedro and I don’t think this location would have been an issue for us. The boys would have loved a golf cart adventure! If being within walking distance to town is a priority, this is not the location for you. But if you are looking for a beautiful resort with amazing pools, friendly staff, and large, updated condos, Coco Beach fits the bill perfectly.
