Is Ambergris Caye safe?
Kate Corrigan - Caye International Bank
Yes, Ambergris Caye is safe. I am a single parent of a 13-year-old daughter. I have lived here for four and a half years, and the only rule I have for my daughter is that she call me half an hour before dark, so that I can make arrangements to come pick here up.
I go out and I feel quite comfortable walking the streets, going to clubs, dining out and meeting up with friends. I have no worries at all. I wouldn’t leave my bag in any bar in any circumstance. I...
I go out and I feel quite comfortable walking the streets, going to clubs, dining out and meeting up with friends. I have no worries at all. I wouldn’t leave my bag in any bar in any circumstance. I...
Yes, Ambergris Caye is safe. I am a single parent of a 13-year-old daughter. I have lived here for four and a half years, and the only rule I have for my daughter is that she call me half an hour before dark, so that I can make arrangements to come pick here up.
I go out and I feel quite comfortable walking the streets, going to clubs, dining out and meeting up with friends. I have no worries at all. I wouldn’t leave my bag in any bar in any circumstance. I wouldn’t leave my bag in a restaurant and think that it will be OK. I wouldn’t walk up a dark alley at 2 AM. I don’t do those things here in Ambergris Caye, just like I wouldn’t anywhere else, so I am safe.
I go out and I feel quite comfortable walking the streets, going to clubs, dining out and meeting up with friends. I have no worries at all. I wouldn’t leave my bag in any bar in any circumstance. I wouldn’t leave my bag in a restaurant and think that it will be OK. I wouldn’t walk up a dark alley at 2 AM. I don’t do those things here in Ambergris Caye, just like I wouldn’t anywhere else, so I am safe.
Posted December 2, 2014
Allan Lima
The community in Ambergris Caye is very united. It is a very small community, so everyone knows each other. If you are going to be hurt, robbed, or killed, you would probably have placed yourself in that situation. There are bad people everywhere around the world, but if you don’t associate yourself with bad people, then the chances for you to be unsafe will be slim. If you mingle with the community and do good things, then you have nothing to worry...
The community in Ambergris Caye is very united. It is a very small community, so everyone knows each other. If you are going to be hurt, robbed, or killed, you would probably have placed yourself in that situation. There are bad people everywhere around the world, but if you don’t associate yourself with bad people, then the chances for you to be unsafe will be slim. If you mingle with the community and do good things, then you have nothing to worry about. Every property on the beach has security guards. Tourism police and the local police are always around, too so it is very safe. But if you do something bad, then you run the risk of being unsafe. Being safe depends on the individual and the individual’s actions, while he or she is on the island, like anywhere else in the world.
I have been living in Ambergris Caye for 10 years now and I have never been robbed nor had any problems with security. I have only visited the police station to pick something up. A lot of the security guards here in Ambergris Caye are very friendly people, so you can walk around and greet them good morning and they answer back. The more you mingle with people, the more people get to know you, and the more secure you will feel.
Posted February 19, 2015
Josh Buettner - Ambergris Seaside Real Estate
Ambergris Caye is one of the safest places in the country of Belize but there are still some issues that you have to be aware of. Petty crimes are an issue here. If you would leave something in a golf cart and go away for an hour, especially if it is something that’s of great value, chances are it won’t be there when you get back. It is your responsibility to eliminate those kinds of situations. Do not leave your running shoes sitting in front...
Ambergris Caye is one of the safest places in the country of Belize but there are still some issues that you have to be aware of. Petty crimes are an issue here. If you would leave something in a golf cart and go away for an hour, especially if it is something that’s of great value, chances are it won’t be there when you get back. It is your responsibility to eliminate those kinds of situations. Do not leave your running shoes sitting in front of your door. Don’t leave bicycles unlocked or your wallet or camera in your golf cart. You just do not leave any valuable things out in the open.
If you keep those simple things in mind and also keep in mind that you are in a Third World Country, it is important to realize that there are people living here who do not have anything. So when they see you not tending to your stuff, they may take advantage of that. Those are the real issues here.
If you were to eliminate those petty crime opportunities, you eliminate 99.9% of all the issues that you would have here. Violent crimes are a rarity here in Belize, especially with regard to expats or gringos. We have had a couple instances where somebody got robbed on the beach at 2 or 3 AM, and these kinds of things happen occasionally. It is not common but it happens occasionally. The deal is, at 3 AM, you shouldn’t be staggering down the beach. I am not saying that doing that is an excuse for bad things to happen but again, if you remember where you are and you take necessary precautions, you would very unlikely become a victim of any kind of crime here in Ambergris Caye.
(Kids playing along the mangroves in Ambergris Caye, Belize, pictured.)
Posted October 18, 2015
Matthew Hoy - Pelican Properties
Yes, Ambergris Caye is safe. My mother-in-law lives here as well and she has lived on her own for over two years now and she has never had any security issues. As with any city or town, if you go looking for trouble here in Ambergris Caye, you can find it, but if keep your nose clean, you would feel very safe here. I personally feel very secure having my family here and I have not safety concerns. I live on a ground floor condo on the south side of the...
Yes, Ambergris Caye is safe. My mother-in-law lives here as well and she has lived on her own for over two years now and she has never had any security issues. As with any city or town, if you go looking for trouble here in Ambergris Caye, you can find it, but if keep your nose clean, you would feel very safe here. I personally feel very secure having my family here and I have not safety concerns. I live on a ground floor condo on the south side of the island of Ambergris Caye and we have a neighborhood patrol that is essentially a resident funded police force that patrols our end of the island and we have very minimal crime here. We don’t have burglar bars on our windows. We don’t have security systems or alarms. We just lock our doors. There are certain areas in Ambergris Caye that are a bit desolate or with less traffic or with a lack of a good neighborhood watch in place so having burglar bars or having an onsite security guard is not the worst idea in the world either.
The crime that happens here is similar to the crimes that happen in the US but it tends to happen more on a magnifying glass here because everyone tends to hear about crimes a lot quicker here. But generally, most crimes that occur here are crimes of opportunity as opposed to pre-meditated, pre-planned crimes. So if you don’t present an opportunity, the chances for a crime to happen to you is less likely. Leaving your cellphone out and having it stolen is the more typical type of crime that we see here as opposed to brazen attacks or other brazen types of crimes.
I actually feel safer here in Ambergris Caye than where I was in Toronto. I think a factor is that there are less people here but the police force here is very visible and as long as you don’t go into neighborhoods that you typically wouldn’t go into even if you lived in a different city and go looking for trouble, you are going to be fine.
(Villa in Ambergris Caye, Belize, pictured.)
Posted November 14, 2015