COVID-19 – Coastal Breezes in Belize

December 19, 2020

We Have our Gold Standard!

We are proud to announce that we are now a Gold Standard facility in Belize. The Gold Standard was implemented by the Belize Tourism Board to ensure that visitors could be assured of a safe stay during the difficult times that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon the world. It consists of a 9-point program focused on health and safety standards that includes:

Having a Gold Standard manager appointed to oversee compliance
Monitoring and reporting with temperature checks and health monitoring
Practicing social distancing for workers and visitors
Enhanced cleaning and sanitization practices, use of PPE for workers and face masks for everyone
Use of a rapid and clear response plan for suspected COVID-19 cases including designated Isolation/Quarantine rooms
Clear and consistent communication protocols
Access to sanitizing stations across the property
Online check-in/out, contactless payment systems, and automated ordering/booking systems
Regular training of employees to manage existing protocols and implement new ones as required

This means that travelers will be able to enjoy a well-deserved Belize vacation with us, knowing their safety is the hotel’s top priority.

This has been a difficult year for everyone, and, as you likely already know, there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of vaccines and vaccination programs. It will take a while for everyone to get their shot, of course, with front-line healthcare workers quite appropriately taking top priority. This means we all still need to take precautions. But it also means that safe travel is achievable. American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta already have regular flights to Goldson International Airport.

We have worked very hard these past few months to set up our facility to meet the Gold Standard requirements. Now that the winter weather has settled in across North America, it’s a great time to schedule some R&R with us.

We expect that 2021 will be a year of great release and relief for people once the pandemic has been brought under control. Back in 1918, the Spanish Flu gripped the world as a pandemic, and had many of the same problems, including people refusing to wear masks. It is thought that much of the craziness of the 1920s – such as Flappers, dancing and an explosion of new music was in part a celebration of the conclusion of those dark times. Remember, the 1918 pandemic essentially helped end the First World War, so there was much to celebrate.

So we are looking forward to a great year of reconciliation and celebration in 2021. I think that once it is safe to do so, parties, festivals, and events all over the world will be attended even more enthusiastically than ever, simply out of the joy of being together.

That’s one reason why we are proud to have earned the Gold Standard certification. It is our pledge to you to take every effort to ensure the safety of our guests and employees, not only now, where the vaccination program has only just started in North America and Europe, but always, through the year to come, as we welcome our new normal.

There are many wonderful places to visit and experience in and around Belize, as our previous blog posts have shown, and if there’s one thing we have learned during the dark year of 2020, it is the preciousness of life, both in terms of the people we share our lives with and also in the experiences we have. So now it’s time to think about reconnecting with both of these wonderful concepts, and we really want to be a part of that with you.

So stay safe, careful and patient, and hopefully we will meet you on our beach, under the magnificent Belizean sky sometime soon.

For more information about our beach house properties, please visit us at coastalbreezes.bz, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

October 6, 2020

Going Gold – and Green

Belize is open to visitors once again. It opened on October 1^st, and is appropriately, following strict rules. Travelers to Belize must test negative for COVID-19 and may only stay at approved Gold Standard Hotels. The Gold Standard includes a nine-point checklist for tourism businesses that includes temperature monitoring, masks, sanitation, training and enforcement and a “safe corridor” program which aims to limit the places that guests can go, both on hotel property and when touring around the country. You can review the full Gold Standard list at https://caribbeanlifestyle.com/gold-standard-program/ and on Episode 23 of The Belize Travelcast.

We are actively pursuing our own Gold Standard certification, and we will of course make an announcement as soon as we achieve it.

Sticking to these new guidelines makes sense in terms of ensuring safety for visitors, of course, but it also inspired us to look at some other changes we have been thinking about for a while. One of the things that struck us when we first arrived here, and which strikes every visitor, is how closely we are intertwined with nature. The country of Belize is a natural paradise, and Ambergris Caye is as close to the water as you could possibly get. I have always enjoyed watching our guests breathe in the life that surrounds them as they trade their leather shoes and winter boots for bare feet in the sand.

Bret and I are aware that people are increasingly making “green” a high priority in their home lives, choosing more environmentally friendly packaging and products, and even looking at alternate sources of power for their homes and cars, and in some cases focusing on more plant-based foods for their meals. There really seems to be a growth in the desire for more responsible use of our planet’s resources, and in the midst of all the chaos of the pandemic, it was amazing to observe things like the waters of Venice running clear, with dolphins and fish returning to places that had not been accessible to them for decades, and everywhere around the world, birds changing and enhancing their songs thanks to reduced noise pollution. We are also aware that these same environmental concerns are influencing peoples’ choices of how and where to vacation. It’s wonderful to spend some time relaxing by the sea, but it feels so much better when you know you are not leaving an environmental footprint behind.

