Linn is an exceptional hostess. She hooks you up with all the great tour guides and has beautiful grounds. If you dig the backpacker hotel feel then you'll love the cabana. The view is incredible! If you want an authentic Belize experience away from the tourist towns then Seine Bight & Blue Crab are your match. The people are really friendly. We loved it.

My husband (boyfriend back then) surprised me with a trip to Belize in March 2007 during my college spring break. (We're not the Miami Beach partying type.) We stayed at the Blue Crab for 5 nights, and loved it.

Linn is very helpful with booking your excursions, and recommending restaurants (and knowing their schedules as most places are open only certain hours, and only on certain days). However, Linn is unobtrusive. We never felt like our privacy was compromised. The beachside cabana we stayed in was about 50 feet from the beautiful Caribbean, but again was very basic - with a bed, table (which had a jug of fresh water placed on it everyday by Linn), ceiling fan & light, and a bathroom. You go to the Blue Crab to be able to experience the true Belize without being charged an arm & a leg. The first morning, we woke up to the beautiful sound of the wind rustling through the palm trees outside (sounds a lot like falling rain), and gorgeous sunlight streaming through our window - through which we could see the beautiful turquoise waters of the Caribbean. Linn's cat, Jaguar, would greet us on our porch a few times throughout the day, but without being a pest.

No, the Blue Crab is not an American resort with 15 swimming pools, marble countertops, casinos, shops, etc - that basically allows you to experience AMERICA in a beautiful setting, and NEVER experience the culture & the country that you're visiting. The Blue Crab offers basic, affordable accommodations in a beautiful location along the Caribbean Sea. You actually get to experience BELIZE when you stay here. Belize is a third-world country, and Belizeans are poor. They can't afford all the crap that we Americans consider "necessities". If you're going to visit a third-world country, you should expect to see poverty.

The same goes for Seine Bight Village. The people are poor, and they sit outside their homes (which are plywood/tin shacks), and visit with friends and family. When we walked into town, there was not a single Belizean we passed who did not offer a big smile and a wave. It's humbling to see how little they have, and yet how happy they seem. It's like the saying goes - "Happiness is not having everything you want, but rather wanting what you have." We felt very welcomed by the people of Belize.

If you're into massages, spas, pools, saunas, etc, the Blue Crab is not for you . . . and in fact the Placencia Peninsula is probably not for you. However, if you're not afraid of a few tiny chameleons, if you want to go back to nature without really "roughing it", if you want to truly experience the culture, see some great wildlife, and explore a corner of the world most people have never even heard of, then the Blue Crab is a great place for you to stay while you explore beautiful Belize.

We had a great time SCUBA diving (with whale sharks!), snorkeling, touring the Jaguar Preserve, river tubing, and touring Monkey River. We also met some other Americans we still keep in touch with (now 4 years since we were in Belize). We were sad to go home after 5 days, and would love to go back. We probably will someday, and when we do, we'll stay at the Blue Crab again!

My husband and I stayed at the Blue Crab Resort 4 nights in late February, 2010. Linn Wilson is a warm, attentive, kind hostess. Her introduction and orientation made us feel welcome, and she was genuinely interested in our comfort and satisfaction over the course of our stay.

The beach was at our door and the edge of the water was another 80 feet or so away. (Totally relaxing!) Hardly a soul walked the beach in front of the resort, so much of the time, we had a lot of privacy. I sat and watched the pelicans and the waves for hours. And although my puny camera could not capture the beauty of the full moon rising over the sea, but it’s a memory forever etched in my mind.

There is a tiny restaurant for guests at the resort. Breakfast selections were hot, generous, freshly made and reasonably priced. And Goss Organic cocoa (Linn’s husband runs a small organic chocolate factory across the street) is available to add to your coffee. One morning, we ordered chocolate truffles to go with coffee and breakfast - a practice I need to indulge in more frequently!

Guests have the exclusive privilege of eating dinner at the resort restaurant on most nights of the week. Everything is made from scratch, so the preparation takes time - but it’s well worth the wait. Linn and her staff offer a range of Asian dishes that are very nice - the portions, flavors and presentations rival any of the restaurants we visited throughout Belize. Be sure to schedule at least one dinner at the resort early in your stay since you may want to later try more dishes on the menu. And if you go fishing, the staff will cook your catch for you!

Some of the staff - kitchen, housekeeping and grounds - have been with Blue Crab for many years and there is an obvious mutual respect among the people who work there. Everyone is very attentive and friendly.

