We do not consider Belize impoverished or depressing. The only beggars we have seen were in Belize City and we encountered just a few of them; they appeared to be drunks or addicts, not people in need of food due to poverty. AC is upscale compared to many parts of Belize. Although many people born and raised on the island live in small (by US standards), wooden houses, they are not impoverished - that is local lifestyle. The locals we have met and interacted with over the years are happy, content, good hearted and low stressed. Belize is a rural country with lower GDP than developed countries which thus translates to less infrastructure and what sociologists call "lower standard of living." In many cases, the people of Belize must work hard to pay for necessities and their material lifestyle frequently is much less than many in the US. But, in our opinion, the country and the people are interesting and delightful. Our observations are influenced by travel in countries in southeastern Asia where we saw true poverty with people living in cardboard boxes along the road who hoped to find food for their next meal. The unpleasant bugs we see are small - mosquitoes and sand flies. But they are not present all the time and you can take precautions against them. The country is the tropics, though, and there is more buggy wildlife. All this said, we are not trying to influence your honeymoon choice, just providing opinions based on your questions. Happy trip and honeymoon wherever you go!