Tobacco Caye Paradise — Hotel in Stann Creek District

Amazing staff, cool over the water cabins, awesome food, good value and excellent food and service on a tiny caye at the edge of the coral reef with special over the water cabanas.

Wonderful place to kayak and snorkel right off the Caye. There is access to both the inside and outside of the reef a short walk away at the other side of the island. Sign up for a night snorkel and see octopus and Eagle rays and all kinds of fish but especially parrotfish, snapper, Jack's, and lots of smaller colorful reef fish in some of the healthier areas. Its only a short boat ride to see manatees and fly-fishing.

Staff is very conscientious especially about safety and will arrange guides for you to ensure you have a safe and positive experience in the water. They also took everyone on a tour of the island and explainedsafe areas to enter, how to be respectful of the coral reef and how to stay safe.

Sadly the coral was in terrible condition with 50 to 60 percent dead on the inside near Reefs End and nearly all in front of the Paradise Resort was dead. This is possibly from a combination of tropical storm and bacterial issues and dredging nearby at Coco Plum and Thatch Cayes that contributes to silting and bacterial problems. On the outside there was 40 to 50 percent coral death in some areas with minor bleaching only. It appears to be due to bacterial disease or heavy silting from nearby dredging rather than from bleaching.

Don't expect Internet to work well. It did not work most of the time or constantly dropped. Also the generator is placed way to close to neighbors and should be moved behind the restaurant or to other side of Caye out of respect. Also a seawall never should have been built as it has caused erosion nearby and will continue to contribute to erosion and has made kayak area unsafe for entry because palms could fall into neater at anytime.

I had a great time despite the rain and the staff get 5 stars. I really appreciate that they cut down the coconuts so they don't fall on your head and keep the grounds neat and the food was amazing. I bought seaweed from Captain Buck and they made seaweed shakes and I also bought conch and they made conch ceviche one night and conch fritters another night which were delicious. The family style dining allowed me to get to know many people who travelled from near and far.

This is a fun trip not just for couples or families but for solo travellers as well because there are 3 restaurants nearby, a research station nearby and also plenty of local fisherman and boat captains to chatter with or you can simply find a hammock and read a book and on a rainy day their are games to play and comfortable beds to take a nap in when you are not snorkeling or kayaking. All and all it was a lovely time.

Department of Environment and Ministry of Blue Economy should address the coral death and deal with the dredging issue as well as seawall issues and effluent issues and smell and noise from generators (switch everyone to solar) to protect this little piece of Paradise because the 4 resorts on this island, the staff, and the fisherman and locals completely depend on a nice environment on the Caye and the coral being the main attraction and the reef is in shockingly poor condition. Clearly the Tobacco Marine Station right next door has been utterly ineffective in protecting the coral and according to the scientists and staff at that hotel which is next to Paradise they did make multiple complaints to DOE and Ministry of Blue Economy to ask for dredging to stop as well as effluent and seawall and generators to be dealt with. I also wrote to Ministry of Blue Economy and got no response.

Bottom line, go enjoy this little Caye while you can because soon the coral will be completely dead. Business owners and residents and staff should petition DOE and Blue Economy to deal wiyh effluent and stop all dredging at Coco Plum and Thatch Cayes and in Tobacco Caye Range and everyone should switch entirely to solar with generators only being used in an emergency like two to three days...

What we liked: Idyllic location on a tiny island Overall the price, $160 USD for 2 people in an over water cabin and 3 meals a day was good value for money. The cabin, while basic was a really nice experience and we could watch the rays swim past while sitting in our hammock. It's not the Maldives and you're not paying $10k a night, you get what you pay for. Cold showers (who needs hot in this weather?) No glass in the windows, you need them open anyway for the breeze.This is all part of the charm. While the section of reef directly in front of the accommodation is bleached, on the other side of the island (a 2min walk) there is a reasonable amount of soft coral and some hard coral plus a good number of small and medium sized fish. The best part is the number of rays! Multiple species and so many! can get very close to some lovely big ones Equipment rental is very reasonably priced. Kayak for 1h is 10USD, same for SUP. In an hour we managed to go around the island twice!

What we didn't like: While the over all price was good, $40 per person per night seemed like a lot for the food we were given. Some of it was really tasty home cooked dishes but other left something to be desired. The food is home cooked and the service feels like home too, slapped on the table, sometimes desert and main dish on the same plate and then told to scrap your dishes afterwards, not a problem if the food supplement was less. If the price for the cabin was $40 more a night and the food at $20pp I would have thought it was much better value. Someone is disposing of food scraps right on the beach in front of the main building. While I understand that eventually this food will decompose or be eaten by fish I don't appreciate having to dodge rotting bananas, fish spines and half egg shells while trying to relax on the beach. Understand that painting surfaces can be very difficult in constantly damp and salty air but we were often covered in paint flakes from sitting on the chairs on our balcony or walking on the painted wooden floor - overall though not a big issue when you spend all day swimming! Locals seem to dispose of trash into the sea sometimes, one morning we were unable to swim in our favourite spot as a large drift of trash was floating across it all morning. - Over all though, most of the island was clean most of the time Doreen is very lovely but a little bit too relaxed in some cases. We asked to rent kayaks one morning and she told us no problem but then appeared to forget that we had said anything about it and went about doing other tasks for a good half an hour before we reminded her. The day before we left we went to speak to her about arranging a transfer back to the mainland. She said one of the captains would be around later that day and we should speak to them then. We felt that she should've been more active in arranging the transfer at approximately the time we wanted as theres no booking point or phone number for arranging water taxis on the island. We had to grab a boat captain while relaxing on the beach to ensure we could leave at the time we wanted. We stayed our first night in the standard room which cost us $50USD as a couple. For extra $30, the over water cabin were well worth the upgrade as the standard room is very basic and has a shared bathroom.

Overall we would well recommend staying at Paradise. It has the only over water cabins on the island and seemed cheaper from our...

Tobacco Caye is a tiny island densely packed with 4 small hotels. You are guaranteed to meet all the staff and your neighbors on the island, and they're very friendly and helpful. Meals are family style and are usually meat and veggies in a sweet marinade. There's big portions and plenty to go around for everyone - it's a great value. Delia is a great cook, and every meal was not only tasty but prepared and presented in a way that reminded me of home. Good drinking water was never an issue thanks to water jugs in my room and in the dining room, just make sure you have what you need for the night since the dining room closes after dessert. There are affordable rentals for snorkeling, paddle boarding and kayaking, although you should book a trip with a guide from the mainland in advance, if you want to really see the best the island has. Personally I think Tobacco Caye is the perfect place to relax and appreciate nature on a budget. The reef is home to countless animals that are used to humans and will approach you with curiosity. I had close encounters with rays, pelicans, fish seabirds and even a manatee, and I was only there for two days! A perk of the island that was especially important to me was the lack of light pollution. On clear nights, you can see the Milky Way and every star and planet in the sky. I also appreciated how sustainable the operation is at Paradise. They collect rain water from every roof. They compost and recycle everything. They have signs everywhere restricting access to parts of the reef with vulnerable species and they even insist that you bring reef-safe sunscreen. It really shows. There is some trash that drifts in from the mainland, but otherwise this was the cleanest place I saw in Belize and the presence of so much healthy wildlife shows how well the owners care for the island.

The rooms are modest, but they're very clean. Everything is functional and the wifi was fast enough for me. I think this caye is a limited experience compared to what you can do at big resorts in Belize, especially if you don't book a guide, and not everyone will enjoy it like I did. But overall, if you want to slow down and relax on a beautiful island and make your own fun, then this is the best deal I could find in...