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Message
Caye Caulker, Belize Review
Posted on 5/9/18 at 10:26 pm
Posted on 5/9/18 at 10:26 pm
Trip Review for Ambergris and Caye Caulker Belize:
Some Things About Belize:
Everyone talks about how laid back it is in Belize, but I just didn't understand it until I got there. Besides the center of the islands, it is surprisingly undeveloped for being a decent tourism spot. Things move slow. There is not alot to do on the island other than relax and drink. All of the activities pretty much take place in the water and on day trips. Once you are back on land, you just enjoy the breeze and hop in one of the many hammocks you see hanging from the palms. If you are looking for nice beaches, Caye Caulker and Ambergris really are not the place for this. I didn't see a single person dressed up, wearing makeup, or even pants for the days we were there. So pack light. If you can accept all of that, it is really a an amazing vacation and a great place to unwind.
Getting to and from the islands:
You have two options from the Belize Airport. One is taking the sea plane to San Pedro (Caye Caulker airport is currently being worked on but should reopen soon). This is a pretty cool experience and a good way to start a trip. It is about $80 per person. They shovel you in these planes and I was lucky enough to sit next to the captain. He did fall asleep about half way though....so that was interesting...but all in all, still worth it. Beautiful views from the plane.
View From Plane
On the way home, we took the water taxi from Caye Caulker to Belize and then a taxi to the airport. The water taxi was $9, very efficient and took about 40 minutes. The taxi from the city to the airport was $25, and the guy tried to hustle us another $10, but we didn't budge. Belize City looks pretty rough and not a place you want to stick around. I wouldn't recommend taking this way to start your vacation, because it might be a bit of a buzzkill, but it is the cheaper option.
Either way you come, make sure to pick up liquor at the airport. It is much cheaper than on the islands. When you first reach customs, you will see a duty free shop, but don't purchase it there. Wait until you go back through security and are at the gate to catch the sea plane. There is another duty free shop here and this way you won't have to re-check your bag on the sea plane.
Some Things About Belize:
Everyone talks about how laid back it is in Belize, but I just didn't understand it until I got there. Besides the center of the islands, it is surprisingly undeveloped for being a decent tourism spot. Things move slow. There is not alot to do on the island other than relax and drink. All of the activities pretty much take place in the water and on day trips. Once you are back on land, you just enjoy the breeze and hop in one of the many hammocks you see hanging from the palms. If you are looking for nice beaches, Caye Caulker and Ambergris really are not the place for this. I didn't see a single person dressed up, wearing makeup, or even pants for the days we were there. So pack light. If you can accept all of that, it is really a an amazing vacation and a great place to unwind.
Getting to and from the islands:
You have two options from the Belize Airport. One is taking the sea plane to San Pedro (Caye Caulker airport is currently being worked on but should reopen soon). This is a pretty cool experience and a good way to start a trip. It is about $80 per person. They shovel you in these planes and I was lucky enough to sit next to the captain. He did fall asleep about half way though....so that was interesting...but all in all, still worth it. Beautiful views from the plane.
View From Plane
On the way home, we took the water taxi from Caye Caulker to Belize and then a taxi to the airport. The water taxi was $9, very efficient and took about 40 minutes. The taxi from the city to the airport was $25, and the guy tried to hustle us another $10, but we didn't budge. Belize City looks pretty rough and not a place you want to stick around. I wouldn't recommend taking this way to start your vacation, because it might be a bit of a buzzkill, but it is the cheaper option.
Either way you come, make sure to pick up liquor at the airport. It is much cheaper than on the islands. When you first reach customs, you will see a duty free shop, but don't purchase it there. Wait until you go back through security and are at the gate to catch the sea plane. There is another duty free shop here and this way you won't have to re-check your bag on the sea plane.
This post was edited on 5/10/18 at 7:28 am
3
Posted on 5/9/18 at 10:27 pm to jsquardjj
San Pedro:
We only spent one night in San Pedro and there are already reviews about Ambergris Caye, so I will just touch on that a bit. We stayed at Ramons, which is one of the nicer hotels in San Pedro and very centrally located. They were waiting for us at the airport when we landed and brought us directly to check-in via golf cart. That was a nice way to start a vacation without any hassle. The service was top notch and their dock is right there so it makes booking a tour very easy. There was loads of sea grass this time of year, including at Ramons, and you could not enter the water from the beach because of it. They did have a dock you could jump off of and swim. I thought the rooms were just ok for the price, and I noticed that anyone was welcome to user their beach amenities and loungers. So, for a budget traveler you could always get a hotel nearby and use Ramons beach area and tour company if need be. You are able to walk around town pretty easily, but would need a golf cart to explore north of the bridge where there are some cool spots.
