JOE JO'S BY THE REEF

About

4.5

Excellent

114 reviews

Location

Cleanliness

Service

Value

Certificate of Excellence

Joe Jo's consists of 6 cabins of which 5 are on the Seafront on the edge of the great Barrier Reef or with great Sea/Ocean View,and 1Honeymoon Cabin over the water.Each cabin has a private verandah with a hammock, and with exception of the Honeymoon Cabin,the maximum accommodation per cabin is 3 persons. There are 3 Rooms on the first floor of the main building,also with maximum accommodation of 3 persons per room . On the second floor there are 2 Suites /Family Room with large living space and facilities for a wet bar with 2 coolers.Spacious Verandah for relaxing in a hammock or lounging, overlooking the Cabins and Ocean.All accommodation includes private bathrooms with hot and cold shower. Joe Jo's is not a Bed and Breakfast but is a Hotel/Resort and we seek that it be placed in its rightful category and be ranked accordingly.Kindly reclassify and advise accordingly.

Full view

Property amenities

Free internet

Wifi

Public wifi

Internet

Free breakfast

Restaurant

Beach

Children Activities (Kid / Family Friendly)

Room types

Ocean view

Good to know

HOTEL STYLE

Great View

Hotel links

Visit hotel website

Location

Contact

Tobacco Caye 00000 Belize

011 501 610-1647

E-mail hotel

114Reviews15Q+A29Room tips

Ideal for families and couples

What sets Joe Jo's apart from the other places on Tobacco Caye is that the price includes kayaks, snorkel gear, and stand up paddle boards in the price. When traveling with kids, I find that no one wants to do anything for two to four hours (a typical rental) but they do like to spend all day doing water activities for 20-30 minutes at a time. The food is delicious and to my surprise a wide variety of family members with different tastes where all together but agreed the food was amazing. Not many in our group would have ordered seafood pasta salad or curry beef, but everyone enjoyed it. The fry jacks were a big hit too. Again, spending a few days at Joe Jo's made us feel like time stood still and we really got in some quality family time.

Date of stay: August 2017

So happy you Guys had a great family time.It was a pleasure having you and we look forward to seeing you again. Regards, Louis.

Don't stay here! Owner is a thief!

I would like to start by saying Dave and Carmen are wonderful. They made our stay absolutely lovely! The owner Louis, on the other hand is a theif! We got married on the island in March. Our families came and our total group was 16 people (we rented almost the entire resort). Some of us had purchased groupons for certain cabins. My husband and I stayed in the honeymoon cabin. It was small but lovely. My mother purchased in Oceanside cabin and unfortunately as she was moved Into 3 different places during our stay. That being said she grossly over paid. Not only had she already overpaid while we were there but 3 weeks after we returned home the owner decided to charge her card for an additional almost $1000. I only owed about $250. I charge my card over $900. Unfortunately…

Date of stay: March 2018

Even though this review had fallen through the cracks and not gotten our appropriate attention earlier,fortunately and obviously the Traveling Public finds it easy to evaluate this fabrication.Just think about it,a wedding on a small Paradise Island for a family of 16 for ": FREE "($500)including entertaining Music.We did it with kindness in our hearts and at the same time notched up the Joe Jo's Experience,evidenced by the fact that the newly Wed Bride exclaimed in her email after returning home that "it was the greatest and happiest experience in my life". I Louis Swasey did bookings for some individuals through their personal credit cards while the to be bride used her credit card to pay for herself and husband and one or two others in the family through a GROUPON offer.The mother also paid for herself and one or two daughters and their companions.All this was done and dusted well in advance. The additional charges came about due to extension by 1 or 2 additional nights in several instances which our Assistant Manager Dave discussed before they departed and had the mother signed thereby authorizing the charge to her credit card.In the case of the Bride she wanted us to apply the rate we gave for the extended nights stay to her total length of stay and net it against what she had paid to Groupon thereby claiming a refund.She could not comprehend that what she paid to GROUPON was not totally paid to us (their held comission)and that we had to honor that separately from the additional stay(extension).Nevertheless Dave arranged for certain offset to which he claimed they were satisfied with ,while one of the Daughters, who thought that they were unreasonable ,offered to pay a portion.In the process Dave had agreed on a chargeback of one of the charges. Simply put,having to move around as many time as they desired was their choice,since we gave them full exclusivity of the resort. I am confident that this review does not serve the traveling public well and its all trumped up to conclude a malicious act and blackmail.Accordingly it does not meet the standards required by TripAdvisor,especially to brand a person as a thief and in my humble opinion should be removed from our review list.There are 4 resorts on Tobacco Cay which have upheld healthy standards and reputation,but this review clearly is a campaign to move travelers to another particular resort.

Firstly, roughing it is really not my thing. Carmen & David are truly lovely people. The island is idyllic on the outside, the inner areas are rough and buildings are falling apart. The areas where Joe Jo’s is is well kept. The conch shells look pretty but the smell is stifling. It nauseated me terribly. You can’t get away from that when your windows open up right over then. The beds are not comfortable and our cabana had 2 beds jammed in such a small space; we didn’t need two beds. It’s damp but usually there is a breeze. There really isn’t enough to do for 2 weeks. The resort on the other end had more activities for their guests and diving and a little more civilized. David left and Carmen speaks a little English. The food was limited and you better like…

Date of stay: February 2018

Thanks Sande for being more polite than in your emails to me.The entire Island knows that you have fabricated this story since your boyfriend was not impressed with your booking,and expected a 5 star resort.Notwithstanding,if you had brought any genuine issue to our attention at the appropriate time we would have pleased you as we have to all of our Guests.But you met Dave on the mainland while on your way out and told him your mother -in-law was in the hospital and it was an emergency issue.When Dave reported that to me I immediately told him to work out a Goodwill rebate for you,but to our surprise,on the contrary, you wrote such an undeserving email,which completely disqualifies you for any consideration.You knew also that whatever smell you are referring to was from the Sea Grass(Sargassum)which come across the Ocean around certain time of the year,and which affects the entire Island,requiring daily attention from all stakeholders.Having said that I consider your review to be a 5 since its obvious that the rest of your comments is totally untrue and maliciously done, as you have threatened in your email. Still would welcome your return under better circumstances.

Loved it!

The food was delicious, the cabana was lovely, and Carmen and David were very friendly and helpful. Best part was that all meals and snorkel gear/kayak use was included in the (very reasonable) price. HIGHLY recommend!!

Date of stay: February 2018

Incredible Get-Away!

We loved our stay at Joe Jo's. From Miss Carmen's delicious cooking, to David's hospitality and knowledge, to the ocean-front cabanas, our day-to-day life melted away in no time. If you're looking to get off the beaten path, this is the place to go! We will definitely be back.

Date of stay: February 2018

Thanks Steve.We appreciated your stay and kind comments. Regret that Your friend Mike couldn't make it here,but hope that all was well at his other destination.Carmen and Dave send their regards and we will be all looking out to see you here again in the not too distant future..Have a safe trip back home. Regards, Louis.