This was our first trip to Belize. We came to know Casa Tortuga as a member of our party had stayed there some years prior and recommended it. Its a wonderful home with fantastic features. There are five bedrooms, four of which have their own baths. The Jungle Room suite has a fantastic bath with a round tower like ceiling, very unique. There is a second bedroom on the top floor as well as the kitchen dinning and living area with a large, somewhat impractical bar. Many of our meals were taken out on the upper veranda and enjoy a good trade wind breeze. On the ground level there are three additional bedrooms, each with their own bath and a short distance to the pool. Between these bedrooms is a sitting area and bar with a dorm size refrigerator. This came in handy as we frequently enjoyed the local Belikin Beer. A laundry room sits near this area too.
With respect to criticisms I only have two. The furnishing in the home are tired. Drawers were difficult to open, bed frames seemed unstable, the trim around my nightstand continually fell off, and the bedding itself, though comfortable, showed signs of wear as was evident by the swells in the mattresses. Secondly, the beach and ocean in front of the home, and up and down the beach was not suitable for swimming so if you were planning on sitting in a chair with your feet in the water, this is not the place. The view however was fantastic as you are sitting in the middle of your own coconut grove. Any ocean swimming we did, we did by chartering a boat that took us out to the reef.
That being said, the greatest thing about Casa Tortuga is the service. MARIA takes care of everything. From cooking fantastic meals to maintaining a spotless house. The rooms were cleaned everyday, the veranda, steps and pool area were mopped and the beach raked. There is a breadfruit tree in front of the home. Having never eaten breadfruit before, Maria agreed to cook some. A potato like food, I'd take it over French fries any day.
Some recommendations:
1) Bring mosquito spray!
2) Don't book any fishing trips, snorkeling/diving trips, out of area excursions, or rent golf carts prior to your arrival. Maria has a network of resources that I found would have saved us hundreds.
3) We opted to supply ourselves with beer direct from the distributor ( a 10 minute golf cart ride away). With this we found that for $6 USD a day the local ice house would deliver a 30 lb bag of ice direct to our coolers pool side. Do this!
4) No need to over pack. You can do your own laundry on site.
I don't know that I will return to Belize again. There are other destinations in the Caribbean that I like better, BUT if I return to San Pedro and have a need for a four to five bedroom home, THIS IS THE PLACE.
All bookings are direct with the owner 