So much love for everyone out at Itza! - I am belated with this review but wanted to send all of our respect to Elvis, Deedra, Jeff, George, and Jamaal. The staff busted their butts in some suboptimal circumstances and helped us enjoy such a remote place. Our family of 4, from 73 to 13 years old, spent Xmas at Itza in Dec 2023. We stayed a full week, minus a day due to weather that would have caused us to miss our plane. Now here’s the deal, we got an Itza experience that will probably never happen again out there. Because they were catering to 9 of us over the holiday, they brought the staff’s loved ones out to the island. We got the Joy of being around staff members and their beautiful children…looking for tree crabs together, ordering BANANAAAASAS, playing dominoes and Uno, going out to Halfmoon Caye to relax, swim, laugh, and throw the frisbee. It was one of the best Christmases that we can remember. There were probably 3 times more people put there than normal. And! We loved it! We chose Itza to chase a 31 dream of mine to Scuba the Great Blue Hole and Long Caye is the closest you can get, 57 miles offshore. What we are most glad about is that we didn’t just go out, dive the Blue Hole and leave. The Great Blue Hole was just that….a hole. It was fun, but the REAL MAGIC is the reef system around it that most tourists miss at Long Caye and Halfmoon Caye. Reefs like Roller Coaster, Que Brada, Halfmoon Wall, The Epbow, The Aquarium, Night Watch, Julie’s Jungle, and Pete’s Place were out of this world. We’d have never met Jolly Roger, or sling speared lion fish only to have them gobbled up by grouper if we’d only motored out, dropped on the hole, and left. Morae Eels are everywhere. Green Sea Turtles muscle in for carapace scratching. The barrel sponges are amazing! Lots of slot formations everywhere to maneuver. And Caribbean Reef Sharks cruised with us everywhere we swam. Long Caye is out of this world! And our hats are off to Jeff, Elvis, and George who were ever patient with us and held the hands of our 13 year old and brand new 73 year old divers. They were ever respectful of the reefs and each had so much knowledge that we could spend a month learning from them and still only scratch the surface on their experience out there. The thing is, like GI Joe says, “Knowing is half the battle”….here’s a little knowledge so you don’t get 57 miles offshore and start whining…. > There’s no hot water. You really won’t miss it. > You can drink the water the catch, treat, and cycle into the system. > On dead calm days, the composting toilets might smell a little because they are doing a wonderful job being ecologically friendly. With a breeze, you’ll never notice. > Sometimes you’ll lose water pressure because it’s a catchment system. Breath. Turn off the tap. Count to 10. Turn it back on and you’re back in business. > The dive guides have all our lives in their hands. They take their jobs seriously. Be respectful. Learn from them. > There’s alcohol on the island but you’re not going to get a frozen margarita. Just drink the tequila. > Take cash for tips. They deserve every extra dime. > Downstairs rooms - better water pressure. > Upstairs rooms - less bugs after rain. Pros: The staff, guides, chef, tree crabs, and Boobies. The reef system around Long Caye. Proximity to The Great Blue Hole and Halfmoon Caye. Cons: No mosquito nets over beds. Bring one if there’s a chance of rain at all. The mattresses. They are either memory foam or old. An investment of real mattresses would level the whole place up. We reminisce about diving Long Caye out of Itza almost every day. When you’re 57 miles offshore, things happen. It’s part of the adventure. It’s easy to look at what’s “inconvenient”, but we had a trip that we’ll NEVER FORGET because of what a gift it is to be able to live in the middle of an oceanic habitat with strangers that became respected friends. Thank you to everyone from start to finish…Alvin, Elvis, Deedra, Jeff, George, Big George, Jamal, and more. Hello to Crystalian, Joy, and Kershleigh and anyone else I’ve missed. You are all in our hearts!…