Ambergris Caye or Roatán?

Roatán has the better beach by some distance. West Bay is a long curve of pale sand where you can wade in and snorkel to the reef without a boat, and Half Moon Bay in West End is a sheltered smaller option. The trade-offs are cruise-day crowds and sand flies at dawn and dusk.

Ambergris Caye has water of the same colour and warmth, but its shore is a thin strip of sand with seagrass underfoot. Most swimming happens off long wooden docks. The calmest places to float are north of San Pedro and in the still lagoon shallows at Secret Beach.

Ambergris Caye gives you more choice at the table. Fry jacks and stew chicken with rice and beans are the Belizean basics, lobster dominates menus in its season, and the range runs from roadside taco stands to candlelit dining rooms in the northern resorts.

Roatán has the more unusual local cooking, mostly through its Garifuna dishes such as tapado, coconut bread and machuca, along with baleadas for breakfast. Beyond those, the restaurants in West End and West Bay mostly cater to divers, and there is less to try over a longer stay.

Neither island is a sightseeing destination, and anyone after temples or colonial towns has to go to the mainland. Ambergris Caye's history is in the ground, in the low Maya mounds at Marco Gonzalez and Bacalar Chico that recall its days as a trading post, plus the painted wooden houses of San Pedro.

Roatán's heritage is in its people. There are the English-speaking Bay Islander families, the Garifuna village of Punta Gorda and the stilt houses along Oak Ridge's mangrove waterway, and a small museum covers pirates and settlers.

Evenings are much the same on both: rum punch at sunset in open-air bars on the sand, with no club scene. San Pedro's bars, some built over the water, have a few dance spots that go past midnight and weekly beach-bar rituals that regulars return for. On Roatán the action is along West End's dock bars, and with so many divers up early, the night usually ends sooner.

Both islands sit on the same great reef system, so the difference is in how you meet it. From Ambergris Caye the classic outing is a boat to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley to snorkel among nurse sharks, turtles and rays. Divers head out to Turneffe and the Great Blue Hole, and the lagoon side adds kitesurfing and famous flats fishing.

Roatán is built for diving. Coral walls, wrecks and swim-throughs lie a few minutes from West End, and it is one of the Caribbean's standard places to learn. Its green hills also allow short forest walks, which flat Ambergris Caye cannot.

Ambergris Caye has more to do off the island. Caye Caulker is an easy water-taxi hop, Altun Ha's restored plazas are close on the mainland, and the boat ride up the New River to Lamanai through the jungle makes a full day.

From Roatán, the good outings are island ones: Utila's harbour village and the protected Cayos Cochinos. The mainland is little use for a day, since La Ceiba is a transit town and Copán is too far.

Both islands work for a family that loves the water. Roatán is the more practical for young children because they can paddle and snorkel straight off the sand in West Bay, and the zip-lines, glass-bottom boats and animal parks fill out a week. Sand flies and basic medical care are the caveats.

On Ambergris Caye the sea is just as flat, and golf-cart rides delight children. Dock swimming suits confident swimmers better than toddlers, though, so a resort with a pool in the north makes the better base.

Neither island is hard to get around, but they work differently. Ambergris Caye runs on rented golf carts and water taxis, with no buses at all. Reaching it means a short flight or a long boat ride from Belize City.

Roatán has one paved road with cheap shared minibuses and taxis, and the airport sits close to the western beaches. Seeing the eastern villages takes a car or scooter on hilly, potholed roads that are unlit at night.

Shopping is an afterthought on both islands. Front Street in San Pedro is the place for edible souvenirs such as Belizean hot sauce, coffee, chocolate and rum. Roatán's stalls in West End and by the cruise piers sell more handicrafts, including hammocks, carved mahogany and Garifuna work.

Roatán is clearly the cheaper island. West Bay's resorts are expensive, but West End has simple guesthouses and dive hostels, and the local food stalls and minibuses cost very little. Diving and dive courses there are among the best value in the Caribbean.

Ambergris Caye is costly at almost every turn. Meals, groceries, cart hire and boat trips are all priced at North American levels. San Pedro guesthouses, taco stands and a low-season visit help, but they only go so far.

Neither island has a theatre or concert programme. Roatán does have a living tradition to seek out: Garifuna drumming and punta dancing at Punta Gorda and at village celebrations. On Ambergris Caye the same rhythms turn up only occasionally, and live music otherwise means a beach-bar band or the lobster festival in summer.

Both offer rest through their setting rather than through any spa tradition, with resort spas, massages and yoga as the extras. On Ambergris Caye the quiet lies north of the river bridge, away from San Pedro's carts. On Roatán it lies in the eastern coves among the mangroves, far from the western beaches on cruise days.