My wife and I recently returned from our honeymoon at Tradewinds Paradise Villas. Everyone's previous reviews pretty much cover it all... the place is quiet, yet easy walking distance to everything in San Pedro. The grounds are well kept, and the pool was clean. (the pool is a bit small, but a perfect reprieve from midday heat. Pools in general are a rarity on the island.) We stayed in the 2nd floor ocean view condo. Though a tad dated, the room was really nice and comfortable. Housekeeping always managed to sneak in while we were out and about. They did a very good job too. When you check in, ask Manuel at the office to get you a case of Belikin, and he'll pick one up from the distributor for you. (Belikin is the local beer, very good...much like Red Stripe, and very handy to have stashed in the fridge!) Also good to know is that the water is totally safe to drink. San Pedro installed a brand new desalinization plant a few years back that purifies the ocean water. It was actually quite good, to our surprise.

I'm also happy to report that the construction adjacent to the property was not loud or bothersome at all. It seems that the major structural work is done, and that they are now just working on the interiors of the condos, painting and whatnot.

Like people have previously stated, if you're looking to be completely pampered and have drinks served to you at the poolside, then you should probably not be looking at Belize as a whole. This place is a condo, and you're on your own to explore the island. That being said, this was probably the best vacation we've been on. The food on the island is great. Check out Estelle's down the beach for the best cheap breakfasts. The locals are completely friendly, colorful people who welcome us gringos. The diving is unspeakably good. We dove with Amigos del Mar, and they were very knowledgeable and professional. They had well maintained, newer boats and their rental gear was very good condition. If you're planning a dive to the Blue Hole, they've got a 40-some foot boat that'll get you there comfortably. Local dives are on a smaller nice boat, and you'll be on the reef 5 minutes after leaving the dock. I can't put into words how good the diving was...it was absolutely sublime. If you're coming to this island without a dive license, then you're missing out on some of the best diving this Earth has to offer. Do yourself a favor and get some scuba lessons before your trip.

My G/F and I just returned from a week stay at Paradise Villas, we thought the grounds were very well kept and the rooms nice. The beds were comfortable and the cable TV with US stations was a nice perk also. The pool was well maintained and clean. The location is great for getting to most restaurants, bars, dive shops and the heart of San Pedro. We're divers and had great experiences with Ecologic Divers which was contracted through Paradise Villas. There is construction going on close by but we're early risers and it didn't bother us a bit. While in San Pedro we walked through many of the other resorts like Ramon’s Village and thought we made a good choice. I would definitely stay at Paradise Villas again!

First of all, if you are looking for luxurious accommodations in San Pedro (town), you are certainly not going to find them! San Pedro is really nothing more than a shanty town - dusty, dilapadated buildings, etc. Tradewinds Villas is definitely one of the nicest properties in the town, and overall, we were pleased with our stay. We stayed in a one bedroom villa, plenty of room for 2 people. The property's grounds are very nice, lots of trees and flowers, well kept, and the pool area is nice as well. It was nice, too, to have our own kitchen - my husband went fishing and we were able to cook the fish for lunch.

The location is convenient to just about every restaurant and bar in town. You definitely don't need a golf cart to get around - we walked everywhere.

Emmanuel in the office is extremely friendly and helpful (note: we booked with Tradewinds Paradise Villas). There is a dive shop at the next pier, Reef Adventures. We went snorkeling with them twice and were pleased with the small group size.

Only downsides were that the sheets smelled a bit musty and that there was construction going on at the properties to the right and to the left of the villas. The pounding started at 6:30 am!

Our stay in San Pedro was at Ambergris Condos Paradise Villas, the same condos as Tradewinds Paradise Villa. These condos are rented out by two different companies, the Ambergris Condos are a little bit cheaper, at least in the off-season. Here is the link: [--]. These are older but wonderful condos that have a separate bedroom, two doors to the bathroom, and a fully-furnished kitchen (though small) with dishes, silverware, pots & pans, coffee pot, etc. The living room has cable TV (I watched the basketball playoffs every evening) and a hideabed sofa which is nice if you have children with you. There is also free wi-fi internet access which worked great for us. There is a private balcony with chairs and a hammock. The only negative thing was the saltillo floor needs polishing--it looks old and worn. We had a problem the first day with a musty smell coming from the air conditioner; they sent over a guy to clean it and it was fine after that. The landscape was beautiful, as well as the pool, the place is definitely a nice getaway from the noise and busyness of the town. It is very, very quiet there. The ocean’s edge is about 10 steps from the front gate, and it has its own pier where excursions can pick you up. We are into snorkeling but did not enjoy our first outing which was at Hol Chan reserve because we just had to keep pace with the guide who wore us out. We like to take our time and snorkel at a very leisurely pace. We found a guide the second day whose name is Chocy, (sounds like Chucky only with an o instead of a u) and he took us to several places the next three days and just watched us from the boat ( mexico rocks, ship wreck and other places are all within a 15 to 20 minute boat ride … Chocky estimated 45 minutes so we were pleasantly surprised by how close we actually were to everything.) He only takes 2 to 6 at a time and so is much more relaxed. This was our best snorkeling trip yet and we go once a year for the last 10 years. He does charge about $5 more per person per trip but the freedom he offers is well worth it. You can find him about 3 different ways. He has a sandwich sign next to the Kasbah gift shop. His boat has a slip near Estele’s (if you eat breakfast there, you can usually see him working on his yellow boat around 8:00 a.m. or so. Estele’s is also where you can get a great breakfast for a very reasonable price. Their fry jacks are delicious.) Don’t worry about not knowing where those places are, just ask someone who works in any shop where those places are. You can also reach Chocy through a friend’s e-mail (oh.dannyboy@Belizemail.net). Danny Guerrero will pass on messages to Chocy. Again, Chocy is well worth the effort to find him because he really made our trip a success.

The Chinese food places were very cheap with lots of food which we took home to our refrigerator for other meals. There is a fruit stand right at the back entrance to the condos and we kept stocked up by them. I tried a produce store one day and the fruit was more expensive and not nearly as good. From our condos we did not need any transportation since everything we needed was within a 10 minute walk. That reminds me, the grocery store is a 1 minute walk away but their stuff gets pretty old there. We bought a quart of orange juice twice and they were spoiled both times.