Nightlife

Ambergris Caye is a popular beach and dive destination, and as such it supports a fairly active nightlife and late-night bar scene. I recommend starting things off at one of the beachside bars such as the Pier Lounge (tel. 226-2002) at the Spindrift Hotel, or a bar built out over the water like Wet Willy's (tel. 226-4136), located off the center of town, or The Palapa Bar (tel. 226-3111; www.palapabarandgrill.com), located about 1.6km (1 mile) north of the cut on the northern half of the island. Two other popular choices are Fido's Courtyard (tel. 226-2056), which has live music every night of the week, and The Purple Parrot (tel. 226-2071) in Ramon's Village, which claims to be a favorite haunt of Jimmy Buffet.

If you're looking for a dance club and late-night action, your best bets are the two traditional San Pedro discos, Jaguar's Temple Club (no phone) and Big Daddy's (no phone), which are within a stone's throw of each other on Barrier Reef Drive, near the basketball court and the church. Just south of downtown on Coconut Drive, you might try the huge Barefoot Iguana (tel. 226-2927), which features everything from hot new DJs to mud wrestling to sporting events shown on a giant screen.

If you're the betting type looking for a bit more action than the chicken drop, try The Palace (tel. 226-3570), at the corner of Caribeña and Pescador Drive, or the new, Casino Belize (tel. 226-2777), at the Belize Yacht Club, just south of the airstrip. Casino Belize is by far the much larger and swankier of the two.