AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Moving down in 2014

Maybe you should visit and see if you like it.

Also, Hawaii is in the US. In Belize you will be foreigners. It makes a difference.

You can live cheaply and simply here on the island, if you can resist the temptations. I don't always do that. I just moved from a $120BZ/wk room on the beach to a safer, bigger, and nicer room 1 block off the beach for $150/wk. It's about 15x15, has ceiling fan, private bathroom with cold shower, sink & toilet plus kitchen sink and counter with room for appliances, all tile floors, and metal window blinds (the most secure type of windows without burglar bars). I have my own single electric burner, no fridge, and more space than most of my friends who have 1-2 small kids. I hand wash my clothes in a basin & hang them on the communal lines. I can grow a few container plants on the verandah/hall outside my room. To find my new home, I asked a couple of local friends to search and negotiate price before the landlords saw I'm White. My friends screened out everywhere they didn't think was safe enough for me alone (eg someone deals crack in the shared yard), and kept the price down. I rented a golf cart for a day for the search and move, and we all enjoyed the high life treat of circling in it.

That's more like what we are looking for. That price sounds wonderful for being so close to the beach! You said you have a burner, is that a stand alone burner that you brought with you when moving down there?

I wasn't thinking about taking a room for a week because I was told it is cheaper to go with a long term lease. Taking a week to week agreement offers flexibility that we might initially need moving down there.

Honestly, we can't afford to make the visit we wanted to make before moving with the new information we got regarding work permits... too expensive for us working class folk, and we want to have enough to get by for a little while... We asked a friend of a friend that lives in Belize city to help us suss out the situation, but you know how laid back and polite Belizeans can be. We got back a very nice but indefinite response.

Maybe we could reach out to you and your friends to help us find a place when it gets closer to that time? We could offer some cash or a photoshoot for the favor. By the way, we are not white. My husband is African American and I am first generation Haitian American. Not sure if that makes a difference in anything

Thanks again, all!

Hawaii is awesome, but the proximity to Japan after the Fukishima incident is disconcerting. I don't want to expose my children to the radiation. If that hadn't happened, we'd already be Kawaii Belize is an awesome place. I have friends who have studied abroad in Belize, friends who did some growing up in Belize, and from what I understand, it offers the kind of life we are looking for... Enough for us to commit our plans for moving in 2014.

With all of our moving expenses, we wont be able to afford a trip to visit before hand. We have travelled extensively to African countries, Costa Rica (where we married), Europe. I know what we enjoy, what we are looking for, and I'm pretty certain we could find it here.

We are a family of 5 and when we planed are move in 2003, I alone came a few times in 2002 to check out Belize. I looked at the mainland and then San Pedro, for us to open a small Thai Restaurant we had to move to San Pedro for the people here to eat in our restaurant. It is not cheap to live here and I would advise one of you to come for a week before making the jump.

John & Thipaya

A local told me once that if you can't afford to visit San Pedro for a week with your family before you move, you don't have enough money to make said move.

Words of wisdom from someone that knows about San Pedro.

Dear Cleanhead can you tell me where you rented in San Pedro on the beach for BZ$120 a week I would like to move there?

we were initially planning a visit, but with the news that we have to spend $4000 for our working papers, in addition to having the cash to survive for 6 months with enough for return tickets just in case, it just seems like a better move to jump in headfirst.

I mean, the round trip tickets to Belize are as much as I've paid to go to Uganda... and I have kids...

I'm applying for a job in Belize as a teacher. hopefully that works out and I can ease into all of this with some reliable assistance.

Dear Inplub,

I lived in a small room above DJs bar/restaurant at Boca del Rio park for 9 months. Then I got spooked by someone messing with my glass window at 5am when he could see I was home and awake.