Caye Caulker, Belize
Caye Caulker is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been. The first couple of days I wasn’t sure if it was a dream or real. It is a tiny island that is approximately 5 miles long and 1 mile wide. There are no cars here, some golf cart taxis and lots of bicycles touring around. Cruise ships don’t stop here and there aren’t a lot of American tourists. This is the place you go when you truly want to get away from it all and just relax or “Go Slow” as they say there. Spend a week, and leave your worries behind.
Getting There
San Pedro Belize Express Water Taxi http://www.belizewatertaxi.com/
To get to Caye Caulker after landing at the Philip S.W. Goldson (BZE) airport you take a taxi for approximately 20 minutes to the water taxi, a 45 minute ride to the island. We bought package tickets in advance from the San Pedro Belize Express Water Taxi. We arrived at the airport a driver met us with a sign with our name on it and took us to the water taxi. At the water taxi terminal, you have to check in. They had our name and gave us our tickets for the ferry. (Note: It is best to have a printed copy of your receipt.) When we arrived in Caye Caulker 45 minutes later there was a golf cart awaiting us with another sign with our name on it to take us to our accommodations.
Where to Stay
Colinda Cabanas http://www.colindacabanas.com/
Based on the amazing Trip Advisor reviews, we chose Colinda Cabanas. This is by far the best place to stay on the island. The cabanas are set back, away from the main ferry landing and tourist area and have a private pier. We chose cabana #4 because it was inexpensive and had an AC unit. Cabana #4 is in the back of the property, a few short steps to the beach. Every cabana at Colinda comes with a pair of bicycles for touring around the island. Cabana #4 also has a mini refrigerator, a stove and dishes to cook with. We didn’t end up cooking, but it was all available. Each room also includes fresh coffee beans that you can grind every morning for a pot of coffee. It has a private tiled deck to sit on with chairs and one hammock that you can setup to lay in. The bed is full size. Every room comes with 5 gallons of drinking water.
I cannot say enough nice things about Colin, the owner and his property manager, Juan. Colin is a wonderful host. I suggest if you need transportation or want to do tours, to ask Colin before booking any in advance. He has many connections for every interest. Colin was able to arrange for us a private driver to the Lamanai Mayan Ruins and a boat tour that was more amazing than being with a large group and the same price as the tour companies offered. He is available in the front office if you need him and always welcoming, knowledgeable, not to mention a pretty funny guy from Canada. We also got to spend some time chatting with Juan, his property manager from southern Belize, who is a sweet and a most excellent host and manages the property when Colin and his wife cannot be there. Juan filled us in about the Belizean culture and his experiences being from there.
The private pier has amazing views. It has chairs to sit on and a covered deck at the end of it that provides two hammocks and shade when you need it. There are a couple of ladders for you to climb down into the water and swim. We brought our Swimways Spring Float Papasan floats with us in our carry-ons and thoroughly enjoyed using them at the end of the pier. Colin also has two kayaks that you can check out for free to tour around in. It was very windy while we were there and thus we didn’t end up using the kayaks. The cabanas are almost always rented due to their high demand from the excellent reviews, it is never crowded on the pier or property and you can truly experience a private getaway. The nighttime view of the stars is amazing when night falls.
Where to Eat
We’re vegetarians, although I occasionally still eat seafood. Finding vegetarian meals in Caye Caulker was very easy as almost every restaurant has something on the menu. A list of places we ate:
Rainbow Bar & Grill – We had veggie burrito and a veggie quesadilla. They were stuffed full of grilled vegetables.
Errolyn’s House of Fry Jacks – Fry jacks stuffed with whatever you want in them. Next door is a juice stand where we were bought two 1 liter bottles of fresh watermelon and pineapple juice to go with our fry jacks.
Fantasy Dining – Veggie kabobs.
Tropical Paradise – Stevie Wonder and Mexican Breakfast.
Glenda’s Restaurant – Every dish comes with a tasty cinnamon roll.
Syd’s – Conch with a pile of veggies (This was the only non-vegetarian dish I had while there. I wanted to try conch. I had it steamed and it’s very tough and chewy.) and Veggie Fajitas, Chips N Salsa with sour cream, Coleslaw, Rice N Beans.
Alladin’s – Veggie Plate with falafel, hummus, pita, baba ganoush, stuffed grape leaves and tabouli.
Lamanai Tour – Rice N beans, salad with tomato, cucumbers, cabbage and shredded carrot, potato salad and pickled onions with habanero. This was handmade food, brought with in coolers by our guide Ignacio for us to eat on the picnic tables at the ruins.
British Indian Restaurant at the ferry dock in Belize City – Vegetable samosas.
Pasta Per Caso – Vegetarian homemade pasta made by Italians that live there.
Amor Y Café – Waffles and fruit (pineapple, watermelon, papaya, banana and yogurt), Pineapple grilled cheese Panini. Iced tea with lime.
Au French Café – Three cheese crepes, Le Grande Mariner Crepe for dessert. Crepes made by a French couple who live on the island.
Cinnamon rolls from a man riding a bicycle that were huge.