This is why we are looking into ways we can become even more environmentally friendly, here at Coastal Breezes. We are looking into eliminating single use items, and incorporating more solar electricity into our operations. It has been a learning experience! Coming from Canada, a country with a vast amount of fresh water, to an island surrounded by salt water, has opened our eyes to the fact that natural resources should not be taken for granted. Two years ago, I had no idea what a cistern was. Now I think it is the best thing since sliced bread!

We are also very active in working to eliminate plastics and styrofoam from our roadways, and we drive any glass bottles that we find to a “recycling” center south of town, where they actually pulverize it for tile. We have a long way to go, of course, but it certainly feels like the right time to get started. A few years ago, it wasn’t feasible to consider solar panels, but now, you can buy everything from Amazon and get set up quickly and safely. These are changing times in so many ways. I think we have all gained new appreciation for the things we took for granted less than a year ago, like being able to dine at a restaurant, or even give someone a hug. I think this renewed awareness for the things we care for in life can also be applied to the life that surrounds us, so yes, we feel it’s the perfect time that as we pursue our new Gold standard, we will establish a green one alongside.

For more information about our beach house properties, please visit us at coastalbreezes.bz, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

May 6, 2020

Lockdown in Paradise

Everyone is looking forward to a future where we can travel again, where we can see people again, and where we can be together again. It’s the same for us here on Ambergris Caye. It’s a beautiful place to be marooned – no question, but people here still must find ways to survive. That’s a big challenge when so much of the economy is based on tourism.

The COVID-19 epidemic has only “brushed” the country of Belize. We have had 18 cases, with two deaths and 16 recovered. So as of today we are COVID-19 free which is a huge benefit to anyone looking to travel in the future. The Belizean government acted quickly to impose quarantines on the country, including Ambergris Caye, with extensive restrictions on the movement of people and cargo. Masks and social distancing are strictly enforced. Of course, all of this does not make for great travel-related blogging, but it’s pretty much the same the world over. Bret and I have been making the best of it. The ocean, the sky, the beaches and the wildlife are all still here. Big wildlife, too! April and May are traditionally the best months to observe whale sharks, which, if you haven’t seen them, are mind bogglingly big and beautiful.

Images of whale sharks – courtesy of the Seahorse Dive Shop, Belize (see link below)

Their name might be a little confusing. But whale sharks are sharks, not whales. But they are as big as whales. Some can grow up to 40 feet long. They swim slowly through the water and eat plankton, krill and small fish. At this time of year, they tend to appear in sync with the full moon. These photos, borrowed from the Seahorse Dive Shop, show you just how large these beautiful creatures are. The Seahorse Dive Shop offers courses and tours and are worth checking out here.

We are staying optimistic that life around the world will slowly and carefully return to normal, or an altered form of normal. It will be a while before any proven vaccine is universally available, of course, but when you listen to the sound medical minds, there seems to be an opportunity for us to get our lives back by modifying our habits. This will include additional spaces between people at restaurants and on buses, more frequent use of masks and smaller gatherings. But it should be possible.

As such, I can look at the beauty of spring and summer in Ambergris Caye and describe it to you once again – not as an impossible destination, but one that is now very possible and as always very beautiful.

People often talk about “bucket lists.” I have never really liked that term because it has a certain darkness to it, and we have all seen way too much of that. But I do like to think about “life goals.” There are two things people have learned from the pandemic lockdown. One is that we tend to take much of life for granted – even the boring parts; and the other is that work, for many of us, might be more flexible than we have been led to believe. Now is a good time for us to revisit those life goals.

We are hoping that this inspires people to take some more time off for themselves. To travel, to see things and to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us everywhere. Even before the pandemic, it was still a fact: life is precious.

So hopefully, you and your family will choose to take some time to travel somewhere, and see something that you have always wanted to see. That’s one reason why Bret and I came to Belize in the first place, and of course we would love to welcome you to our particular corner of paradise. But regardless where you identify your dream destination, hopefully you can start to anticipate the opportunity of doing so. We just need to hang on a little while longer, maintain that social distance, and focus on collective healing. The world is out there for you to enjoy, and the time to do so is coming ever closer.

