Advertisement
Intro to the Northern Cayes: Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye
Belize's 180-mile-long barrier reef is the eastern edge of the limestone shelf that underlies most of the Mayan lands. The sea is very shallow west of the reef, usually not much more than 15 feet deep - which allows numerous islands called cayes (pronounced keys) to bask in warm waters.
Of the dozens of cayes that dot the blue waters of the Caribbean off the Belizean coast, the two most popular with travelers are Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye. Caulker is commonly thought of as the low-budget island, where hotels and restaurants are less expensive than on resort-conscious Ambergris, though with Caulker's booming popularity its residents are fighting to keep the distinction.
Water sports are the name of the game on both islands, especially on Ambergris. The streets of San Pedro tend to be deserted in the early afternoon, filling up again after the dive and snorkeling boats return in the late afternoon. These cayes aren't so much about hanging out on the beach. Visitors here tend to stay active during the day, but return home smiling and ready for more fun.
Intro to Caye Caulker
Caye Caulker (called Hicaco in Spanish, sometimes Corker in English) lies 20 miles north of Belize City and 15 miles south of Ambergris Caye. The island is about 4 miles long from north to south and there are only about 650 yards at its widest point. Mangrove covers much of the shore and coconut palms provide shade. The village is on the southern portion of the island. Actually Caulker is two islands since Hurricane Hattie split the island just north of the village. The split is called, simply, the Split (or the Cut). It has a tiny beach, with swift currents running through it. North of the Split is mostly undeveloped land, and part of it has just been declared a nature reserve.
Our Experience
We bussed from Orange Walk to Belize City. And, let me tell you... the "old school bus" was slammed. I don't think they'd ever consider driving a school bus around with kids standing in the aisle, but apparently that's no problem in Belize. A nice lady at the front of the bus scooted over and created a seat for Lila. I stood. For an hour and a half. But we finally made it, grabbed a taxi over to the marine terminal, and took a water taxi out to Caye Caulker (pronounced "key" Caulker).
We were really lucky to arrive in the middle of the island's annual Lobsterfest. This, however, made finding a place to stay a little harder, but we ended up following a local to a place he recommended (and I'm sure he got a commission from it). It was a bit of a walk up the beach, and our "room" was little more than a hut on stilts. Lila was definitely not enthusiastic about said hut, but it had a fan, and it turned out fine
in the end despite a bathroom door that didn't leave much to the imagination and a shower drain that simply emptied onto the sand.
We ate lobster for almost every meal. The price was right, and it was great. They had an entire Lobsterfest area that was lined with locals grilling whole lobster and making various lobster concoctions. We even had a lobster omelette for breakfast one morning.
We spent our full day on the island doing a snorkeling tour of the barrier reef (we almost didn't make it ... a massive thunderstorm came by early that morning, and we turned out alarm off thinking there was no way we were going out. However, the storm passed at the right time, Lila woke up, and we made it). Note: we actually heard later on that day that a someone was struck by lightning during the storm. It didn't surprise us at all, because the storm was absolutely insane. The thunder was so loud/close/strong that it shook the entire room. Thankfully, it passed quickly.
Snorkeling off the coast of Belize is everything it's been made out to be. We went out on a medium sized sailboat with a
group of about 20 tourists. The tour started at 11 am and we arrived back at the Caye sometime after 5PM. We had two tour guides: "Mr. Harry" and Mario, both Garfunia locals. Day were cool mon! We sat at the stern of the boat and when Mr. Harry needed to roam the deck he let Lila hold the tiller. Eventually, it turned into an actual sailing lesson. Kinda cool considering she was the only one (out of the 20 or so tourists) who got to steer the boat.
The barrier reef that Belize is famous for actually stretches from all the way from Mexico to the Belize and then down to Guatemala. Our tour started with a free-for-all snorkel on a small part of the reef known as a "coral garden" followed by two separate guided snorkel tours in two different marine reserves. On the guided tours, Mr. Harry would swim ahead, look under rocks to see what he could find, grab a shark or a ray, etc. He really did a fantastic job. At the second stop, we got to swim with nurse sharks. And, by sharks, I mean sharkS - as in plural. Mr. Harry caught
one and let us all pet it. Joe even got to hold it. (I'm pretty sure the camera jammed and I missed that picture. Bummer.) Anyways, it was amazing! The sharks were so docile and their skin felt like soft sandpaper. We also got to pet rays and hold starfish. We saw lots of other really neat sea creatures including: a HUGE grouper fish (which we touched!), spotted eagle ray, moray eel, another little eel, conch shells, and tons of different coral formations.
Between the three sets of snorkeling, they had various snacks and lunch ready for us, and on the way back the captain made lobster ceviche from a couple lobster he had pulled straight out of the ocean that day. How could he do that a steer us home you ask? Simple: "Captain" Lila got to sail the entire tour group home, and she did an amazing job. We enjoyed some rum punch on the way back as well 😊.
Note from Lila: Seriously everyone... I sailed this amazing sailboat with 20 something people on it for almost two straight hours!!! It was freaking AMAZING. Mr. Harry said that now I could say I've "sailed the Caribbean." And Mario said, "shez got da spirit mon!" - which was the best compliment ever! I was in heaven. And the rum punch was good!
Up Next...
Dangriga in southern Belize.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.088s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 10; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0399s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Laura
non-member comment
I loved diving off of Belize - it is just too beautiful. I'm loving this blog!!! have fun guys, xoxo, Laura