Ambergris Caye

A Maya community lived on Ambergris Caye long before Europeans arrived, leaving behind distinctive polished red pottery. At the northern end, the channel of Boca Bacalar Chico separates the island from the Mexican mainland; it is widely believed the Maya themselves dug it so that canoe traders could avoid the outer reef between Chetumal Bay and the Caribbean coast, though it may be natural. Coastal settlements such as Marco Gonzalez, near the island's southern tip, grew along that trade route. The island's name comes from ambergris, the substance produced by sperm whales, recalling the whalers who worked from these islands in the 17th century, and many parts of the island have been modified since coconut plantations arrived in the same century.

San Pedro itself was founded by refugees from the Caste War of Yucatán. Its first permanent settlers arrived in 1848 and 1849 — at first only four families, soon joined by others from the Bacalar area — and the village grew to about 30 houses. They were farmers and fishermen in Yucatán and carried on fishing here, and for more than a century San Pedro remained a small fishing village.

Tourism began in the early 1970s and grew quickly towards the end of the century, driven by the reef and the diving. On 27 November 1984 San Pedro was granted the status of a town, with Gilberto Chico Gomez as its first mayor, and the Hol Chan Marine Reserve was created in 1987 after a campaign among fishermen, businesses and the government. The town is also said to have inspired Madonna's 1987 song "La Isla Bonita", which opens by dreaming of San Pedro.

San Pedranos, as the townspeople are called, mostly trace their roots to Mexico, and the town's culture is Mestizo at heart. Most speak both Spanish and English fluently, and the influence of Kriol has produced an in-between form of speech known locally as "Kitchen Spanish". It is said that nobody is a true San Pedrano without knowing how to fish, and the sea still shapes local identity even as most families now earn their living from visitors.

The great event of the year is El Gran Carnaval de San Pedro, a tradition dating back to the 1870s and held in the days before Lent. Over three days, comparsas dance through the streets and people paint one another — white powder at the start, traditionally for children, and black paint at the close — and a stuffed figure of Juan Carnaval is burnt as a symbol of cleansing the community's sins; his mock will is read on Ash Wednesday. Painting is governed by rules: no spray paint, oil paint or rotten eggs, and no painting of buildings or people who are not taking part. San Pedro Day, celebrated every year on 27 June, is the other big date.

The island is commonly called "Isla Bonita" after the Madonna song. An expatriate community lives alongside the San Pedranos, and English is heard alongside Spanish in the busy centre.

San Pedro had a population of about 20,000 according to the 2024 mid-year estimates, making it the second-largest town in the Belize District. Although the island belongs to the Belize District, the closest point of the mainland is in the Corozal District. Tourism is the main industry, and scuba diving above all: there are so many divers that the island has two hyperbaric decompression chambers.

Life runs along three main streets parallel to the beach, with piers every few hundred feet where boats leave for diving, fishing and sailing. Golf carts are the main form of powered transport, with relatively few cars licensed on the island, and the road north of the bridge — now more than 10 miles long — has spread resort and beach-house building far up the island. Most of the island is reserved for national park and wildlife protection, which limits where land can be developed.

The town has several small supermarkets and one large one, along with bakeries and butchers, but imported goods are expensive. Weekend football matches are played at the small stadium near the airstrip.

Seafood comes first on Ambergris Caye. Lobster, conch and fresh fish fill the menus, and fishing for lobster and conch continues alongside tourism; some visitors catch and cook their own fish on fishing trips.

Breakfast is often Belizean: fry jacks, deep-fried dough, served with beans, eggs and cheese, or johnny cakes, round savoury biscuits made from flour. At midday, simple local lunch places serve rice and beans with stew chicken, a Belizean staple. Snacks that began in Mestizo cooking and are now eaten across Belize, such as garnaches, tamales and panades, are part of everyday eating too, and a Kriol dinner centres on rice and beans with meat and salad. Hole-in-the-wall places in town sell burritos, and pupusas, a cheap Salvadoran street food, are made fresh on the street in the evening.

Drink is part of the island's beach life. Many piers have bars, and Belikin, the local beer, is sold everywhere, alongside rum drinks. Imported groceries can be very expensive.