Belize Beachfront Rooms now with a view

All rooms in our brand New Boutique Hotel at Beaches and Dreams feature Poll and Seafront views

Well, after 10 months of the construction zone, we are happy to announce the opening of our brand new Boutique Hotel Rooms. we've been in operation for 10 years with our fantastic beach front cabanas and tree house, with a total of 5 rooms in open airy construction located just steps to the beach and in the last year , we have expanded on the lot to the south and have added 6 rooms in a 3 story building with 2 beach and pool front rooms on each level. Add to that a fantastic roof top area for private parties and lounging and comforting jacuzzi overlooking the sea, and we've managed to keep our small Mom and Pop feeling with a touch of luxury.

All Rooms have giant Verandas with tables and chairs and loungers, a private get away over looking the sea.

These rooms are built for comfort and feature  a queen and double in each room, with 2 of the rooms with a single bunk above the double for families or couples traveling together. We are also catering to groups to come and rent the entire building, which is always a fun time. Our grand opening was a group of 24 people for a Belizean wedding that took the whole place over in late June and we had a blast!

The 2 rooms on the middle floor , the Orchid and the Butterfly , both have an additional single bunk above the double

These rooms also have AC/ Cable TV/ Mini Fridges. They are also built to take the breeze. Open up the screened in front door and the side windows and back door and you get the sound of the ocean and the breeze through the palms and the AC is not really necessary as you are

Tastefully appointed bathrooms

lulled to sleep by the sound of the Caribbean Sea.

 We are now booking these rooms for the upcoming winter and are offering 20% off on rooms staying 6+ days.

Not to take away from the original fantastic Beachfront Cabanas, still a great place to stay!

Get a group together and join us in our little stretch of beach here in Hopkins, Belize. The cabanas still have access to the fantastic pool and Jacuzzi as well as the rooftop. bring your group and we'll plan a roof top lobster fest just for you. You'd better Belize It!

New Boutique hotel at Beaches and Dreams Seafront inn in Hopkins, Belize

Well, the cat is out of the bag. we are nearing completion of our brand new Boutique Hotel at our existing beachfront inn and they came out fabulous. we've already commissioned a painter for a set of artwork to use in each of our 6 all beachfront Rooms.

Artwork for the Jungle Canopy Room

The Sea Turtle room

The Jaguar lair Room

Introducing Beaches and Dreams brand new Boutique Hotel, located next to our Beachfront Cabanas.

We’ve added a pool and 6 all beachfront rooms in a 3 story Boutique Hotel.

Each floor has 2 side by side rooms, all with a fabulous view of the sea, generous seafront verandas, AC, Mini Fridges, Wireless Internet and TV and access to our roof top deck, with views of the sea to the East and the Maya Mountains to the West.

These deluxe accommodations will be available beginning in July and we are offering a fabulous unbeatable 25% OFF for a 7 night stay through November 15^th.  Each room is 500 square feet and boasts a queen bed and a double bed, with 2 rooms having a single bunk over the double bed, making them a great spot for families or couples traveling together. There is extra space and furnishings on the 12 foot by 20 foot veranda on each room. Relax in the breeze and read your favorite book. We will also be running some great all inclusive packages from our new boutique hotel, you can always email Tony and ask him for a quote to put together a great couples get away or family adventure Email tony at  vacation_belize@yahoo.com .

We offer group discounts for groups wanting to rent the entire complex or all of our Beachfront Cabanas. Just ask Tony! These rooms are available for booking on our site already and are currently labeled by floor and are tastefully decorated in our surrounding themes:  Floor 1, our Sea Turtle and Coral Reef Rooms;  Floor 2, our Orchid and Butterfly Rooms,  Floor 3, our Jungle Canopy and Jaguar Lair Rooms.  A rooftop area with stunning views of both the Sea and the Maya Mountains complete this new addition. Come watch the sun set behind Victoria’s Peak or schedule a sunset wine and cheese gathering for your group.

