Port is miles from downtown, had to take a cab to get anywhere. We rented a car and drove around the island and had a fantastic lunch on the beach somewhere! The car was a hoot, we figured is was an early 70s VW Beetle with no top! It rattled and clanked and felt like it was going to fall apart, but it didn't. There are only two gas stations there, so we had to be careful about filling it up before we returned the car. I think the car cost us about 18 dollars for the day. Smart Car Rentals.
We had to tender in a long way. Not much there but a harbor shopping area. Just across from the port are tents set up by the locals to sell all kinds of stuff. We didn't do any shopping there because of our excursion. Belize seems to be a very poor country, but the people were lovely and welcoming and spoke the King's English. I was informed that Belize is the only English-speaking country in South America.
There is the inevitable shopping in the port area. This port was purpose built for cruise ships. A couple of good restaurants, but if people weren't on excursions, they mostly drank a lot and played in the big pool there. You really need to get out of that area and into something else. Mayan ruins are close by and worth a look.
Nassau was extremely hot, dusty and crowded with about 8,000 tourists off of four cruise ships. We hired some dude who promised to show us the town and the island. When we finally had a van load, we did a tour of Atlantis (fantastic) and meandered around town a little. He did not take us around the island and just shrugged when we suggested that we wanted to do more than just see a big resort. He received no tips! Lots of little shops with lots of junk made in China. Be careful even in the straw market, a lot of that stuff is imported. Not my favorite stop, this trip.