April 10, 2018

The Knows about Caye Caulker

Since I tried to keep my other post about Belize short (er) than normal, I’m trying something a little different with this trip. I am going to share MY “knows” of Caye Caulker Belize.

What does that mean?

That means I am going to share the highlights, things to do/see, places to go and some tips about traveling to Caye Caulker. Since I let JM take lead on this trip, I went in blind for the most part. I didn’t prepare as much as I usually would. I read a few things about CC, but wasn’t fully versed with what to expect or what we would be doing, seeing or eating. It wasn’t until we arrived on the island that I started to figure it out. To be honest, I absolutely LOVED the concept. Here are my “need to knows” if you decide to visit CC, Belize!

Overall Tips

The sun is no joke! Despite a breeze, the sun is warm. I mean, like WARM! Don’t forget sunscreen! Make sure to get your butt and back..I forgot that my butt was to the sky most of snorkeling! Oops!
Expect to smell some foul odors on the island. We determined it was stronger on the south side of the island, but we caught a whiff every once in a while on the other parts of the island. So our suggestion was to stay inland a little or away from the water front on the south side.
Talk. Communicate. Engage! You can learn a lot about someone or some place by communicating with others.
Street food! Street food! Street food! O-M-G! Just remember, start early! (Caye Caulker, Belize post)
Explore – by foot or bike. Caye Caulker is small enough to walk, but I understand the convenience of bikes. There is plenty to do, beside soaking up the sun – which, of course, I encourage you to do, too!
Go Slow! Assuming you’re on vacation or simply wandering, take it easy and live the motto of Caye Caulker.

What To Bring

This is a “shorts, sandals and bathing suit” kind of place. You are living the beach life on Caye Caulker.

I spent 98% of my time in a tank top, shorts, sandals and my bikini! By no means am I complaining – this was my absolute heaven. And if I am being honest, I might have stayed in the same shorts and tanks all three days anyway – haha. No use getting everything dirty, even though everything goes in the laundry when you get home. Just saying, you don’t need much more than that.

Besides sandals, I might suggest a pair of sneakers. Whether you run or not, they come in handy if you end up walking the island trail. Of course, there is also nothing wrong with wearing sandals the whole time. (I only used my sneaks when I went running.)

Other things you should highly consider bringing:

Sunscreen!!
Sunglasses
Camera or cell phone – mainly just to take pictures; try to disconnect and enjoy the island
Your basics: toiletries, etc.
A backpack
A hat, if you’re into them (I am not and NEVER wear hats!)
Water proof carrier

It’s a given you need your passport – don’t think I need to mention that 🙂

Leave at home

Books/magazines
Jeans and pants
Jackets
High heels
Fancy attire
Beach towels – pretty sure most lodging locations provide them
Beach bag
Probably half of your clothes, lol

What I Wish I Brought

A backpack, instead of my “beach bag”. Thankfully JM had his backpack. I have since purchased a small Dooney & Bourke backpack. Who knows I could use another “bigger” one, too, someday soon!
A light sweater or long sleeve shirt. While the days were warm and sweaty, Caye Caulker offered a light breeze after the sun went down. Don’t forget, though, we went in March. I am not sure if that is consistent year round, but never hurts to have a back-up.
A ratty older pair of sneaks. I brought my “newer” pair and they didn’t come back the same. Since the roads were dusty, you don’t want to bring nice shoes or anything that you don’t want to get a little worn.

Things to do

Even though Caye Caulker is a relatively small island, there is plenty to do. We found it helpful to run the island the first day to see what was around and what you might like to further explore.

The most important thing to do is SNORKEL!

If you are up for scuba-diving, do it, too.

Snorkeling was by far my favorite part of the trip. I may have been intimidated before going, but it was such an amazing experience. If you have not done it before, don’t miss out on the opportunity. It is a MUST! And try out Carlos and Carlos Jr. on Front Street, 2-3 doors down from the Crepe spot. Tell them Katie sent you……before I left, I asked for a job. Maybe they will really consider if you visit them!

Anything on or in the water is a must. The water is the main attraction in Caye Caulker – crystal clear with lots and lots of sea creatures. Worth every second, so be as close as possible!

Must do and see

Visit the Split.
Visit the Lazy Lizard – iconic beach bar and restaurant.
Watch the sunrises, sunsets and moonrises – no better way to start and end your days
Visit Koko Beach.
- Apparently, there is a salt water crocodile estuary at the end of Koko. We weren’t able to visit, since the ONE cab was broken at the time and it was too far to walk.
Check out the lizards.
See the largest conch shell wall.
Find the seahorse farm…and play “Where’s seahorse” game.
- The farm is off the main road and hard to find if you don’t know what you are looking for. “Next” and “other side” seem to be the locals way of sharing direction. You see, that doesn’t help especially if you don’t know if the “next” means one over or two! It took us two tries to find the farm. And then seeing the tiny seahorses is another challenge – Good luck!
Jump off the ledge at the Split.
Eat fryjacks! (see below).

EAT-EAT-EAT!

I tend to plan trips around food, but since I let JM plan the trip, I didn’t do my research on what Caye Caulker had to offer. I definitely say there were good places, better places and not so good places to eat. Fortunate for you, we did some of that exploring in the food department. The last day food adventures was probably my second favorite thing – behind snorkeling. Learn from us – don’t wait until the last day to try all the local spots and street vendors! Get out there and eat!

Must go places include, but not limited to:

Jenny’s To Go Food (fryjacks)
Auntie’s Take Out (chicken)
Caye Caulker Bakery (uh, duh!)
Maggie’s Sunset Kitchen
Fresh juices from the lady near the bank
Crepes and Dreams (JM liked it, I thought it was ok, but only needed to eat there once.)
The “food truck” by the basketball court

Worth skipping:

Amor y Cafe
Lazy Lizard (just regular bar food; lots of people were drinking for sure, though!)
Rainbow Grill and Bar

Try for me [aka I wish we ate there]:

Errolyn’s House Of Fryjacks (We were late to the game and they were closed Monday, the day we left. Wah! 😭)
Chef Juan’s (technically we ate there, but only had chocolate cake for breakfast. I wanted to try the fryjacks!)

OMG, my mouth is watering thinking about fryjacks!