Pool at Ramons
Caye Caulker
We spent the rest of our days on Caye Caulker and were very glad that we did. Most people we spoke with, including the locals from both islands, seemed to agree that Caye Caulker is the better of the two. Water taxi from Ambergris to Caulker takes about 20 minutes and is $9. Although the islands are very similar, Caye Caulker is even more laid back. There is a slightly younger crowd here and because of that we found the bars to be a lot funner. Opposed to Ambergris Caye, there are no paved streets at all here and not many golf carts either. To me, not having the cement around made everything look a little cleaner, quieter, breezier, and not as hot when walking around. Most of the locals go barefoot all day and you can walk to most things on the south side of the island. Additionally, everything was cheaper than Ambergris even though they offered the same. For example, and hour massage on Ambergris was $40, but only $20 on Caye Caulker. Snorkeling from Ramons cost $45 per person, but only $25 per person for the same destination and trip length. There are less hotels and more airbnbs on Caye Caulker too. We stayed in an ocean front, one bedroom condo with living room, kitchen and balcony for $100 a night opposed to $200 a night at Ramons without a view.
Streets
Condo View
To do on the Island:
As I mentioned before, drinking and lounging are the top activities when on land. We found plenty of cool spots to drink and here were our favorites.
Barrier Reef Sports Bar - This was on the main beach drag and where we watched the Pels. They offer trivia night, karaoke night and always seemed to be busy. Friendly service and decent drinks.
Lazy LIzzard - This is the most popular bar by far and is located at the split. They have a DJ, tables sitting in the water, rooftop bar, platform for diving and plenty of chairs lined up fro the sunset. Great place to spend some time hanging out.
Split at Lazy LIzzard
Bondi Bar - This was a small spot on front street that had a Belize version of a swanky bar in the front and then a "cinema" in the back. The cinema was basically a bunch of lawn chairs setup in the backyard with a big projector screen where you are served drinks and pizza while watching a movie. I think they do this 2 or 3 nights a week. Nice way to mix it up.
Koko King - This was our favorite spot on the island. North of the split, they offer a free water taxi every 15 minutes and bring you back and forth. They have beach volleyball, hammocks, swinging beds, tubes in the water, water volleyball, swings hanging over the water, fire pits, over the water restaurant, and rooftop bar. You can also use their pool for a fee. They had the nicest beach we saw while on the island, strong drinks, and it was a fund way to spend a day.
Bar and Beach
Swings
Google pic of Koko King
Food:
While in San Pedro, we ate at Waraguma and Elvi's. Probably the most disappointing part of the trip, is that we didn't realize lobsters are illegal to catch from Valentines day to mid June. So we had to opt for a shrimp burrito at Waragumas instead of their famous lobster. It was still good, but next time we will be sure to go at the right time of year.
Elvis was delicious and one of our favorite meals during our trip. Their coconut shrimp and stuffed peppers are out of this world good.
In Caye Caulker, the best food was the BBQ lady Fran. She has a grill on the beach with 3 picnic tables and that's the "restaurant". When she filled all three of those, she bartered to borrow a table from a real restaurant down the street and made the customers carry it over lol. It takes about an hour for food to be ready, but she serves unlimited rum punch while you wait. They were a little weak, so a guy sitting next to us walked across the street and grabbed a bottle of rum to top everyone off. The little things that make this island great.
Her jerk chicken and curried chicken were both amazing and fell off of the bone. For $7, this was a steal.
For lunch another day, we had Chef Kareems Unbelizable lunch which was the same grill and table setup, just as good and cheap.
Menu
Another lunch, we took snapper we caught on a fishing trip to Brisas Del Mar (on front street), and she cooked grilled it and added 3 sides for about $5. Nothing like fish you caught a few hours before.
Fresh Snapper
There are great smoothies and juices all over the island. There is also a local with a bakers hat who rides a bike around all day selling good deserts like rum cake and coconut pie.
Only bad meal we had was at a place called Barefoot Caribe. The air conditioning sucked us in, but I would not recommend at all.
