We recently travelled to Sapphire Beach Resort with the possible intention of investing in a one bedroom casita unit. I have read some of the other comments here about this project and thought I should weigh in. Here is a link to some pictures I took:

http://picasaweb.google.ca/themooselives...ey=0Qwo56LXctU#

We were accompanied by the developer's sales representative, our agent and his spouse, and the contractor. The pictures will speak to the level of building activity and number of workers that we observed. As this was my first trip to Belize, I cannot comment on the building methods being used. I was told that villa and cabana units take about 90 days to build, and that the two floor casitas take 120 days. The developer hopes to have the project completed by late 2009. To date, no units are ready for occupancy and the dock has not been completed. One villa and one cabana are nearing exterior completion, but have yet to be closed in with windows and doors. Neither unit had any interior work beyond bare walls. Another villa was blocked and getting close to having a roof put on. Other units were in the infant stages of construction. The site had been substantially cleared, but there was a definite mosquito presence. We were told it was just after the rainy season and there was lots of standing water.

The following day, we met with the developer in San Pedro. He is a very pleasant man and answered our questions. He stressed that he wanted owners to be satisfied. Through our agent, we requested that the developer have his attorney prepare a purchase agreement for us to take home and read over and this was made available to us within 3 hours.

We have chosen not to buy in Sapphire Beach for reasons that are personal to us and not because of what we saw, read or heard. Our major concern was the distance from town and the lack of a road. At our ages, we saw a 1/2 hour boat ride each way into town and back to do grocery shopping as inconvenient. There will be a store on site, but who knows what their prices will be. We were interested in the casita model but felt that it was a bit on the small side and lacking in some amenities. Others may see differently. The state of our currency versus the US$ also entered into our considerations, but to a lesser extent. We see great potential at Sapphire Beach and will continue to follow this project with interest and thank those involved for the courtesy extended to us.

Moose in Belize: Thank you for coming and checking out the project! Sorry Sapphire Beach won't fit your needs, but we hope you had a good stay on the island.

Best of luck to you and if you find youself in San Pedro again, please feel free to stop in and say hi!

Sapphire: Like I said, we will continue to follow this project with interest and I have no doubt that we will be back in San Pedro. We loved the island. Maybe at that time, our comfort level with Sapphire Beach will have changed and we can talk again. I prefer to leave doors open. By the way, we had snow last night. Best of luck.

Goodluck and best wishes for 2009!