Everything comes with beans and rice and the beans are meat free.
Rum – Belize City rum is better than the rum from Orange Walk.
Beer – Belikin beer.
Wine – Traditional wine is available at some of the pricier places on the island, like Pasta Per Caso and Au French Café. It is pricey at the grocery store. Cashew wine is inexpensive there, but we did not try it.
There are several grocery stores and “corner stores” on the island where you can buy supplies. Beer is generally $1.25 US at the store and $1.50 at a restaurant or bar. Rum is $7.00 US a bottle at the grocery store. Some items can be pricey due to being on an island. For example a bag US potato chips is $5.00 US for a bag, but if you buy the chips from El Salvador, they’re half as much.
The Split
The Split is the part of the island where the island was divided in half by a hurricane in the 1960s. It is also the location of the much talked about Lazy Lizard bar. This is where many young people go to hang out, have drinks, and swim. The water is deeper here and you can swim across the uninhabited side of the island. We went down here a few times to just hang out, swim, and have a couple of beers. They have speakers that blare music. So if you’re in a party mood, this can be the spot. We found it can be too loud for relaxation, and the Colinda Cabanas private pier was a welcome relief to the party atmosphere at the Lazy Lizard. If you’re like us, you can do both, party and have quiet time away from the party.
Currency
The Belize Dollar is $2 to $1 US. People online advised us to bring some US money with us. US Dollars are accepted everywhere. This is a cash only type of place, very few places take credit cards. We brought several days worth of US cash with us. There is a bank on the island that has an ATM where you can get Belize dollars. Note: Colinda Cabanas has a safe in every room for you to lock up cash or passports. I found it most easy to have the US dollars, as everyone prefers them to Belize.
Tours
Taxi service tour guide everywhere from Belize City.
Richard Lord Taxi Service
Cell: 501-664-6279
email: Richard@belizeprofessionaltourguide.com
Lamanai River Tours
Ignacio Lino
PH: 501-662-6131 Cell: 501-670-0700
PO Box 171 Orange Walk Town
email: lamanairiver@hotmail.com
Notes, Tips, and Further Information
On the AC unit, if you’re used to central air, be ready to adjust. We’re from New Orleans and our home also has AC units, so we are used to them. The AC unit in cabana #4 is a small window unit in the wall above the bed. We only used it at night to sleep in late May. The rest of the time we had the door and windows open and the fans on to move the air through the cabana. The unit is enough to cool it down at night and remove the humidity, but won’t be super cold if you’re used to insulated homes and central air conditioning.
Pack light. We brought 2 backpacks and 2 very small carry-ons with wheels. When I say small, I mean small enough to take on Spirit airlines if you’re familiar with their guidelines. When you take the ferry to Caye Caulker they check your luggage in a compartment on the boat bottom. Our luggage was so much less than others that we didn’t have to check our bags which fit easily under the seats on the ferry with our backpacks. We were able to easily travel without tons of luggage.
Bring a float with you. The water is lovely and clear and there aren’t big waves or many places to swim long distances. I recommend the Swimways Spring Float Papasan chairs, which fold down into a small circle carrying case. They take only a few breaths to blow up and fit easily into a carry-on bag. They also make loungers, but they are a bit too big to fit into a suitcase easily. We have used them in many places and I love their products and no I’m not paid for this endorsement! I just love them that much! Everyone kept asking us where they could get one. For the record, we purchased ours at Target in the states, but they are readily available online.
Bring bug spray or buy it when you get there. There are mosquitoes and sand flies. There is a path that you can walk or bike along the eastern edge of the island. Once you pass the airstrip, the path becomes mangrove jungle with lots of mosquitoes, and I mean A LOT. Make sure you’re covered in deet before going back there. Due to coastal erosion, the path ends at a flooded area. We didn’t continue through for fear of crocodiles. It’s a lovely journey through mangroves and homes you can only access by golf cart, bicycle, or on foot, but don’t forget the bug spray.
Bring some type of water bottle. Your room has 5 gallons of water. We brought collapsible water bottles that fold down and filled them with fresh drinking water and froze them in the freezer so we could bike around with cold water while we were there.
Beware of coconuts. Every night we sat outside our cabana listening to WWOZ via the internet stream. We could hear loud “thunks” all around. Falling coconuts ain’t no joke. Watch your head!
Love lizards and crabs. There are lizards everywhere. Cabana #4 has a screen door that can be locked from outside or inside to keep the screen flush so the lizards and bugs don’t get inside. We saw small to large crabs crawling around every night.
Relax. Leave the technology at home. We chose to make this trip, leaving our phones at home. It was lovely to not check email or be distracted by social media. We did bring our Chromebook for emergencies and to stream WWOZ, so we could listen to sounds of New Orleans while away. We also brought books to read and were able to lounge around all day. A typical day for us was stretching on the pier, biking or walking to breakfast, swimming in the Caribbean on our floats at the split or pier at Colinda, lounging in the hammocks on the pier, reading from our porch or napping in the hammock at our cabana, riding around on bikes for dinner, and watching the thousands of stars at night from the pier while sipping on rum or a Belikin.
