How are Americans in Ambergris Caye treated? How are expats in Ambergris Caye treated generally?
Kate Corrigan - Caye International Bank
In Ambergris Caye expats are treated very, very, very well. Tourism is Belize’s biggest industry and it is how the country survives, along with its coffee, timber, and produce.
I walk the street and three or four people will stop and offer me a ride. It doesn’t matter where you come from. Expats and people from all over the world are treated very well here in Belize.
As the...
In Ambergris Caye expats are treated very, very, very well. Tourism is Belize’s biggest industry and it is how the country survives, along with its coffee, timber, and produce.
I walk the street and three or four people will stop and offer me a ride. It doesn’t matter where you come from. Expats and people from all over the world are treated very well here in Belize.
As the song goes, as another gringo in Belize (especially as a new one; click on the YouTube above), you have to be pretty savvy because obviously people are looking at what they can get from you a lot of times. Expats here have a great knowledge of the island, but if you are a newbie here, so long as you have your own set of objectives of what you want to achieve and how much you want to invest on the island, everybody is very welcoming and helpful and will bend over backwards to help you.
Posted December 2, 2014
Christian Burn
Expats are treated very well and well received in Ambergris Caye. Belizean people by nature are incredibly welcoming, hospitable and kind-hearted. Belize was a British colony so the local population in Belize is very familiar with people who are relocating here, especially business owners and entrepreneurs. There probably used to be more British expats here, but now, there are more North Americans than any other nationality in Belize.
...
Expats are treated very well and well received in Ambergris Caye. Belizean people by nature are incredibly welcoming, hospitable and kind-hearted. Belize was a British colony so the local population in Belize is very familiar with people who are relocating here, especially business owners and entrepreneurs. There probably used to be more British expats here, but now, there are more North Americans than any other nationality in Belize.
As far as if there is any resentment against expats, there is nothing at all. You say, “Hi!” and they say, “Hi!” I walk the dog every day and I greet strangers I have never seen before just by saying good morning. It's all very civil and polite. (Pictured Charmaine Chinapen, Miss Belize 2008.)
Posted December 2, 2014
Allan Lima
Expats here in Ambergris Caye are treated like they are just normal human beings and just like everyone else. You are not treated special and you are not treated in a mean way. You are just treated like you’re a part of the community. In Ambergris Caye, you can hardly tell who is a tourist and who is a local because the expats are integrated in the community. Belize, and especially the town...
Expats here in Ambergris Caye are treated like they are just normal human beings and just like everyone else. You are not treated special and you are not treated in a mean way. You are just treated like you’re a part of the community. In Ambergris Caye, you can hardly tell who is a tourist and who is a local because the expats are integrated in the community. Belize, and especially the town of San Pedro (the main town on Ambergris Caye), or all of Ambergris Caye, has many different cultures. You cannot define Ambergris Caye for one culture in particular because Belize itself is a multi-cultural country. If someone is walking down the street, you can hardly tell if they were Belizean or a foreigner.
The other day, I was walking on the beach and I saw a couple who I thought were tourists. When they started talking, to my surprise, they talked just like I do; just like how my friends and I talk when we are together. They used Belizean dialect as well. So I said “Oh, you are a fellow Belizean!” You think that they’re tourists from the US, but when they talk, you find out that they’re actually Belizean. It happens the other way around as well.
(Pictured: Belizeans at a special event at Blue Tang Inn, Ambergris Caye, Belize.)
Posted June 11, 2015
Bob Hamilton - Century 21 Coral Beach Realty
Americans and other expats are treated fairly well here in Ambergris Caye as long as you have an attitude of respect and you do not have that attitude where you are better than the local peoplePeople here in Ambergris Caye are really smart. They may have fewer resources than you but treating them with a little respect goes a long way down here. They are very friendly and there is very little animosity between the locals.
I have heard that in places like Jamaica...
Americans and other expats are treated fairly well here in Ambergris Caye as long as you have an attitude of respect and you do not have that attitude where you are better than the local peoplePeople here in Ambergris Caye are really smart. They may have fewer resources than you but treating them with a little respect goes a long way down here. They are very friendly and there is very little animosity between the locals.
I have heard that in places like Jamaica where Jamaicans cannot afford to buy their own land any more there is a lot of animosity between the local Jamaicans and the expats who are coming to their country. It is not like that here in Belize. Here, if you are a local Belizean, you can get a decent piece of land from the government based on government laws.
Locals and expats mix here in Belize. I live in a mixed community. San Pablo, where I live, is a neighborhood of San Pedro. In San Pablo, the population would probably be 35% expat and the rest of it is a mix of Spanish, the Garifuna (which are black African descendants), and Mayans.
(In a neighborhood with locals and expats outside of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize, pictured.)
Posted September 21, 2015