Since Linn and her husband have been in this area for many years, they know the tour operators who are licensed and reliable.  The cost of tours arranged by Linn can be added to your resort bill - or you can pay the tour operators directly.  For our Monkey River trip, she picked an excellent guide, Terry, who was born and raised in Monkey River Village and lives there with his family. We felt privileged to hear local information provided by a true insider!

As previous reviews have noted, the facilities are simple and are in need of an update. The two rooms near the road are the most private of the 6 offered but they are significantly affected by road noise. Only those two rooms have very nice large screened porches. The two beach-facing rooms in the 4-plex have a large shared porch. Our reservations were for one night in one of the rear rooms and three nights in one of the “front” rooms.

Rooms have oscillating floor fans as well as AC (we didn’t use the AC). There are a reasonable number of outlets. The bedroom has only an overhead light, so bring a book light if you’re a reader. Ground coffee (good stuff), sugar, creamer and small frigs are provided. Hot water and pressure are good - drinking water is provided, though we understood that nationally, Belizean tap water is potable. Closet and drawer space are adequate. These beach facilities are not easily accessible to anyone with significant physical limitations. The absence of WIFI and TV certainly help provide an escape from the rest of the world, if that is the type of vacation you are seeking.

Use of 1-speed bikes is available. There is a grocery store in Seine Bight - a Garifuna village about 5 minutes by bike, 15 minutes on foot - where you can pick up snacks, soda, alcohol, fresh fruit and a variety of other items at a “supermarket” which was open everytime we went by. It took us 30 minutes biking at a good clip to ride into Placencia proper, and we found that the vehicular traffic is courteous to bikers and pedestrians. However, the road into town is curvy with narrow shoulders, so it’s best to just avoid walking or biking after sunset (around 6 p.m.).

Some higher end restaurants in various places in Belize will provide transportation for dinner - be sure to ask when you make a reservation. Also, Keith, the local Seine Bight taxi guy, was just minutes away so he responded to our calls almost immediately. (BTW, we picked up a prepaid BTL SIM chip for our phone at a little office across from the airport terminal in Belize City right after we arrived in the country. It gave us a very convenient local Belizean telephone number and good International calling rates.)

A few warnings: Belize is very laid back. If you’re nice, everyone you meet will be happy to see you. However, you should never let down your guard completely, no matter where you are dining or lodging. Always be aware of your surroundings and take an extra minute to secure yourself and your belongings. (We’ve had a few crass reminders during this last trip that we should never become complacent about security). Always lock your doors and for an extra measure of protection, don’t hesitate to put a suitcase or chair against the door - something that will make a little noise if the door is opened. It’s a million times better to act a little paranoid than to spend a day dealing with police reports.

Before you leave your hotel for a tour, mentally list all valuables that you take with you (camera, glasses, binoculars, passports, wallet/purse, etc.) then take a quick inventory (actually touch or see each item) every few hour or so during the tour. The sooner you realize you’re missing something, the better chance you have of retrieving it.

Relax, have a really great time, just don’t forget that you’re in a foreign country.

I stayed at the Blue Crab for 2 nights and 3 days. There are two types of accomodations...A)one-room cabanas with modern bathroom and grass thatched roof (like a tiki-hut) that are 20 feet from the water crashing into the sand, and B)Cabins with front porch that looks out onto Caribbean ocean (about 40 feet from the water), modern bathroom and A/C. When you arrive, you get a bar of home-made chocolate bars. Kerry, the husband of the owner (Lynn) buys cocoa beans from local growers, and makes organic dark, milk and white chocolate bars)...soooo delicious. The restaurant on the property serves asian inspired cuisine (Lynn is originally from Tiawan) made with fresh lobster, shrimp, red snapper or whatever seafood is in season. Lynn and Kerry are just lovely...they are very commited to the community around them, as evidenced by all the little children running up to them to show them what they made, or local bakers selling them home-made carrot bread or local artists asking if they want to display their artwork at the inn. The grounds and rooms are kept clean; the groundskeeper was a refugee from one of the neighboring countries and lost his family there..Kerry and Linn hired him and he has been working there ever since.
They also have bikes that you can use for free. I biked into the main commercial strip of Placencia (about a 30 minute bike ride or a 10 minute bus ride if you don't like to bike). This inn is a bit remote...you won't hear anything but the ocean waves, the birds, and some neighborhood children. If you are more of a night-club / action oriented person, I would recommend you stay in Placencia instead. If you want a great relaxing get away...this is the place!