Of course we still have our roomy beachfront duplex cabanas, built to take the nearly constant ocean breezes and these rooms now have use of our pool and Jacuzzi as well as all of the other niceties that has made Beaches and Dreams a favorite spot on the Beach in Hopkins. We are offering a special rate on the Beachfront Cabana rooms for the summer as well with a weekly rate of $550, you can’t go wrong. Pool and roof top areas are for all guests of Beaches and Dreams, so come and make this summer special with a great family or group get away at our little spot of Paradise in Hopkins, Belize on the Caribbean Sea.

The Coral Reef room

We will post pictures of the new rooms as soon as we can, stay tuned.

The Orchid room

 Until Then.....You'd Better Belize it.

www.beachesanddreams.com

A Day on your Belize Vacation at Beaches and Dreams, Hopkins

Get up and grab a cup of fresh coffee, always ready at sunrise, and head out to the dock for a beautiful sunrise

Watch the The Morning fisherman as he heads out to catch the days fish for the villagers

First he'll catch some bait

Then back up to beaches and Dreams Outdoor dining Deck for a Great Breakfast.....of

Angela's Fresh Baked Banana Bread........

....Fresh Fruit

And Frittata

And off to Cockscomb Jaguar Preserve for an early morning hike.

To a fantastic Waterfall

Where you can take a refreshing dip

And see some wild life like this black faced Howler Monkey

                  ..................................... AND LOTS OF BIRDS

THEN BACK TO HOPKINS

Just in time for the kids to go home from school for lunch

So you stop at Innies for a great local lunch yourself

Then back to Beaches and Dreams

For some quality hammock time

while absorbing the acquiescence of a Belizean Afternoon

Still some time for a little kayak

And see that the other guests have been successfully fishing

And play with Ruger for a little while

 

So you ask tony to book your own boat for tomorrow morning

Then its time for Happy Hour and a Shrimp Cocktail at the Barracuda Bar and Grill

Followed by a Seafood Sampler Platter

Or Surf and Turf

And Chocolate Mousse torte for Dessert

And after a fabulous sunset

You can retire to your room

And then, up the next morning to see what the new day will bring.......

You'd better Belize it!

Now offering sizzling summer features from June to November, stay for a week with breakfast for $550 for 2 persons or stay in our new deluxe Beachfront Boutique Hotel rooms for $699 per week with breakfast.

Delicious Caribbean Menus

The plethora of fresh fish we've been getting at the Barracuda Bar and Grill at Beaches and Dreams has been great this year with regular catches of giant prawns, calamari and a great variety of Caribbean fish, including this mornings catch of Spanish Mackerel , which are running right here in the bight which paints the beachfront here in Hopkins, Belize with all of the colors from the palette every morning. I saw Old Man Nunez just as the sun came up casting his net to catch sprat to use for bait for the abundant Mackerel.

The changing colors of a Beaches and Dreams morning

                                                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                    

1 cast from Mr. Nunez and he has all the bait he'll need to catch a boatload of Spanish Mackerel

" Buiti Bunafi" (pronounced Bweety Boon-ah-fee) I bid him in Garifuna, acknowledged by a nod from him as he paddled by, eyes scanning  below the surface with barely enough light to see the telltale silver flash that tells him he is on the sprat. He readies his net and in one throw he brings up enough sprat to catch a boatload of the Spanish Mackerel.  I order 10 pounds of filets from him and he is on his way.

The Mackerel have a high content of oil and this makes for perfect smoking. I'll brine them overnight with brown sugar and salt, the way the Athabascans taught me in Alaska with a slow smoldering fire far away from the fish. I'll be able to give the fish a good 8 hour smoke. It will make a fabulous appetizer with pickled onions in sour cream. I'll also mix some of the crumbly smoky goodness with some cream cheese and bread crumbs for a great stuffing for snapper, topped with a delicate Champagne sauce. The smoked  fish will also make add  flavor and texture to our Belizean Paella which is one of the stars of our menu when lobsters are not in season.

