Welcome to Caye Caulker and the go slow and hammock life!
Caye Caulker is a Caribbean island off the coast of Belize’s mainland. For me it was a good last stop in Central America before heading to Mexico.
Honestly most of my time on Caye Caulker was spent relaxing, lying in hammocks in the water and watching beautiful sunsets. I can’t say it was tough! The opposite really!
Snorkelling
Belize is home to the second largest reef in the world, after Australia. With seriously clear waters, it’s a good spot for snorkelling.
There are half and full day snorkelling tours available. The main differences between the two are the number of stops (full day has more!) and lunch is included on the full day.
I booked a full day snorkelling with Salt Life for $65 (£50 approx). The half day costs $35 (£30 approx). I walked to Salt Life’s offices on Monday morning to book it for the day. On my walk back, the sky looked decidedly ominous and I quickly sent a WhatsApp asking to go the next day. Thank goodness I did! Monday was a stormy rainy day!
The next day was much better weather – phew! – and I did the tour. I was expecting and ready to go for 9am, however it was pushed back to 10.30am and I actually ended up going out with Caveman Tours (I think because Salt Life didn’t have enough people).
We had around five stops and lunch. I saw lots of tropical fish, coral, a stingray, a turtle and swam with nurse sharks.
The icing on the cake would’ve been to see a manatee – I really really wanted to see one, but no luck! They remained elusive!
We got back just after 4pm and it was soon time to watch another sunset.
Kayaking
I did go kayaking one morning – bonus of my hostel having free kayaks! I went for around an hour and kayaked to the Split and back. Having not done much exercise recently, I was feeling my arms! A definite arm work out with great views in the sunshine!
The rest of my time
Caye Caulker doesn’t have beaches so to speak (don’t get your heart set on white sand beaches!). For places to relax and sunbathe, there is the Split, the north tip of Caye Caulker, and Iguana Reef Inn hotel on the west shore of the island.
Both are good sunset watching locations. The Split has the Lazy Lizard bar and I met up with my Guatemalan shuttle group there for the sunset on our first night. The following days I went to the Iguana Reef Inn hotel which I really liked. It had sunloungers, swings, hammocks in the water and the sunsets were amazing. It became my go to hang out spot!
Note: The sunloungers are free, just maybe buy a drink! As I was there in the low season, I’m also not sure what the situation is in high season. The area might just be for guests.
On my last night, the sunset was gorgeous. I went in the water to the swings and got stung by a jellyfish twice! There’s always a first time and I didn’t pee on it! It was tingly and itchy for maybe an hour but then fine. I did ask a restaurant for some vinegar!
Food
Caye Caulker isn’t the cheapest place to eat. Being an island and all! On my first night, I went with my Guatemalan shuttle bus group for dinner to a restaurant called Enjoy. The shrimp curry was incredible and over the course of my stay I did return for seconds and thirds!
For cheaper meals, there’s a lady who sets up her food stall next to the basketball court most evenings from 6pm. She sells pupusas, burritos, quesadillas, hotdogs…The burritos are massive and only cost $5BZ. It’s so good value and yummy!
To my disappointment, she didn’t show for several of my nights and I thought I was going to leave without getting one. Thankfully on my last night, she was there and I got my taste! Worth it!
For more burritos and fry jacks, there’s another stall called Jenny’s near the football pitch. I never got to try the food, it was always closed when I walked past, but I’ve heard good things. I’ve since found out it’s open from 6am till around 12/12.30pm which explains why I was never successful – no late lunches!
Interesting fact: Caye Caulker sits on top of an underwater cave system.This means that property development and construction on the island has weight limits. Some properties have been built over two stories and hotels aren’t helping the weight problem.
How to get to Caye Caulker
Caye Caulker is 35km from Belize City. Water taxis from Belize City to Caye Caulker take an hour and run throughout the day. Two companies are San Pedro Belize Express and Ocean Ferry. Ticket prices vary, depending on whether it’s a single or return journey or whether you’ve booked a transfer.
Usually a one way journey is $22BZ and a return is $32BZ.
I was headed to Caye Caulker from Guatemala and had booked the trip with a tour agency in Flores. The agency got discounted rates so was about $15BZ. Our journey took longer than an hour as our boat broke down and we had to get picked up by another one!
If you’re coming from Guatemala, you’ll likely be coming from Flores. Maya de Oro have a bus that leaves at 6.30am and usually gets to Belize City before midday, so around 5hrs. Tickets usually cost Q.140. We booked the whole journey and our transport to Tikal as a package with a tour agency in Flores. It was a good deal, I couldn’t work out how they were making money from it!
Tip: If you know you’re returning to Belize City, it’s cheaper to buy a return ticket. It can be open, so you don’t need to decide when buying what time or day you want.
If you’re coming from Mexico, you have several options for reaching Caye Caulker: bus to Belize City and boat, boat from Belize’s Corozal to San Pedro then change for Caye Caulker or a direct boat from Mexico’s Chetumal to Caye Caulker. See my post, How to get to Chetumal from Caye Caulker, for more information on the various options. Remember, you’ll be doing the route in reverse!
Final thoughts
I loved Caye Caulker! I was only going to stay three nights and ended up staying six! I loved the sunsets and and the whole go slow vibe. Walking down the streets, I was told to slow down many a time which amused me as I’m not very good at walking slow!
Even though we didn’t see a manatee, I enjoyed the snorkelling tour! Having snorkelled on the Galápagos, it’s not quite on the same level. That said, it’s still a fun day trip and really cool to see!
P.S. I also really liked my hostel, Travellers Palm. If you’re going to Caye Caulker and looking for a hostel, I was very happy with it!
P.P.S. Sorry for the overload of sunset pics! It was so hard to choose, every evening I watched the sunset (aside from the heavy rain day!).