For more information about our beach house properties, please visit us at coastalbreezes.bz, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

April 5, 2020April 5, 2020

Bringing Ambergris Caye To You

Since you can’t come to us right now, I want to deliver some Ambergris Caye beauty over to you, and with it, a message of hope.

First, a message of hope

This pandemic is unlike anything we have seen in living memory. Never has the entire planet ground to a halt so quickly and uniformly. This concept called social distancing is unnatural for humans, who crave togetherness and communication, and for the first time are noticing just how strange it is to not make physical contact with others by shaking hands, hugging, or just simply sitting next to each other.

Many of us, in years past, have complained about our jobs, about money, about our political leaders, and we balance that out by looking forward to events that make our lives special. This might be the start of baseball season, or attending a wedding, or planning a vacation. Usually these special events happen during our time off, and we work hard to be able to enjoy them.

At the moment, of course, people are stuck in a kind of Twilight Zone. We don’t know when it will end, and we don’t know what life will look like once it’s over. But I want to remind you of the fact that it will end, and life will return to normal. Think back to what you were doing this time last year – April 2019. If you flip backwards in your calendar to the appointments and events of that month, they probably feel like they happened just last week, not a year ago. Memory is strange that way.

When looking forward into the future, a year seems like a long time. When looking back into the past, it is just a blip. Science is capable of developing a vaccine for this virus. It is an understandable thing. It takes time to develop, test and deploy, but it will come, and given the number of scientists working on it, and the capacity to share their knowledge, it will likely be in operation within a year.

In writing these words I do not intend to ignore the tragedy of lives that have been lost. But in times like these, it is vital that we focus on everything we can do to not only stay physically healthy, but mentally and emotionally healthy as well. So, even though my posts are usually about convincing you to come and join us here on Ambergris Caye, we know that is probably not very possible right now. So we want to come to you. Here’s how.

Our Live Webcam

Do you want to see a Caribbean sunrise? Do you want to see if the tide is in, or whether the lazy palm trees are swaying in the breeze today? Do you want to feel part of the Coastal Breezes family, even if you haven’t visited us yet? Then check out our live webcam. It updates every thirty seconds and looks out over our beachfront yard and the sea beyond. Maybe you’ll even see Charlie, our canine ambassador, wandering by.

Our Instagram Photos

Just one of my many photos posted in Instagram.

I am passionate about taking photos in and around Ambergris Caye. And why not? The whole area is so photogenic. My photos aren’t just about palm trees and beaches, but also the restaurants, the people, the signs, everything that you would see if you came down here. Check them out on Instagram here, or next time you’re on Instagram, search for CoastalBreezes_Belize.

Our YouTube Channel

A screengrab from one of our short YouTube videos. This is Charlie about to leap into action.

We have a YouTube channel. This is where I post some informal videos, of driving along in our golf cart, walking around the beach houses, even flying to and from Ambergris Caye. They’re real. They’re what you would see if you were here, or more correctly, what you will see when you get here. Visit our YouTube channel here and subscribe!

Zoom Backgrounds

If you are one of the thousands of people who are discovering the world of video meetings while working or studying from home, you might have discovered that brands like Zoom and Cisco Webex allow you to add your own virtual backgrounds so your colleagues have something else to look at other than your living room. To add a virtual background, you need a greenscreen, which is surprisingly inexpensive. Amazon, for example, sells a 6’ x 9’ sheet for $26.20. You simply attach the green sheet to the wall, or order a stand to hold it up, and then tweak the settings on Zoom or Webex to tell it you’re using a greenscreen. At that point you can select any image you want as your backdrop.

What could be better than a beautiful photo of the beaches of Ambergris Caye? We have a bunch of photos available on the website and Instagram that you can download for your personal use. All we would ask is that when someone on the conference says, “What a beautiful backdrop! Where is that?” you tell them it’s from Coastal Breezes in Belize.

So hopefully these four options will allow you to enjoy the beauty of Ambergris Caye even during this period of social distancing and isolation. Hopefully, too, it will inspire you to book a trip as soon as it is physically possible to do so, so that you can breathe in the warm salt air of the Caribbean and pour life back into your body and soul. We, of course, will be here to welcome you when you arrive. Until then, please be safe, stay home, and take care of each other.

For more information about our beach house properties, please visit us at coastalbreezes.bz, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.