We traveled to Belize with our 3 teenage daughters whose criteria for our vacation was to travel to a place with no museums and no tours and with a great beach. When I started to look at Belize I started looking at hotels up North near San Pedro, I read that 60% of the hotels were in that area. One of my teens suggested that we look for something more primitive, so I began to look South and found Pelican Beach Resort in Dangriga. We felt we found a hidden treasure. In Dangriga we visited the Mayan Temples which were amazing and yet not "really" a museum! And did the cave tubing and saw the most amazing stalagtites and stalagmites. Terri at the Pelican took care of every detail. My favorite phrase that was heard over and over was, "It's no problem." Dangriga was definately not a tourist town, but we had no reason to leave the resort. The food and service was amazing at the Pelican. But then the real treat was when we traveled to Pelican Pouch on the South Water Caye. It was about a 20 minute boat ride to the island. It was so beautiful and had one of the best beaches I've ever been to. We then met Terri's other half...Leonard. Who is equally as wonderful as she is. Now "he" took care of every detail while we were on the island. The food was amazing, the water was amazing and the rooms were amazing. We stayed in the Heron's Nest and our kids stayed in the Sandpiper, both rooms were great. Heron's nest sits on the water and has a beautiful view. We loved the hammocks on our porches. The snorkeling was like being inside an aquarium each day. However, nothing compared to the nighttime snorkeling. We saw eels, octopus, squid, blowfish, lion fish, lobster....even seahorses. It was amazing. The water was warm and so comfortable. We were worried about traveling during their wet season, but had no issues with rain. It rained a few days, but passed very quickly, it never got in the way of our activities....which were mostly laying on the beach and waiting for 10:00 when the homemade cookies were ready. Leonard is a wonderful host, he quickly knew our food preferences, drink preferences and let us have 2nds for dessert! He was so kind and accomodating, we loved our daily "Happy Hour" with him. Richie was our snorkeling guide and introduced us to raw conch....can't really recommend it, but it was fun trying it. If you are looking for a relaxing vacation, this is the place to go. Both Terri and Leonard take care of every detail!

This is my second trip to the hotel and it was a pleasure to return. Really nice to say the hotel is getting better. They have built on the exsiting main building and they have done a great job. The side building has 8 rooms which are nice but quite dark rooms. The newer rooms in the main building are really light, airy and very clean. I had a walk in shower which was powerful. Great considering the climate. Food is tasty if a little on the small side but well priced. Beer is well priced also. Bring lots of insect repellent but dont blame the hotel for sandflys. You are visiting the tropics! Last but not least the staff are really helpful and pleasent. Not a bad word to say about any of the staff. Overall if you are staying in Dangriga then the Pelican is a must. Thanks for a great stay :)

We arrived early at the Dangriga Pelican Beach Resort, much too early for our boat ride to South Water Caye, so we sat on the patio and had lunch and cokes. The staff were extremely friendly here, and the food was good. However, if you visit, be sure to coat both arms and legs with bug spray, because the sandflies were fierce. When it was time for our boat ride, Terri, my contact when making reservations, was great; she gave us a warm welcome and took us to the boat dock, making sure our luggage was taken care of. Another great thing: our boat captain made us wear life jackets. I’ve been to Belize three times previously, and this is the first time I’ve been offered a life jacket, so this was refreshing and reassuring, considering we were going to an island where our lives would be in the Pelican staff’s hands. After a forty-five minute boat ride, we were greeted at the Pelican Beach Resort’s dock on South Water Caye by Leonard, our host for our three-night stay. Leonard was professional, friendly, helpful and just plain terrific. He accommodated all requests for meals, offered a guide to take me snorkeling when I was too scared to go out to the reef alone, and provided pleasant conversation at mealtimes. Regarding the accommodations: the Pelican Beach Resort property is stunning, by far the nicest area of the tiny island (we visited the other resorts' property at the far end of the island, and were awfully glad we were staying at Pelican Beach due to the trash, the concrete sea wall, and the dilapidated buildings next door). All the buildings at Pelican Beach were in excellent repair, and all had amazing views of the sea. Our building, the Osprey’s Nest, was so named because an osprey sat in the palm tree a few feet away from our porch. We also had a contingent of pelicans and frigate birds soaring overhead with the ospreys. Under our porch, we had a private dock complete with a swarm of bait fish (which the pelicans constantly dove for) as well as several other reef fish, all visible from the railing of our deck. The views of the sunrise were fabulous, as was the view of the reef, only yards from our porch. The downside: It was unbearably hot on our first two nights even with a constant breeze and the room’s ceiling fan going. One night our thermometer read 88 degrees, and this in December, which is supposedly the coolest month in Belize. Also, the main queen bed in the room was rock-hard, and the single bed was a thin sheet of foam that felt like sleeping on plywood. We had an army of red ants swarming on our toilet each night. And finally, worst of all, we were eaten alive by sandflies; we coated ourselves with deet by day, but gradually we began to realize that these no-see-ums were actually in our beds in the room itself. Regarding the snorkeling: excellent! Once we crossed the beds of grass and swam out far enough, we saw stoplight parrot fish, file fish, wrasses, jacks, elkhorn coral, brain coral, schools of grunts, even a spotted eagle ray. Regarding the food: some of it was very good. All our meals were simple and filling, and Leonard provided wonderful service. To sum up: Stay at Pelican Beach Resort, but be sure to wear bug spray night and day. To be honest, it was worth the bug bites, because it was a truly magical, breathtaking place with terrific hospitality. I’m already wishing I was back there!

I was here In Feb 2008 scouting for a trip I put together for 14 people 8 teens, 6 adults. In Feb the service was pretty good room was ok (I stayedin the original building.. room clean but not that great maybe a 3 on a scale of5). When I came back with the large group we stayed in the new building in the back and the rooms were very nice,AC, comfortable,clean, nice baths,etc.

Staff was also beefed up so definitely felt pampered. In my opinion they are now at a solid 3.5 by US standards, but from service perspective probably a solid 4.

I travel a lot on Biz in the US and was extremely impressed with the staff.

Still some improvements to be made but I am sure they will get there over time.

Finally beach here is idyllic with awesome views. I think taking a boat to dive/snorkel the cayes is a much better value trade off than staying on the cayes at a much higher price. If you stay here you also get a good chance to meet the locals who are good bunch of people.

Fred Covely