Belize
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador have this nifty agreement where a traveler can be in any of them without a Visa for 90 days. Well, after Tikal my 90 days were coming due. So what’s a traveler to do? Take a hop, skip, & jump over to Belize of course! Some folks will move on to Mexico, but Belize was closest and more affordable for our purposes.
We booked a bus from Flores to San Ignacio with Ciao Cacao. About an hour and a half in, you have to get out and go through customs. Pretty chill, honestly. Have your passport ready, wait in line, move on to where your bus is waiting for you.
We opted to stay for a couple of nights in San Ignacio.
We booked a room at Toucan Nest because we were really craving some privacy and air conditioning after almost three months of family, hostels, and heat. Coming in at the tail end of peak season, we got a bit more privacy than we were bargaining for. We were the only guests on the property and it was actually pretty spooky. However, there’s a large grocery store across the street and a decent kitchen, so we just enjoyed each other’s company. Lots of folks will choose to explore Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) caves from San Ignacio. It wasn’t in our budget (about $100 per person), but it did seem pretty dang cool.
After San Ignacio we got a bus to Belize City, got a cab to the docks, and a boat to Caye Caulker. We were lucky enough that there was a bus stop right in front of the Toucan Nest. We asked around in town and folks told us about the local bus that came through in the morning to Belize City. Very straight forward and VERY affordable (11Q/$1.50). Because we weren’t staying in a place with a reception to help book onward travel and how convenient the local bus option was, we never even looked into shuttles.
Caye Caulker
A cay (/ˈkiː/ or /ˈkeɪ/), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans (including in the Caribbean and on the Great Barrier Reef and Belize Barrier Reef).
So why Caye Caulker? We had read that there are two islands most folks visit. Caulker & Ambergris with the town of San Pedro. Caye Caulker is much smaller and has a reputation for being the chiller of the two. There are almost no cars and their motto is “go slow.” That’s our vibe.
We booked 6 nights at Travelers Palm. We were again drawn by the promise of air conditioning and the pricing was good. It is a bit farther from the Split than a lot of other options, but Caye Caulker is so small nothing is really that far from anything else. This place has a decent outdoor kitchen, bikes and canoes to borrow, and bright fun colors everywhere. And really friendly and helpful staff! I would definitely recommend it unless you’re looking for a party where you sleep. Trust me, there are plenty of parties within walking distance.
A week might be a bit too much time so spend at Caye Caulker, but we really wanted to slow down a bit. The main highlight is snorkeling and diving opportunities as the island is right on its own marine reserve and about an hour from Hol Chan marine reserve. A marine reserve is essentially a national park for oceans, which may be a duh to some, but this landlocked midwesterner did not know that. We spent a morning with one of the many tour operators. We snorkeled with sharks and fish and coral. Our guides were very supportive and informative, focused equal parts on safety and fun. Fresh fruit and water were provided freely to help with dehydration and sunburn potential. We visited a dock with a tiny sanctuary for lil seahorses. We visited and fed giant fish called tarpon. It was a great way to spend a day half a day. There are a dozen companies that will offer a similar experience for the same prices, so you can’t really go wrong. Most offer a half-day for $25-30 and a full day that includes Hol Chan for $50-60.
Another really popular thing to do is to visit the blue hole. There are really pricey tours for flyovers and snorkeling. Pricey for us anyway. As always, you do you.
We spent a lot of time at the Split, where the party and people are. We didn’t drink too much, because budget, but this is a decent place to swim and sun. There are no actual beaches on Caye Caulker, so the Split is your best bet. There are also lots of fun bars nearby that have seats and swings in the water for patrons.
The Lazy Lizard will have themed nights most nights. We went to karaoke which is just as ridiculous a way to spend a night in hilarity with tourists in Belize as it is in a dive bar in Missouri. Another night they hosted a DJ folks seemed to be excited about. There were circus-type performers and dancing and loud beats. When in Rome, right??
My favorite thing we did was visit the Caye Caulker Animal Shelter. They are always looking for donations or food, so stop by to see what they need and go pick up some supplies. Play with the pooches, and if you fall in love take one home! We seriously considered doing just that. They have all the shots and paperwork good to go, you just need to prove you have an approved flight to the US to take them on. If we were going back home straight from Caye Caulker we probably would have had a puppy with us.
Food
The food scene is pretty great. With so many tourists around there’s plenty of typical pasta, steaks, sandwiches, etc. Frankly, pretty boring but if you’ve got a hankering there’s probably an option. You HAVE to try some of the outdoor barbecue all over the place. Jerk chicken or catch of the day, you can’t really go wrong with some blackened meat and a heaping pile of coleslaw.
Fry jacks are also a Belizean favorite. Fried dough filled with whatever, but it seems like usually meats and cheeses. A good place to see if they’re your thing is Errolyn’s House of Fry Jack. It’s got a great location so it’s very busy with tourists and locals alike. Full disclosure, we were not fans. Too greasy and heavy for our tastes at the time. You should definitely try it for yourself though.
Ice N Beans is a really tasty coffee shop that will give you free mini donuts too! I’m the sort of person who likes coffee with my cream and it was all quite sweet but that’s the way I like it.
If you try nowhere else on the island, I think you should try Meldy’s. A recommendation from our snorkel guide, Meldy serves food from her kitchen as you sit on her turquoise painted porch. Her menu is simple, but oh so good. If you’re lucky, she won’t be super busy and she’ll sit outside and chat a bit.
Onward
The very best thing about Caye Caulker though is the Ragamuffin tour group.
Budget-wise, we were coming to a decision. Find another work-volunteer opportunity and try to spend another month in Costa Rica living on the extreme cheap, or splurge a little on a unique experience and head back stateside after a final visit with the fam.
For many reasons revolving around finances and our combined energy levels, we chose the latter. The experience we chose was to take a 3-day 2-night sailing trip from Caye Caulker to Placencia, from where we would head back into Guatemala for the final leg of our trip. The best tour group by far for this decision is Ragamuffin.
This decision resulted in what is definitely in my top 10 favorite things I’ve ever done in my life.
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