San Pedro is the only town on Ambergris and has long been the most-visited destination in Belize—in fact, for years it was the only developed part of the country’s tourism industry. It has a population of about 9,000 Belizeans and an ever-fluctuating mob of gringos that numbers from the hundreds to about 1,000 at any one time. Foreigners own about 60 of Ambergris’s 70 accommodations—good for island economy, or the “new colonialism”? You decide.

Ambergris Caye is Belize’s largest island, jutting south from the Mexican Yucatán mainland, stretching 24 miles into Belizean waters and interrupted by an ages-old canal. In fact, if it weren’t for this “cut,” dug by the Maya, Ambergris could easily have ended up part of Mexico. As for its name, ambergris is a waxy substance originating in the intestines of the sperm whale. Don’t laugh—the rare and valuable substance used to be used in the manufacture of perfume and went for top dollar.

The island sits only 35 miles east of Belize City and only three-quarters of a mile west of the Belize Barrier Reef, visible from most beachfront hotels. Ambergris’s beach runs parallel to the reef except at Rocky Point, where they briefly come together. Ambergris Caye was formed by an accumulation of coral fragments and silt from the Río Hondo as it emptied from what is now Northern Belize. The caye is made up of mangrove swamps, 12 lagoons, a plateau, and a series of low sand ridges. The largest lagoon, fed by 15 creeks, is 2.5-mile-long Laguna de San Pedro on the western side of the village.

San Pedro Town sits on a sand ridge at the southern end of the island. Over the years, the constant wind, rain, tides, and occasional battering of a hurricane have reduced the shoreline and beachfront of the village by 30 feet. This is normal for barrier islands, which naturally shift position—but it’s a bummer for we humans who like to build things in the sand.