There are so many bars on Ambergris Caye I decided to make travel planning easy whole section dedicated to them. Bars are an integral part of the nightlife here, but that doesn’t mean that you have to drink alcohol nor get intoxicated. They are simply the places where people gather to talk, tell their stories, play games and interact with others. Many of the bars provide great excuses to come out and be social – here are some of the happenings on the island.
For an easy way to find places, download Facebook local on Google play or iTunes. It lets you advance search locations and events. This is a good way to watch for the parties. Google maps is another must-have location finder for Andriod or iPhone, you can easily locate all kinds of good places to go. In case you are wondering about 90% of places have wifi, just ask.
There is a relatively new Facebook page whose sole purpose is to comb through all of Facebook and put all of the fun events on one page, so residents and tourists can easily find out what is happening in town that week. Click through on San Pedro Fun Finder – This Week’s Events.
Karaoke
In San Pedro karaoke is quite popular. Start time for most is between 6:30 and 8:00 pm. This schedule also changes depending on high or low tourist season but I’ll do my best to keep it current. These are the hot spots for tourists. Latest update January 2018.
Tuesday: Melt Cafe Beach Bar with Rashida aka “DJ Red” from Belize Entertainment.
Wednesday:Roadkill Bar with Raul from RG’s Entertainment. Aj’s Sports Barwith Billy, Bernie’s Back bar and restaurant. (North of Grand Caribe.)
Thursday: Melt Cafe Beach Bar with Kenny from Belize Entertainment and
Paco’s Tiki Bar with Raul.
Friday: The Office, with Country Boy (RG’s) and Corona Del Mar(with their own LeRoi for RG’s) and Amber Beach Bar & Grill with Raul and Crazy Canucks (after trivia) with Rashida.
Saturday: Melt Cafe & Beach Bar with Kenny and Belize Entertainment. Bernie’s Back Bar (hosts vary).
Live Music
If you want to be in the north beach area, Palapa Bar is a great spot in Boca Del Rio for live music. They often have special guest musicians and currently, Thurs Fri,Sat 6 pm – 9 pm. Coconut trio. It’s a great spot for live music with a nice stage and space for dancing. Plus you can float in their tubes and listen to the band. Fido’s Courtyard is a popular “in town” place for live music and offers a regular house band. North Ambergris Caye, Bernie’s Back Bar has island flavor with smooth reggae sounds by Melody Man Thursday nights.
South of town, Crazy Canucks has a great Sunday Jam, Average Joes does a few weekly live music nights and Pedro’s has a DJ for their Ladies Night and the Black & White Restaraunt often has Live Garifuna musicians playing in the evenings. Check in with any place via Facebook messenger if you want to be sure about timing and events before you go. Pier 366 Seafood house at Banyan Bay has Amaurys from 6-9 pm for a nice ambient Wednesday night dining experience on the water.
There is no shortage of places to go and people to meet. There is a great crew both local and ex-pats that play regularly on the island, moving from place to place, each with a following of fans. Before long you will be easily making friends and seeing familiar people around town. If you want to start playing some music yourself – join the beginner guitar jam at Canucks on Monday afternoon. It is designed for all skill levels and gives people a chance to play songs in a group.
Movies
Paradise Theater Open Friday and Saturday Nights; showing a different movie at 7:00 pm & 9:00 pm. There are two theaters so you have your choice of four movies on any given weekend.
The Truck Stop also has an outdoor movie night every Wednesday at 7:00 pm. Admission is free, but the food and ice cream there is worth going out for. Every once in a while they have a fan choice movie, but they play great movies regardless.
Sometimes they play movies for kids in Central Park too, if you see that it is fun to stop a minute and watch the action.
Other Events
A great way to explore & socialize is a Poker Run, that happens once or twice a month. Everyone pays a $25 buy in and you get your first card. Within the hour everybody will climb into their golf carts and drive to the next spot on the run, get your second card. Repeat until you have 5 cards indoor hand and the poker game commences. Out comes the flop and the person with the best hand wins the pot! Don’t even think of switching cards with friends as they write down what you get when dealt. Which makes it very easy for those who are unsure of their poker skills.
