I just arrived home 2 days ago from Isla Marisol. I enjoyed a full 10 days of amazing friends, delicious cuisine and the main reason I was there.... TO DIVE & FILM THE WHALE SHARKS.... and Spotted Drum Fish!!! To say the least.... I got ALOT of what I wanted. The first 4 days we spent at Gladden Spit and dove with the Whale Sharks and huge groups of Snappers and Jacks every day we were there. This is my second trip to Isla Marisol in 2 yrs and plan to visit each and every year to come. I have made some very special friends there and can't wait to get back for more diving. I made 30 dives in 10 days.... and I want more. :)

Special thanx to Eddie Usher (Owner) & Mora (Manager), Feliciana, Alicia & Barbara (Chefs), Chad, Kitty, Giovani & Blinky (Dive Masters) and especially my good buddy George (Boat Captain), Aurora (House Keeping) for making another vacation a complete success.

Hope to see everyone soon.

Brian Goddard, San Diego

My husband and I decided to take our honeymoon in Belize and we got Scuba certified before we went. After reading an entire Lonely Planet about Belize, a few places stuck out and one was Glover's Reef and Isla Marisol. Because it was our honeymoon, we wanted to spend an entire week in one place (no hassles) and have it be remote and private (not a lot of tourists or cruise ships). My only disappointment with the entire stay was we arrived in Dangriga too late to get out to the island the first night. The resort made arrangements for accomodations in Dangriga for the night - very nice - but the downside is that we had to pay for these accomodations while we were also paying for our accomodations at Isla Marisol the same night - making it an expensive night. It would be nice if Isla Marisol put guests up for a night instead in this case - it would be more customer friendly. But after a week's stay, we got over it. Other than that, Eddie, the owner, picked us up early the next morning, took us to the boat, and we were at Southwest Caye by 11 a.m. Plenty of time to get into our cabana, unpack, get lunch and then make the 3 p.m. dive that day. The diving was incredible and Kitty, Chad and George are the best!! It was our first time in open water and I felt entirely safe and cared for the entire time. The Long Caye dives were my favorite although they were ALL incredible. The staff is wonderful at Isla Marisol and we will definitely go back again and again. The food was delicious (all fresh and a lot of fish) and Feliciana, the cook, was warm and welcoming and became a good friend. Our favorite meal was lunch that first day - barracuda enchiladas. YUM!! Feliciana served fresh fruit and baked goods with every meal and fresh-squeezed juices that were out of this world. We moved cabanas half-way through the week so we were beachfront -- and it was devine. I could read in the hammock on the porch while my husband fly-fished for bonefish right in the water in front of the cabana. The showers are electric-heated and the toilets flush - the only resort on Glover's Reef to have these ammenities. The staff cleans the rooms daily and clears the interior and porch of all sand. Excellent! All in all, the best vacation I've ever had. No phones, no TV, no internet , not a ton of people (there were about 6 to 10 guests the entire week) and nothing to do but eat, drink, dive, snorkel, kayak, fish, nap, read and swim. We have told everyone we know to go here for a great getaway...we plan to go back soon for the whale shark diving in May or June...Eddie highly recommends it. As Eddie says, 'welcome to paradise' and it was paradise for us. Thank you, Isla Marisol!

We started a 3 1/2 week vacation in Belize with one week at Isla Marisol. We stayed in Cabana 3, about 20 feet from waters edge, away from the bar and restaurant but an easy walk to everything. The room was just fine, would have preferred one large bed rather two doubles but that is a quibble. The ceiling fan and floor fans really helped. Portable AC units were in the rooms but they seemed like a waste of energy in cabanas.

Rooms and facilities are good, but not great. But this is a place that is likely to be badly damaged by hurricanes on a semi-regular basis so there is no good reason to invest a fortune in buildings.

You go there to dive or fish. And dive we did. The best diving of my life, three a day including two night dives. If you are a diver I encourage you to look at Undercurrent, a divers review website and monthly publication. Glovers Reef is pristine. Isla Marisol had top notch dive masters and captains who quickly got us to great sites, showed us innumerable underwater creatures, and made sure everyone was safe. They were the one of the best crews that I have ever been with.

I asked a number of more experienced divers where they thought was a better place to dive. All thought this was the best they had seen in the Caribbean. The big world has other options, but all much farther away.

Food tended a bit much to fried rather than grilled, but it was always tasty and always plenty. There were snacks and drinks available between meals and dives. The fresh squeezed, crushed and drained juices were a treat.

The bar at the end of the dock was popular, well stocked and a great place to relax before or after dinner. Folks from other resorts or boats would drop in pretty regularly which added to the fun.

Guests and staff were all fun, good people and made the stay that much better. We really like sitting around a common dining room with other guests and sharing stories and experiences, IM attracted a good crowd for that. Periodically a large boat would anchor off shore and join us at the bar or dinner to add to the conversatioin.

A few reviews mentioned sand fleas. We had very few problems, they were experimenting with a new spray to contain the fleas. But, anywhere on tropical sands is sand flea heaven so always carry DEET.

Advance preparations are really important as their boat only comes to Dangriga on Weds and Sat. Make sure you arrange your schedule to buld in a little cushion so you don't miss the boat.

I rarely want to go back anywhere, there are so many places to see but Isla Marisol has a strong pull.

This place is amazing, I spent a year living in Belize and I still wonder this is "the place to be" in all the country, it has an exceptional view of the Caribbean and the hotel can’t be better! It’s totally gorgeous!