We only spent one night in San Pedro and there are already reviews about Ambergris Caye, so I will just touch on that a bit. We stayed at Ramons, which is one of the nicer hotels in San Pedro and very centrally located. They were waiting for us at the airport when we landed and brought us directly to check-in via golf cart. That was a nice way to start a vacation without any hassle. The service was top notch and their dock is right there so it makes booking a tour very easy. There was loads of sea grass this time of year, including at Ramons, and you could not enter the water from the beach because of it. They did have a dock you could jump off of and swim. I thought the rooms were just ok for the price, and I noticed that anyone was welcome to user their beach amenities and loungers. So, for a budget traveler you could always get a hotel nearby and use Ramons beach area and tour company if need be. You are able to walk around town pretty easily, but would need a golf cart to explore north of the bridge where there are some cool spots.
Pool at Ramons
Caye Caulker
We spent the rest of our days on Caye Caulker and were very glad that we did. Most people we spoke with, including the locals from both islands, seemed to agree that Caye Caulker is the better of the two. Water taxi from Ambergris to Caulker takes about 20 minutes and is $9. Although the islands are very similar, Caye Caulker is even more laid back. There is a slightly younger crowd here and because of that we found the bars to be a lot funner. Opposed to Ambergris Caye, there are no paved streets at all here and not many golf carts either. To me, not having the cement around made everything look a little cleaner, quieter, breezier, and not as hot when walking around. Most of the locals go barefoot all day and you can walk to most things on the south side of the island. Additionally, everything was cheaper than Ambergris even though they offered the same. For example, and hour massage on Ambergris was $40, but only $20 on Caye Caulker. Snorkeling from Ramons cost $45 per person, but only $25 per person for the same destination and trip length. There are less hotels and more airbnbs on Caye Caulker too. We stayed in an ocean front, one bedroom condo with living room, kitchen and balcony for $100 a night opposed to $200 a night at Ramons without a view.
Streets
Condo View
To do on the Island:
As I mentioned before, drinking and lounging are the top activities when on land. We found plenty of cool spots to drink and here were our favorites.
Barrier Reef Sports Bar - This was on the main beach drag and where we watched the Pels. They offer trivia night, karaoke night and always seemed to be busy. Friendly service and decent drinks.
Lazy LIzzard - This is the most popular bar by far and is located at the split. They have a DJ, tables sitting in the water, rooftop bar, platform for diving and plenty of chairs lined up fro the sunset. Great place to spend some time hanging out.
Split at Lazy LIzzard
Bondi Bar - This was a small spot on front street that had a Belize version of a swanky bar in the front and then a "cinema" in the back. The cinema was basically a bunch of lawn chairs setup in the backyard with a big projector screen where you are served drinks and pizza while watching a movie. I think they do this 2 or 3 nights a week. Nice way to mix it up.
Koko King - This was our favorite spot on the island. North of the split, they offer a free water taxi every 15 minutes and bring you back and forth. They have beach volleyball, hammocks, swinging beds, tubes in the water, water volleyball, swings hanging over the water, fire pits, over the water restaurant, and rooftop bar. You can also use their pool for a fee. They had the nicest beach we saw while on the island, strong drinks, and it was a fund way to spend a day.
Bar and Beach
Swings
Google pic of Koko King
Food:
While in San Pedro, we ate at Waraguma and Elvi's. Probably the most disappointing part of the trip, is that we didn't realize lobsters are illegal to catch from Valentines day to mid June. So we had to opt for a shrimp burrito at Waragumas instead of their famous lobster. It was still good, but next time we will be sure to go at the right time of year.
Elvis was delicious and one of our favorite meals during our trip. Their coconut shrimp and stuffed peppers are out of this world good.
In Caye Caulker, the best food was the BBQ lady Fran. She has a grill on the beach with 3 picnic tables and that's the "restaurant". When she filled all three of those, she bartered to borrow a table from a real restaurant down the street and made the customers carry it over lol. It takes about an hour for food to be ready, but she serves unlimited rum punch while you wait. They were a little weak, so a guy sitting next to us walked across the street and grabbed a bottle of rum to top everyone off. The little things that make this island great.
Her jerk chicken and curried chicken were both amazing and fell off of the bone. For $7, this was a steal.
For lunch another day, we had Chef Kareems Unbelizable lunch which was the same grill and table setup, just as good and cheap.
