How are the stores and shops in Ambergris Caye? How's the shopping in Ambergris Caye?
Christian Burn
The shopping malls in Ambergris Caye and Belize in general are not like the ones that you will be familiar with in the States. There is an area where there is a concentration of shops, but there is no mall because the population density is not sufficient to support a mall. We do not have the corporate stores at all. With 300,000 people total in the country, Gap, or any other big brands do not look at Belize as a market. There is not even a Walmart or a McDonalds here. Belize just does...
The shopping malls in Ambergris Caye and Belize in general are not like the ones that you will be familiar with in the States. There is an area where there is a concentration of shops, but there is no mall because the population density is not sufficient to support a mall. We do not have the corporate stores at all. With 300,000 people total in the country, Gap, or any other big brands do not look at Belize as a market. There is not even a Walmart or a McDonalds here. Belize just does not have enough consumerism and consumers in the country.
Therefore, the big brands just pass us by and go to Mexico, where they are right across the water or border from Belize. So if you want to go to Staples, Office Depot, Costco, or whatever, you can take a quick boat from Ambergris Caye to Chetumal, Mexico, shop your little heart out and take a boat back. Chetumal is a 9-minute boat ride and you can take it directly from San Pedro. I think it's about $25 each way.
The prices in Chetumal are fine. Mexico is very competitive. It would be comparable to Canada without the tax because everything we buy in Canada has a 13.5% or more tax on top of it. In Mexico, they have a VAT, but it is not the extent of the percentage that we pay in Canada. So I would say that things in Canada are a little bit pricier than the things I'd buy at Staples in Mexico
Mexico has everything. There really is not anything that they do not have because they have over 100 million people. Chetumal is a port town. It does not have a Gap, but it has Staples, it has Costco, and it has McDonalds. It has your standard American consumer driven stores.
Posted December 2, 2014
Rachel Jensen - Grand Baymen
There are little touristy shops in Ambergris Caye but I don’t know a lot about them because I don’t shop here, since I have all that I need. I am not a big shopper and I try to live simply. I get by with what I need and get by with what I have, but you can find pretty much what you need on the island. There aren’t any malls. There are no chain stores, either. Ambergris Caye is a small community and the community wants to support each...
There are little touristy shops in Ambergris Caye but I don’t know a lot about them because I don’t shop here, since I have all that I need. I am not a big shopper and I try to live simply. I get by with what I need and get by with what I have, but you can find pretty much what you need on the island. There aren’t any malls. There are no chain stores, either. Ambergris Caye is a small community and the community wants to support each other and support local business. If you like branded clothes, you would not get those in Ambergris Caye. If you like shopping, then Ambergris Caye is not the place for you.
(Dock at waterside idyll in Belize, pictured.)
Posted July 3, 2015
Josh Buettner - Ambergris Seaside Real Estate
Shopping is actually quite good in Ambergris Caye because there is such a large variety of items here.From a hardware standpoint, we have a half a dozen good large hardware stores, where you can buy anything from a TV to a stove to a fridge, to nuts and bolts, stainless steel, gardening supplies, plumbing and electric supplies, etc. Whether you need an electric panel or a fuse, all that is available here in Ambergris Caye. We have marine supply stores. We have at least half a...
Shopping is actually quite good in Ambergris Caye because there is such a large variety of items here.From a hardware standpoint, we have a half a dozen good large hardware stores, where you can buy anything from a TV to a stove to a fridge, to nuts and bolts, stainless steel, gardening supplies, plumbing and electric supplies, etc. Whether you need an electric panel or a fuse, all that is available here in Ambergris Caye. We have marine supply stores. We have at least half a dozen large, good quality grocery stores. We have half a dozen stores where you can buy fruits and vegetables on a regular basis and they have a good selection.
One of the things that I tell people all the time is when you come here, one of the things that you need to pay attention to a little bit more frequently than you might back home is expiration dates. When you are buying products that have expiration dates, you have to make sure that you check the dates when you purchase those items.
There are also a couple of wine stores here in Ambergris Caye. I could walk down the street and get a fillet mignon or a bottle of Opus One that you might not be able to do quite as easily in the US. The selection of a lot of different things is very good here in Ambergris Caye. Recently, we had an egg shortage and so we couldn’t find eggs for about a week. There were only a few stores that had eggs but that is gone now.
One of the things that you get used to here in Ambergris Caye is seasonal fruit. You buy your fruit in season. It is not like in the US where they bring it in from wherever it has to come from so there is enough inventory on the shelves. Mangoes ripen at a certain time of the year here in Ambergris Caye. The rest of the year, we don’t get mangoes so it is something that you have to deal with. There are people here who put together recipes for things that you could always find in Ambergris Caye and there are some things that you couldn’t find occasionally. You can’t always get wild mushrooms. You can’t always get some things that as Americans or Canadians, we are used to being able to get all the time.
(Mango coconut smoothie enjoyed in Ambergris Caye, Belize, pictured.)
Posted November 3, 2015