I think Craig really under-represents this place. It is fantastic.

It's a group of condos known collectively as the Sapphire Beach Resort. During our stay, perhaps 25% of people there were owners and 75% renters. There is a front desk office, a concierge, a staff that cleans the rooms every day, a bar-tender, and restaurant, and multiple care-takers constantly raking, sweeping and tidying up. There is a security guard all night, though the island feels very safe. There's also a dive-shop with tour planner/guide, Hill, on-site, who helped us coordinate 1) a snorkeling three-stop tour; 2) A mainland tour of Mayan temple sites, zip-lining, and cave-tubing; and a guided spearfishing trip and beach BBQ (best meal on the island). The staff at Sapphire Bay were wonderfully attentive, and super-friendly. None of our needs went unmet.

The place feels new and clean. We found it to be ideally located. It was close to 45 minutes to an hour north of town on a golf cart. We arrived after a rain and the road is subject to wear (not for the faint of heart, but safe). We felt like we were driving though ponds in places, but these roads are well traveled and not isolated (even at night). There are restaurants within a 20-30 minute jaunt on the cart (Rain, Portofino, Matachica, El Secreto, etc) and you can also drive north (weather and roads likely depending) up to Tranquility Bay to hang out for the day and visit their restaurant and or bar over the water where the reef comes close enough to snorkel out to.

The reef at Sapphire Beach Resort is still a ways out. While it was accessible by kayak, once out, there was quite a current making it difficult to snorkel there. I guess there used to be a buoy to tie to, but not while we were there. Regardless, it was easy enough to head north to find good spots, or perhaps you can catch the tide just right.

Only concern, which likely goes for everywhere in this area, is that they were constantly spraying the grounds and fumigating the air for insects (mosquitoes, scorpions, and sand flies) at least daily. I'm unsure of what chemicals they are using, but they sure use a lot of them. Again, this was true of everywhere we visited in this area.

I can't recommend this place strongly enough. This may likely be the best value on the island. We found it to be the perfect location. Thank you Craig.