Menu
Another lunch, we took snapper we caught on a fishing trip to Brisas Del Mar (on front street), and she cooked grilled it and added 3 sides for about $5. Nothing like fish you caught a few hours before.
Fresh Snapper
There are great smoothies and juices all over the island. There is also a local with a bakers hat who rides a bike around all day selling good deserts like rum cake and coconut pie.
Only bad meal we had was at a place called Barefoot Caribe. The air conditioning sucked us in, but I would not recommend at all.
This post was edited on 5/9/18 at 11:30 pm
Posted on 5/9/18 at 10:28 pm to jsquardjj
Day Trips:
We were only there for a few days and only had time to do two half day trips. It was hard to choose from the many things you can do on the water, but we chose a snorkeling trip to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley as well as a deap sea fishing trip.
The snorkeling tour was booked out of San Pedro through Ramons. We didn't realize it was cheaper in Caye Caulker or we would have waited, but the guides at Ramons were great. We had two guides for us and one other couple on the boat. Basically felt like a private tour. These reefs are nothing short of amazing. I have snorkeled in a few places in the Caribbean and Hawaii, but this was my favorite experience by far. We spotted eels, stingrays, sharks, barracudas, a sea cucumber, and hundreds of species of fish in all shapes and sizes. The reef itself was beautiful and full of colors. The guide swam with us for over an hour and pointed out some great things we would have probably missed.
Next was shark ray alley. They tease the nurse sharks with some tarpon bait, and get them to swarm the boat area as you are swimming around. It is an incredible thrill to swim with these beasts.
Shark Ray Alley
Snorkel
From Caye Caulker, we took a deap sea fishing trip with French Angel Expeditions. We went to about 5 different places who were all priced around 250-300USD for a half day. This was the cheapest we found for only $200. The boat is chartered privately, so it is just you and the guides for about 4 hours. They supply a cooler with fruit and water and you bring your own beer. 12 pack of Belikins was perfect. We caught red Snapper, black snapper, yellowtails and Barracudas. No monsters unfortunately.
Final Thoughts:
This was a great trip and Belize really grew on me during our time here. As I mentioned, its not for everyone and the beauty is found in the water and in the vibe of the island. Apparently four seasons bought the island right next door to Caye Caulker to turn it into a golf/island resort. Hopefully the tourism in Caye Caulker doesn't grow too quickly and turn it into a Cancun atmosphere. Right now, it is just perfect.
We were only there for a few days and only had time to do two half day trips. It was hard to choose from the many things you can do on the water, but we chose a snorkeling trip to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley as well as a deap sea fishing trip.
The snorkeling tour was booked out of San Pedro through Ramons. We didn't realize it was cheaper in Caye Caulker or we would have waited, but the guides at Ramons were great. We had two guides for us and one other couple on the boat. Basically felt like a private tour. These reefs are nothing short of amazing. I have snorkeled in a few places in the Caribbean and Hawaii, but this was my favorite experience by far. We spotted eels, stingrays, sharks, barracudas, a sea cucumber, and hundreds of species of fish in all shapes and sizes. The reef itself was beautiful and full of colors. The guide swam with us for over an hour and pointed out some great things we would have probably missed.
Next was shark ray alley. They tease the nurse sharks with some tarpon bait, and get them to swarm the boat area as you are swimming around. It is an incredible thrill to swim with these beasts.
Shark Ray Alley
Snorkel
From Caye Caulker, we took a deap sea fishing trip with French Angel Expeditions. We went to about 5 different places who were all priced around 250-300USD for a half day. This was the cheapest we found for only $200. The boat is chartered privately, so it is just you and the guides for about 4 hours. They supply a cooler with fruit and water and you bring your own beer. 12 pack of Belikins was perfect. We caught red Snapper, black snapper, yellowtails and Barracudas. No monsters unfortunately.
Final Thoughts:
This was a great trip and Belize really grew on me during our time here. As I mentioned, its not for everyone and the beauty is found in the water and in the vibe of the island. Apparently four seasons bought the island right next door to Caye Caulker to turn it into a golf/island resort. Hopefully the tourism in Caye Caulker doesn't grow too quickly and turn it into a Cancun atmosphere. Right now, it is just perfect.
This post was edited on 5/10/18 at 12:15 am
Posted on 5/9/18 at 11:03 pm to jsquardjj
I’m curious to see what has changed since we went a few years back. There is a review up in the sticky, I will certainly add yours up to the sticky whenever you are finished. If you are able to post Some photographs that would be even better.