San Pedro Poker Run – Central starts at Amber Beach Bar at Caribbean Villas Hotel then to RoadKill, Lola’s Pub, Wayos Beach Bar and finishes at Pedro’s Hotel.
San Pedro Poker Run – North is hosted by Truck Stop, SandBar, Crocs, Wayo’s, and Coco’s Loco.
You can always do some gambling while you are out – the world famous Chicken Drop & Hermit Crab races still happen on the beach. That would be at Wahoo’s and Crazy Canuck, respectively. Part of the pot at crab races goes to Darryl’s kids and Ambergris Caye Elementary School.
If horseshoes are more of your game I know that Crazy Canucks plays on the afternoon weekends and so do the people at Carona del Mar.
Lastly, if all this activity has tired you out just reading about it – how about a quiet game of cards? People get together and play cribbage or shoot darts. Coco Loco’s holds a Cribbage tournament on Mondays starting at 4:00 pm. You can also catch cribbage on Friday’s at 4:00 pm and Darts on Wednesday’s at 6:30 pm at The Dog House Sports Lounge.
Weekly Trivia
Trivia is a popular night out here for many. There are a few local people who have regular teams, and bragging right are up for grabs. For a small island, I would say Ambergris Caye has a high population of smart people. After all, they have made it all the way here & found a way to stay. Each Bar that hosts the game has a unique host that adds their spin to the classic game. If there are large groups of tourists present the pot can be sizeable – Just the other night I was at a game where the pot was over $250. The buy in is $5.00 per person on teams 4 people. Test your knowledge weekly against fellow trivia buffs at the following local bars:
Coco’s Loco Tuesday Night Tacos n Trivia: Fill up on tacos from Little Place Big Taste. Start time for the game is 5:00 pm, which is smack dab in the middle of happy “hour” (4:00 – 6:00). New owner Charles hosts this event.
The Truck Stop Thursday Night Trivia: 7:30 pm start time. A fun and different trivia night; with lots of music, photos, and video-related questions. It’s a great way to have tons of fun. Quiz master Adam Feldman
Crazy Canucks Friday “Trivioke”: Start time 7:00 pm but it is wise to get there early to get a good spot as “Trivioke” (trivia then karaoke) is a popular night and is usually packed. 1/2 the pot goes to one lucky winning team and the other half to San Pedro Food Bank. Owner Rob gives 3 rounds of 7 questions each, and a speed round at the end. The winners of each round each get a specially made shot. In the case of a tie, one player from each team has a drinking or some other type of fun challenge for that coveted shot. MC, Rob tries very hard to make things interesting and can be terribly funny – take that any way you want.
All bars listed on this page (with blue bold links to their Facebook pages) have food options. Even if you are not a total smartypants, they make trivia fun and enjoyable experience for everyone. Come on out, meet some new people and have a great time.
No Plans?
Just like the tides of the ocean – Why not head out to one place and roll from place to place, as the wind blows you. Start, say, at San Bar Hostel and Restaurant, have some great pizza, walk south to Lola’s Pub on front street. They have some games like Jangga you can watch a game, then walk a block down south & see who is playing at Fido’s. If it still too quiet there, why not go to back street and join locals at the new Fisherman’s bar or Iguana Juan’s Restaurant & Bar. If you walk south to the local Artist Market, perhaps there is a game on at the public field that might be worth watching. Keep going south and by the airport is Carlo & Ernies Runway Bar. As the evening winds down and you’ve built an appetite with all this walking – go back and have a snack in Central Park as there are food vendors there until the wee hours of the night.
A good thing about Belize nightlife, it is easy to get your vacation party on early and still get a good night sleep. Belize is very close to 12 hrs of daylight and darkness throughout the year, so evening starts around 6 pm or earlier on weekends. This way, if you start early, you can hopefully wake up fresh for your next adventure. Unless of course, you get panty rippa’d and end up watching the sunrise on your veranda around 5:30 am 😀
Please note: Some of the activities do not run in low season. I do my best to keep up-to-date information, but always check with the location, before venturing out.
