We just spent two perfect weeks at The Pelican Reef Villas in Ambergris Caye. It was our first time to Belize and we were very impressed. The service at Pelican Reef is the best we have ever experienced. The people in Belize are so friendly and personable. All the excursions were arranged by the staff at Pelican Reef as well as dinner reservations and pizza delivery. We were there during the low season and it often felt like we were alone on the small perfect beach.
Snorkeling under the pier is very good. We recommend taking the Lamanai trip, snorkeling Hol Chan/Shark Ray alley, and take a day trip to Caye Caulker. On our next visit we want to do the cave tubing trip, it was closed due to flooding this time.
We recommend renting the golf cart to get into town which is too far to walk from Pelican Reef. The staff will have a golf cart delivered to the resort. The town of San Pedro has so many wonderful small restaurants and shops. All of the food is delicious, from fresh seafood to hamburgers, we did not have a meal we did not like.
The mosquitoes and sand flies can be bad depending on when you go. We happened to be there after a lot of rain so mosquitoes were especially bad, but wearing long pants and using a high DEET spray helps. The bar keeps bug spray and baby oil for the sand flies.
We researched many places to stay on Ambergris and this was definitely the best. We are aleady planning our return trip to stay at Pelican Reef Villas soon.

I actually found Pelican Reef through searching TripAdvisor and I have to say, we had a wonderful time for a long "girls weekend getaway." The resort was just gorgeous. The room, the pool and bar area, the beach -- all very clean and well kept. The staff, especially Cesar and Eliazar, were very helpful. They assisted us with restaurant reservations, excursion bookings (ziplining, cave-tubing, and swimming with sharks and stingrays), and just keeping the rum coming!

Some reviewers didn't like the location but we loved being "at the end of the island" since this made watching the sunrise very peaceful and we could come back to peace and tranquility after hitting town for dinner and whatever. The golfcart rental was a must, though, because it is about a 15-20 minute (cart) ride into town. Thanks to Lori and Greg when we made our reservations for handling the golfcart rental as well as the short flight from Belize International to San Pedro airport.

Some reviewers have been unhappy with the lack of "true restaurant facilities" on the premises. We were perfectly happy with our breakfast sandwiches to get our day started and the somewhat limited menu for breakfast and lunch was not a problem for us since we were around about for most of our days.

All in all, if this isn't THE best place to stay on the island, I can't imagine what is. That said, don't tell anyone -- I want to be able to get reservations there when I'm ready to go back!

Thanks to the whole crew for a great job taking care of us from start to finish.

Our visit was Oct 12 - Oct 21, 2008
Many, many thanks to Joe, Lori, Greg, & staff- to Eliazar, Cesar, & Santos for their dedication and seeing to it that all our wants and needs were met... and then some.

For such a young independent country, the service was extraordinary! Lots of fun things to do - just ask any of the staff at Pelican Reef and they will arrange it all!

Joe and Lori "have it going on" in Belize. We couldn't be happier for them and Greg. they work very hard for your respect - and they deserve it.
The Beachfront villa was wonderful...CLEAN and very nicely furnished. Loved the Washer/Dryer and the Granite counters very nice...very nice appliances also!
Good snorkeling right off the dock.
It was rainy season, but we still enjoyed plenty of sun.
Apply bug spray for those "evenings" out.
All the staff are always accessible and will turn themselves inside out to please!
We loved it!
Lori arranged a golf cart rental for us and we enjoyed it all week!
Lamanai Boat Tour by "Searous" (arranged through Pelican staff) was great!
Ziplining at Jaguar Paw was FABULOUS too!

Blue Water Grill - Great! *****
El Divinio - Good! ***
Sunset Grill - Great! ****
Caliente's - Great! ****
Pizza - delivered to your villa - Very Good! ***
Carumba's - Very Good! ****
Janie and Butch Johnston - Fort Smith, Arkansas

This place is fantastic! The common grounds and pool area are beautifully manicured and spotless, the service was even better than expected, and the beach was something out of a magazine!

We enjoyed many evenings out at the end of the pier watching the sunsets and taking in the serenity of lying in the beach loungers and gazing out over the torquoise seas. Ahhh, it was truly paradise!

The interior of our villa was stunning and the mattresses were so comfortable! We had daily housekeeping, which was superb(!), and took advantage of the breakfast and lunch menu daily, which was also great(!).

We booked tours at the activities center and enjoyed both the snorkeling and fishing excursions. Cesar was extremely helpful in our activities planning and gave us some great tips on things to see around town.

We rented a golf cart and drove into town nightly for dinner. We loved Blue Water Grill, Sunset Grill, and Elvis. The drive into town was a bit bumpy (cobblestone streets), but well worth it to stay south of San Pedro! We liked the location because of the privacy on the beach. We found the time share salesman and other "entrepreneurs" to be annoying in town and were extremely happy with Pelican Reef's location. It took us 10 minutes on the cart to get to town, which was fine by us.

Lori and Greg (the managers) were wonderful, always helpful and always smiling! They have 2 precious dogs that we enjoyed playing with on the beach. So cute!

If you ask, "would you go back?" We say, "Yes."

If you ask, "would you change anything?" We say, "No."

It was fantastic and it was nice to be out of the hussle and bussle and truly enjoy the "laid back charm" of Ambergris Caye and Pelican Reef!