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Rooms

Matachica offers a choice of 31 rooms including the Seabreeze Bungalow, Seabreeze Suites, Seaview Cabanas, Reefview Suites, Beachfront Casita, Deluxe Beachfront Casita and Luxury Two Bedroom Caribbean Villa. They are all dotted throughout the resort, none of them are further than 200 feet from the sea but if you are looking to be as close to the water as possible, the beachfront rooms are best as they are just 50 feet from the Caribbean Sea.

Vibrantly colored and exotic with thatched roofs, the rooms are individually decorated with bright, tropical murals by illustrator Cécile Gariépy, depicting the fruit they are named after. They are spacious with feather duvets, traditional mosaic bathrooms, air-conditioning, ceiling fans and patios with hammocks. There are no TVs in the rooms but there is in the cinema lounge, with an array of DVDs.

Location

Matachica is on Ambergris Caye and only reachable by boat. The resort sits in tropical gardens on a white sand beach that stretches down to the Caribbean Sea. Beyond lies the world's second largest barrier reef, so it's safe to say the underwater world is pretty spectacular.

Matachica is 30 minutes and $10 US dollars by water taxi from the town of San Pedro where you can find shops, bars and restaurants.

Food and drink

Mambo restaurant serves up seafood and international cuisine. For breakfast you can expect waffles, huevos rancheros, pancakes and omelets; lunch might be fajitas, quesadillas, or grilled snapper on skewers; for dinner you might try jerk seared sea scallops, slow-roasted lime grouper or chargrilled mango glazed pork chop. It's a tasty sounding menu. Choose a refreshing cocktail or glass of wine, but don't expect a jumping bar scene. If you want to enjoy a bit of the local nightlife, then San Pedro, a ten minutes' boat ride away, is the place.

Do be aware that the restaurant adds a 15% service charge to all bills.

Families

No children under 16 are allowed to stay at the resort.

Diving

Belize has some of the best diving in the world and several sites on every diver's must do list, such as the Blue Hole. Although the hotel does not have its own dive center, they can easily arrange half and full day trips to the outer barrier reefs through reputable local dive centers and the protected marine parks in the area. The barrier reef is under a mile from the resort and this has numerous excellent dive sites. The best spots are undoubtedly in the outer reefs. These are anything from 30 minutes to two hours away by boat, depending on how far you'd like to go.

Spa Facilities

The Jade Spa at the resort is decorated in a Belizean style and has a wide range of treatments to help you unwind and get into the Caribbean spirit. Using natural products sourced from the Belizean jungle and sea in their preparations, they can offer signature treatments such as a Mayan coffee scrub and chocolate wrap.