Ready for some smoke after a 12 hour brine

Ready to close the lid and let benign neglect take over

 For the Paella, we take our smoked chicken and pork tenderloin and toss it in a pan with extra virgin olive oil, I'll add the mackerel then too. I let these products get hot and flavor the oil with their smokey goodness before adding raw giant prawns and whatever fresh fish and seafood we have that day. To this we add a rich saffron broth and some half cooked short grain rice, garlic and herbs round out the flavor platform and once the rice is done, the Paella is served with fresh roasted vegetables, and, if its for me, a glass of Bolla Pinot Grigio..

The Appetizer of Smoked Mackerel with pickled onions and sour cream will have the pleasure of being accompanied by our signature Sourdough Ciabatta Bread, lightly crisped in the oven. this airy crusty bread is made with a Sourdough Starter I started in Alaska 25 years ago. I brought it down and every time I bake the fresh bread, I take little out and add it to more flour and water and in 3 days, have a new bubbling batch that make finished product chewy and slightly sour.

A fresh batch of Sourdough Starter bubbles with the original sourdough brought from my Alaskan 25 year old starter

 Its just another day in culinary Paradise here in Belize. We meld the past with the present, culturally and gastronomically, borrowing from all cultures to produce some great food right on our little stretch of beach...........You'd Better Believe it!

Fishing Days are here!

Fishing in Belize is one of my favorite leisure time activities and in fact one of the reasons that I came down here. I've become expert at setting up fishing trips to the Belize Barrier Reef after cutting my teeth attempting various fishing methods in the wonderfully diverse fishing habitats that are available in a 7 mile radius of my front dock.
The Sittee River flows into the Caribbean Sea less than a mile to the south, providing a plethora of fishing opportunities both at the mouth and up the river. Incoming tides carry all types of the inner reef denizens like Snapper, Jacks and of course the namesake of my restaurant, the Barracuda Bar and Grill .
Up into the river and fishing the low mangroves form the river mouth upstream, you are likely to encounter monster Snook eager to hit soft baits or better yet, live bait. Also often under the mangrove overhangs are juvenile Tarpon, Mangrove Snapper, and Yellow Eyed Jacks. Through a cut in the mangroves, you can access Anderson Lagoon, home to Tarpon and Snook and also a great place to go on dark nights to see the phosphorescent glowing plankton that inhabit the lagoon,especially during the dry winter months when the salt content is high. There is nothing like a night time visit to Anderson Lagoon spotting crocodiles and Kinkajous while sipping a nice Chardonnay.

Coming out of the Anderson Lagoon Bar Mouth and heading south a mile, will bring you to Sapodilla Lagoon. At Sapodilla Lagoon at first light after a full moon phase, the Tarpon are voracious and hit anything that hits the water for about an hour after sunrise.

Trolling out to the reef and the inner reef is always a smorgasbord of fishing activity. Big Barracuda, King Mackerel, Jacks, Wahoo, and all varieties of Snapper are common catches along with the occasional Cobia. Once at the patch reef, you can change to some lighter gear and drop fish sardines for the smaller Yellow Tail and Silk Snapper, Grouper and amazing array of other fish. This is always great for kids as the action is almost omni-present and everyone on the boat can try at once. bring your snorkel gear and when it gets a little warm, jump in for some world class snorkeling .


Don't filet all those small snapper yet though, if its a calm day. you can head out through one of the cuts in the reef and find yourself drop fishing with larger gear with the live snapper in 200-400 feet of water where you never know what, or how big, of a fish you will catch.

Also with in this 7 mile radius of fantastically diversified fishing are the flats. World renown for its permit and bone fish, fly fisherman come from all over the world in hopes of getting the fly fishing grand slam in one trip. the Belizean Grand Slam consists of Bone Fish, Permit, Tarpon and Snook.

Come back to the Dock at Beaches and Dreams and ask to borrow one of our ultra light poles and cast out to the 2 O'clock position for grunts and small snapper that hang in the small patch of reef there and a full day of fishing is complete.


Well , almost complete,but not until you got a plate with pesto baked snapper filet over roasted vegetables and a glass of Pinot Grigio in front of you! From your fishing chef in Belize.....You'd Better Belize it!