Founded in 1848, San Pedro is the only inhabited area on Ambergris Caye and is found near the southern tip of the island. The town has an atmosphere of a bustling fishing village and is clustered with wooden houses built in both the Mexican and Caribbean style. In some cases, English colonial architecture remains along the narrow, white sandy
streets that accommodate barefoot pedestrians as well as bicycles and golf carts.
Once a fishing village, San Pedro has become Belize's major tourist destination. The economy of San Pedro originally depended on logwood and the coconut industry. By the 1920s, lobster became the most valuable export, and by the 1950s the coconut business had declined due to a series of hurricanes that hit the island. Ambergris Caye's earliest tourists began arriving in San Pedro in the 1920s and the first real hotel was established in 1965.
Today, San Pedro offers several bars, restaurants, cafés, boutiques and gift shops. San Pedro's port is becoming more frequented by cruise ships moored for day visits. More than half of Belize's visitors fly directly to San Pedro and use it as a base for their excursions elsewhere. San Pedro was named for Saint Peter, the patron saint of fishing.