Posted on 5/10/18 at 8:16 am to jsquardjj
Thanks for the review. I spent 3 days on Caye Caulker about 6 years ago and it is one of my favorite places I have ever been. It is exactly as you describe it and look forward to going back. Do you happen to have the link to the Airbnb that you stayed in on Caye Caulker?
Posted on 5/11/18 at 8:18 am to LSUDbrous90
It was at the “Club at Caye Caulker” but it was the nicest one because it had the full balcony facing the ocean. I will try to find the link. It was just a block away from the water taxi dock.
Posted on 5/11/18 at 4:09 pm to jsquardjj
Spent the day on Caye Caulker a couple years ago and really liked it. We drank and swam at the split, hard grilled lobsters and bar hopped before taking the water taxi back to San Pedro. Good review!
Posted on 5/11/18 at 4:31 pm to jsquardjj
Kick arse review dude. Here are some pics when we went. Planning to go back later this summer.
Posted on 5/11/18 at 11:55 pm to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
Nice pictures! That was the restaurant that agreed to cook out catch as long as we bought drinks.
I had a bad habit of drinking too much rum, forgetting to take pictures, and then remembering to pull my phone out right as the sun was setting...so that’s why mine are not so great, lol.
I had a bad habit of drinking too much rum, forgetting to take pictures, and then remembering to pull my phone out right as the sun was setting...so that’s why mine are not so great, lol.
Posted on 5/15/18 at 4:56 pm to jsquardjj
Thanks for posting review. I am in the process of thinking about planning a trip to Belize with my wife and kids. Kids ages are 5 and 7. The only thing my wife really wants is a really pretty beach and pretty water. Past that we may go on an excursion or two for kids but mainly want to lounge out at the beach? I noticed you said Ambergris and Caye Caulker are not really known for nice beaches. Is there any islands in or around belize that have good white sand beaches and gentle surf that you know of? And if so are there resorts nearby to said beaches? TIA
Posted on 5/15/18 at 10:51 pm to BullredsRus
There is an area called Placencia that is supposed to have a nice strip of beach, but we did not go that far south. There are at least 3 resorts on the north end of Ambergris Caye that probably have some nice beaches.
Honestly, if the wife just wants to sit on nice beaches and pretty water, I would look at some other Caribbean islands like T&C. Belize definitely has a different feel and is more for someone who is interested in doing water activities. Also, the areas that I saw, had pretty water but only at about 40 ft out. The first 40 ft was always a little brown.
I think there are 1 or 2 small private islands owned by a resort, but I don't know the details.
Honestly, if the wife just wants to sit on nice beaches and pretty water, I would look at some other Caribbean islands like T&C. Belize definitely has a different feel and is more for someone who is interested in doing water activities. Also, the areas that I saw, had pretty water but only at about 40 ft out. The first 40 ft was always a little brown.
I think there are 1 or 2 small private islands owned by a resort, but I don't know the details.
Posted on 5/17/18 at 2:52 pm to BullredsRus
quote:
The only thing my wife really wants is a really pretty beach and pretty water
Not to hijack the thread but I have been all over the Caribbean and Turks and Caicos has some of the nicest beaches and water I have seen. Grace Bay is always on the list of world's best beaches. There are a bunch of smaller bays around the island that are just as nice and you can have to yourself. It is also much more industrialized than Belize if that matters to you.
Posted on 5/17/18 at 4:41 pm to BullredsRus
The beach at Ambergis Caye is kind of odd because of the barrier reef.
The sand is nice and easy to walk on, but since the whole shoreline is protected by the barrier reef, there was very little wave activity and the ocean floor was covered in some kind of grass that’s kind of gross. Kids probably wouldn’t love it if they’re used to say the Gulf Coast.
You have to get further offshore to really enjoy the water. I can’t remember Caye Caulker exactly, but seems like it was a little better right at the shoreline.
The sand is nice and easy to walk on, but since the whole shoreline is protected by the barrier reef, there was very little wave activity and the ocean floor was covered in some kind of grass that’s kind of gross. Kids probably wouldn’t love it if they’re used to say the Gulf Coast.
You have to get further offshore to really enjoy the water. I can’t remember Caye Caulker exactly, but seems like it was a little better right at the shoreline.
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