Portofino Beach Resort

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

966 reviews

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  Give Portofino a try. It’s great.

  Fantastic. The atmosphere and the staff are amazing. It is a fair distance from San Pedro by golf cart, so it’s nice and quiet. Depend on a good, steady sea breeze. It’s refreshing. The staff are amazing and make the stay effortless. The restaurant is AMAZING. The excursions are well done. Our flight into Belize was delayed, but the resort, and Maya Air, worked to make the connections between Belize City and San Pedro seamless. Outstanding customer service. Transportation between the airport in San Pedro and Portofino is by golf cart. The roads are marginal. Mostly unpaved but fairly well maintained. Be prepared for a bumpy and dusty ride. But it’s worth it. Once you arrive the staff greets you with a smile and a punch (rum punch). The restaurant and bar are great. The food will not disappoint. Be sure and have some Fry Jack at breakfast. Sunrise is EARLY this time of year, but the staff has coffee ready before 5am to enjoy with the sunrise, if you like. I felt like I had the work to myself for an hour. Or just sleep in, too, if you want. A manicured beach and well maintained pool are only second to the sunrise you’ll see every morning. The excursions are well done! Ask about snorkeling opportunities. You can actually see the barrier reef from your room. All kinds of things to see; we especially enjoyed a day trip with Carpe Diem Charters. Go see Chris in the dive shop. Absolutely, he is a top notch guide and tour captain. He led us out on an unbelievable fishing trip that included a big catch of snapper and even grouper. (Tried for barracuda, but missed). — Note: Chris will match you with an experienced (and patient) fishing guide, and may surprise you by adding to the catch with his spearfishing talents. Fishing is followed by exceptional “BBQ” on a secluded beach (featuring the fish you caught), snorkeling, and a supervised swim with sharks and stingrays on the reef. Overall, a great experience.

  Jun 03, 2025
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  Peaceful Portofino Beach Resort!

  This was our 1st time on Ambergris Caye and preferred to not stay in San Pedro town. Our choice was perfect. We stayed at Caves Branch Adventure Co. & Jungle Lodge in the Cayo a few days prior. We like to split time between mainland and beach. We were offered an earlier flight via Tropic Air and Portofino was able to arrange our shuttle to meet us at arrival. Moe our driver was terrific, can navigate the road from town to the resort probably with his eyes closed! And if you've been to San Pedro you know what I mean about the roads...LOL Welcomed by a chilled towel to get the road grime off and a tropical drink is a great way to start! Our beach front cabana was perfect, comfortable and convenient to pool, bar and restaurant. The hammock on the porch was a great time to just chill out. Plus there's another hammock near the pool. Though while there the winds were stronger than normal it was a wonderful place to stay. The staff is friendly, I filled up with ice multiple times a day. Your room has fresh drinking water daily. The location is convenient- you can easily go to Secret Beach or downtown via a golf cart. The golf cart ride is part of the adventure, be sure to rent one. The restaurant was awesome, delicious fresh seafood and pasta. Oz our waiter is the best, attentive and likes to talk about Belize. The superstar is Miss Paulina, Miss P for short. She does it all with style and grace. Runs the bar, and manages the resort. Her recommendations for things to do, places to see and where to eat in San Pedro were spot on. Try the local food, its amazing.. You may want to diet before going to Belize, to fully experience the flavors of this wonderful country. We hope to be back soon!

  Jun 03, 2025
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  Amazing place 🖤

  We went to Portofino for part of our honeymoon in April and honestly had the most amazing time! The place is absolutely beautiful. The staff were amazing, especially Miss P!! The place had a lovely feeling about it and we are very sad to be home. Shoutout to Carpe Diem & Ivan, the dive shop on Portofino's pier. We booked a tour to Shark Ray alley with them which was amazing. Missing being there already and hope we can come back in the future.

  May 17, 2025
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  Vacation trip to Belize with a stay on Ambergris Caye for 3 nights.

  The Portifino is an exceptional value, the service and staff are 5 star caliber. They also feature a fabulous menu that offers a wide range of dining options. Highly recommended for a trip to Ambergris Caye. It is located close enough to get into San Pedro and far enough to offer quiet and solitude.

  Apr 23, 2025
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  Almost Heaven

  Just wanted to drop a line about this place, this was our 1st time in Belize, we were celebrating my wifes birthday for the trip. Our 1st few days were not great it wasnt the resorts fault at all, the wind was blowing so hard, the sargassam had blown in, it looked like a big greenish/brown carpet on the beach and ocean, the guys were working extremly hard to get it picked up but its a losing battle until the wind changes. Then I believe its was Monday evening the power went out, again nothing the resort could do, they do have a generator but it will not support the AC units, just the lights and fans, we opened the windows and Ms. P brought us a stand fan and for us it was perfect, so no complaints. Aaron the GM came by the next day and gave us a bottle of wine for our troubles it was appreciated but not expected or needed. We met Sandra and Jan a few times (the owners) really nice people. Our bartender was Mark another extremly talented person and very nice, Wednesday was my wifes bithday and they setup a table out on the beach and had it decorated up really nice and at the end of the meal they brought her an entire chocalate cake everything was perfect for that evening. Now we make it to the restaurant, Ivan took care of us all week,with Kevin, Oz and Jason filling in thoughout the week, my wife is not a big seafood fan and they made suggestions to sub out the protien for her so all was good. I wish the menu was a bit more expansive but everything was top notch and tasted great, but after a week it did start to get old. The drinks I thought needed more kick, then again maybe that was a good thing, we are not huge drinkers, the 1st part of the week is when we drink a lot and come about Wednesday/Thursday our livers are not having anymore of it, Ivan to the rescue, he suggested Rose tea (a brand, not a flovor) so every morning and evening he would a have a pot boiled up and we drank that, they know how to make a good strong tea. The room, we were in Cabana 4 its a nice little room has everything we needed and was able to sleep quite well, its very quiet on the resort so that was perfect for us. We went to Secret Beach, Mistico to be exact, our cart rental sucked pretty bad but we made do, everytime I would let off the gas, the engine died and then backfired sounded like we were popping off a few rounds it was pretty funny. Wednesday, we got another cart from a different place and it ran perfect, we went into San Pedro, for a little shopping and to eat at Elvi's, parking is a nightmare and the traffic OMG!!! so many carts, Elvi's was awesome, I had Pibil tacos (outstanding) and the wife had chicken and rice both were great. I know I forgot some name of some of the employees for that I'm sorry, every person we met, they beyond friendly and want to make your stay as perfect as possible. We saw Aaron walking around doing GM duties thoughout the day, everbody was busy and always had a smile. We will be back sometime.

  Apr 14, 2025