hamanasi adventure and dive resort: our oasis in belize by alex mark and julie lustbader

As many of you know from my mom’s very active Facebook, I (Alex) just graduated from my MBA program and have a few months until I rejoin the real world – work starts July 31. To make the most of my time off, Julie and I decided to take a trip. Given that she is still part of the real world and has a job with limited vacation days, we wanted to go somewhere relatively close to home that had a combination of relaxation and activities. Belize, at just two hours away from the US, with English as the primary language, and general acceptance of the US dollar, fit the bill perfectly.

After reading my mom’s article for USA Today about the 10 best treehouse hotels, we knew we needed to stay at Hamanasi! This is the photo that got us, and since our photos can’t possibly beat it, here’s a reminder of what the room looks like:

Over three posts, we will share the accommodations, activities, and the amenities we experienced over our three days in Hopkins, Belize. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we enjoyed experiencing them, and hope you get there yourself one day!

Accommodations:

Like the activities at Hamanasi, the accommodations find the right balance between “reef” and “jungle.” During our time at the resort we stayed in two different rooms. The first was a beachfront room, located just steps from the golden sand and all of the hotel’s amenities. For the final two nights, we were upgraded to a secluded deluxe treehouse, with its own wrap-around deck and outdoor jacuzzi.

Upon arriving at Hamanasi, we were immediately blown away by the beautiful beach peppered with palm trees, lounge chairs, and plenty of hammocks overlooking the bright blue water. We were thrilled when we were given a room with front stairs that literally landed on the sand and was less than 100 yards to the ocean itself.

One of Hamanasi’s managers took the time to explain the resort’s many amenities, and left us with a few gifts—including delicious homemade fudge which was the perfect snack after our travels.

The room itself was comfortable and clean, and had great air conditioning that kept us cool in the humid Belize weather. We were very impressed by the all-natural, organic and Belizian-made toiletries provided. The staff took great care to ensure that beach and jungle just outside the doors didn’t make its way inside, while keeping the island vibe alive in the rooms.

While we loved staying so close to the beautiful beach and pool, we were very excited to be moved to our Deluxe Treehouse for the final two nights of our trip. The staff handled our move seamlessly while we were out snorkeling—a great example of the service provided by the amazing Hamanasi staff throughout our stay! Our treehouse was located in the jungle and felt very private, but was still close to all of the amenities of the resort.

We were first struck by the large wrap around deck that surrounded the treehouse, complete with a private jacuzzi and lounge chairs. When we entered the room, we first entered a living room with a small kitchen—where we found some more fudge! We then walked through to the completely separate bedroom, with a canopied bed fit for Tarzan (the king of the jungle).

While both of the rooms were awesome, with all of the activities available at Hamanasi – we’ll talk more about resort and the activities in other posts – we spent very little time indoors on this trip, which was exactly what we were looking for!